Morphological measurements of Galapagos finches (Geospiza fuliginosa), 2000-2005

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Artificial nests: superb fairy-wren chatter song rate and predation outcome

Superb fairy-wren chatter song rate at artificial nests and depredation outcome. There were three treatment groups for chatter song rate: none, low (6 songs per hour), high (20 songs per hour). The study was done in South Australia

Narural nests: superb fairy-wren chatter song rate and depredation outcome

Superb fairy-wren chatter song rate and depredation outcome at natural nests. The data consist of chatter songs per hour per nesting phase (fertile phase, incubation, nestling) and depredation outcome (0=depredated, 1=survived) per phase for a total of 72 nests observed in South Australia

<b>Are buzzes signals of aggressive intent in Darwin’s finches?</b>

Data collected to investigate the function of buzz vocalisations in Darwin's finches. </p

Buzzes are used as signals of aggressive intent in Darwin's finches

Signals of aggression may potentially reduce the fitness costs of conflict during agonistic interactions if they are honest. Here we examined whether the ‘buzz’ vocalization in two species of Darwin’s finches, the small tree finch, Camarhynchus parvulus, and the critically endangered medium tree finch, C. pauper, found in Floreana Island, Galápagos Archipelago, is a signal of aggression. Specifically, we assessed three criteria for aggressive signalling (context, predictive, and response criteria) in an observational study and a playback experiment. In the observational study, buzzes by the resident male were more common when an intruder was present on the territory in medium tree finches but not small tree finches (context criterion). In the playback experiment, buzzes increased during and after a simulated intrusion for both species (context criterion). Buzzes before the playback period predicted aggressive responses by males (predictive criterion) but buzzes during playback did not. Finally, both species responded more strongly to playbacks of conspecific buzzes compared to conspecific songs and heterospecific buzzes (response criterion). Together the results support the aggressive signal hypothesis for buzz vocalizations, although future studies are needed to understand the evolution and development of this interesting signal.</p

Darwin’s finches in human-altered environments sing common song types and are more aggressive

Human-altered landscapes may act as an environmental filter benefiting species or individuals with specific sets of capacities or behaviors. Yet the effects of human activity on culturally transmitted traits in animals are still poorly understood. Combining song recordings and simulated territory intrusions, we investigated whether songs (a cultural trait) and aggressiveness (a personality trait) in small ground finches (Geospiza fuliginosa) differed along a gradient of human activity levels (high-low-high) spanning two habitats with contrasting levels of rainfall (arid lowlands, humid highlands). We found that more common syllable types were more prevalent in arid lowland sites and at sites with high human activity. The number of syllables per song, song duration, song tempo and song rhythmicity did not differ across habitats or levels of human activity. During simulated territorial intrusions, small ground finches living in areas with higher levels of human activity and in the arid lowlands (regardless of human activity) showed the strongest aggressive response compared to those living in areas with lower levels of human activity or in the humid highlands. Thus, prevalence of aggression and syllable commonness correlated with each other across sites. Our results support the idea that resource distribution and human-impacted environments may select jointly for specific behavioral phenotypes such as aggression as well as common cultural traits

Genetic variation in the invasive avian parasite, (Diptera, Muscidae) on the Galápagos archipelago-2

Left) and Isabela (n = 9) (centre top), and (b) all individuals from Floreana Island (n = 76) (bottom right). Black dots represent independent geographic sampling points (i.e. location of bird nests). Note that two geographic sampling points on Isabela Island were within 5 m of each other and are not distinguishable.<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Genetic variation in the invasive avian parasite, (Diptera, Muscidae) on the Galápagos archipelago"</p><p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6785/8/13</p><p>BMC Ecology 2008;8():13-13.</p><p>Published online 31 Jul 2008</p><p>PMCID:PMC2527555.</p><p></p

Peters et al. MorphologyData

Morphological measurements of tree finches sampled on Floreana Island, Galápagos in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Techniques for measuring morphological variables are described in the associated manuscript. ‘Putative population’ refers to assignment based on morphology for exploratory analyses (see associated manuscript and supplementary material). ‘Cluster’ and ‘Membership Coefficient’ refers to population assignment based on analyses of microsatellite loci (using the program STRUCTURE)

Peters et al. PairingData

Assortative pairing, genetic and morphological data for male and female tree finches sampled on Floreana Island, Galapagos, 2005, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2014. Techniques for measuring morphological features are described in the associated manuscript. ‘Cluster’, ‘Cluster_2’ and ‘Membership Coefficient’ refers to population assignment based on analyses of microsatellite loci (using the program STRUCTURE)

Patterns of morphological and mitochondrial diversity in parapatric subspecies of the Thick-billed Grasswren (<i>Amytornis modestus</i>)

<p>Divergence is the first phase of speciation and is commonly thought to occur more readily in allopatric populations. Subspecies are populations that are divergent but generally retain the capacity to interbreed should they come into contact. Two subspecies of the Thick-billed Grasswren (<i>Amytornis modestus</i>) are divergent by 1.7% at the mitochondrial ND2 gene and were previously considered to be allopatric. In this study, we discovered that the subspecies were parapatric. We use a larger sample size than previous studies to examine variation in morphology and mitochondrial haplotype across the distribution of each subspecies and within the region of parapatry. The subspecies occurring to the west, <i>Amytornis modestus indulkanna</i>, had larger body size and longer and narrower bill than the subspecies occurring to the east, <i>A. m. raglessi</i>. Within the region of parapatry, females were morphologically similar to <i>A. m. indulkanna</i> but had eastern mitochondrial haplotypes while males had intermediate morphology and either eastern or western haplotypes. Additionally, haplotypes from the western mitochondrial clade were found in <i>A. m. raglessi</i>. These patterns of morphology and mitochondrial diversity reveal discordance within the region of parapatry and to the east. We suggest that the subspecies have undergone asymmetric expansion from west to east, made secondary contact, and are currently hybridising.</p