From micro- to macroevolution: brood parasitism as a driver of phenotypic diversity in birds

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>A fundamental question in biology is how diversity evolves and why some clades are more diverse than others. Phenotypic diversity has often been shown to result from morphological adaptation to different habitats. The role of behavioural interactions as a driver of broad scale phenotypic diversity has received comparatively less attention. Behavioural interactions, however, are a key agent of natural selection. Antagonistic behavioural interactions with predators or with parasites can have significant fitness consequences, and hence act as strong evolutionary forces on the phenotype of species, ultimately generating diversity between species of both victims and exploiters. Avian obligate brood parasites lay their eggs in the nests of other species, their hosts, and this behavioural interaction between hosts and parasites is often considered one of the best examples of coevolution in the natural world. In this review we use the coevolution between brood parasites and their hosts to illustrate the potential of behavioural interactions to drive evolution of phenotypic diversity at different taxonomic scales. We provide a bridge between behavioural ecology and macroevolution by describing how this interaction has increased avian phenotypic diversity not only in the brood parasitic clades but also in their hosts.</jats:p>

First case of a Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) egg in a Cinereous Tit (Parus cinereus) nest

“…Here, however, tits abandoned their nest with an alien chick. Our report suggests that cavitynesting birds have the ability to evolve resistance mechanisms against brood parasites (Liang et al 2016), a strong evolutionary driver in this study system (Medina et al 2020).…”

The Impact of Weather on the Behavior and Ecology of Birds

“…Current information, however, is not enough to draw any conclusions, and climate is not the sole selective pressure acting on nest shape. For example, weavers, which have domed nests, are heavily parasitized by cuckoos in Africa and their domed nests have been suggested to decrease parasitism rates (Krüger and Davies, 2004;Medina et al, 2020).…”

How to Design Experiments in Animal Behaviour

“…. brood parasitism as a driver of phenotypic diversity in birds" [31], "Cuckoos use host egg number to choose host nests for parasitism" [9]. For modellers and the theoretically minded, there are rich opportunities to explore the evolution of animal recognition systems, more generally [32].…”