Melanin Ornaments, Honesty, and Sexual Selection

Jawor, Jodie M.; Breitwisch, Randall

doi:10.1093/auk/120.2.249

Cited by 133 publications

(158 citation statements)

References 135 publications

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“…We surveyed published studies on condition‐dependent melanin plumage by searching Web of Science for studies that included ‘black plumage’ or ‘melanin plumage’, in combination with the terms ‘condition’ or ‘quality’. Additionally, we surveyed the references of previous meta‐ analyses on melanin‐based plumage for studies that also contained information on individual condition (Jawor and Breitwisch 2003, Roulin 2009, Meunier et al 2011). We characterized species as either achromatic (primarily black, brown, grey or white) or chromatic (also possessing a carotenoid‐based red, orange or yellow ornament) to investigate whether the presence of a carotenoid‐based signal can influence the condition‐dependence of a melanin signal.…”

Section: Revisiting the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting the condition‐dependence of melanin‐based plumage

Guindre‐Parker¹,

Love²

2013

Journal of Avian Biology

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Support against the condition-dependence of melanin plumage signals has relied on data from species exhibiting both melanin-and carotenoid-based plumage ornaments. As the mechanisms leading to variation in carotenoid-and melaninbased plumage diff er fundamentally, these systems may not be ideal to assess the condition-dependence of melanin signals. Instead, we hypothesized that melanin-plumage is more likely to signal condition in purely achromatic species. We performed a meta-analysis reviewing evidence for condition-dependent melanic plumage: we compared the net eff ect size for the relationship between melanin traits and condition in species that are achromatic versus species that also display a carotenoid-based trait. Our results indicate that melanin plumage is condition-dependent in species of both plumage types. Contrarily to our prediction, this fi nding suggests that melanin ornament condition-dependence is not conditional on the context of other ornaments within a species. Instead, melanin ornaments should be viewed as potential conditiondependent signals in all species.

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Section: Revisiting the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting the condition‐dependence of melanin‐based plumage

Guindre‐Parker¹,

Love²

2013

Journal of Avian Biology

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“…Given that pitvipers are active during various times of the day, that they occupy a wide variety of habitats, and that some species have broad geographic distributions, it is likely that exposure to ultraviolet radiation varies considerably among and within species. Because melanin production can be costly (Jawor & Breitwisch, 2003), evolutionary losses of facial stripes may occur when exposure to ultraviolet radiation is limited in closed habitats, or evolutionary gains of facial stripes may only occur under conditions of high ultraviolet in open habitats.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary losses of facial stripes in New World pitvipers

Kwiatkowski

Burt

2011

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

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Associations between the evolutionary loss or gain of colours and habitat can be informative about how environment drives colour evolution, and provide insight into their functions. Despite a wealth of studies on colours, the function of many colour patches are not well understood. This is especially the case for dark facial markings. Dark facial stripes are common in snakes, including many pitvipers, which possess facial stripes that extend from the eye towards the corner of the mouth. We investigated whether the evolutionary loss or gain of facial stripes in New World pitvipers is associated with activity period and habitat, hoping to shed light on their function. First, we examined whether evolutionary loss or gain of facial stripes is associated with nocturnal or diurnal activity. It has been suggested that facial stripes may protect the venom from ultraviolet radiation, which would be higher in diurnal species. Similarly, snakes in open habitats may experience higher ultraviolet radiation than those in closed habitats. Alternatively, we examined whether evolutionary loss or gain of facial stripes is associated with terrestrial or non-terrestrial habitat use. Studies on similar facial markings in other vertebrates indicated that they have a signalling function. If facial stripes in pitvipers have a signalling function, arboreal or saxicolous habitat use may limit signal effectiveness. Hence, we hypothesized that there may be an association between facial stripe evolution and habitat use. Using combined phylogenies that included almost every New World pitviper species, we tested correlations between facial stripes and ultraviolet exposure (activity period and habitat openness) and habitat use (terrestrial or non-terrestrial) using concentrated-changes tests and Pagel's correlation tests. Our data did not support the hypothesis that ultraviolet exposure influenced facial stripe evolution. Instead, the evolutionary loss of facial stripes was associated with non-terrestrial habitat use, such as arboreal and saxicolous habitats. In these habitats, we suggest the effectiveness of facial stripes as a signal would be limited, leading to their evolutionary loss.

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“…Notably, pigmentation plays an important role in anti‐predator strategies (e.g. camouflage, aposematism: Summers and Clough , Stevens , sexual selection: Jawor and Breitwisch , immunity: Gillespie et al , McGraw and Klasing , and thermoregulation: Clusella‐Trullas et al ). Additionally, the photoprotective properties of pigments such as melanin can limit the extent of damage incurred by direct exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) (280– 400 nm) (Jablonski and Chaplin , True ).…”

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confidence: 99%

Host egg pigmentation protects developing parasitoids from ultraviolet radiation

Gaudreau

Abram

Brodeur

2017

Oikos

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Parasites rely on their hosts not only for nutrition and reproduction, but also for protection against natural enemies and adverse climatic conditions. In host-parasite interactions, protective characteristics of both players are important to consider regarding damaging effects of environmental hazards. While ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is pervasive and harmful to organisms in general, its impact on parasite fitness remains understudied. Moreover, studies that do examine the effects of UV exposure on parasitic organisms tend to neglect host traits, which may vary inter-or intra-specifically and thus confer different levels of environmental protection. We examined in the laboratory whether the UV-protective value of host egg pigmentation could also benefit parasitoids, using the egg parasitoid Telenomus podisi and the predatory stink bug Podisus maculiventris. This host species lays eggs of variable pigmentation levels from light to dark grey, an adaptation protecting its own embryos from UVR. We showed that higher levels of host egg pigmentation protect parasitoids subjected to a developmental exposure to UVR, increasing emergence rates by up to 86% and reducing development time by up to 4%. This protective effect of host pigmentation was context-dependent, being less pronounced at low UVR intensity and towards the end of parasitoid development. Parasitoids that emerged from darker-coloured eggs exposed to UVR were of slightly larger size than those developing in light-coloured eggs, but other fitness-related traits (fecundity, longevity, sex ratio) were unaffected. This study provides the first experimental evidence that host pigmentation can increase host suitability for parasitic organisms, and emphasizes the importance of considering trait variation in interacting species when investigating the susceptibility of ecological communities to important abiotic environmental factors.

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Melanin Ornaments, Honesty, and Sexual Selection

Cited by 133 publications

References 135 publications

Revisiting the condition‐dependence of melanin‐based plumage

Revisiting the condition‐dependence of melanin‐based plumage

Evolutionary losses of facial stripes in New World pitvipers

Host egg pigmentation protects developing parasitoids from ultraviolet radiation

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