Sexual and natural selection in the evolution of extended phenotypes: the use of green nesting material in starlings

Rubalcaba, Juan G.; Polo, Vicente; Maia, Rafael; Rubenstein, Dustin R.; Veiga, José P.

doi:10.1111/jeb.12893

Cited by 15 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…and Myrtaceae plants (Rodríguez‐Cabal & Branch, 2011 ), influencing the particularities of Dromiciops nest. Nests are considered part of an organism's “extended phenotype” (Rubalcaba et al, 2016 ), imprinted by the same combination of environmental and genetic factors of standard phenotypic variation. In the case of Microbiotheria, several lines of evidence suggest that the nest is fundamental for their survival (Franco et al, 2013 ; Hershkovitz, 1999 ; Honorato et al, 2016 ).…”

Section: Conservation Threats and Future Trendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ecology and evolution of the monito del monte, a relict species from the southern South America temperate forests

Fontúrbel

Pérez

Bozinovic

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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The arboreal marsupial monito del monte (genus Dromiciops , with two recognized species) is a paradigmatic mammal. It is the sole living representative of the order Microbiotheria, the ancestor lineage of Australian marsupials. Also, this marsupial is the unique frugivorous mammal in the temperate rainforest, being the main seed disperser of several endemic plants of this ecosystem, thus acting as keystone species. Dromiciops is also one of the few hibernating mammals in South America, spending half of the year in a physiological dormancy where metabolism is reduced to 10% of normal levels. This capacity to reduce energy expenditure in winter contrasts with the enormous energy turnover rate they experience in spring and summer. The unique life history strategies of this living Microbiotheria, characterized by an alternation of life in the slow and fast lanes, putatively represent ancestral traits that permitted these cold‐adapted mammals to survive in this environment. Here, we describe the ecological role of this emblematic marsupial, summarizing the ecophysiology of hibernation and sociality, updated phylogeographic relationships, reproductive cycle, trophic relationships, mutualisms, conservation, and threats. This marsupial shows high densities, despite presenting slow reproductive rates, a paradox explained by the unique characteristics of its three‐dimensional habitat. We finally suggest immediate actions to protect these species that may be threatened in the near future due to habitat destruction and climate change.

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Section: Conservation Threats and Future Trendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ecology and evolution of the monito del monte, a relict species from the southern South America temperate forests

Fontúrbel

Pérez

Bozinovic

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…and Myrtaceae plants (Rodríguez-Cabal & Branch, 2011), influencing the particularities ofDromiciops nest. Nests are considered part of an organism's 'extended phenotype' (Rubalcaba, Polo, Maia, Rubenstein, & Veiga, 2016), imprinted by the same combination of environmental and genetic factors of standard phenotypic variation. In the case of Microbiotheria, several lines of evidence suggest that the nest is fundamental for their survival (Franco, Contreras, & Nespolo, 2013;Hershkovitz, 1999;Honorato et al, 2016).…”

Section: Conservation Threats and Future Trendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ecology and evolution of the Monito del monte, a relict species from the southern South America temperate forests

Fontúrbel

Franco

Bozinovic

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The arboreal marsupial Monito del Monte (genus Dromiciops, with two recognized species) is a paradigmatic mammal. It is the sole living representative of the order Microbiotheria, the ancestor lineage of Australian marsupials. Also, this marsupial is the unique frugivorous mammal in the temperate rainforest, being the main seed disperser of several endemic plants of this ecosystem, thus acting as keystone species. Dromiciops is also one of the few hibernating mammals in South America, spending half of the year in a physiological dormancy where metabolism is reduced to 10% of normal levels. This capacity to reduce energy expenditure in winter contrasts with the enormous energy turnover rate they experience in spring and summer. The unique life-history strategies of this living Microbiotheria, characterized by an alternation of life in the slow and fast lanes, putatively represent ancestral traits that permitted these cold-adapted mammals to survive in this environment. Here we describe the ecological role of this emblematic marsupial, summarizing the ecophysiology of hibernation and sociality, actualized phylogeographic relationships, reproductive cycle, trophic relationships, mutualisms, conservation and threats. This marsupial shows high densities, despite presenting slow reproductive rates, a paradox that is explained by the unique characteristics of its three-dimensional habitat. We finally suggest immediate actions to protect these locally abundant but globally threatened species.

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“…Independently of the reasons determining preferences for specific aromatic plants, the detected higher amount of green plants during the pre-laying stage, as well as the preferences for aromatic plants during the laying stage, suggest a primary role of this material in sexual signaling and nest protection against pathogens, which may be more prominent during the egg laying stage (see Rubalcaba et al 2016).…”

Section: Green Plant Preferencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nest material preferences by spotless starlings

et al. 2017

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The avian nest is an essential structure for offspring development. For adults, nest building entails costs in terms of time, energy and exposure to predators and parasites. Amount and diversity of materials used for nest building depend on their availability and functionality in scenarios of sexual selection and parasitism. Green plants and feathers of different colors have been hypothesized to play key roles in offspring protection against pathogens, and we here experimentally assessed spotless starling (Sturnus unicolor) preferences for pigmented vs. unpigmented feathers and for different green plants (aromatic vs. non-aromatic plants) as nest materials. We predicted a preferential selection of unpigmented feathers and aromatic plants according to the antimicrobial properties of these materials described in the literature. We evaluated these predictions during nest building and during egg-laying stages. As expected, starlings preferentially selected unpigmented feathers both before and during egg laying, while aromatic plants were preferentially selected only during the egglaying stage. These results suggest that starlings prefer nest materials that enhance antimicrobial protection of their offspring. We also discuss some other, non-exclusive functions that might explain the observed preference for nest materials, especially with regard to their potential role in sexual signaling.

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Sexual and natural selection in the evolution of extended phenotypes: the use of green nesting material in starlings

Cited by 15 publications

References 58 publications

The ecology and evolution of the monito del monte, a relict species from the southern South America temperate forests

The ecology and evolution of the monito del monte, a relict species from the southern South America temperate forests

The ecology and evolution of the Monito del monte, a relict species from the southern South America temperate forests

Nest material preferences by spotless starlings

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