Genomic Evidence for Sensorial Adaptations to a Nocturnal Predatory Lifestyle in Owls.

ABSTRACT: Owls (Strigiformes) evolved specific adaptations to their nocturnal predatory lifestyle, such as asymmetrical ears, a facial disk, and a feather structure allowing silent flight. Owls also share some traits with diurnal raptors and other nocturnal birds, such as cryptic plumage patterns, reversed sexual size dimorphism, and acute vision and hearing. The genetic basis of some of these adaptations to a nocturnal predatory lifestyle has been studied by candidate gene approaches but rarely with genome-wide scans. Here, we used a genome-wide comparative analysis to test for selection in the early history of the owls. We estimated the substitution rates in the coding regions of 20 bird genomes, including 11 owls of which five were newly sequenced. Then, we tested for functional overrepresentatio

SUBMITTER: Espindola-Hernandez P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7566403 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature