Disruptive viability selection on a black plumage trait associated with dominance.

ABSTRACT: Traits used in communication, such as colour signals, are expected to have positive consequences for reproductive success, but their associations with survival are little understood. Previous studies have mainly investigated linear relationships between signals and survival, but both hump-shaped and U-shaped relationships can also be predicted, depending on the main costs involved in trait expression. Furthermore, few studies have taken the plasticity of signals into account in viability selection analyses. The relationship between signal expression and survival is of particular interest in melanin-based traits, because their main costs are still debated. Here, we first determined the main factors explaining variability in a melanin-based trait linked to dominance: the bib size of a coloni

SUBMITTER: Acker P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4949555 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature