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 artefact 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 analysed faecal droppings collected from 93 adult black wheatears during the breeding season. We found that sexes

ORGANISM(S): Oenanthe leucura

SUBMITTER: Luis Silva 

PROVIDER: S-BSST452 | biostudies-other |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other