High-resolution multi-marker DNA metabarcoding reveals sexual dietary differentiation in a bird with minor dimorphism.

ABSTRACT: Although sexual dietary differentiation is well known in birds, it is usually linked with significant morphological dimorphism between males and females, with lower differentiation reported in sexually monomorphic or only slightly dimorphic species. However, this may be an artifact of poor taxonomic resolution achieved in most conventional dietary studies, which may be unable to detect subtle intraspecific differentiation in prey consumption. Here, we show the power of multi-marker metabarcoding to address these issues, focusing on a slightly dimorphic generalist passerine, the black wheatear Oenanthe leucura. Using markers from four genomic regions (18S, 16S, COI, and trnL), we analyzed fecal droppings collected from 93 adult black wheatears during the breeding season. We fo

SUBMITTER: da Silva LP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7548197 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature