Made-up mouths with preen oil reveal genetic and phenotypic conditions of starling nestlings.

ABSTRACT: Animal coloration results from pigments, nanostructures, or the cosmetic use of natural products, and plays a central role in social communication. The role of cosmetic coloration has traditionally been focused in scenarios of sexual selection, but it could also take place in other contexts. Here, by using spotless starlings (Sturnus unicolor) as a model system, we explore the possibility that nestlings cosmetically use their intensely yellow-colored uropygial secretion to signal their genetic and/or phenotypic quality. In agreement with the hypothetical cosmetic use of the uropygial secretion, (i) video recorded nestlings collected secretion with the bill at the age of feathering, (ii) cotton swabs turned to the color of secretion after rubbing with them nestlings' gape, and (iii)

SUBMITTER: Soler JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9113258 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May-Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature