Abstract:The carotenoid-based ornaments displayed by many birds often play key roles in social and sexual signalling, revealing information about individual quality. However, the proximate regulation of the honesty of sexual traits remains controversial. Understanding the mechanisms of coloured trait production and maintenance requires an accurate description of their chemical composition and of the physiological pathways involved in pigment production and deposition in the ornaments. Carotenoid-based colouration has b… Show more
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.