1
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Diamant ES, Yeh PJ. Complex patterns of morphological diversity across multiple populations of an urban bird species. Evolution 2024; 78:1325-1337. [PMID: 38700135 DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpae067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Revised: 04/21/2024] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/05/2024]
Abstract
Urbanization presents a natural evolutionary experiment because selection pressures in cities can be strongly mismatched with those found in species' historic habitats. However, some species have managed to adapt and even thrive in these novel conditions. When a species persists across multiple cities, a fundamental question arises: do we see similar traits evolve in similar novel environments? By testing if and how similar phenotypes emerge across multiple urban populations, we can begin to assess the predictability of population response to anthropogenic change. Here, we examine variation within and across multiple populations of a songbird, the dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis). We measured morphological variations in juncos across urban and nonurban populations in Southern California. We investigated whether the variations we observed were due to differences in environmental conditions across cities. Bill shape differed across urban populations; Los Angeles and Santa Barbara juncos had shorter, deeper bills than nonurban juncos, but San Diego juncos did not. On the other hand, wing length decreased with the built environment, regardless of the population. Southern Californian urban juncos exhibit both similarities and differences in morphological traits. Studying multiple urban populations can help us determine the predictability of phenotypic evolutionary responses to novel environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleanor S Diamant
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
- Jacob Blaustein Center for Scientific Cooperation, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
| | - Pamela J Yeh
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, United States
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2
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Wang Y, Hu Q, Wang Y, Liu J, Du Z, Xu J, Li J. Selective effect of winter weather on a songbird's morphology depends on individual sex and winter condition. Oecologia 2024; 205:339-350. [PMID: 38829403 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-024-05577-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2023] [Accepted: 05/29/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024]
Abstract
Knowledge of the effect of harsh weather on the phenotypic traits of organisms is essential for understanding the environmental influence on phenotype evolution and holds implications for predicting how species respond to current climate change. For many birds, harsh weather in winter often imposes a strong selective effect on their survival, and only the individuals with certain phenotypes may survive. However, whether the selective effect on phenotype varies with winter weather conditions has been poorly investigated. Here, we explored the selective effect of winter weather on black-throated tit's (Aegithalos concinnus) morphological traits under winters with and without severe snowstorms. We found that for males, the sizes of their bills, heads and wings significantly affected their overwinter survival, but the effects varied with winter conditions. In relatively benign winters, males with smaller bill depths, smaller bill surface areas, and greater head lengths survived better; whereas, in winters with severe snowstorms, a reverse pattern was found. This phenomenon was likely driven by selection pressures from heat retention and foraging requirements, with their relative importance depending on winter conditions. Additionally, wing length was positively correlated with male survival and the relationship was stronger in harsher winters, which was probably due to longer wings' higher flight efficiency in adverse weather. By contrast, we found no correlation between morphological traits and survival in females. These results suggest a sex-specific and condition-dependent selective effect of environment on bird phenotypes, implying complicated interactions between different selection pressures and phenotype evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yue Wang
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Qian Hu
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Yu Wang
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Jinfa Liu
- Administration Bureau of Dongzhai National Nature Reserve, Luoshan, Henan, China
| | - Zhiyong Du
- Administration Bureau of Dongzhai National Nature Reserve, Luoshan, Henan, China
| | - Jiliang Xu
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Jianqiang Li
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China.
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3
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Hay EM, McGee MD, White CR, Chown SL. Body size shapes song in honeyeaters. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20240339. [PMID: 38654649 PMCID: PMC11040244 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.0339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 03/22/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Birdsongs are among the most distinctive animal signals. Their evolution is thought to be shaped simultaneously by habitat structure and by the constraints of morphology. Habitat structure affects song transmission and detectability, thus influencing song (the acoustic adaptation hypothesis), while body size and beak size and shape necessarily constrain song characteristics (the morphological constraint hypothesis). Yet, support for the acoustic adaptation and morphological constraint hypotheses remains equivocal, and their simultaneous examination is infrequent. Using a phenotypically diverse Australasian bird clade, the honeyeaters (Aves: Meliphagidae), we compile a dataset consisting of song, environmental, and morphological variables for 163 species and jointly examine predictions of these two hypotheses. Overall, we find that body size constrains song frequency and pace in honeyeaters. Although habitat type and environmental temperature influence aspects of song, that influence is indirect, likely via effects of environmental variation on body size, with some evidence that elevation constrains the evolution of song peak frequency. Our results demonstrate that morphology has an overwhelming influence on birdsong, in support of the morphological constraint hypothesis, with the environment playing a secondary role generally via body size rather than habitat structure. These results suggest that changing body size (a consequence of both global effects such as climate change and local effects such as habitat transformation) will substantially influence the nature of birdsong.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleanor M. Hay
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Matthew D. McGee
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Craig R. White
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Steven L. Chown
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3800, Australia
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4
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Benham PM, Cicero C, Escalona M, Beraut E, Fairbairn C, Marimuthu MPA, Nguyen O, Sahasrabudhe R, King BL, Thomas WK, Kovach AI, Nachman MW, Bowie RCK. Remarkably High Repeat Content in the Genomes of Sparrows: The Importance of Genome Assembly Completeness for Transposable Element Discovery. Genome Biol Evol 2024; 16:evae067. [PMID: 38566597 PMCID: PMC11088854 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evae067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2023] [Revised: 03/01/2024] [Accepted: 03/23/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Transposable elements (TE) play critical roles in shaping genome evolution. Highly repetitive TE sequences are also a major source of assembly gaps making it difficult to fully understand the impact of these elements on host genomes. The increased capacity of long-read sequencing technologies to span highly repetitive regions promises to provide new insights into patterns of TE activity across diverse taxa. Here we report the generation of highly contiguous reference genomes using PacBio long-read and Omni-C technologies for three species of Passerellidae sparrow. We compared these assemblies to three chromosome-level sparrow assemblies and nine other sparrow assemblies generated using a variety of short- and long-read technologies. All long-read based assemblies were longer (range: 1.12 to 1.41 Gb) than short-read assemblies (0.91 to 1.08 Gb) and assembly length was strongly correlated with the amount of repeat content. Repeat content for Bell's sparrow (31.2% of genome) was the highest level ever reported within the order Passeriformes, which comprises over half of avian diversity. The highest levels of repeat content (79.2% to 93.7%) were found on the W chromosome relative to other regions of the genome. Finally, we show that proliferation of different TE classes varied even among species with similar levels of repeat content. These patterns support a dynamic model of TE expansion and contraction even in a clade where TEs were once thought to be fairly depauperate and static. Our work highlights how the resolution of difficult-to-assemble regions of the genome with new sequencing technologies promises to transform our understanding of avian genome evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phred M Benham
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Carla Cicero
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Merly Escalona
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - Eric Beraut
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - Colin Fairbairn
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - Mohan P A Marimuthu
- DNA Technologies and Expression Analysis Core Laboratory, Genome Center, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Oanh Nguyen
- DNA Technologies and Expression Analysis Core Laboratory, Genome Center, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Ruta Sahasrabudhe
- DNA Technologies and Expression Analysis Core Laboratory, Genome Center, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Benjamin L King
- Department of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA
| | - W Kelley Thomas
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
| | - Adrienne I Kovach
- Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
| | - Michael W Nachman
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Rauri C K Bowie
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
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5
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Subasinghe K, Symonds MRE, Prober SM, Bonnet T, Williams KJ, Ware C, Gardner JL. Spatial variation in avian bill size is associated with temperature extremes in a major radiation of Australian passerines. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20232480. [PMID: 38262606 PMCID: PMC10805599 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Morphology is integral to body temperature regulation. Recent advances in understanding of thermal physiology suggest a role of the avian bill in thermoregulation. To explore the adaptive significance of bill size for thermoregulation we characterized relationships between bill size and climate extremes. Most previous studies focused on climate means, ignoring frequencies of extremes, and do not reflect thermoregulatory costs experienced over shorter time scales. Using 79 species (9847 museum specimens), we explore how bill size variation is associated with temperature extremes in a large and diverse radiation of Australasian birds, Meliphagides, testing a series of predictions. Overall, across the continent, bill size variation was associated with both climate extremes and means and was most strongly associated with winter temperatures; associations at the level of climate zones differed from continent-wide associations and were complex, yet consistent with physiology and a thermoregulatory role for avian bills. Responses to high summer temperatures were nonlinear suggesting they may be difficult to detect in large-scale continental analyses using previous methodologies. We provide strong evidence that climate extremes have contributed to the evolution of bill morphology in relation to thermoregulation and show the importance of including extremes to understand fine-scale trait variation across space.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kalya Subasinghe
- CSIRO Environment, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia
- Department of Zoology and Environmental Management, University of Kelaniya, Kelaniya 11600, Sri Lanka
| | - Matthew R. E. Symonds
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia
| | - Suzanne M. Prober
- CSIRO Environment, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
| | - Timothée Bonnet
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé UMR 7372 Université de la Rochelle-CNRS, 405 route de Prissé la Charrière 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
| | - Kristen J. Williams
- CSIRO Environment, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
| | - Chris Ware
- CSIRO Environment, University of Tasmania, College Road, Sandy Bay Tas 7005, Australia
| | - Janet L. Gardner
- CSIRO Environment, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
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6
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Zichello JM, DeLiberto ST, Holmes P, Pierwola AA, Werner SJ. Recent beak evolution in North American starlings after invasion. Sci Rep 2024; 14:140. [PMID: 38167426 PMCID: PMC10761893 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-49623-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Accepted: 12/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
European starlings are one of the most abundant and problematic avian invaders in the world. From their native range across Eurasia and North Africa, they have been introduced to every continent except Antarctica. In 160 years, starlings have expanded into different environments throughout the world, making them a powerful model for understanding rapid evolutionary change and adaptive plasticity. Here, we investigate their spatiotemporal morphological variation in North America and the native range. Our dataset includes 1217 specimens; a combination of historical museum skins and modern birds. Beak length in the native range has remained unchanged during the past 206 years, but we find beak length in North American birds is now 8% longer than birds from the native range. We discuss potential drivers of this pattern including dietary adaptation or climatic pressures. Additionally, body size in North American starlings is smaller than those from the native range, which suggests a role for selection or founder effect. Taken together, our results indicate rapid recent evolutionary change in starling morphology coincident with invasion into novel environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia M Zichello
- Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.
- Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Shelagh T DeLiberto
- United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Paul Holmes
- Animal and Plant Health Agency, Shrewsbury Veterinary Investigation Centre, Shrewsbury, SY1 4HD, UK
| | - Agnieszka A Pierwola
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
| | - Scott J Werner
- United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, CO, USA
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7
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Knutie SA, Webster CN, Vaziri GJ, Albert L, Harvey JA, LaRue M, Verrett TB, Soldo A, Koop JAH, Chaves JA, Wegrzyn JL. Urban living can rescue Darwin's finches from the lethal effects of invasive vampire flies. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2024; 30:e17145. [PMID: 38273516 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.17145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2023] [Revised: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
Human activity changes multiple factors in the environment, which can have positive or negative synergistic effects on organisms. However, few studies have explored the causal effects of multiple anthropogenic factors, such as urbanization and invasive species, on animals and the mechanisms that mediate these interactions. This study examines the influence of urbanization on the detrimental effect of invasive avian vampire flies (Philornis downsi) on endemic Darwin's finches in the Galápagos Islands. We experimentally manipulated nest fly abundance in urban and non-urban locations and then characterized nestling health, fledging success, diet, and gene expression patterns related to host defense. Fledging success of non-parasitized nestlings from urban (79%) and non-urban (75%) nests did not differ significantly. However, parasitized, non-urban nestlings lost more blood, and fewer nestlings survived (8%) compared to urban nestlings (50%). Stable isotopic values (δ15 N) from urban nestling feces were higher than those from non-urban nestlings, suggesting that urban nestlings are consuming more protein. δ15 N values correlated negatively with parasite abundance, which suggests that diet might influence host defenses (e.g., tolerance and resistance). Parasitized, urban nestlings differentially expressed genes within pathways associated with red blood cell production (tolerance) and pro-inflammatory response (innate immunological resistance), compared to parasitized, non-urban nestlings. In contrast, parasitized non-urban nestlings differentially expressed genes within pathways associated with immunoglobulin production (adaptive immunological resistance). Our results suggest that urban nestlings are investing more in pro-inflammatory responses to resist parasites but also recovering more blood cells to tolerate blood loss. Although non-urban nestlings are mounting an adaptive immune response, it is likely a last effort by the immune system rather than an effective defense against avian vampire flies since few nestlings survived.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah A Knutie
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
- Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
| | - Cynthia N Webster
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
| | - Grace J Vaziri
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
| | - Lauren Albert
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
| | - Johanna A Harvey
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Michelle LaRue
- School of Earth and Environment, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Taylor B Verrett
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
| | - Alexandria Soldo
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
| | - Jennifer A H Koop
- Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, USA
| | - Jaime A Chaves
- Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California, USA
- Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Jill L Wegrzyn
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
- Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
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8
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McQueen A, Barnaby R, Symonds MRE, Tattersall GJ. Birds are better at regulating heat loss through their legs than their bills: implications for body shape evolution in response to climate. Biol Lett 2023; 19:20230373. [PMID: 37990562 PMCID: PMC10663788 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 11/01/2023] [Indexed: 11/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Endotherms use their appendages-such as legs, tails, ears and bills-for thermoregulation by controlling blood flow to near-surface blood vessels, conserving heat when it is cold, and dissipating heat in hot conditions. Larger appendages allow greater heat dissipation, and appendage sizes vary latitudinally according to Allen's rule. However, little is known about the relative importance of different appendages for thermoregulation. We investigate physiological control of heat loss via bird bills and legs using infrared thermography of wild birds. Our results demonstrate that birds are less able to regulate heat loss via their bills than their legs. In cold conditions, birds lower their leg surface temperature to below that of their plumage surface, retaining heat at their core. In warm conditions, birds increase their leg surface temperature to above that of their plumage surface, expelling heat. By contrast, bill surface temperature remains approximately 2°C warmer than the plumage surface, indicating consistent heat loss under almost all conditions. Poorer physiological control of heat loss via bird bills likely entails stronger selection for shorter bills in cold climates. This could explain why bird bills show stronger latitudinal size clines than bird legs, with implications for predicting shape-shifting responses to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra McQueen
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia
| | - Ryan Barnaby
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia
| | - Matthew R. E. Symonds
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia
| | - Glenn J. Tattersall
- Department of Biological Sciences, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada L2S 3A1
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9
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Liu P, Lou Y, Yao J, Wang L, Møller AP, Sun Y. Variation in bill surface area is associated with local climatic factors across populations of the plain laughingthrush. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10535. [PMID: 37780534 PMCID: PMC10534077 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2023] [Revised: 05/31/2023] [Accepted: 09/01/2023] [Indexed: 10/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent studies have found that avian bill and tarsus morphology may have evolved in response to climatic conditions, and these organs play important roles in thermoregulation and water retention in extreme environments. Here, we examined whether bill surface area and tarsus length were associated with climatic conditions in the plain laughingthrush, Garrulax davidi, which mainly occurs in north China and occupies several climatic zones from east to west. We measured bill surface area and tarsus length in 321 adults from 11 populations, almost encompassing all habitat types of the species. We analyzed the relationships among these morphological traits and local climatic factors. Bill surface area was positively correlated with maximum temperature, indicating that bill surface area tended to be larger in hotter environments. Furthermore, we found a negative relationship among bill surface area and winter precipitation, indicating that bill surface area tended to be larger in arid areas. However, we did not find any relationships between tarsus length and climatic factors. These results suggest that local climates may shape the evolution of bill morphology divergence, and summer seems to be the critical season for thermoregulation in this temperate zone passerine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pengfei Liu
- School of Life Science and TechnologyLongdong UniversityQingyangChina
| | - Yingqiang Lou
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation BiologyInstitute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of ScienceBeijingChina
| | - Jingxiao Yao
- School of Life Science and TechnologyLongdong UniversityQingyangChina
| | - Linghui Wang
- School of Life Science and TechnologyLongdong UniversityQingyangChina
| | - Anders Pape Møller
- Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Université Paris–Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTechUniversité Paris–SaclayOrsay CedexFrance
| | - Yuehua Sun
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation BiologyInstitute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of ScienceBeijingChina
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10
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Zhang Q, Li M, Yin Y, Ge S, Li D, Ahmad IM, Nabi G, Sun Y, Luo X, Li D. Physiological but not morphological adjustments along latitudinal gradients in a human commensal species, the Eurasian tree sparrow. Integr Zool 2023; 18:891-905. [PMID: 36880561 DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/08/2023]
Abstract
Human commensal species take advantage of anthropogenic conditions that are less likely to be challenged by the selective pressures of natural environments. Their morphological and physiological phenotypes can therefore dissociate from habitat characteristics. Understanding how these species adjust their morphological and physiological traits across latitudinal gradients is fundamental to uncovering the eco-physiological strategies underlying coping mechanisms. Here, we studied morphological traits in breeding Eurasian tree sparrows (ETSs; Passer montanus) among low-latitude (Yunnan and Hunan) and middle-latitude (Hebei) localities in China. We then compared body mass; lengths of bill, tarsometatarsus, wing, total body, and tail feather; and baseline and capture stress-induced levels of plasma corticosterone (CORT) and the metabolites including glucose (Glu), total triglyceride (TG), free fatty acid (FFA), total protein, and uric acid (UA). None of the measured morphological parameters varied with latitude except in the Hunan population, which demonstrated longer bills than those in other populations. Stress-induced CORT levels significantly exceeded baseline levels and decreased with increasing latitude, but total integrated CORT levels did not vary with latitude. Capture stress-induced significantly increased Glu levels and decreased TG levels, independent of site. However, the Hunan population had significantly higher baseline CORT, baseline and stress-induced FFA levels, but lower UA levels, which differed from other populations. Our results suggest that rather than morphological adjustments, physiological adjustments are mainly involved in coping mechanisms for middle-latitude adaptation in ETSs. It is worth investigating whether other avian species also exhibit such dissociation from external morphological designs while depending on physiological adjustments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian Zhang
- Hebei Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Life Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
- Hebei Collaborative Innovation Center for Eco-Environment, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Mo Li
- Hebei Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Life Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
- Hebei Collaborative Innovation Center for Eco-Environment, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Yuan Yin
- Hebei Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Life Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
- Hebei Collaborative Innovation Center for Eco-Environment, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Shiyong Ge
- Hebei Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Life Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
- Hebei Collaborative Innovation Center for Eco-Environment, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Danjie Li
- Key Laboratory for Conserving Wildlife with Small Populations in Yunnan, Faculty of Biodiversity and Conservation, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, China
| | - Ibrahim M Ahmad
- Hebei Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Life Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
- Hebei Collaborative Innovation Center for Eco-Environment, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Ghulam Nabi
- Hebei Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Life Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
- Hebei Collaborative Innovation Center for Eco-Environment, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Yanfeng Sun
- Ocean College, Hebei Agricultural University, Qinhuangdao, China
| | - Xu Luo
- Key Laboratory for Conserving Wildlife with Small Populations in Yunnan, Faculty of Biodiversity and Conservation, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, China
| | - Dongming Li
- Hebei Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Life Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
- Hebei Collaborative Innovation Center for Eco-Environment, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
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11
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Auerbach BM, Savell KRR, Agosto ER. Morphology, evolution, and the whole organism imperative: Why evolutionary questions need multi-trait evolutionary quantitative genetics. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2023. [PMID: 37060292 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2022] [Revised: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/16/2023]
Abstract
