1
|
Differential fitness effects of moonlight on plumage colour morphs in barn owls. Nat Ecol Evol 2019; 3:1331-1340. [PMID: 31477846 PMCID: PMC6728161 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-019-0967-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2018] [Accepted: 07/24/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The Moon cycle exposes nocturnal life to variation in environmental light. However, whether moonlight shapes the fitness of nocturnal species with distinct colour variants remains unknown. Combining long-term monitoring, high-resolution GPS tracking, and experiments on prey, we show that barn owls (Tyto alba) with distinct plumage colourations are differently affected by moonlight. The reddest owls are less successful hunting and providing food to their offspring during moonlit nights, which associates with lower body mass and survival of the youngest nestlings and with female mates starting to lay eggs at low moonlight levels. Although moonlight should make white owls more conspicuous to prey, hunting and fitness of the whitest owls are positively or un-affected by moonlight. We experimentally show that, under full-moon conditions, white plumages trigger longer freezing times in the prey, which should facilitate prey catchability. We propose that the barn owl’s white plumage, a rare trait among nocturnal predators, exploits the known aversion of rodents to bright light, explaining why, counterintuitively, moonlight impacts less the whitest owls. Our study provides evidence for the long-suspected influence of the Moon on the evolution of colouration in nocturnal species, highlighting the importance of colour in nocturnal ecosystems.
Collapse
|
2
|
Roulin A, Uva V, Romano A. A melanin-based trait is more strongly related to body size in the tropics than in temperate regions in the globally distributed barn owl family. J Evol Biol 2018; 31:1932-1944. [DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2016] [Revised: 08/31/2018] [Accepted: 10/01/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Roulin
- Department of Ecology and Evolution; University of Lausanne; Biophore, Lausanne Switzerland
- Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin; Berlin Germany
| | - Vera Uva
- Department of Ecology and Evolution; University of Lausanne; Biophore, Lausanne Switzerland
| | - Andrea Romano
- Department of Ecology and Evolution; University of Lausanne; Biophore, Lausanne Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
San-Jose LM, Huyghe K, Schuerch J, Fitze PS. More melanized males bite stronger but run slower: potential performance trade-offs related to melanin-based coloration. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2017. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blx045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
|
4
|
Soulsbury CD, Kervinen M, Lebigre C. Curse of the black spot: spotting negatively correlates with fitness in black grouse Lyrurus tetrix. Behav Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arw057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
|
5
|
Almasi B, Roulin A. Signalling value of maternal and paternal melanism in the barn owl: implication for the resolution of the lek paradox. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/bij.12508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bettina Almasi
- Swiss Ornithological Institute; CH-6204 Sempach Switzerland
| | - Alexandre Roulin
- Department of Ecology and Evolution; University of Lausanne; Biophore Building CH-1015 Lausanne Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Roulin A. Condition-dependence, pleiotropy and the handicap principle of sexual selection in melanin-based colouration. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2015; 91:328-48. [PMID: 25631160 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2014] [Revised: 11/30/2014] [Accepted: 12/11/2014] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
The signalling function of melanin-based colouration is debated. Sexual selection theory states that ornaments should be costly to produce, maintain, wear or display to signal quality honestly to potential mates or competitors. An increasing number of studies supports the hypothesis that the degree of melanism covaries with aspects of body condition (e.g. body mass or immunity), which has contributed to change the initial perception that melanin-based colour ornaments entail no costs. Indeed, the expression of many (but not all) melanin-based colour traits is weakly sensitive to the environment but strongly heritable suggesting that these colour traits are relatively cheap to produce and maintain, thus raising the question of how such colour traits could signal quality honestly. Here I review the production, maintenance and wearing/displaying costs that can generate a correlation between melanin-based colouration and body condition, and consider other evolutionary mechanisms that can also lead to covariation between colour and body condition. Because genes controlling melanic traits can affect numerous phenotypic traits, pleiotropy could also explain a linkage between body condition and colouration. Pleiotropy may result in differently coloured individuals signalling different aspects of quality that are maintained by frequency-dependent selection or local adaptation. Colouration may therefore not signal absolute quality to potential mates or competitors (e.g. dark males may not achieve a higher fitness than pale males); otherwise genetic variation would be rapidly depleted by directional selection. As a consequence, selection on heritable melanin-based colouration may not always be directional, but mate choice may be conditional to environmental conditions (i.e. context-dependent sexual selection). Despite the interest of evolutionary biologists in the adaptive value of melanin-based colouration, its actual role in sexual selection is still poorly understood.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Roulin
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Building Biophore, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Saino N, Romano M, Scandolara C, Rubolini D, Ambrosini R, Caprioli M, Costanzo A, Romano A. Brownish, small and lousy barn swallows have greater natal dispersal propensity. Anim Behav 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.10.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
|
8
|
Roulin A, Ducrest AL. Genetics of colouration in birds. Semin Cell Dev Biol 2013; 24:594-608. [PMID: 23665152 DOI: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2013.05.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 110] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2012] [Revised: 04/19/2013] [Accepted: 05/01/2013] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Establishing the links between phenotype and genotype is of great importance for resolving key questions about the evolution, maintenance and adaptive function of phenotypic variation. Bird colouration is one of the most studied systems to investigate the role of natural and sexual selection in the evolution of phenotypic diversity. Given the recent advances in molecular tools that allow discovering genetic polymorphisms and measuring gene and protein expression levels, it is timely to review the literature on the genetics of bird colouration. The present study shows that melanin-based colour phenotypes are often associated with mutations at melanogenic genes. Differences in melanin-based colouration are caused by switches of eumelanin to pheomelanin production or by changes in feather keratin structure, melanoblast migration and differentiation, as well as melanosome structure. Similar associations with other types of colourations are difficult to establish, because our knowledge about the molecular genetics of carotenoid-based and structural colouration is quasi inexistent. This discrepancy stems from the fact that only melanin-based colouration shows pronounced heritability estimates, i.e. the resemblance between related individuals is usually mainly explained by genetic factors. In contrast, the expression of carotenoid-based colouration is phenotypically plastic with a high sensitivity to variation in environmental conditions. It therefore appears that melanin-based colour traits are prime systems to understand the genetic basis of phenotypic variation. In this context, birds have a great potential to bring us to new frontiers where many exciting discoveries will be made on the genetics of phenotypic traits, such as colouration. In this context, a major goal of our review is to suggest a number of exciting future avenues.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Roulin
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
| | | |
Collapse
|
9
|
Roulin A, Mangels J, Wakamatsu K, Bachmann T. Sexually dimorphic melanin-based colour polymorphism, feather melanin content, and wing feather structure in the barn owl (Tyto alba). Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/bij.12078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Roulin
- Department of Ecology and Evolution; Université de Lausanne; Lausanne; Switzerland
| | - Jule Mangels
- Institute for Fluid Mechanics and Aerodynamics; Technische Universität Darmstadt; Darmstadt; Germany
| | - Kazumasa Wakamatsu
- Department of Chemistry; School of Health Sciences; Fujita Health University; Toyoake; Aichi; Japan
| | - Thomas Bachmann
- Institute for Fluid Mechanics and Aerodynamics; Technische Universität Darmstadt; Darmstadt; Germany
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
van den Brink V, Dreiss AN, Roulin A. Melanin-based coloration predicts natal dispersal in the barn owl, Tyto alba. Anim Behav 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
|
11
|
CHARTER MOTTI, PELEG ORI, LESHEM YOSSI, ROULIN ALEXANDRE. Similar patterns of local barn owl adaptation in the Middle East and Europe with respect to melanic coloration. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2012. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2012.01863.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
|
12
|
MCKINNON JEFFREYS, PIEROTTI MICHELEER. Colour polymorphism and correlated characters: genetic mechanisms and evolution. Mol Ecol 2010; 19:5101-25. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2010.04846.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 231] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
|
13
|
DREISS AMELIEN, ROULIN ALEXANDRE. Age-related change in melanin-based coloration of Barn owls (Tyto alba): females that become more female-like and males that become more male-like perform better. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2010. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2010.01503.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
|
14
|
Antoniazza S, Burri R, Fumagalli L, Goudet J, Roulin A. Local adaptation maintains clinal variation in melanin-based coloration of European barn owls (Tyto alba). Evolution 2010; 64:1944-54. [PMID: 20148951 DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.00969.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Ecological parameters vary in space, and the resulting heterogeneity of selective forces can drive adaptive population divergence. Clinal variation represents a classical model to study the interplay of gene flow and selection in the dynamics of this local adaptation process. Although geographic variation in phenotypic traits in discrete populations could be remainders of past adaptation, maintenance of adaptive clinal variation requires recurrent selection. Clinal variation in genetically determined traits is generally attributed to adaptation of different genotypes to local conditions along an environmental gradient, although it can as well arise from neutral processes. Here, we investigated whether selection accounts for the strong clinal variation observed in a highly heritable pheomelanin-based color trait in the European barn owl by comparing spatial differentiation of color and of neutral genes among populations. Barn owl's coloration varies continuously from white in southwestern Europe to reddish-brown in northeastern Europe. A very low differentiation at neutral genetic markers suggests that substantial gene flow occurs among populations. The persistence of pronounced color differentiation despite this strong gene flow is consistent with the hypothesis that selection is the primary force maintaining color variation among European populations. Therefore, the color cline is most likely the result of local adaptation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sylvain Antoniazza
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
15
|
Roulin A. Melanin-based coloration covaries with ovary size in an age-specific manner in the barn owl. Naturwissenschaften 2009; 96:1177-84. [PMID: 19575175 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-009-0579-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2009] [Revised: 05/18/2009] [Accepted: 05/20/2009] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
While the adaptive function of black eumelanin-based coloration is relatively well known, the function of reddish-brown pheomelanin-based coloration is still unclear. Only a few studies have shown or suggested that the degree of reddish-brownness is associated with predator-prey relationships, reproductive parameters, growth rate and immunity. To gain insight into the physiological correlates of melanin-based coloration, I collected barn owl (Tyto alba) cadavers and examined the covariation between this colour trait and ovary size, an organ that increases in size before reproduction. A relationship is expected because melanin-based coloration often co-varies with sexual activity. The results showed that reddish-brown juveniles had larger ovaries than whiter juveniles particularly in individuals in poor condition and outside the breeding season, while in birds older than 2 years lightly coloured females had larger ovaries than reddish-brown conspecifics. As barn owls become less reddish-brown between the first and second year of age, the present study suggests that reddish-brown pheomelanic and whitish colorations are associated with juvenile- and adult-specific adaptations, respectively.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Roulin
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biophore, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Covariation between eumelanic pigmentation and body mass only under specific conditions. Naturwissenschaften 2009; 96:375-82. [PMID: 19122994 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-008-0489-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2008] [Revised: 11/17/2008] [Accepted: 11/24/2008] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
|
17
|
ROULIN A, WINK M, SALAMIN N. Selection on a eumelanic ornament is stronger in the tropics than in temperate zones in the worldwide-distributed barn owl. J Evol Biol 2008; 22:345-54. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2008.01651.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
|
18
|
Allen CE. The “Eyespot Module” and eyespots as modules: development, evolution, and integration of a complex phenotype. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART B-MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2008; 310:179-90. [PMID: 17631653 DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.21186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Organisms are inherently modular, yet modules also evolve in response to selection for functional integration or functional specialization of traits. For serially repeated homologous traits, there is a clear expectation that selection on the function of individual traits will reduce the integration between traits and subdivide a single ancestral module. The eyespots on butterfly wings are one example of serially repeated morphological traits that share a common developmental mechanism but are subject to natural and sexual selection for divergent functions. Here, I test two hypotheses about the organization of the eyespot pattern into independent dorsal-ventral and anterior-posterior modules, using a graphical modeling technique to examine patterns of eyespot covariation among and within wing surfaces in the butterfly Bicyclus anynana. Although there is a hierarchical and complex pattern of integration among eyespots, the results show a surprising mismatch between patterns of eyespot integration and the developmental and evolutionary eyespot units identified in previous empirical studies. These results are discussed in light of the relationships between developmental, functional, and evolutionary modules, and they suggest that developmental sources of independent trait variation are often masked by developmental sources of trait integration.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cerisse E Allen
- Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Melanin-based colorations signal strategies to cope with poor and rich environments. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2007. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-007-0475-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
|
20
|
ROULIN ALEXANDRE. Melanin pigmentation negatively correlates with plumage preening effort in barn owls. Funct Ecol 2007. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2006.01229.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
|
21
|
Roulin A, Altwegg R. Breeding rate is associated with pheomelanism in male and with eumelanism in female barn owls. Behav Ecol 2007. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arm015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
|
22
|
Bize P, Gasparini J, Klopfenstein A, Altwegg R, Roulin A. MELANIN-BASED COLORATION IS A NONDIRECTIONALLY SELECTED SEX-SPECIFIC SIGNAL OF OFFSPRING DEVELOPMENT IN THE ALPINE SWIFT. Evolution 2006. [DOI: 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2006.tb01871.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
|
23
|
Bize P, Gasparini J, Klopfenstein A, Altwegg R, Roulin A. MELANIN-BASED COLORATION IS A NONDIRECTIONALLY SELECTED SEX-SPECIFIC SIGNAL OF OFFSPRING DEVELOPMENT IN THE ALPINE SWIFT. Evolution 2006. [DOI: 10.1554/06-155.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
|