Article
Behavioral Sciences
James P. Higham, Clare M. Kimock, Tara M. Mandalaywala, Michael Heistermann, Julie Cascio, Megan Petersdorf, Sandra Winters, William L. Allen, Constance Dubuc
Summary: The study found that female rhesus macaques with redder faces were mated more frequently and for longer periods by top-ranked males. Additionally, these redder females had higher fGCM concentrations, which may be related to their increased mating activity and energy mobilization. Therefore, female coloration may have evolved at least in part via male mate choice, serving as a sexually selected ornament attractive to males.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Ecology
Paivi M. Sirkia, Anna Qvarnstrom
Summary: This review examines the adaptive function and differentiation of plumage coloration in male pied flycatchers, highlighting the importance of environmental heterogeneity and context-dependent selection in explaining color variation within species.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Giacomo D'Ammando, Daniel W. Franks, Jakob Bro-Jorgensen
Summary: This study finds that sexual dimorphism in coloration and pelage appendages is more common in species with large breeding group sizes and less common in species with territorial mating systems and spending more time in mixed-sex groups outside the breeding season.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
America Hernandez, Margarita Martinez-Gomez, Rene Beamonte-Barrientos, Bibiana Montoya
Summary: Research suggests that colourful traits in female birds have evolved and are maintained by sexual selection, as they are positively associated with residual mass, immune response, clutch size, and male mate preference. These traits are likely condition-dependent signals in sexual communication.
Article
Ornithology
Ian L. Jones, Fiona M. Hunter, Sampath S. Seneviratne, Jeffrey C. Williams, Robert Montgomerie
Summary: Both male and female Whiskered Auklets display elaborate feather ornaments, with only slightly male-biased sexual dimorphism. Ornament size is positively correlated with body condition index and is also related to ocean climate and auklet productivity.
Article
Biology
Klara Katarina Norden, Chad M. Eliason, Mary Caswell Stoddard
Summary: The general principle governing the production of brilliant iridescence in bird feathers involves the presence of thin melanin layers in all melanosome forms. Birds achieve this through various methods such as decreasing melanosome size, hollowing out the interior, or flattening the melanosome into a platelet. These thin melanin layers unlock color-producing possibilities and increase brightness, expanding the range of colors that can be produced compared to thick melanin layers.
Article
Ecology
Magdalena Herdegen-Radwan, Silvia Cattelan, Jakub Buda, Jaroslaw Raubic, Jacek Radwan
Summary: This study selected orange spots on male guppies as the research object and found a significant direct response to selection and a related response in female preferences. Although female preferences contribute to increased reproductive success of their offspring, there is no impact on the general viability of the progeny.
Review
Biology
Pedro Andrade, Miguel Carneiro
Summary: Pterins, as a major source of animal coloration, have been less studied compared to other pigment classes, despite their ubiquity in nature. With intermediate characteristics between melanins and carotenoids, they present unique opportunities for addressing general questions about the biology of coloration.
Article
Ornithology
Natalia C. Garcia, Ana S. Barreira, Pablo L. Tubaro
Summary: This study investigated the relationship between sexual dichromatism and color features in the Cardinalidae bird family. The results showed that sexual dichromatism levels were not strongly correlated with colorfulness or conspicuousness against the background.