Since Washburn's New Physical Anthropology, researchers have sought to understand the complexities of morphological evolution among anatomical regions in human and non-human primates. Researchers continue, however, to preferentially use comparative and functional approaches to examine complex traits, but these methods cannot address questions about evolutionary process and often conflate function with fitness. Moreover, researchers also tend to examine anatomical elements in isolation, which implicitly assumes independent evolution among different body regions. In this paper, we argue that questions asked in primate evolution are best examined using multiple anatomical regions subjected to model-bound methods built from an understanding of evolutionary quantitative genetics. A nascent but expanding number of studies over the last two decades use this approach, examining morphological integration, evolvability, and selection modeling. To help readers learn how to use these methods, we review fundamentals of evolutionary processes within a quantitative genetic framework, explore the importance of neutral evolutionary theory, and explain the basics of evolutionary quantitative genetics, namely the calculation of evolutionary potential for multiple traits in response to selection. Leveraging these methods, we demonstrate their use to understand non-independence in possible evolutionary responses across the limbs, limb girdles, and basicranium of humans. Our results show that model-bound quantitative genetic methods can reveal unexpected genetic covariances among traits that create a novel but measurable understanding of evolutionary complexity among multiple traits. We advocate for evolutionary quantitative genetic methods to be a standard whenever appropriate to keep studies of primate morphological evolution relevant for the next seventy years and beyond.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin M Auerbach
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Kristen R R Savell
- Department of Biology, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA
| | - Elizabeth R Agosto
- Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology & Physiology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
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12
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Monge O, Maggini I, Schulze CH, Dullinger S, Fusani L. Physiologically vulnerable or resilient? Tropical birds, global warming, and redistributions. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e9985. [PMID: 37082319 PMCID: PMC10111238 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2022] [Revised: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/23/2023] [Indexed: 04/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Tropical species are considered to be more threatened by climate change than those of other world regions. This increased sensitivity to warming is thought to stem from the assumptions of low physiological capacity to withstand temperature fluctuations and already living near their limits of heat tolerance under current climatic conditions. For birds, despite thorough documentation of community-level rearrangements, such as biotic attrition and elevational shifts, there is no consistent evidence of direct physiological sensitivity to warming. In this review, we provide an integrative outlook into the physiological response of tropical birds to thermal variation and their capacity to cope with warming. In short, evidence from the literature suggests that the assumed physiological sensitivity to warming attributed to tropical biotas does not seem to be a fundamental characteristic of tropical birds. Tropical birds do possess the physiological capacities to deal with fluctuating temperatures, including high-elevation species, and are prepared to withstand elevated levels of heat, even those living in hot and arid environments. However, there are still many unaddressed points that hinder a more complete understanding of the response of tropical birds to warming, such as cooling capacities when exposed to combined gradients of heat and humidity, the response of montane species to heat, and thermoregulation under increased levels of microclimatic stress in disturbed ecosystems. Further research into how populations and species from different ecological contexts handle warming will increase our understanding of current and future community rearrangements in tropical birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Otto Monge
- Vienna Doctoral School of Ecology and EvolutionUniversity of ViennaDjerassiplatz 11030ViennaAustria
| | - Ivan Maggini
- Konrad‐Lorenz Institute of EthologyUniversity of Veterinary MedicineSavoyenstrasse 1a1160ViennaAustria
| | - Christian H. Schulze
- Department of Botany and Biodiversity ResearchUniversity of ViennaRennweg 141030ViennaAustria
| | - Stefan Dullinger
- Department of Botany and Biodiversity ResearchUniversity of ViennaRennweg 141030ViennaAustria
| | - Leonida Fusani
- Konrad‐Lorenz Institute of EthologyUniversity of Veterinary MedicineSavoyenstrasse 1a1160ViennaAustria
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive BiologyUniversity of ViennaAlthanstrasse 141090ViennaAustria
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13
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Zuluaga JD, Danner RM. Acute stress and restricted diet reduce bill-mediated heat dissipation in the song sparrow (Melospiza melodia): implications for optimal thermoregulation. J Exp Biol 2023; 226:286688. [PMID: 36651227 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.245316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
We used thermal imaging to show that two environmental factors - acute stress and diet - influence thermoregulatory performance of a known thermal window, the avian bill. The bill plays important roles in thermoregulation and water balance. Given that heat loss through the bill is adjustable through vasoconstriction and vasodilation, and acute stress can cause vasoconstriction in peripheral body surfaces, we hypothesized that stress may influence the bill's role as a thermal window. We further hypothesized that diet influences heat dissipation from the bill, given that body condition influences the surface temperature of another body region (the eye region). We measured the surface temperature of the bills of song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) before, during and after handling by an observer at 37°C ambient temperature. We fed five birds a restricted diet intended to maintain body mass typical of wild birds, and we fed six birds an unrestricted diet for 5 months prior to experiments. Acute stress caused a decrease in the surface temperature of the bill, resulting in a 32.4% decrease in heat dissipation immediately following acute stress, before recovering over approximately 2.3 min. The initial reduction and subsequent recovery provide partial support for the hemoprotective and thermoprotective hypotheses, which predict a reduction or increase in peripheral blood flow, respectively. Birds with unrestricted diets had larger bills and dissipated more heat, indicating that diet and body condition influence bill-mediated heat dissipation and thermoregulation. These results indicate that stress-induced vascular changes and diet can influence mechanisms of heat loss and potentially inhibit optimal thermoregulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan D Zuluaga
- Department of Biology and Marine Biology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC 28403-5915, USA
| | - Raymond M Danner
- Department of Biology and Marine Biology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC 28403-5915, USA.,Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Washington, D.C. 20008, USA
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14
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Behavioural and physiological responses to experimental temperature changes in a long-billed and long-legged bird: a role for relative appendage size? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2023. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-022-03280-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Maintaining homeothermy may be a major challenge when species are confronted with ambient temperatures beyond their thermoneutral zone. Bird species occupying open landscapes are inherently exposed to acute heat loss and heat gain, which force them to adopt a suite of behavioural and physiological strategies to maintain homeothermy. Both types of responses could be influenced by their relative bill and leg sizes, but experimental data are lacking. Here, we evaluated how variation in body postural adjustments, panting, and locomotor activity in the dunlin Calidris alpina can be explained by experimental ambient temperature and relative bill and leg sizes. Additionally, we estimated resting metabolic rate and evaporative water loss to assess potential links between both physiological traits and relative bill and leg sizes. Temperatures below the thermoneutral zone were counteracted by enhancing metabolic heat production through increased locomotor activity, while body postural adjustments were used less than expected. Within the thermoneutral zone, back rest (tucking the bill under body feathers) and unipedal (standing on one leg) were preferred by dunlins, probably as being more comfortable for resting. At temperatures above the thermoneutral zone, dunlins were inactive and increased the time of bill exposure and wet-sitting and ultimately panting when challenged with temperatures above 37 °C. Interestingly, above the thermoneutral zone, but below their body temperature, birds with relatively longer bills and legs spent more time exposing them, probably to increase dry heat transfer into the environment. Our findings also highlighted the importance of the availability of wet substrates for minimising heat stress in wetland species.
Significance statement
Recent correlational field studies found support for a relationship between relative bill and leg sizes and thermoregulatory behaviour in birds inhabiting open landscapes. However, experimental data are lacking, and the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain poorly understood. Here, we performed an experiment to model behavioural and physiological responses to ambient temperature change and relative bill and leg sizes in the dunlin Calidris alpina, a long-billed and long-legged shorebird. Additionally, we also examined potential links among metabolic rates, evaporative water loss and relative appendage sizes. Our findings showed a strong experimental relationship between behavioural and physiological responses and ambient temperature, as well as a link between appendage size and resting body postures. Our findings also have a conservation message by highlighting that the type of substrate available for roosting is important for minimising heat stress in wetland species.
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15
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Clark JD, Benham PM, Maldonado JE, Luther DA, Lim HC. Maintenance of local adaptation despite gene flow in a coastal songbird. Evolution 2022; 76:1481-1494. [PMID: 35700208 PMCID: PMC9545442 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2021] [Revised: 03/09/2022] [Accepted: 03/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Adaptation to local environments is common in widespread species and the basis of ecological speciation. The song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) is a widespread, polytypic passerine that occurs in shrubland habitats throughout North America. We examined the population structure of two parapatric subspecies that inhabit different environments: the Atlantic song sparrow (M. m. atlantica), a coastal specialist, and the eastern song sparrow (M. m. melodia), a shrubland generalist. These populations lacked clear mitochondrial population structure, yet coastal birds formed a distinct nuclear genetic cluster. We found weak overall genomic differentiation between these subspecies, suggesting either recent divergence, extensive gene flow, or a combination thereof. There was a steep genetic cline at the transition to coastal habitats, consistent with isolation by environment, not isolation by distance. A phenotype under divergent selection, bill size, varied with the amount of coastal ancestry in transitional areas, but larger bill size was maintained in coastal habitats regardless of ancestry, further supporting a role for selection in the maintenance of these subspecies. Demographic modeling suggested a divergence history of limited gene flow followed by secondary contact, which has emerged as a common theme in adaptive divergence across taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan D. Clark
- Department of Environmental Science and PolicyGeorge Mason UniversityFairfaxVirginia22030,Current Address: Department of Natural Resources and the EnvironmentUniversity of New HampshireDurhamNew Hampshire03824
| | - Phred M. Benham
- Museum of Vertebrate ZoologyUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyCalifornia94720
| | - Jesus E. Maldonado
- Department of Environmental Science and PolicyGeorge Mason UniversityFairfaxVirginia22030,Center for Conservation GenomicsSmithsonian Conservation Biology InstituteWashingtonD.C.20013
| | - David A. Luther
- Department of BiologyGeorge Mason UniversityFairfaxVirginia22030
| | - Haw Chuan Lim
- Center for Conservation GenomicsSmithsonian Conservation Biology InstituteWashingtonD.C.20013,Department of BiologyGeorge Mason UniversityFairfaxVirginia22030
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16
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Lipshutz SE, Howell CR, Buechlein AM, Rusch DB, Rosvall KA, Derryberry EP. How thermal challenges change gene regulation in the songbird brain and gonad: implications for sexual selection in our changing world. Mol Ecol 2022; 31:3613-3626. [PMID: 35567363 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2021] [Revised: 04/15/2022] [Accepted: 05/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In a rapidly warming world, exposure to high temperatures may impact fitness, but the gene regulatory mechanisms that link sublethal heat to sexually selected traits are not well understood, particularly in endothermic animals. Our experiment used zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), songbirds that experience extreme temperature fluctuations in their native Australia. We exposed captive males to an acute thermal challenge (43°C) compared with thermoneutral (35°C) and lower (27°C) temperatures. We found significantly more heat dissipation behaviors at 43°C, a temperature previously shown to reduce song production and fertility, and more heat retention behaviors at 27°C. Next, we characterized transcriptomic responses in tissues important for mating effort - the posterior telencephalon, for its role in song production, and the testis, for its role in fertility and hormone production. Differential expression of hundreds of genes in the testes, but few in the brain, suggest the brain is less responsive to extreme temperatures. Nevertheless, gene network analyses revealed that expression related to dopaminergic signaling in the brain co-varied with heat dissipation behaviors, providing a mechanism by which temporary thermal challenges may alter motivational circuits for song production. In both brain and testis, we observed correlations between thermally sensitive gene networks and individual differences in thermoregulatory behavior. Although we cannot directly relate these gene regulatory changes to mating success, our results suggest that individual variation in response to thermal challenges could impact sexually selected traits in a warming world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara E Lipshutz
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.,Department of Biology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Clara R Howell
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.,Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Aaron M Buechlein
- Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Douglas B Rusch
- Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | | | - Elizabeth P Derryberry
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
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17
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Cheng H, Sebaa R, Malholtra N, Lacoste B, El Hankouri Z, Kirby A, Bennett NC, van Jaarsveld B, Hart DW, Tattersall GJ, Harper ME, Pamenter ME. Naked mole-rat brown fat thermogenesis is diminished during hypoxia through a rapid decrease in UCP1. Nat Commun 2021; 12:6801. [PMID: 34815412 PMCID: PMC8610999 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27170-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2019] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Naked mole-rats are among the most hypoxia-tolerant mammals. During hypoxia, their body temperature (Tb) decreases via unknown mechanisms to conserve energy. In small mammals, non-shivering thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue (BAT) is critical to Tb regulation; therefore, we hypothesize that hypoxia decreases naked mole-rat BAT thermogenesis. To test this, we measure changes in Tb during normoxia and hypoxia (7% O2; 1-3 h). We report that interscapular thermogenesis is high in normoxia but ceases during hypoxia, and Tb decreases. Furthermore, in BAT from animals treated in hypoxia, UCP1 and mitochondrial complexes I-V protein expression rapidly decrease, while mitochondria undergo fission, and apoptosis and mitophagy are inhibited. Finally, UCP1 expression decreases in hypoxia in three other social African mole-rat species, but not a solitary species. These findings suggest that the ability to rapidly down-regulate thermogenesis to conserve oxygen in hypoxia may have evolved preferentially in social species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hang Cheng
- grid.28046.380000 0001 2182 2255Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON Canada
| | - Rajaa Sebaa
- grid.28046.380000 0001 2182 2255Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON Canada ,grid.28046.380000 0001 2182 2255Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON Canada ,grid.449644.f0000 0004 0441 5692Department of Medical Laboratories, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Shaqra, Duwadimi, Saudi Arabia
| | - Nikita Malholtra
- grid.28046.380000 0001 2182 2255Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON Canada
| | - Baptiste Lacoste
- grid.28046.380000 0001 2182 2255Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON Canada ,grid.28046.380000 0001 2182 2255University of Ottawa Brain and Mind Research Institute, Ottawa, ON Canada ,grid.412687.e0000 0000 9606 5108Neuroscience Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON Canada
| | - Ziyad El Hankouri
- grid.28046.380000 0001 2182 2255Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON Canada ,grid.28046.380000 0001 2182 2255Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON Canada
| | - Alexia Kirby
- grid.28046.380000 0001 2182 2255Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON Canada
| | - Nigel C. Bennett
- grid.49697.350000 0001 2107 2298Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Barry van Jaarsveld
- grid.49697.350000 0001 2107 2298Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Daniel W. Hart
- grid.49697.350000 0001 2107 2298Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Glenn J. Tattersall
- grid.411793.90000 0004 1936 9318Department of Biological Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON Canada
| | - Mary-Ellen Harper
- Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada. .,Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
| | - Matthew E. Pamenter
- grid.28046.380000 0001 2182 2255Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON Canada ,grid.28046.380000 0001 2182 2255University of Ottawa Brain and Mind Research Institute, Ottawa, ON Canada
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18
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Playà‐Montmany N, González‐Medina E, Cabello‐Vergel J, Parejo M, Abad‐Gómez JM, Sánchez‐Guzmán JM, Villegas A, Masero JA. The thermoregulatory role of relative bill and leg surface areas in a Mediterranean population of Great tit ( Parus major). Ecol Evol 2021; 11:15936-15946. [PMID: 34824801 PMCID: PMC8601919 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2021] [Revised: 09/15/2021] [Accepted: 10/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
There is growing evidence on the role of legs and bill as 'thermal windows' in birds coping with heat stress. However, there is a lack of empirical work examining the relationship between the relative bill and/or leg surface areas and key thermoregulatory traits such as the limits of the thermoneutral zone (TNZ) or the cooling efficiency at high temperatures. Here, we explored this relationship in a Mediterranean population of Great tit (Parus major) facing increasing thermal stress in its environment. The lower and upper critical limits of the TNZ were found to be 17.7 ± 1.6ºC and 34.5 ± 0.7°C, respectively, and the basal metabolic rate was 0.96 ± 0.12 ml O2 min-1 on average. The evaporative water loss (EWL) inflection point was established at 31.85 ± 0.27°C and was not significantly different from the value of the upper critical limit. No significant relationship was observed between the relative bill or tarsi size and TNZ critical limits, breadth, mass-independent VO2, or mass-independent EWL at any environmental temperature (from 10 to 40°C). However, Great tit males (but not females) with larger tarsi areas (a proxy of leg surface area) showed higher cooling efficiencies at 40°C. We found no support for the hypothesis that the bill surface area plays a significant role as a thermal window in Great tits, but the leg surface areas may play a role in males' physiological responses to high temperatures. On the one hand, we argue that the studied population occupies habitats with available microclimates and fresh water for drinking during summer, so active heat dissipation by EWL might be favored instead of dry heat loss through the bill surface. Conversely, male dominance behaviors could imply a greater dependence on cutaneous EWL through the upper leg surfaces as a consequence of higher exposure to harsh environmental conditions than faced by females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Núria Playà‐Montmany
- Conservation Biology Research GroupFacultad de CienciasUniversidad de ExtremaduraBadajozSpain
| | - Erick González‐Medina
- Conservation Biology Research GroupFacultad de CienciasUniversidad de ExtremaduraBadajozSpain
| | - Julián Cabello‐Vergel
- Conservation Biology Research GroupFacultad de CienciasUniversidad de ExtremaduraBadajozSpain
| | - Manuel Parejo
- Conservation Biology Research GroupFacultad de CienciasUniversidad de ExtremaduraBadajozSpain
| | - José M. Abad‐Gómez
- Conservation Biology Research GroupFacultad de CienciasUniversidad de ExtremaduraBadajozSpain
| | - Juan M. Sánchez‐Guzmán
- Conservation Biology Research GroupFacultad de CienciasUniversidad de ExtremaduraBadajozSpain
- Ecology in the AnthropoceneAssociated Unit CSIC‐UEXFacultad de CienciasUniversidad de ExtremaduraBadajozSpain
| | - Auxiliadora Villegas
- Conservation Biology Research GroupFacultad de CienciasUniversidad de ExtremaduraBadajozSpain
- Ecology in the AnthropoceneAssociated Unit CSIC‐UEXFacultad de CienciasUniversidad de ExtremaduraBadajozSpain
| | - José A. Masero
- Conservation Biology Research GroupFacultad de CienciasUniversidad de ExtremaduraBadajozSpain
- Ecology in the AnthropoceneAssociated Unit CSIC‐UEXFacultad de CienciasUniversidad de ExtremaduraBadajozSpain
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19
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Gamboa MP, Ghalambor CK, Scott Sillett T, Morrison SA, Chris Funk W. Adaptive divergence in bill morphology and other thermoregulatory traits is facilitated by restricted gene flow in song sparrows on the California Channel Islands. Mol Ecol 2021; 31:603-619. [PMID: 34704295 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2021] [Revised: 09/20/2021] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Disentangling the effects of neutral and adaptive processes in maintaining phenotypic variation across environmental gradients is challenging in natural populations. Song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) on the California Channel Islands occupy a pronounced east-west climate gradient within a small spatial scale, providing a unique opportunity to examine the interaction of genetic isolation (reduced gene flow) and the environment (selection) in driving variation. We used reduced representation genomic libraries to infer the role of neutral processes (drift and restricted gene flow) and divergent selection in driving variation in thermoregulatory traits with an emphasis on the mechanisms that maintain bill divergence among islands. Analyses of 22,029 neutral SNPs confirm distinct population structure by island with restricted gene flow and relatively large effective population sizes, suggesting bill differences are probably not a product of genetic drift. Instead, we found strong support for local adaptation using 3294 SNPs in differentiation-based and environmental association analyses coupled with genome-wide association tests. Specifically, we identified several putatively adaptive and candidate loci in or near genes involved in bill development pathways (e.g., BMP, CaM, Wnt), confirming the highly complex and polygenic architecture underlying bill morphology. Furthermore, we found divergence in genes associated with other thermoregulatory traits (i.e., feather structure, plumage colour, and physiology). Collectively, these results suggest strong divergent selection across an island archipelago results in genomic changes in a suite of traits associated with climate adaptation over small spatial scales. Future research should move beyond studying univariate traits to better understand multidimensional responses to complex environmental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maybellene P Gamboa
- Department of Organismal Biology and Ecology, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
| | - Cameron K Ghalambor
- Department of Biology, Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.,Department of Biology, Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics (CBD), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
| | - T Scott Sillett
- Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | | | - W Chris Funk
- Department of Biology, Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
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20
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Miller CV, Pittman M. The diet of early birds based on modern and fossil evidence and a new framework for its reconstruction. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2021; 96:2058-2112. [PMID: 34240530 PMCID: PMC8519158 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2020] [Revised: 05/07/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Birds are some of the most diverse organisms on Earth, with species inhabiting a wide variety of niches across every major biome. As such, birds are vital to our understanding of modern ecosystems. Unfortunately, our understanding of the evolutionary history of modern ecosystems is hampered by knowledge gaps in the origin of modern bird diversity and ecosystem ecology. A crucial part of addressing these shortcomings is improving our understanding of the earliest birds, the non-avian avialans (i.e. non-crown birds), particularly of their diet. The diet of non-avian avialans has been a matter of debate, in large part because of the ambiguous qualitative approaches that have been used to reconstruct it. Here we review methods for determining diet in modern and fossil avians (i.e. crown birds) as well as non-avian theropods, and comment on their usefulness when applied to non-avian avialans. We use this to propose a set of comparable, quantitative approaches to ascertain fossil bird diet and on this basis provide a consensus of what we currently know about fossil bird diet. While no single approach can precisely predict diet in birds, each can exclude some diets and narrow the dietary possibilities. We recommend combining (i) dental microwear, (ii) landmark-based muscular reconstruction, (iii) stable isotope geochemistry, (iv) body mass estimations, (v) traditional and/or geometric morphometric analysis, (vi) lever modelling, and (vii) finite element analysis to reconstruct fossil bird diet accurately. Our review provides specific methodologies to implement each approach and discusses complications future researchers should keep in mind. We note that current forms of assessment of dental mesowear, skull traditional morphometrics, geometric morphometrics, and certain stable isotope systems have yet to be proven effective at discerning fossil bird diet. On this basis we report the current state of knowledge of non-avian avialan diet which remains very incomplete. The ancestral dietary condition in non-avian avialans remains unclear due to scarce data and contradictory evidence in Archaeopteryx. Among early non-avian pygostylians, Confuciusornis has finite element analysis and mechanical advantage evidence pointing to herbivory, whilst Sapeornis only has mechanical advantage evidence indicating granivory, agreeing with fossilised ingested material known for this taxon. The enantiornithine ornithothoracine Shenqiornis has mechanical advantage and pedal morphometric evidence pointing to carnivory. In the hongshanornithid ornithuromorph Hongshanornis only mechanical advantage evidence indicates granivory, but this agrees with evidence of gastrolith ingestion in this taxon. Mechanical advantage and ingested fish support carnivory in the songlingornithid ornithuromorph Yanornis. Due to the sparsity of robust dietary assignments, no clear trends in non-avian avialan dietary evolution have yet emerged. Dietary diversity seems to increase through time, but this is a preservational bias associated with a predominance of data from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Lagerstätte. With this new framework and our synthesis of the current knowledge of non-avian avialan diet, we expect dietary knowledge and evolutionary trends to become much clearer in the coming years, especially as fossils from other locations and climates are found. This will allow for a deeper and more robust understanding of the role birds played in Mesozoic ecosystems and how this developed into their pivotal role in modern ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Case Vincent Miller
