Climate, ecological release and bill dimorphism in an island songbird

Greenberg, Russell; Danner, Raymond M.

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2013.0118

Cited by 26 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Greater species richness of frogs on the mainland may also generate much greater competition thereby causing a lower carrying capacity on the mainland relative to the island. By their absence on the islands, thereby eliminating interspecific competition, ecological release may have allowed the frogs to both increase in abundance and size (LOMOLINO 1985, GREENBERG & DANNER 2013.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The island rule in the Brazilian frog Phyllodytes luteolus (Anura: Hylidae): incipient gigantism?

Mageski¹,

Ferreira²,

Jesus³

et al. 2015

Zoologia (Curitiba)

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The island rule in the Brazilian frog Phyllodytes luteolus (Anura: Hylidae): incipient gigantism?

Mageski¹,

Ferreira²,

Jesus³

et al. 2015

Zoologia (Curitiba)

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“…; Symonds and Tattersall ; Greenberg and Danner ; Greenberg et al. ,b; Greenberg and Danner ). Bills are appendages without insulation that have a layer of vascularized tissue, which can allow them to easily release metabolic heat (Tattersall et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat type and ambient temperature contribute to bill morphology

Luther

Greenberg

2014

Ecology and Evolution

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Avian bills are iconic structures for the study of ecology and evolution, with hypotheses about the morphological structure of bills dating back to Darwin. Several ecological and physiological hypotheses have been developed to explain the evolution of the morphology of bill shape. Here, we test some of these hypotheses such as the role of habitat, ambient temperature, body size, intraspecific competition, and ecological release on the evolution of bill morphology. Bill morphology and tarsus length were measured from museum specimens of yellow warblers, and grouped by habitat type, sex, and subspecies. We calculated the mean maximum daily temperature for the month of July, the hottest month for breeding specimens at each collecting location. Analysis of covariance models predicted total bill surface area as a function of sex, habitat type, body size, and temperature, and model selection techniques were used to select the best model. Habitat, mangrove forests compared with inland habitats, and climate had the largest effects on bill size. Coastal wetland habitats and island populations of yellow warblers had similar bill morphology, both of which are larger than mainland inland populations. Temperate but not tropical subspecies exhibited sexual dimorphism in bill morphology. Overall, this study provides evidence that multiple environmental factors, such as temperature and habitat, contribute to the evolution of bill morphology.

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“…Both among and within salt marsh sparrow populations, summer temperatures are good predictors of beak surface area (Greenberg and Danner ; Greenberg et al. ; Greenberg and Danner ). However, it is apparent that winter temperatures can also influence beak size, and a framework was presented by Greenberg et al.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Smaller beaks for colder winters: Thermoregulation drives beak size evolution in Australasian songbirds

et al. 2017

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Birds' beaks play a key role in foraging, and most research on their size and shape has focused on this function. Recent findings suggest that beaks may also be important for thermoregulation, and this may drive morphological evolution as predicted by Allen's rule. However, the role of thermoregulation in the evolution of beak size across species remains largely unexplored. In particular, it remains unclear whether the need for retaining heat in the winter or dissipating heat in the summer plays the greater role in selection for beak size. Comparative studies are needed to evaluate the relative importance of these functions in beak size evolution. We addressed this question in a clade of birds exhibiting wide variation in their climatic niche: the Australasian honeyeaters and allies (Meliphagoidea). Across 158 species, we compared species' climatic conditions extracted from their ranges to beak size measurements in a combined spatial-phylogenetic framework. We found that winter minimum temperature was positively correlated with beak size, while summer maximum temperature was not. This suggests that while diet and foraging behavior may drive evolutionary changes in beak shape, changes in beak size can also be explained by the beak's role in thermoregulation, and winter heat retention in particular.

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Climate, ecological release and bill dimorphism in an island songbird

Cited by 26 publications

References 20 publications

The island rule in the Brazilian frog Phyllodytes luteolus (Anura: Hylidae): incipient gigantism?

The island rule in the Brazilian frog Phyllodytes luteolus (Anura: Hylidae): incipient gigantism?

Habitat type and ambient temperature contribute to bill morphology

Smaller beaks for colder winters: Thermoregulation drives beak size evolution in Australasian songbirds

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