Covariation between eumelanic pigmentation and body mass only under specific conditions.

Die Naturwissenschaften
Alexandre Roulin

Abstract

Identifying the factors that mediate covariation between an ornament and other phenotypic attributes is important to determine the signaling function of ornaments. Sign and magnitude of a covariation may vary across environments if the expression of the ornament or of its linked genes regulating correlated phenotypes is condition-dependent. I investigated in the barn owl Tyto alba whether sign and magnitude of covariation between body mass and two heritable melanin-based plumage ornaments change with food supply, along the reproductive cycle and from the morning to the evening. Using a dataset of 1,848 measurements of body mass in 336 breeding females, I found that females displaying large black spots were heavier than conspecifics with smaller spots in the afternoon (i.e., a long time after the last feeding) but not in the morning (i.e., a short time after the last feeding). This is consistent with the recently proposed hypothesis that eumelanin-based ornaments are associated with the ability to maintain energy balance between food intake and energy expenditure. Thus, covariation between melanin-based coloration and body mass can be detected only under specific conditions potentially explaining why it has been reported in only...Continue Reading

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Citations

Feb 18, 2011·Die Naturwissenschaften·Pablo Vergara, Juan A Fargallo
Feb 9, 2011·European Journal of Pharmacology·Alexandre Roulin, Anne-Lyse Ducrest
May 17, 2011·Journal of Evolutionary Biology·O P Love, T D Williams
Nov 3, 2010·Molecular Ecology·Jeffrey S McKinnon, Michele E R Pierotti
Jul 25, 2014·Journal of Evolutionary Biology·M F ScribaA Roulin
Jan 30, 2015·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Alexandre Roulin
Aug 26, 2017·Journal of Biological Rhythms·Madeleine F ScribaAlexandre Roulin

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