723 research outputs found
Sexual selection in genetic colour-polymorphic species: a review of experimental studies and perspectives
Sexual selection theory has primarily focussed on the role of mating preferences for the best individuals in the evolution of condition-dependent ornaments, traits that signal absolute quality. Because the most suitable mate for one individual is not always the best for others, however, we argue that non-directional mate choice can promote the evolution of alternative morphs that are not condition-dependent in their expression (i.e. genetic polymorphism). We list the different mate-choice rules (i.e. all individuals have the same preference; preference depends on the chooser's morph; individuals mate preferentially with conspecifics displaying an uncommon or the most frequent morph) and review experimental studies that investigated mate choice in natural populations of colour-polymorphic animals. Our review emphasises that although the experimental data support the idea that sexual selection plays an important role in the evolution of genetic colour polymorphism in many different ways, little is known about the adaptive value of each mate-choice strategy and about their implication in the evolutionary stability of colour polymorphism. One way of solving this problem is to determine the adaptive function of colour morphs, a worthwhile objective, because better understanding of mate-choice rules in polymorphic species should provide important insights into sexual-selection processes and, in turn, into the maintenance of genetic variatio
Selective disappearance of individuals with high levels of glycated haemoglobin in a free-living bird
This work was supported by the ANR (ANR-06-JCJC0082 to B.D.), the CNRS (PEPS INEE and PICS FranceâSwitzerland to B.D.), the French Ministe`re de lâEnseignement SupeÂŽrieur et de la Recherche (PhD fellowship to C.R.), the ReÂŽgion RhoËne-Alpes (Exploraâdoc mobility grant to C.R.), the University of Aberdeen (stipend to C.R.), the LâOreÂŽal Foundation-UNESCO âFor Women in Scienceâ program (fellowship to C.R.) and the Rectorsâ Conference of the Swiss Universities (grant to C.R. and P.B.).Peer reviewedPostprin
Correlation in telomere lengths between feathers and blood cells in pied flycatchers
We are grateful to Toni Laaksonen, Pauliina Teerikorpi, Ville Ojala, Wiebke Schuett, Corinna Adrian and Marie Hardenbicker for their help in the field, and two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments on the manuscript. This research was financially supported by the Turku Collegium for Science and Medicine (grant to AS) and Societas Pro Fauna et Flora Fennica, The Kuopio Naturalistsâ Society, and Finnish Cultural Foundation Varsinais-Suomi regional fund (grants to TK). The authors declare to have no conflict of interests. Dataset used in this study will be publicly accessible on Figshare https://figshare.com/s/dffa03e1e91c2e57dc13).Peer reviewedPostprin
Importance of melanin-based colouration and environment in shaping intracellular glutathione levels in nestling and adult tawny owls Strix aluco
Acknowledgements â We are grateful to Isabelle Henry, Arnaud Da Silva, MĂ©lissa Noll, Sophie Cotting, Adrian Moriette and Alexandre Chausson for assistance in the field and the Swiss National Science Foundation for financial support (PPOA-102913 and 3100AO_120517 to AR). Funding â Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
An Experimental Test of a Causal Link between Problem-Solving Performance and Reproductive Success in Wild Great Tits
This work was supported by a NSERC grant to A.B., a PICS grant from the CNRS (INEE, n° 31520) to B.D., a PhD writing up grant from the FESP (UdM) and a scholarship from the Biological Sciences Department (UdM) to LC and a mobility grant ERASMUS to M.L. We are also grateful to the ABS, the BOU, the BES, the Frank M. Chapman from AMNH and the Fred Cooke from the SCO for awards and research grants attributed to L.C.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Beak colour dynamically signals changes in fasting status and parasite loads in king penguins
This research was funded by the French Polar Institute (IPEVâResearch Program 119) and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS-INEE). Field logistic support was provided by Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises. Q.S. was funded by a doctoral fellowship from the MinistĂšre Français de lâEducation SupĂ©rieur et de la Recherche. We thank all over-wintering assistants: Benoit Gineste, Sylvia Pardonnet, Laureline Durand, Emilie Lefol and HĂ©di Saadaoui for field work and Emilio Rojas for helpful discussion on the analyses. We apologize to our stick insect (Carausius morosus) for bearing with VAVâs inquisitive curiosity during our debates on color ornaments in king penguins. We sincerely thank the editor and 2 anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on a previous version of the paper.Peer reviewedPostprin
Variation in feather corticosterone levels in Alpine swift nestlings provides support for the hypo-responsive hypothesis
Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank the numerous students who helped collecting data in the field and the city council of Solothurn for access the Bieltor tower. SJE would like to thank Benedetta Catitti for producing the figures and Lukas Jenni for valuable comments on the manuscript. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.Peer reviewedPostprintPublisher PD
Antioxidant capacity is repeatable across years but does not consistently correlate with a marker of peroxidation in a free-living passerine bird
Many thanks to the landowners of Gotland for access to the study sites; to Lars Gustafsson for logistics on the field; to fifteen students and field assistants for their contribution to fieldwork; to François Criscuolo for his help designing the study and his comments on this manuscript; to Holger Schielzeth and Pierre de Villemereuil for their advice on adjusting repeatability and correlation estimates for measurement error and to Alan A. Cohen, David Costantini and anonymous reviewers for their comments on previous versions of this manuscript. This work was supported by the French National Center for Scientific Research (PICS France34 Switzerland to B.D.); the French Ministry of Research (PhD fellowship to C.R.); the University of Aberdeen (stipend to C.R.); the LâOrĂ©al Foundation-UNESCO âFor Women in Scienceâ program (fellowship to C.R.); the RĂ©gion RhĂŽne-Alpes (Exploraâdoc mobility grant to C.R.); the FĂ©dĂ©ration de Recherche 41 BioEnvironnement et SantĂ© (training grant to CR); the Rectorsâ Conference of the Swiss Universities (joint doctoral program grant to C.R.) and the Fondation pour l'UniversitĂ© de Lausanne (exchange grant to C.R.); and the Journal of Experimental Biology (travel grant to CR).Peer reviewedPostprin
Short Communication : Long-term intake of the illegal diet pill DNP reduces lifespan in a captive bird model
Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank A. Hranitzky for support in bird mainte-nance, numerous students for their help in data collection, and N. Metcalfe, S. Dobson as well as S. Reichert for helpful comments on a previous draft. Funding AS was funded by a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (#658085) and a TCSM fellowship at the time of analyzing the results and writing the manuscriptPeer reviewedPostprin
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