Male Red-backed Fairywrens appear to enhance a plumage-based signal via adventitious molt

Lantz, Samantha M.; Karubian, Jordan

doi:10.1642/auk-15-185.1

Cited by 16 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…Rubenstein & Lovette ). Strong sexual selection on males for the display of new, shiny or vibrant feathers could promote the evolution of an additional annual moult prior to breeding (Lantz & Karubian ) and in turn favour the evolution of seasonal plumage colours (Tökölyi et al ). Selection for increasingly conspicuous plumage during breeding could also promote the evolution of seasonal plumage colours to reduce predation risk outside the breeding season.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary drivers of seasonal plumage colours: colour change by moult correlates with sexual selection, predation risk and seasonality across passerines

et al. 2019

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Some birds undergo seasonal colour change by moulting twice each year, typically alternating between a cryptic, non‐breeding plumage and a conspicuous, breeding plumage (‘seasonal plumage colours’). We test for potential drivers of the evolution of seasonal plumage colours in all passerines (N = 5901 species, c. 60% of all birds). Seasonal plumage colours are uncommon, having appeared on multiple occasions but more frequently lost during evolution. The trait is more common in small, ground‐foraging species with polygynous mating systems, no paternal care and strong sexual dichromatism, suggesting it evolved under strong sexual selection and high predation risk. Seasonal plumage colours are also more common in species predicted to have seasonal breeding schedules, such as migratory birds and those living in seasonal climates. We propose that seasonal plumage colours have evolved to resolve a trade‐off between the effects of natural and sexual selection on colouration, especially in seasonal environments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary drivers of seasonal plumage colours: colour change by moult correlates with sexual selection, predation risk and seasonality across passerines

et al. 2019

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“…Male RBFW transition between unornamented and ornamented plumage between the nonbreeding and breeding seasons, indicating a high degree of flexibility in visual signal development (Karubian, ; Karubian et al., ; Lantz & Karubian, ; Webster et al., ). Our work suggests that this transition is achieved by molting in feathers with both higher density of barbules and changes to melanosome deposition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Production of plumage ornaments among males and females of two closely related tropical passerine bird species

Enbody

Lantz

Karubian

2017

Ecology and Evolution

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The evolution of elaborate secondary sexual traits (i.e., ornaments) is well‐studied in males but less so in females. Similarity in the appearance of ornaments between males and females supports the view that female ornaments arise as a neutral byproduct of selection on male traits due to genetic correlation between sexes, but recent research suggests an adaptive function of female ornaments in at least some contexts. Information on the degree to which production of ornaments differs between the sexes can shed light on these alternative perspectives. We therefore characterized the structural underpinnings of melanin‐based plumage production in males and females of two closely related passerine bird species (genus Malurus). Importantly, both ornamented and unornamented phenotypes in each sex are present between these two species, providing an opportunity to test the null expectation of equivalent modes of production in male and female ornamented phenotypes. In Malurus alboscapulatus, ornamented females are qualitatively similar to males, but we describe a distinctive ornamented female phenotype that differs from that of males in lacking a blue sheen and in lower feather barbule density. In M. melanocephalus, unornamented males and females are also similar in appearance, and we describe a similarity between unornamented phenotypes of males and females in both color and underlying feather barbule structure and pigment composition. Unornamented male M. melanocephalus can flexibly transition to the ornamented phenotype in weeks, and we found extreme differences in color and feather structure between these two alternative male phenotypes. These results contradict the idea that female ornaments have evolved in this system following a simple switch to male‐like plumage by demonstrating greater complexity in the production of the ornamented phenotype in males than in females.

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“…When coloured traits result from the direct action of live pigment cells, for instance the skin, colour expression can change rapidly in response to hormonal and exogenous factors345. Alternatively, when coloured traits result from the deposition of pigments in inert integumentary structures, such as feathers and hair, colour changes cannot occur until these structures are newly synthesized, modified by physical agents, or until a cosmetic replenishment of pigments occurs67.…”

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confidence: 99%

Porphyrins produce uniquely ephemeral animal colouration: a possible signal of virginity

Galván

Camarero

Mateo

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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Colours that underlie animal pigmentation can either be permanent or renewable in the short term. Here we describe the discovery of a conspicuous salmon-pink colouration in the base of bustard feathers and down that has never been reported because of its extraordinarily brief expression. HPLC analyses indicated that its constituent pigments are coproporphyrin III and protoporphyrin IX, which are prone to photodegradation. Accordingly, an experimental exposure of feathers of three bustard species to sunlight produced a rapid disappearance of the salmon-pink colouration, together with a marked decrease in reflectance around 670 nm coinciding with the absorption of porphyrin photoproducts. The disappearance of the salmon-pink colouration can occur in a period as short as 12 min, likely making it the most ephemeral colour phenotype in any extant bird. The presence of this colour trait in males performing sexual displays may thus indicate to females a high probability that the males were performing their first displays and would engage in their first copulations in the breeding season. In dominant males, sperm quality decreases over successive copulations, thus porphyrin-based colouration may evolve as a signal of virginity that allows females to maximize their fitness in lek mating systems.

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Male Red-backed Fairywrens appear to enhance a plumage-based signal via adventitious molt

Cited by 16 publications

References 78 publications

Evolutionary drivers of seasonal plumage colours: colour change by moult correlates with sexual selection, predation risk and seasonality across passerines

Evolutionary drivers of seasonal plumage colours: colour change by moult correlates with sexual selection, predation risk and seasonality across passerines

Production of plumage ornaments among males and females of two closely related tropical passerine bird species

Porphyrins produce uniquely ephemeral animal colouration: a possible signal of virginity

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