Dominant nestlings displaying female-like melanin coloration behave altruistically in the barn owl

Roulin, Alexandre; Silva, Arnaud Da; Ruppli, Charlène A.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.08.033

Cited by 32 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Given that nestlings produce up to 5000 calls per night only in the absence of parents and that each call contains substantial noise energy (Bühler & Epple, ), sibling negotiation is a process that is very likely to be costly. Furthermore, because barn owl nestmates are full siblings, each nestling has indirect fitness gains if their siblings obtain enough food and hence if food is fairly distributed according to need (Roulin et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Individual vocal signatures in barn owl nestlings: does individual recognition have an adaptive role in sibling vocal competition?

Dreiss

Ruppli

Roulin

2013

J of Evolutionary Biology

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To compete over limited parental resources, young animals communicate with their parents and siblings by producing honest vocal signals of need. Components of begging calls that are sensitive to food deprivation may honestly signal need, whereas other components may be associated with individualspecific attributes that do not change with time such as identity, sex, absolute age and hierarchy. In a sib-sib communication system where barn owl (Tyto alba) nestlings vocally negotiate priority access to food resources, we show that calls have individual signatures that are used by nestlings to recognize which siblings are motivated to compete, even if most vocalization features vary with hunger level. Nestlings were more identifiable when food-deprived than food-satiated, suggesting that vocal identity is emphasized when the benefit of winning a vocal contest is higher. In broods where siblings interact iteratively, we speculate that individual-specific signature permits siblings to verify that the most vocal individual in the absence of parents is the one that indeed perceived the food brought by parents. Individual recognition may also allow nestlings to associate identity with individual-specific characteristics such as position in the within-brood dominance hierarchy. Calls indeed revealed age hierarchy and to a lower extent sex and absolute age. Using a cross-fostering experimental design, we show that most acoustic features were related to the nest of origin (but not the nest of rearing), suggesting a genetic or an early developmental effect on the ontogeny of vocal signatures. To conclude, our study suggests that sibling competition has promoted the evolution of vocal behaviours that signal not only hunger level but also intrinsic individual characteristics such as identity, family, sex and age.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Individual vocal signatures in barn owl nestlings: does individual recognition have an adaptive role in sibling vocal competition?

Dreiss

Ruppli

Roulin

2013

J of Evolutionary Biology

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“…Roulin et al . ) in relation to habitat and/or predator–prey interactions (Roulin ; Dreiss et al . ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

MC1R variants affect the expression of melanocortin and melanogenic genes and the association between melanocortin genes and coloration

et al. 2016

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The melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene influences coloration by altering the expression of genes acting downstream in the melanin synthesis. MC1R belongs to the melanocortin system, a genetic network coding for the ligands that regulate MC1R and other melanocortin receptors controlling different physiological and behavioural traits. The impact of MC1R variants on these regulatory melanocortin genes was never considered, even though MC1R mutations could alter the influence of these genes on coloration (e.g. by decreasing MC1R response to melanocortin ligands). Using barn owl growing feathers, we investigated the differences between MC1R genotypes in the (co)expression of six melanocortin and nine melanogenic-related genes and in the association between melanocortin gene expression and phenotype (feather pheomelanin content). Compared to the MC1R rufous allele, responsible for reddish coloration, the white allele was not only associated with an expected lower expression of melanogenic-related genes (TYR, TYRP1, OCA2, SLC45A2, KIT, DCT) but also with a lower MC1R expression and a higher expression of ASIP, the MC1R antagonist. More importantly, the expression of PCSK2, responsible for the maturation of the MC1R agonist, α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, was positively related to pheomelanin content in MC1R white homozygotes but not in individuals carrying the MC1R rufous allele. These findings indicate that MC1R mutations not only alter the expression of melanogenic-related genes but also the association between coloration and the expression of melanocortin genes upstream of MC1R. This suggests that MC1R mutations can modulate the regulation of coloration by the pleiotropic melanocortin genes, potentially decoupling the often-observed associations between coloration and other phenotypes.

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“…) and show more altruistic behavior than nonrufous juveniles (Roulin et al. ). Moreover, several studies link rufous coloration to increased juvenile dispersal distance (Van den Brink et al.…”

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confidence: 99%

The genetic basis of color-related local adaptation in a ring-like colonization around the Mediterranean

et al. 2015

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Uncovering the genetic basis of phenotypic variation and the population history under which it established is key to understand the trajectories along which local adaptation evolves. Here, we investigated the genetic basis and evolutionary history of a clinal plumage color polymorphism in European barn owls (Tyto alba). Our results suggest that barn owls colonized the Western Palearctic in a ring-like manner around the Mediterranean and meet in secondary contact in Greece. Rufous coloration appears to be linked to a recently evolved nonsynonymous-derived variant of the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) gene, which according to quantitative genetic analyses evolved under local adaptation during or following the colonization of Central Europe. Admixture patterns and linkage disequilibrium between the neutral genetic background and color found exclusively within the secondary contact zone suggest limited introgression at secondary contact. These results from a system reminiscent of ring species provide a striking example of how local adaptation can evolve from derived genetic variation.

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Dominant nestlings displaying female-like melanin coloration behave altruistically in the barn owl

Cited by 32 publications

References 40 publications

Individual vocal signatures in barn owl nestlings: does individual recognition have an adaptive role in sibling vocal competition?

Individual vocal signatures in barn owl nestlings: does individual recognition have an adaptive role in sibling vocal competition?

MC1R variants affect the expression of melanocortin and melanogenic genes and the association between melanocortin genes and coloration

The genetic basis of color-related local adaptation in a ring-like colonization around the Mediterranean

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