Article
Ecology
Gabriel Macedo, Rafael S. Marcondes, Cibele Biondo, Gustavo A. Bravo, Elizabeth P. Derryberry
Summary: Selection on signals is affected by resource availability, which is regulated by climate. Harsher environments may lead to convergent development of signals in both sexes, increasing sexual dimorphism.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mari-Ann Lind, Tuul Sepp, Kristiina Stseglova, Peeter Horak
Summary: Carotenoid plumage coloration in greenfinches is affected by the antibiotic METRO, leading to significantly higher chroma of yellow parts in feathers grown during the experiment.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Ornithology
Ian L. Jones, Fiona M. Hunter, Sampath S. Seneviratne, Jeffrey C. Williams, Robert Montgomerie
Summary: The function of elaborate avian feather ornaments remains uncertain, despite their use in courtship and social displays. Male and female Whiskered Auklets have four facial feather ornaments that serve both courtship and mechanosensory functions. We conducted a study on the left-right symmetry of these ornaments in 721 marked individuals and found that ornament asymmetry was not sexually dimorphic, but was influenced by factors such as tarsus length and ocean climate during molting. The findings suggest that ornament asymmetry may be an indicator of environmental stress in this seabird species.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Masaru Hasegawa
Summary: Many predatory animals have contrasting pale and dark color patterns, or eyeline, in front of eyes. This color pattern might be adaptive as a sight-line, which can aid in tracking and capturing a fast-moving prey (sight-line hypothesis). This hypothesis has been ignored for decades because eyeline has been misinterpreted as a form of dark facial feathers, which can aid in glare reduction at foraging. However, this study found that the sight-line hypothesis, but not the glare-reducing effect of dark facial color marking, explained the macroevolution of contrasting pale-dark facial color patterns in swallows and martins, which commonly have dark facial feathers. The evolution of pale feathers above dark feathers in front of eyes had strong, positive evolutionary relationships with foraging on speedy preys.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Deok-Jin Jeon, Seungmuk Ji, Eunok Lee, Jihun Kang, Jiyeong Kim, Liliana D'Alba, Marie Manceau, Matthew D. Shawkey, Jong-Souk Yeo
Summary: The thickness of the keratin cortex plays a significant role in producing colors in feathers, with the position of the major reflectance peak determined by the cortex thickness. Specifically, the common pheasant has the appropriate keratin cortex thickness to produce blue and green structural colors. This finding provides a general principle of structural color production and sheds light on the evolution of brilliant iridescent colors in the common pheasant.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Liam R. Dougherty, Faith Rovenolt, Alexia Luyet, Jukka Jokela, Jessica F. Stephenson
Summary: Choosing a mate with no or few parasites can help animals avoid the fitness costs of disease transmission and infection-induced reductions. The correlation between the quality of sexually selected ornaments and parasite load is ambiguous, but it is more strongly negative for ornaments that can dynamically change in quality and among parasites that can transmit during sex. Other factors, such as methodological details and male parental care, do not explain the heterogeneity in the data. This study aims to stimulate research on the intersection of parasites, sexual selection, and epidemiology.
Article
Ornithology
Simone Pirrello, Andrea Pilastro, Diego Rubolini, Jacopo G. Cecere, Andrea Romano, Alessandro Andreotti, Stefano Volponi, Nicola Saino, Matteo Griggio, Lorenzo Serra
JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY
(2017)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Tyrone Lucon-Xiccato, Matteo Griggio
Article
Ecology
Miroslav Polacek, Matteo Griggio, Ivan Miksik, Michaela Bartikova, Manfred Eckenfellner, Herbert Hoi
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2017)
Article
Zoology
Beniamino Tuliozi, Gerardo Fracasso, Herbert Hoi, Matteo Griggio
FRONTIERS IN ZOOLOGY
(2018)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Silvia Cattelan, Tyrone Lucon-Xiccato, Andrea Pilastro, Matteo Griggio
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Zoltan Toth, Beniamino Tuliozi, Davide Baldan, Herbert Hoi, Matteo Griggio
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2017)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Bekir Kabasakal, Miroslav Polacek, Aziz Aslan, Herbert Hoi, Ali Erdogan, Matteo Griggio
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2017)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Elisa Ligorio, Beniamino Tuliozi, Herbert Hoi, Matteo Griggio
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2020)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Silvia Cattelan, James Herbert-Read, Paolo Panizzon, Alessandro Devigili, Matteo Griggio, Andrea Pilastro, Chiara Morosinotto
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Biology
Laura Busia, Matteo Griggio
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Beniamino Tuliozi, Ettore Camerlenghi, Matteo Griggio
Summary: Our study found consistent differences in individual behavior during social escape and demonstrated a relationship between social roles across different situations. Risk-taking individuals may benefit from following risk-averse individuals during an escape flight.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Zoology
Alejandro Cantarero, Olga Dolnik, Matteo Griggio, Herbert Hoi, Rudiger Riesch
Summary: This study found that the parasite burden affects the mate preference of female house sparrows. Infested females avoided highly infested males after manipulation, possibly due to the impact of parasites on their health condition.
Article
Psychology, Biological
Tyrone Lucon-Xiccato, Carlotta Mazzoldi, Matteo Griggio
BEHAVIOURAL PROCESSES
(2017)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Silvia Cattelan, Tyrone Lucon-Xiccato, Andrea Pilastro, Matteo Griggio
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Giacomo Assandri, Marco Giacomazzo, Mattia Brambilla, Matteo Griggio, Paolo Pedrini
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2017)