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

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Serval ID
serval:BIB_EEC2FE922564
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Covariation between eumelanic pigmentation and body mass only under specific conditions.
Journal
Die Naturwissenschaften
Author(s)
Roulin A.
ISSN
1432-1904 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
0028-1042
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2009
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
96
Number
3
Pages
375-382
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Publication Status: ppublish
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 ten out of 28 vertebrate species. The proposition that ornamented individuals achieve a higher fitness than drab conspecifics only in specific environments should be tested for other ornaments.
Keywords
Aging, Animals, Birds/anatomy & histology, Birds/physiology, Body Weight, Environment, Feathers/anatomy & histology, Female, Melanins/physiology, Oviposition, Phenotype, Pigmentation/physiology, Predatory Behavior, Reproduction, Sheep/anatomy & histology, Sheep/physiology, Species Specificity, Strigiformes/anatomy & histology, Strigiformes/genetics, Viperidae/anatomy & histology, Viperidae/physiology, Wing/anatomy & histology
Pubmed
Web of science
Create date
17/11/2008 12:31
Last modification date
20/08/2019 17:16
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