Intersexual social dominance mimicry drives female hummingbird polymorphism.

ABSTRACT: Female-limited polymorphisms, where females have multiple forms but males have only one, have been described in a variety of animals, yet are difficult to explain because selection typically is expected to decrease rather than maintain diversity. In the white-necked jacobin (Florisuga mellivora), all males and approximately 20% of females express an ornamented plumage type (androchromic), while other females are non-ornamented (heterochromic). Androchrome females benefit from reduced social harassment, but it remains unclear why both morphs persist. Female morphs may represent balanced alternative behavioural strategies, but an alternative hypothesis is that androchrome females are mimicking males. Here, we test a critical prediction of these hypotheses by measuring morphological, p

SUBMITTER: Falk JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9449474 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature