Behavioral Ecology Vol. 10 No. 1: 112-114
© 1999 International Society for Behavioral Ecology
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Sexual selection and tail streamers in the barn swallow: appropriate tests of the function of size-dimorphic long tails
Laboratoire d'Ecologie, CNRS URA 258, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Bat. A, 7eme etage, 7 quai St. Bernard, Case 237, F-75252 Paris Cedex 05, France
Address correspondence to A. Barbosa, who is now at Departamento de Ecologia Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Jose Gutierrez Abascal, 2, E-28006 Madrid, Spain.
Received 13 November 1997; accepted 8 May 1998.
In their recent forum paper, Thomas and Rowe
(1997)
question our tail manipulation
experiments used to test sexual selection theory
(Cuervo et al., 1996;
de Lope and Møller, 1993;
Møller, 1988,
1989,
1992b,
1994b;
Møller and de Lope, 1994;
Saino and Møller, 1996;
Saino et al., 1997a,
b). In summary, Thomas and Rowe claim
that manipulations shortening and elongating the outermost tail feathers of
barn swallows Hirundo rustica (see
Møller, 1988, for a description of
methods) are based on faulty logic and therefore cannot test the function of
long tails. Several of their statements are unclear, incorrect, or need
clarification for understanding the significance of tail manipulation
experiments, and we will discuss these statements here. Thomas and Rowe repeat
what has already been stated by Evans and Thomas
(1997). We have responded to that paper
elsewhere (Møller et
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
REFERENCES
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  J. J. Cuervo, A. P. Moller, and F. de Lope Experimental manipulation of tail length in female barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) affects their future reproductive success Behav. Ecol., July 1, 2003; 14(4): 451 - 456. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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L. V. Rowe, M. R. Evans, and K. L. Buchanan The function and evolution of the tail streamer in hirundines Behav. Ecol., March 1, 2001; 12(2): 157 - 163. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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