- Vertebrate Palaeontology Laboratory, Research Division for Earth and Planetary ScienceThe University of Hong KongPokfulamHong Kong SARChina
| | - Michael Pittman
- Vertebrate Palaeontology Laboratory, Research Division for Earth and Planetary ScienceThe University of Hong KongPokfulamHong Kong SARChina
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21
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Mota-Rojas D, Wang D, Titto CG, Gómez-Prado J, Carvajal-de la Fuente V, Ghezzi M, Boscato-Funes L, Barrios-García H, Torres-Bernal F, Casas-Alvarado A, Martínez-Burnes J. Pathophysiology of Fever and Application of Infrared Thermography (IRT) in the Detection of Sick Domestic Animals: Recent Advances. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:2316. [PMID: 34438772 PMCID: PMC8388492 DOI: 10.3390/ani11082316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Revised: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 08/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Body-temperature elevations are multifactorial in origin and classified as hyperthermia as a rise in temperature due to alterations in the thermoregulation mechanism; the body loses the ability to control or regulate body temperature. In contrast, fever is a controlled state, since the body adjusts its stable temperature range to increase body temperature without losing the thermoregulation capacity. Fever refers to an acute phase response that confers a survival benefit on the body, raising core body temperature during infection or systemic inflammation processes to reduce the survival and proliferation of infectious pathogens by altering temperature, restriction of essential nutrients, and the activation of an immune reaction. However, once the infection resolves, the febrile response must be tightly regulated to avoid excessive tissue damage. During fever, neurological, endocrine, immunological, and metabolic changes occur that cause an increase in the stable temperature range, which allows the core body temperature to be considerably increased to stop the invasion of the offending agent and restrict the damage to the organism. There are different metabolic mechanisms of thermoregulation in the febrile response at the central and peripheral levels and cellular events. In response to cold or heat, the brain triggers thermoregulatory responses to coping with changes in body temperature, including autonomic effectors, such as thermogenesis, vasodilation, sweating, and behavioral mechanisms, that trigger flexible, goal-oriented actions, such as seeking heat or cold, nest building, and postural extension. Infrared thermography (IRT) has proven to be a reliable method for the early detection of pathologies affecting animal health and welfare that represent economic losses for farmers. However, the standardization of protocols for IRT use is still needed. Together with the complete understanding of the physiological and behavioral responses involved in the febrile process, it is possible to have timely solutions to serious problem situations. For this reason, the present review aims to analyze the new findings in pathophysiological mechanisms of the febrile process, the heat-loss mechanisms in an animal with fever, thermoregulation, the adverse effects of fever, and recent scientific findings related to different pathologies in farm animals through the use of IRT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Mota-Rojas
- Neurophysiology, Behavior and Animal Welfare Assessment, Unidad Xochimilco, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico City 04960, Mexico; (J.G.-P.); (L.B.-F.); (F.T.-B.); (A.C.-A.)
| | - Dehua Wang
- School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China;
| | - Cristiane Gonçalves Titto
- Laboratório de Biometeorologia e Etologia, FZEA-USP, Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos, Universidade de São Paulo, Pirassununga 13635-900, Brazil;
| | - Jocelyn Gómez-Prado
- Neurophysiology, Behavior and Animal Welfare Assessment, Unidad Xochimilco, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico City 04960, Mexico; (J.G.-P.); (L.B.-F.); (F.T.-B.); (A.C.-A.)
| | - Verónica Carvajal-de la Fuente
- Animal Health Group, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Ciudad Victoria 87000, Mexico; (V.C.-d.l.F.); (H.B.-G.)
| | - Marcelo Ghezzi
- Animal Welfare Area, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences (FCV), Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (UNCPBA), Buenos Aires 7000, Argentina;
| | - Luciano Boscato-Funes
- Neurophysiology, Behavior and Animal Welfare Assessment, Unidad Xochimilco, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico City 04960, Mexico; (J.G.-P.); (L.B.-F.); (F.T.-B.); (A.C.-A.)
| | - Hugo Barrios-García
- Animal Health Group, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Ciudad Victoria 87000, Mexico; (V.C.-d.l.F.); (H.B.-G.)
| | - Fabiola Torres-Bernal
- Neurophysiology, Behavior and Animal Welfare Assessment, Unidad Xochimilco, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico City 04960, Mexico; (J.G.-P.); (L.B.-F.); (F.T.-B.); (A.C.-A.)
| | - Alejandro Casas-Alvarado
- Neurophysiology, Behavior and Animal Welfare Assessment, Unidad Xochimilco, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico City 04960, Mexico; (J.G.-P.); (L.B.-F.); (F.T.-B.); (A.C.-A.)
| | - Julio Martínez-Burnes
- Animal Health Group, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Ciudad Victoria 87000, Mexico; (V.C.-d.l.F.); (H.B.-G.)
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22
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Shaner PL, Chen Y, Hsu Y. Niche-trait relationships at individual and population level in three co-occurring passerine species. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:7378-7389. [PMID: 34188820 PMCID: PMC8216981 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2020] [Revised: 03/25/2021] [Accepted: 03/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
The niche variation hypothesis (NVH) predicts that populations with wider niches exhibit greater morphological variation through increased interindividual differences in both niche and morphology. In this study, we examined niche-trait relationships in three passerine species (Cyanoderma ruficeps, Sinosuthora webbiana, and Zosterops simplex). A total of 289 C. ruficeps from 7 sites, 259 S. webbiana from 8 sites, and 144 Z. simplex from 6 sites were sampled along an elevation gradient (0-2,700 m) in Taiwan from 2009 to 2017. We measured bill traits (length, width, and depth of bill) and body size traits (length of head, tarsus, and wing) of the birds, which were reduced to four principal components (bill PC1, bill PC2, body size PC1, and body size PC2). We collected feather tissues for stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses to quantify their isotope niche. We quantified interindividual differences in isotope space and trait space with four diversity metrics (divergence, dispersion, evenness, and uniqueness) and tested whether interindividual differences in isotope space and trait space are positively associated. We quantified population isotope niche width by Bayesian ellipse area and population morphological variation by variances of the PCs. The results showed that individual uniqueness in isotope niche and bill morphology (average closeness of individuals within the population isotope/trait space) were positively associated across three species. Furthermore, isotope niche width and bill PC1 (reflecting the size of bill) variation at population level were also positively associated across the three species, supporting the NVH. Of the three species, C. ruficeps and S. webbiana showed stronger support for the NVH than Z. simplex, possibly due to the latter having narrower elevational distribution and a more specialized, plant-based diet. The diversity metrics represented different aspects of interindividual differences in niche/trait space, and for the passerines, individual uniqueness appeared to play an important role in their niche-trait dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pei‐Jen L. Shaner
- Department of Life ScienceNational Taiwan Normal UniversityTaipeiTaiwan
| | - Yin‐Kai Chen
- Department of Life ScienceNational Taiwan Normal UniversityTaipeiTaiwan
| | - Yu‐Cheng Hsu
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental StudiesNational Dong Hwa UniversityHualienTaiwan
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23
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Benham PM, Bowie RCK. The influence of spatially heterogeneous anthropogenic change on bill size evolution in a coastal songbird. Evol Appl 2021; 14:607-624. [PMID: 33664798 PMCID: PMC7896719 DOI: 10.1111/eva.13144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2020] [Revised: 09/27/2020] [Accepted: 09/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Natural history collections provide an unparalleled resource for documenting population responses to past anthropogenic change. However, in many cases, traits measured on specimens may vary temporally in response to a number of different anthropogenic pressures or demographic processes. While teasing apart these different drivers is challenging, approaches that integrate analyses of spatial and temporal series of specimens can provide a robust framework for examining whether traits exhibit common responses to ecological variation in space and time. We applied this approach to analyze bill morphology variation in California Savannah Sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis). We found that bill surface area increased in birds from higher salinity tidal marshes that are hotter and drier. Only the coastal subspecies, alaudinus, exhibited a significant increase in bill size through time. As with patterns of spatial variation, alaudinus populations occupying higher salinity tidal marshes that have become warmer and drier over the past century exhibited the greatest increases in bill surface area. We also found a significant negative correlation between bill surface area and total evaporative water loss (TEWL) and estimated that observed increases in bill size could result in a reduction of up to 16.2% in daily water losses. Together, these patterns of spatial and temporal variation in bill size were consistent with the hypothesis that larger bills are favored in freshwater-limited environments as a mechanism of dissipating heat, reducing reliance on evaporative cooling, and increasing water conservation. With museum collections increasingly being leveraged to understand past responses to global change, this work highlights the importance of considering the influence of many different axes of anthropogenic change and of integrating spatial and temporal analyses to better understand the influence of specific human impacts on population change over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phred M. Benham
- Museum of Vertebrate ZoologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeley, BerkeleyCAUSA
| | - Rauri C. K. Bowie
- Museum of Vertebrate ZoologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeley, BerkeleyCAUSA
- Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeley, BerkeleyCAUSA
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24
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Subasinghe K, Symonds MRE, Vidal-García M, Bonnet T, Prober SM, Williams KJ, Gardner JL. Repeatability and Validity of Phenotypic Trait Measurements in Birds. Evol Biol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s11692-020-09527-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
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25
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Sottas C, Reif J, Kreisinger J, Schmiedová L, Sam K, Osiejuk TS, Reifová R. Tracing the early steps of competition-driven eco-morphological divergence in two sister species of passerines. Evol Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-020-10050-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
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26
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Louha S, Ray DA, Winker K, Glenn TC. A High-Quality Genome Assembly of the North American Song Sparrow, Melospiza melodia. G3 (BETHESDA, MD.) 2020; 10:1159-1166. [PMID: 32075855 PMCID: PMC7144075 DOI: 10.1534/g3.119.400929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2019] [Accepted: 02/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
The song sparrow, Melospiza melodia, is one of the most widely distributed species of songbirds found in North America. It has been used in a wide range of behavioral and ecological studies. This species' pronounced morphological and behavioral diversity across populations makes it a favorable candidate in several areas of biomedical research. We have generated a high-quality de novo genome assembly of M. melodia using Illumina short read sequences from genomic and in vitro proximity-ligation libraries. The assembled genome is 978.3 Mb, with a physical coverage of 24.9×, N50 scaffold size of 5.6 Mb and N50 contig size of 31.7 Kb. Our genome assembly is highly complete, with 87.5% full-length genes present out of a set of 4,915 universal single-copy orthologs present in most avian genomes. We annotated our genome assembly and constructed 15,086 gene models, a majority of which have high homology to related birds, Taeniopygia guttata and Junco hyemalis In total, 83% of the annotated genes are assigned with putative functions. Furthermore, only ∼7% of the genome is found to be repetitive; these regions and other non-coding functional regions are also identified. The high-quality M. melodia genome assembly and annotations we report will serve as a valuable resource for facilitating studies on genome structure and evolution that can contribute to biomedical research and serve as a reference in population genomic and comparative genomic studies of closely related species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Swarnali Louha
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
| | - David A Ray
- Department of Biological Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
| | | | - Travis C Glenn
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
- Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
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27
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LaBarbera K, Marsh KJ, Hayes KRR, Hammond TT. Context-dependent effects of relative temperature extremes on bill morphology in a songbird. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2020; 7:192203. [PMID: 32431895 PMCID: PMC7211890 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.192203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2019] [Accepted: 03/10/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Species increasingly face environmental extremes. Morphological responses to changes in average environmental conditions are well documented, but responses to environmental extremes remain poorly understood. We used museum specimens to investigate relationships between a thermoregulatory morphological trait, bird bill surface area (SA) and a measure of short-term relative temperature extremity (RTE), which quantifies the degree that temperature maxima or minima diverge from the 5-year norm. Using a widespread, generalist species, Junco hyemalis, we found that SA exhibited different patterns of association with RTE depending on the overall temperature regime and on precipitation. While thermoregulatory function predicts larger SA at higher RTE, we found this only when the RTE existed in an environmental context that opposed it: atypically cold minimum temperature in a warm climate, or atypically warm maximum temperature in a cool climate. When environmental context amplified the RTE, we found a negative relationship between SA and RTE. We also found that the strength of associations between SA and RTE increased with precipitation. Our results suggest that trait responses to environmental variation may qualitatively differ depending on the overall environmental context, and that environmental change that extremifies already-extreme environments may produce responses that cannot be predicted from observations in less-extreme contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katie LaBarbera
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Department of Integrative Biology, University of California – Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - Kyle J. Marsh
- Point Blue Conservation Science, 3820 Cypress Drive, Ste #11, Petaluma, CA 94954, USA
| | - Kia R. R. Hayes
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Department of Integrative Biology, University of California – Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - Talisin T. Hammond
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Department of Integrative Biology, University of California – Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
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28
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Song S, Beissinger SR. Environmental and ecological correlates of avian field metabolic rate and water flux. Funct Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Soorim Song
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management University of California Berkeley CA USA
| | - Steven R. Beissinger
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management University of California Berkeley CA USA
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology University of California Berkeley CA USA
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29
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Onley IR, Gardner JL, Symonds MRE. Spatial and temporal variation in morphology in Australian whistlers and shrike-thrushes: is climate change causing larger appendages? Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blaa028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Allen’s rule is an ecogeographical pattern whereby the size of appendages of animals increases relative to body size in warmer climates in order to facilitate heat exchange and thermoregulation. Allen’s rule predicts that one consequence of a warming climate would be an increase in the relative size of appendages, and evidence from other bird species suggests that this might be occurring. Using measurements from museum specimens, we determined whether spatio-temporal variation in bills and legs of Australian Pachycephalidae species exhibits within-species trends consistent with Allen’s rule and increases in temperature attributable to climatic warming. We conducted regression model analyses relating appendage size to spatio-temporal variables, while controlling for body size. The relative bill size in four of the eight species was negatively associated with latitude. Tarsus length showed no significant trends consistent with Allen’s rule. No significant increases in appendage size were found over time. Although bill size in some species was positively correlated with warmer temperatures, the evidence was not substantial enough to suggest a morphological response to climatic warming. This study suggests that climate change is not currently driving adaptive change towards larger appendages in these species. We suggest that other adaptive mechanisms might be taking place.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabelle R Onley
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, Australia
| | - Janet L Gardner
- Division of Ecology & Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - Matthew R E Symonds
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, Australia
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30
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Friedman NR, Miller ET, Ball JR, Kasuga H, Remeš V, Economo EP. Evolution of a multifunctional trait: shared effects of foraging ecology and thermoregulation on beak morphology, with consequences for song evolution. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20192474. [PMID: 31847778 PMCID: PMC6939928 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
While morphological traits are often associated with multiple functions, it remains unclear how evolution balances the selective effects of different functions. Birds' beaks function not only in foraging but also in thermoregulating and singing, among other behaviours. Studies of beak evolution abound, however, most focus on a single function. Hence, we quantified relative contributions of different functions over an evolutionary timescale. We measured beak shape using geometric morphometrics and compared this trait with foraging behaviour, climatic variables and song characteristics in a phylogenetic comparative study of an Australasian radiation of songbirds (Meliphagidae). We found that both climate and foraging behaviour were significantly correlated with the beak shape and size. However, foraging ecology had a greater effect on shape, and climate had a nearly equal effect on size. We also found that evolutionary changes in beak morphology had significant consequences for vocal performance: species with elongate-shaped beaks sang at higher frequencies, while species with large beaks sang at a slower pace. The evolution of the avian beak exemplifies how morphological traits can be an evolutionary compromise among functions, and suggests that specialization along any functional axis may increase ecological divergence or reproductive isolation along others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas R Friedman
- Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-son, Okinawa, Japan.,Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Eliot T Miller
- Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Jason R Ball
- Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-son, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Haruka Kasuga
- Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-son, Okinawa, Japan.,Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
| | - Vladimír Remeš
- Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic.,Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Evan P Economo
- Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-son, Okinawa, Japan
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31
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Gardner JL, Amano T, Peters A, Sutherland WJ, Mackey B, Joseph L, Stein J, Ikin K, Little R, Smith J, Symonds MRE. Australian songbird body size tracks climate variation: 82 species over 50 years. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20192258. [PMID: 31771472 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The observed variation in the body size responses of endotherms to climate change may be explained by two hypotheses: the size increases with climate variability (the starvation resistance hypothesis) and the size shrinks as mean temperatures rise (the heat exchange hypothesis). Across 82 Australian passerine species over 50 years, shrinking was associated with annual mean temperature rise exceeding 0.012°C driven by rising winter temperatures for arid and temperate zone species. We propose the warming winters hypothesis to explain this response. However, where average summer temperatures exceeded 34°C, species experiencing annual rise over 0.0116°C tended towards increasing size. Results suggest a broad-scale physiological response to changing climate, with size trends probably reflecting the relative strength of selection pressures across a climatic regime. Critically, a given amount of temperature change will have varying effects on phenotype depending on the season in which it occurs, masking the generality of size patterns associated with temperature change. Rather than phenotypic plasticity, and assuming body size is heritable, results suggest selective loss or gain of particular phenotypes could generate evolutionary change but may be difficult to detect with current warming rates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janet L Gardner
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia.,School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia
| | - Tatsuya Amano
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072 Queensland, Australia
| | - Anne Peters
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia
| | - William J Sutherland
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, The David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QZ, UK
| | - Brendan Mackey
- Griffith Climate Change Response Program, Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Leo Joseph
- Australian National Wildlife Collection, CSIRO National Research Collections Australia, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
| | - John Stein
- The Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia
| | - Karen Ikin
- The Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia
| | - Roellen Little
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia
| | - Jesse Smith
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia
| | - Matthew R E Symonds
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia
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32
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Cortés-Ramírez G, Ríos-Muñoz CA, Navarro-Sigüenza AG. Influence of phylogenetic structure and climate gradients on geographical variation in the morphology of Mexican flycatcher forests assemblages (Aves: Tyrannidae). PeerJ 2019; 7:e6754. [PMID: 31637112 PMCID: PMC6798907 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.6754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2018] [Accepted: 03/10/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Morphological variation is strongly related to variation in the ecological characteristics and evolutionary history of each taxon. To explore how geographical variation in morphology is related to different climatic gradients and phylogenetic structure, we analyzed the variation of morphological traits (body size, bill, and wing) of 64 species of tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae) distributed in Mexico. We measured these morphological traits in specimens from biological collections and related them to the climatic and topographic data of each collection locality. We performed the analyses separately at two levels: (1) the regional level and (2) the assemblage level, which was split into (assemblage I) lowland forests and (assemblage II) highland forests and other vegetation types. We also calculated the phylogenetic structure of flycatchers of each locality in order to explore the influence of climatic variables and the phylogenetic structure on the morphological variation of tyrant flycatchers, by means of linear mixed-effects models. We mapped the spatial variation of the relationship between morphological traits and environmental gradients, taking into account the phylogenetic structure. Important climatic variables explaining the morphological variation were those of temperature ranges (seasonality) and the results suggest that the phylogenetic clustering increases towards the highlands of Sierra Madre Oriental and Sierra Madre del Sur, and the lowlands of Balsas Depression. For the regional level, the spatial distribution of body size showed a pattern coincident with Bergmann's rule, with increasing in size from south to north. In the tropical lowland forests assemblage, body size tend to increase in seasonally dry forests (western Mexico) and decrease in the humid ones (eastern Mexico). In the assemblage of highland forests and other types of vegetation, morphological trait values increased northeast to southwest. Phylogenetic structure helped to explain the variation of morphology at the assemblage level but not at the regional level. The patterns of trait variation in the lowland and highland assemblages suggest that parts of morphological variation are explained both by the climatic gradients and by the lineage relatedness of communities. Overall, our results suggest that morphological variation is best explained by a varied set of variables, and that regression models representing this variation, as well as integrating phylogenetic patterns at different community levels, provide a new understanding of the mechanisms underlying the links among biodiversity, its geographical setting, and environmental change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gala Cortés-Ramírez
- Museo de Zoología “Alfonso L. Herrera”, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
- Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - César A. Ríos-Muñoz
- Laboratorio de Arqueozoología, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Adolfo G. Navarro-Sigüenza
- Museo de Zoología “Alfonso L. Herrera”, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
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33
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Walsh J, Benham PM, Deane‐Coe PE, Arcese P, Butcher BG, Chan YL, Cheviron ZA, Elphick CS, Kovach AI, Olsen BJ, Shriver WG, Winder VL, Lovette IJ. Genomics of rapid ecological divergence and parallel adaptation in four tidal marsh sparrows. Evol Lett 2019; 3:324-338. [PMID: 31388443 PMCID: PMC6675146 DOI: 10.1002/evl3.126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2019] [Accepted: 06/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Theory suggests that different taxa having colonized a similar, challenging environment will show parallel or lineage-specific adaptations to shared selection pressures, but empirical examples of parallel evolution in independent taxa are exceedingly rare. We employed comparative genomics to identify parallel and lineage-specific responses to selection within and among four species of North American sparrows that represent four independent, post-Pleistocene colonization events by an ancestral, upland subspecies and a derived salt marsh specialist. We identified multiple cases of parallel adaptation in these independent comparisons following salt marsh colonization, including selection of 12 candidate genes linked to osmoregulation. In addition to detecting shared genetic targets of selection across multiple comparisons, we found many novel, species-specific signatures of selection, including evidence of selection of loci associated with both physiological and behavioral mechanisms of osmoregulation. Demographic reconstructions of all four species highlighted their recent divergence and small effective population sizes, as expected given their rapid radiation into saline environments. Our results highlight the interplay of both shared and lineage-specific selection pressures in the colonization of a biotically and abiotically challenging habitat and confirm theoretical expectations that steep environmental clines can drive repeated and rapid evolutionary diversification in birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Walsh
- Fuller Evolutionary Biology ProgramCornell Laboratory of OrnithologyIthacaNew York14850
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyCornell UniversityIthacaNew York14853
| | - Phred M. Benham
- Division of Biological SciencesUniversity of MontanaMissoulaMontana59812
| | - Petra E. Deane‐Coe
- Fuller Evolutionary Biology ProgramCornell Laboratory of OrnithologyIthacaNew York14850
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyCornell UniversityIthacaNew York14853
| | - Peter Arcese
- Department of Forest and Conservation SciencesUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverBritish ColumbiaT6T1Z4Canada
| | - Bronwyn G. Butcher
- Fuller Evolutionary Biology ProgramCornell Laboratory of OrnithologyIthacaNew York14850
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyCornell UniversityIthacaNew York14853
| | | | | | - Chris S. Elphick
- Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of ConnecticutStorrsConnecticut06269
| | - Adrienne I. Kovach
- Department of Natural Resources and the EnvironmentUniversity of New HampshireDurhamNew Hampshire03824
| | - Brian J. Olsen
- School of Biology and EcologyUniversity of MaineOronoMaine04469
| | - W. Gregory Shriver
- Department of Entomology and Wildlife EcologyUniversity of DelawareNewarkDelaware19716
| | | | - Irby J. Lovette
- Fuller Evolutionary Biology ProgramCornell Laboratory of OrnithologyIthacaNew York14850
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyCornell UniversityIthacaNew York14853
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van Dyk M, Noakes MJ, McKechnie AE. Interactions between humidity and evaporative heat dissipation in a passerine bird. J Comp Physiol B 2019; 189:299-308. [DOI: 10.1007/s00360-019-01210-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2018] [Revised: 02/14/2019] [Accepted: 02/17/2019] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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Abstract
Many ideas have been put forward for the adaptive value of the cassowary casque; and yet, its purpose remains speculative. Homeothermic animals elevate body temperature through metabolic heat production. Heat gain must be offset by heat loss to maintain internal temperatures within a range for optimal performance. Living in a tropical climate, cassowaries, being large bodied, dark feathered birds, are under thermal pressure to offload heat. We tested the original hypothesis that the casque acts as a thermal window. With infrared thermographic analyses of living cassowaries over an expansive range of ambient temperatures, we provide evidence that the casque acts as a thermal radiator, offloading heat at high temperatures and restricting heat loss at low temperatures. Interestingly, at intermediate temperatures, the casque appears thermally heterogeneous, with the posterior of the casque heating up before the front half. These findings might have implications for the function of similar structures in avian and non-avian dinosaurs.
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Tickle PG, Codd JR. Thermoregulation in rapid growing broiler chickens is compromised by constraints on radiative and convective cooling performance. J Therm Biol 2019; 79:8-14. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2018.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2018] [Revised: 10/29/2018] [Accepted: 11/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Rico-Guevara A, Sustaita D, Gussekloo S, Olsen A, Bright J, Corbin C, Dudley R. Feeding in Birds: Thriving in Terrestrial, Aquatic, and Aerial Niches. FEEDING IN VERTEBRATES 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-13739-7_17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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Navalón G, Bright JA, Marugán‐Lobón J, Rayfield EJ. The evolutionary relationship among beak shape, mechanical advantage, and feeding ecology in modern birds*. Evolution 2018; 73:422-435. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.13655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2018] [Revised: 11/15/2018] [Accepted: 11/18/2018] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Guillermo Navalón
- School of Earth SciencesUniversity of Bristol Bristol BS8 1RL United Kingdom
- Unidad de PaleontologíaDepartamento de BiologíaUniversidad Autónoma de Madrid Madrid 28049 Spain
| | - Jen A. Bright
- School of GeosciencesUniversity of South Florida Tampa Florida 33620
| | - Jesús Marugán‐Lobón
- Unidad de PaleontologíaDepartamento de BiologíaUniversidad Autónoma de Madrid Madrid 28049 Spain
- Dinosaur InstituteNatural History Museum of Los Angeles County Los Angeles California 90007
| | - Emily J. Rayfield
- School of Earth SciencesUniversity of Bristol Bristol BS8 1RL United Kingdom
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39
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Pavlovic G, Weston MA, Symonds MRE. Morphology and geography predict the use of heat conservation behaviours across birds. Funct Ecol 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gabrielle Pavlovic
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences Deakin University Burwood Victoria Australia
| | - Michael A. Weston
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences Deakin University Burwood Victoria Australia
| | - Matthew R. E. Symonds
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences Deakin University Burwood Victoria Australia
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40
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Nwaogu CJ, Tieleman BI, Bitrus K, Cresswell W. Temperature and aridity determine body size conformity to Bergmann's rule independent of latitudinal differences in a tropical environment. JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY 2018; 159:1053-1062. [PMID: 30956931 PMCID: PMC6417377 DOI: 10.1007/s10336-018-1574-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2018] [Revised: 04/26/2018] [Accepted: 06/12/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Bergmann's rule, defined as the tendency for endotherms to be larger in colder environments, is a biophysical generalization of body size variation that is frequently tested along latitudinal gradients, even though latitude is only a proxy for temperature variation. We test whether variation in temperature and aridity determine avian body size conformity to Bergmann's rule independent of latitude differences, using the ubiquitous Common Bulbul Pycnonotus barbatus, along a West African environmental gradient. We trapped 538 birds in 22 locations between latitudes 6 and 13°N in Nigeria, and estimated average body surface area to mass ratio per location. We then modelled body surface to mass ratio using general linear models, with latitude, altitude and one of 19 bioclimatic variables extracted from http://www.worldclim.org/bioclim as predictors. We sequentially dropped latitude and altitude from each model to obtain the R 2 of the resultant models. Finally, we compared the R 2 of univariate models, where bioclimatic variables predicted body surface area to mass ratio significantly (14 out of 19), to multivariate models including latitude, altitude and a bioclimatic variable, using the Wilcoxon matched pairs test. We found that multivariate models did not perform better than univariate models with only bioclimatic variables. Six temperature and eight precipitation variables significantly predicted variation in body surface area to mass ratio between locations; in fact, 50% (seven out of 14) of these better explained variation in body surface area to mass ratio than the multivariate models. Birds showed a larger body surface area relative to body mass ratio in hotter environments independent of latitude or altitude, which conforms to Bergmann's rule. Yet, a combination of morphometric analyses and controlled temperature-exposure experiments is required to prove the proposed relationship between relative body surface area and thermoregulation in endotherms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chima J. Nwaogu
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 11103, 9700 CC Groningen, The Netherlands
- School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Harold Mitchell Building, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TH UK
- A. P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute, Jos, Nigeria
| | - B. Irene Tieleman
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 11103, 9700 CC Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Kwanye Bitrus
- A. P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute, Jos, Nigeria
- Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tèr 1, Debrecen, 4032 Hungary
| | - Will Cresswell
- School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Harold Mitchell Building, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TH UK
- A. P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute, Jos, Nigeria
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41
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Larson ER, Eastwood JR, Micallef S, Wehbe J, Bennett ATD, Berg ML. Nest microclimate predicts bill growth in the Adelaide rosella (Aves: Psittaculidae). Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/bly058] [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]
Affiliation(s)
- Eliza R Larson
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Justin R Eastwood
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Sarah Micallef
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Jacinta Wehbe
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Andrew T D Bennett
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Mathew L Berg
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
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42
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Miller CR, Latimer CE, Zuckerberg B. Bill size variation in northern cardinals associated with anthropogenic drivers across North America. Ecol Evol 2018; 8:4841-4851. [PMID: 29876062 PMCID: PMC5980444 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.4038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2017] [Revised: 02/14/2018] [Accepted: 03/02/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Allen's rule predicts that homeotherms inhabiting cooler climates will have smaller appendages, while those inhabiting warmer climates will have larger appendages relative to body size. Birds' bills tend to be larger at lower latitudes, but few studies have tested whether modern climate change and urbanization affect bill size. Our study explored whether bill size in a wide-ranging bird would be larger in warmer, drier regions and increase with rising temperatures. Furthermore, we predicted that bill size would be larger in densely populated areas, due to urban heat island effects and the higher concentration of supplementary foods. Using measurements from 605 museum specimens, we explored the effects of climate and housing density on northern cardinal bill size over an 85-year period across the Linnaean subspecies' range. We quantified the geographic relationships between bill surface area, housing density, and minimum temperature using linear mixed effect models and geographically weighted regression. We then tested whether bill surface area changed due to housing density and temperature in three subregions (Chicago, IL., Washington, D.C., and Ithaca, NY). Across North America, cardinals occupying drier regions had larger bills, a pattern strongest in males. This relationship was mediated by temperature such that birds in warm, dry areas had larger bills than those in cool, dry areas. Over time, female cardinals' bill size increased with warming temperatures in Washington, D.C., and Ithaca. Bill size was smaller in developed areas of Chicago, but larger in Washington, D.C., while there was no pattern in Ithaca, NY. We found that climate and urbanization were strongly associated with bill size for a wide-ranging bird. These biogeographic relationships were characterized by sex-specific differences, varying relationships with housing density, and geographic variability. It is likely that anthropogenic pressures will continue to influence species, potentially promoting microevolutionary changes over space and time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colleen R. Miller
- Department of Forest and Wildlife EcologyUniversity of Wisconsin‐MadisonMadisonWIUSA
| | | | - Benjamin Zuckerberg
- Department of Forest and Wildlife EcologyUniversity of Wisconsin‐MadisonMadisonWIUSA
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43
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Yorzinski JL, Lam J, Schultz R, Davis M. Thermoregulatory postures limit antipredator responses in peafowl. Biol Open 2018; 7:7/1/bio031005. [PMID: 29305466 PMCID: PMC5829511 DOI: 10.1242/bio.031005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Many animals inhabit environments where they experience temperature fluctuations. One way in which animals can adjust to these temperature changes is through behavioral thermoregulation. However, we know little about the thermal benefits of postural changes and the costs they may incur. In this study, we examined the thermoregulatory role of two postures, the head-tuck and leg-tuck posture, in peafowl (Pavo cristatus) and evaluated whether the head-tuck posture imposes a predation cost. The heads and legs of peafowl are significantly warmer when the birds exhibit these postures, demonstrating that these postures serve an important thermoregulatory role. In addition, the birds are slower to respond to an approaching threat when they display the head-tuck posture, suggesting that a thermoregulatory posture can limit antipredator behavior. Summary: The head-tuck and leg-tuck postures of peafowl help conserve heat but can impair antipredator responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica L Yorzinski
- Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2258, USA
| | - Jennifer Lam
- Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, 915 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
| | - Rachel Schultz
- Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, 915 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
| | - Melissa Davis
- Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, 915 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
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44
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Cheng Y, Gao B, Wang H, Han N, Shao S, Wu S, Song G, Zhang YE, Zhu X, Lu X, Qu Y, Lei F. Evolution of beak morphology in the Ground Tit revealed by comparative transcriptomics. Front Zool 2017; 14:58. [PMID: 29299037 PMCID: PMC5740785 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-017-0245-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2017] [Accepted: 11/28/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Beak morphology exhibits considerable adaptive plasticity in birds, which results in highly varied or specialized forms in response to variations in ecology and life history. As the only parid species endemic to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Ground Tit (Parus humilis) has evolved a distinctly long and curved beak from other parids. An integration of morphometrics, phylogenetics, transcriptomics and embryology allows us to address the evolutionary and developmental mechanisms of the adaptive beak structure observed in the Ground Tit. Results A morphometric approach quantified that the Ground Tit has a comparatively longer and more decurved upper beaks than other parids. We estimated that the ancestor of the Ground Tit likely had a short straight upper beak similar to most current recognized parid species using an ancestral state reconstruction. This morphological specialization is considered an adaptation to its ground-oriented behavior on the high plateau. To identify genetic mechanisms behind this adaptive change, a comparative transcriptomic analysis was applied between the Ground Tit and its closely related species, the Great Tit (Parus major). We detected that 623 genes were significantly differentially expressed in embryonic upper beaks between the two species, 17 of which were functionally annotated to correlate with bone development and morphogenesis, although genes related to bone development were not found to undergo accelerated evolution in the Ground Tit. RT-qPCR validation confirmed differential expression of five out of eight genes that were selected from the 17 genes. Subsequent functional assays in chicken embryos demonstrated that two of these genes, FGF13 and ITGB3, may affect beak morphology by modulating levels of osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Conclusions Our results provide preliminary evidence that development of the long decurved beak of the Ground Tit is likely regulated by transcriptional activities of multiple genes coordinating osteoblasts and osteoclasts. The integration of multiple approaches employed here sheds light on ecological and genetic mechanisms in the evolution of avian morphology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yalin Cheng
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China
| | - Bin Gao
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China
| | - Haitao Wang
- School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024 China
| | - Naijian Han
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China
| | - Shimiao Shao
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China
| | - Shaoyuan Wu
- School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, 221116 China
| | - Gang Song
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China
| | - Yong E Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China
| | - Xiaojia Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China
| | - Xin Lu
- Department of Ecology, College of Life Sciences, Institute for Advanced Studies, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072 China
| | - Yanhua Qu
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China
| | - Fumin Lei
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China
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45
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jaime A. Chaves
- Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y AmbientalesUniversidad San Francisco de Quito Quito Cumbayá Ecuador
- Galápagos Science CenterPuerto Baquerizo Moreno Galápagos Ecuador
| | - Raymond M. Danner
- Department of Biology and Marine BiologyUniversity of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington NC USA
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46
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Friedman NR, Harmáčková L, Economo EP, Remeš V. Smaller beaks for colder winters: Thermoregulation drives beak size evolution in Australasian songbirds. Evolution 2017; 71:2120-2129. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.13274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2016] [Accepted: 04/30/2017] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas R. Friedman
- Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology; Palacký University; Tř. 17 listopadu 50 Olomouc 77900 Czech Republic
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University; 1919-1 Tancha Onna-son 904-0495 Okinawa Japan
| | - Lenka Harmáčková
- Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology; Palacký University; Tř. 17 listopadu 50 Olomouc 77900 Czech Republic
| | - Evan P. Economo
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University; 1919-1 Tancha Onna-son 904-0495 Okinawa Japan
| | - Vladimír Remeš
- Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology; Palacký University; Tř. 17 listopadu 50 Olomouc 77900 Czech Republic
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47
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Complex relationships among environmental conditions and bill morphology in a generalist songbird. Evol Ecol 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-017-9906-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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48
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron M. Olsen
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy University of Chicago Chicago IL USA
- Bird Division The Field Museum of Natural History Chicago IL USA
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49
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Little R, Gardner JL, Amano T, Delhey K, Peters A. Are long-term widespread avian body size changes related to food availability? A test using contemporaneous changes in carotenoid-based color. Ecol Evol 2017; 7:3157-3166. [PMID: 28480015 PMCID: PMC5415506 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2739] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2016] [Revised: 11/30/2016] [Accepted: 12/18/2016] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent changes in global climate have been linked with changes in animal body size. While declines in body size are commonly explained as an adaptive thermoregulatory response to climate warming, many species do not decline in size, and alternative explanations for size change exist. One possibility is that temporal changes in animal body size are driven by changes in environmental productivity and food availability. This hypothesis is difficult to test due to the lack of suitable estimates that go back in time. Here, we use an alternative, indirect, approach and assess whether continent-wide changes over the previous 100 years in body size in 15 species of Australian birds are associated with changes in their yellow carotenoid-based plumage coloration. This type of coloration is strongly affected by food availability because birds cannot synthesize carotenoids and need to ingest them, and because color expression depends on general body condition. We found significant continent-wide intraspecific temporal changes in body size (wing length) and yellow carotenoid-based color (plumage reflectance) for half the species. Direction and magnitude of changes were highly variable among species. Meta-analysis indicated that neither body size nor yellow plumage color showed a consistent temporal trend and that changes in color were not correlated with changes in size over the past 100 years. We conclude that our data provide no evidence that broad-scale variation in food availability is a general explanation for continent-wide changes in body size in this group of species. The interspecific variability in temporal changes in size as well as color suggests that it might be unlikely that a single factor drives these changes, and more detailed studies of museum specimens and long-term field studies are required to disentangle the processes involved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roellen Little
- School of Biological SciencesMonash UniversityClaytonVic.Australia
| | - Janet L. Gardner
- School of Biological SciencesMonash UniversityClaytonVic.Australia
- Division of Evolution, Ecology and GeneticsThe Australian National UniversityCanberraACTAustralia
| | - Tatsuya Amano
- Conservation Science GroupDepartment of ZoologyUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
| | - Kaspar Delhey
- School of Biological SciencesMonash UniversityClaytonVic.Australia
| | - Anne Peters
- School of Biological SciencesMonash UniversityClaytonVic.Australia
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50
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Galván I, Palacios D, Negro JJ. The bare head of the Northern bald ibis ( Geronticus eremita) fulfills a thermoregulatory function. Front Zool 2017; 14:15. [PMID: 28265294 PMCID: PMC5333446 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-017-0201-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2017] [Accepted: 02/24/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Dark pigments provide animals with several adaptive benefits such as protection against ultraviolet (UV) radiation and mechanical abrasion, but may also impose several constraints like a high absorbance of solar radiation. Endotherms, with relatively constant and high body temperatures, may be especially prone to thermoregulatory limitations if dark coloured and inhabiting hot environments. It is therefore expected that adaptations have specifically evolved because of these limitations. Bare, highly vascularised head skin may have evolved in birds with dark plumage from hot geographical regions because of favouring heat dissipation. Using the Northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita) as a model species, we measured the surface temperature (Tsurf) of the head, the bill and the black feathered body of 11 birds along ambient temperatures (Ta) ranging from 21 to 42.5 °C employing thermal imaging. Results While Tsurf of the bill and the feathered body was only slightly above Ta, head Tsurf was considerably higher, by up to 12 °C. Estimated values of heat loss followed similar variations. We also found that the red colour intensity of the head of ibises increased with head Tsurf, suggesting that birds are capable of controlling blood flow and the thermoregulatory function of the head. Conclusions These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that bare skin has evolved in dark pigmented birds inhabiting hot environments because of their ability to dissipate heat. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12983-017-0201-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ismael Galván
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Doñana Biological Station - CSIC, 41092 Sevilla, Spain
| | - Daniel Palacios
- Department of Zoology, University of Córdoba, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
| | - Juan José Negro
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Doñana Biological Station - CSIC, 41092 Sevilla, Spain
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