Multiple coloured ornaments in male common kestrels: different mechanisms to convey quality |
| |
Authors: | Pablo Vergara Juan A Fargallo |
| |
Institution: | 1.School of Biological Sciences,University of Aberdeen,Aberdeen,UK;2.Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva,Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales—CSIC,Madrid,Spain |
| |
Abstract: | The simultaneous exhibition of more than one secondary sexual trait is a widespread phenomenon in nature, though it has rarely
been explored. It has been proposed that different ornaments may convey complementary or back-up information about a single
aspect of individual quality (redundancy hypothesis) or that each ornament may convey unique information (multiple-messages
hypothesis). During a 5-year period, we measured several carotenoid-based (eye ring, bill cere and tarsi skin) and melanin-based
(head, back, rump and tail feathers) potential ornamental colours in male common kestrels. We analysed whether multiple ornaments
can convey different or related information about individual quality. We explored whether different ornaments can express
different information depending on the pigment (carotenoids or melanins), the time-scale over which the ornament can change
(dynamic vs. static) and the season of the year when the ornament is formed. We found that both melanin- and carotenoid- based
traits correlated with indexes of quality, including body condition, body condition of their partners and laying date. However,
not all ornaments correlated with the same measures of quality. In addition, some ornaments were intercorrelated within the
same individuals while others were not. These results suggest that different ornaments can convey information about different
qualities, as predicted by the multiple-messages hypothesis. In addition, this study suggests that the predominant pigment
(e.g. carotenoid vs. melanin, eumelanin vs. pheomelanin), the time-scale over which the trait is developed (static feathers
vs. dynamic skin) and the season of the year at which the ornament is produced can be potential mechanisms to convey different
messages in male common kestrels. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 PubMed SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|