Senescence of song revealed by a long-term study of the Seychelles warbler (Acrocephalus sechellensis).

ABSTRACT: Senescence is widespread in nature, often resulting in diminishing survival or reproduction with age, but its role in age-dependent variation in sexual traits is often poorly understood. One reason is that few studies of sexual traits consider non-linear relationships with age, or only consider a narrow range of years relative to the life span of the species. Birdsong has evolved to allow assessment of conspecific quality in numerous bird species. Whilst theory and empirical work suggests that song may become more elaborate with age, there are a paucity of long-term studies testing whether song is associated with age or longevity. In particular, the occurrence of song senescence has rarely been demonstrated. Using an exceptional long-term dataset for the Seychelles warbler (Acrocephalus se

SUBMITTER: Berg ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7686343 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature