Barn owls display larger black feather spots in cooler regions of the British Isles. (22nd April 2016)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Barn owls display larger black feather spots in cooler regions of the British Isles. (22nd April 2016)
- Main Title:
- Barn owls display larger black feather spots in cooler regions of the British Isles
- Authors:
- Roulin, Alexandre
Randin, Christophe F. - Abstract:
- Abstract : Although, in many organisms, genotypes are adapted to specific environmental conditions, the identification of the ecological factors explaining patterns of local adaptation is not a trivial task. In relation to the cosmopolitan barn owl ( Tyto alba ), its plumage varies from white to dark pheomelanic and shows a difference in the number and size of black spots located at the tip of ventral feathers. The expression of these traits is strongly heritable and weakly sensitive to variation in body condition. Therefore, if owls located in cold or rainy regions are differently plumaged compared to owls living in warm or dry regions, this may not be a result of climate affecting the expression of plumage traits. Instead, different plumages might be selected under different environmental conditions. We have found that, on the British Isles, comparatively larger spots are present on barn owls found in regions that are cooler in summer. This is similar to the findings of a previous study performed in North America and on continental Europe, raising the possibility that larger‐spotted barn owls better cope in cold temperatures during the rearing period or that they are better adapted to some environmental factors prevailing in cooler summers.
- Is Part Of:
- Biological journal of the Linnean Society. Volume 119:Number 2(2016)
- Journal:
- Biological journal of the Linnean Society
- Issue:
- Volume 119:Number 2(2016)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 119, Issue 2 (2016)
- Year:
- 2016
- Volume:
- 119
- Issue:
- 2
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2016-0119-0002-0000
- Page Start:
- 445
- Page End:
- 454
- Publication Date:
- 2016-04-22
- Subjects:
- climate -- colour polymorphism -- melanin -- temperature
Biology -- Periodicals
Evolution (Biology) -- Periodicals
570 - Journal URLs:
- http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/servlet/useragent?func=showIssues&code=bij ↗
https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/issue ↗
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1111/bij.12814 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 0024-4066
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 2075.460000
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library STI - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 1728.xml