Premium
No evidence for survival selection on carotenoid‐based nestling coloration in great tits ( Parus major )
Author(s) -
FITZE P. S.,
TSCHIRREN B.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.289
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1420-9101
pISSN - 1010-061X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2005.01008.x
Subject(s) - parus , biology , plumage , sexual selection , fledge , carotenoid , selection (genetic algorithm) , natural selection , directional selection , stabilizing selection , zoology , population , ecology , ecological selection , botany , predation , demography , artificial intelligence , sociology , computer science
In several vertebrate species evidence supports the hypothesis that carotenoid‐based coloration of adults has evolved due to sexual selection. However, in some birds already the nestlings display carotenoid‐based coloration. Because the nestling's body plumage is typically moulted before the first reproductive event, sexual selection cannot explain the evolution of these carotenoid‐based traits. This suggests that natural selection might be the reason for its evolution. Here we test whether the carotenoid‐based nestling coloration of great tits ( Parus major ) predicts survival after fledging. Contrary to our expectation, the carotenoid‐based plumage coloration was not related to short‐ nor to long‐term survival in the studied population. Additionally, no prefledging selection was detectable in an earlier study. This indicates that the carotenoid‐based coloration of nestling great tits is currently not under natural selection and it suggests that past selection pressures or selection acting on correlated traits may have led to its evolution.