Stabilizing natural selection on the early expression of a secondary sexual trait in a passerine bird

Gregoire, A, Preault, M, Cezilly, F, Wood, Matthew J ORCID: 0000-0003-0920-8396, Pradel, R and Faivre, B (2004) Stabilizing natural selection on the early expression of a secondary sexual trait in a passerine bird. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 17 (5). pp. 1152-1156. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2004.00756.x

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Abstract

Natural selection is a central tenet of evolutionary theory, yet the estimation of the direction and intensity of selection remains problematic. Here, we assess the strength of selection on the early expression of a secondary sexual ornament, bill colour, in male European blackbirds (Turdus merula) using 5 years of capture-mark-recapture (CMR) data. The best-fitting model consisted of a quadratic relationship between survival rate and bill colour, indicating stabilizing natural selection on the early expression of a secondary sexual trait. There was no evidence for sexual selection acting on bill colour in the first year. We suggest that the consideration of early selection and the adoption of refined statistical methods may reveal patterns of selection in the wild that have, as yet, remained undetected.

Item Type:	Article
Article Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Capture-mark-recapture; European blackbird; Natural selection; Sexual selection; Turdus merula
Subjects:	Q Science > QL Zoology
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Education and Science
Research Priority Areas:	Place, Environment and Community
Depositing User:	Matt Wood
Date Deposited:	02 Jul 2014 08:50
Last Modified:	01 Sep 2023 15:43
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/556

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