Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (21)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Johnson, K. P.
Right arrow Articles by Lanyon, S. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Johnson, K. P.
Right arrow Articles by Lanyon, S. M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Behavioral Ecology Vol. 11 No. 5: 515-519
© 2000 International Society for Behavioral Ecology

Evolutionary changes in color patches of blackbirds are associated with marsh nesting

Kevin P. Johnson and Scott M. Lanyon

Bell Museum of Natural History and Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA

Address correspondence to K. P. Johnson at the Illinois Natural History Survey, 607 East Peabody Drive, Champaign, IL 61820, USA. E-mail: kjohnson{at}inhs.uiuc.edu .

Fully unraveling the mechanisms of sexual selection requires an understanding of the variation in secondary sexual traits across species in a monophyletic assemblage and an understanding of the evolutionary relationships between those species. The role of red and yellow male plumage coloration in territory defense and sexual selection has been well studied in the red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), and males of many other close relatives of this species also have what appear to be carotenoid-pigmented patches in their plumage. We explored variation in male plumage coloration across species of New World blackbirds (family Icteridae): traits known to be involved in sexual selection in this group. We document that blackbird lineages in which extant species breed in marshes tend to have evolved from an all-black ancestral plumage to one exhibiting carotenoid plumage patches. The two most likely hypotheses to explain this pattern are (1) increased sexual selection intensity in marshes because of increased variance in territory quality and (2) increased frequency of male-male territorial interactions because of an increased density of territories in marshes, but other hypotheses cannot be ruled out. This pattern is consistent with either intersexual or intrasexual selection and warrants further investigation.

Key words: Agelaius phoeniceus, Icteridae, plumage coloration, red-winged blackbirds, sexual selection.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
G. Hegyi, L. Z. Garamszegi, and M. Eens
The roles of ecological factors and sexual selection in the evolution of white wing patches in ducks
Behav. Ecol., November 1, 2008; 19(6): 1208 - 1216.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Mol Biol EvolHome page
E. A. MacDougall-Shackleton, L. Blanchard, and H. L. Gibbs
Unmelanized Plumage Patterns in Old World Leaf Warblers Do Not Correspond to Sequence Variation at the Melanocortin-1 Receptor Locus (MC1R)
Mol. Biol. Evol., October 1, 2003; 20(10): 1675 - 1681.
[Abstract] [Full Text]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.