Beyond morphs: Inter‐individual colour variation despite strong genetic determinism of colour morphs in a wild bird

Abstract

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Evolutionary Insights Into Felidae Iris Color Through Ancestral State Reconstruction

“…Despite felid eye color being broadly discrete, pigment levels can nevertheless be continuous and prior studies on color variation suggest that even traits that can be discretized may have continuous variation at a more fine-grain level (Mould et al . 2023).…”

“…Despite felid eye color being broadly discrete, pigment levels can nevertheless be continuous and prior studies on color variation suggest that even traits that can be discretized may have continuous variation at a more fine-grain level (Mould et al 2023). Our finding that there are always at least two shades present within each eye supports this, providing a useful and biologically realistic model for future research into the evolution of eye color variation: treating the overall trait as fully discrete and then treating each category as continuous.…”

“…Traditional categories, such as blue, green, and brown, have been shown to overlap to varying degrees. This problem has been demonstrated for other color traits as well: for example, the colors of snail shells (Davison et al 2019), tree lizard throats (Paterson and Blouin-Demers 2017), and bird plumage (Mould et al 2023). These studies indicate that, although discrete categories are useful for trait comprehension and can facilitate clear analyses, results can be compromised if the categories do not truly reflect the real trait distribution.…”

“…This problem has been demonstrated for other color traits as well: for example, the colors of snail shells (Davison et al . 2019), tree lizard throats (Paterson and Blouin-Demers 2017), and bird plumage (Mould et al . 2023).…”

“…These studies indicate that, although discrete categories are useful for trait comprehension and can facilitate clear analyses, results can be compromised if the categories do not truly reflect the real trait distribution. Some studies advocate for coupling analysis of discrete categories with more granular analysis within individuals of a category (Mould et al . 2023).…”