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CONVERGENT EVOLUTION OF RED CAROTENOID COLORATION IN WIDOWBIRDS AND BISHOPS ( EUPLECTES SPP.)
Author(s) -
Prager Maria,
Andersson Staffan
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.01081.x
Subject(s) - biology , plumage , hue , sexual selection , context (archaeology) , evolutionary biology , convergent evolution , feather , phylogenetic tree , zoology , agonistic behaviour , genetics , paleontology , artificial intelligence , psychology , aggression , psychiatry , computer science , gene
Avian carotenoid‐based signals are classic examples of sexually selected, condition‐dependent threat displays or mate choice cues. In many species, male dominance or mating success is associated with redder (i.e., longer wavelength) color hues, suggesting that red colors are either more efficient or more reliable signals than yellow colors. Few studies, however, have investigated selection for redness in a macroevolutionary context. Here, we phylogenetically reconstruct the evolution of carotenoid coloration in the African widowbirds and bishops ( Euplectes spp.), for which agonistic selection for redder hues, as well as pigmentary mechanisms, is well documented. Using reflectance spectrometry for objective color quantification, and accounting for phylogenetic uncertainty, we find that yellow plumage color is a retained ancestral state in Euplectes , and that red color hues have convergently evolved two or three times. Results are discussed in relation to a known diversity in pigment mechanisms, supporting independent origins of red color, and suggesting that agonistic selection and physiological constraints have interacted to generate color diversity in Euplectes .