scholarly journals Behavioral, morphological, and ecological trait evolution in two clades of New World Sparrows (Aimophila and Peucaea, Passerellidae)

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e9249
Author(s):  
Carla Cicero ◽  
Nicholas A. Mason ◽  
Lauryn Benedict ◽  
James D. Rising
Keyword(s):  
New World ◽  
Phylogenetic Signal ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Trait Evolution ◽  
Behavioral Traits ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Complex Song ◽  
Phylogenetic Framework ◽  
Ancestral States ◽  
Vocal Duets

The New World sparrows (Passerellidae) are a large, diverse group of songbirds that vary in morphology, behavior, and ecology. Thus, they are excellent for studying trait evolution in a phylogenetic framework. We examined lability versus conservatism in morphological and behavioral traits in two related clades of sparrows (Aimophila, Peucaea), and assessed whether habitat has played an important role in trait evolution. We first inferred a multi-locus phylogeny which we used to reconstruct ancestral states, and then quantified phylogenetic signal among morphological and behavioral traits in these clades and in New World sparrows more broadly. Behavioral traits have a stronger phylogenetic signal than morphological traits. Specifically, vocal duets and song structure are the most highly conserved traits, and nesting behavior appears to be maintained within clades. Furthermore, we found a strong correlation between open habitat and unpatterned plumage, complex song, and ground nesting. However, even within lineages that share the same habitat type, species vary in nesting, plumage pattern, song complexity, and duetting. Our findings highlight trade-offs between behavior, morphology, and ecology in sparrow diversification.

Detecting Patterns of Trait Evolution

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc W. Cadotte ◽  
T. Jonathan Davies
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Signal ◽  
Noise Model ◽  
Continuous Data ◽  
Evolutionary Models ◽  
Trait Evolution ◽  
Branch Lengths ◽  
Constrained Evolution ◽  
Phenotypic Distance ◽  
The Common ◽  
Ancestral States

This chapter examines a variety of methods for detecting the patterns of evolution of a certain trait. It first considers common metrics for evaluating phylogenetic signal and compares fit of alternative evolutionary models. When trait data deviates significantly from assumptions of Brownian motion (BM), the phylogenetic distances separating taxa on a time-calibrated tree might not accurately capture phenotypic distance between species. If we are able to identify the correct model of trait evolution, we can transform the branch lengths on the phylogenetic tree to match. Nevertheless, we might still favor using the untransformed tree because complex evolutionary models might not generalize across traits. The chapter also reviews alternative models of trait evolution, including a model of constrained evolution, multirate and multioptima models, speciational models, and white noise model. Finally, it looks at some of the common models for reconstructing ancestral states for discrete and continuous data.

scholarly journals The evolution of vocal duets and migration in New World warblers (Parulidae)

The Auk ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 136 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Liam R Mitchell ◽  
Lauryn Benedict ◽  
Jakica Cavar ◽  
Nadje Najar ◽  
David M Logue
Keyword(s):  
New World ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Phylogenetic Signal ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Last Common Ancestor ◽  
Shared Resources ◽  
Significant Negative Relationship ◽  
Explicit Correlation ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Vocal Duets

Abstract Vocal duets occur when 2 individuals vocalize in temporal coordination. In birds, duet participation functions to cooperatively defend shared resources, localize mates, and in some species, guard the mate. Previous work indicates that duetting tends to co-evolve with a non-migratory lifestyle, probably because the absence of migration facilitates greater cooperation between mates. We examined the evolution of duetting and migration in New World warblers (Parulidae), a group that has been largely ignored by duetting research. Of the 95 species in our analysis, we found evidence of duetting in 19 (20%) species, and evidence of migration in 45 (47.4%) species. Ancestral character reconstruction indicated that the last common ancestor of the New World warblers did not duet. Duetting evolved multiple times in this group, including 2 early origins and several more recent origins. Migration was present in the last common ancestor and was lost several times. Both duetting and migration exhibit phylogenetic signal. A phylogenetically explicit correlation analysis revealed a significant negative relationship between duetting and migration, in keeping with findings from other avian taxa. This study, the first description of the evolution of duetting in a large avian family with a temperate-zone origin, supports the hypothesis that duetting co-evolves with a sedentary natural history in birds.

scholarly journals Losses of female song with changes from tropical to temperate breeding in the New World blackbirds

2009 ◽  
Vol 276 (1664) ◽  
pp. 1971-1980 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Jordan Price ◽  
Scott M. Lanyon ◽  
Kevin E. Omland
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
New World ◽  
Female Song ◽  
Complex Song ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
Apparent Relationship ◽  
Song Production ◽  
Selection For ◽  
The Tropics

Birds in which both sexes produce complex songs are thought to be more common in the tropics than in temperate areas, where typically only males sing. Yet the role of phylogeny in this apparent relationship between female song and latitude has never been examined. Here, we reconstruct evolutionary changes in female song and breeding latitude in the New World blackbirds (Icteridae), a family with both temperate and tropical representatives. We provide strong evidence that members of this group have moved repeatedly from tropical to temperate breeding ranges and, furthermore, that these range shifts were associated with losses of female song more often than expected by chance. This historical perspective suggests that male-biased song production in many temperate species is the result not of sexual selection for complex song in males but of selection against such songs in females. Our results provide new insights into the differences we see today between tropical and temperate songbirds, and suggest that the role of sexual selection in the evolution of bird song might not be as simple as we think.

scholarly journals Habitat urbanization and stress response are primary predictors of personality variation in northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis)

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Huang ◽  
Colette M St.Mary ◽  
Rebecca T Kimball
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Behavioral Syndromes ◽  
Behavioral Syndrome ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Northern Cardinals ◽  
Urban Versus

Abstract Behavioral traits that vary consistently among individuals across different contexts are often termed as ‘personality traits,’ while the correlated suite formed by those traits is called a ‘behavioral syndrome’. Both personality trait and behavioral syndrome are potentially responsive to animal ‘states’, defined as strategically relevant individual features affecting the cost-and-benefit trade-offs of behavioral actions. Both extrinsic ‘states’ (e.g. urban versus rural habitats), and intrinsic ‘states’ (e.g. sex), may shape among-individual variation in personality traits, as well as behavioral syndromes. Here, we used northern cardinals sampled from four locations to examine the effect of habitat type (urban versus rural, an extrinsic state), stress hormone corticosterone (CORT) parameters, body weight and sex (intrinsic states) on personality traits and behavioral syndrome variation. We used behavioral trials to measure five personality traits. Using principal component analysis to quantify personality traits first, followed by general linear mixed models, we found that habitat type, CORT at capture and 2-day CORT response affected some personality traits, while body weight and sex did not. Cardinals inhabiting more urbanized areas had lower CORT metabolite levels at capture and were more neophilic, less neophobic and also less aggressive than their rural conspecifics. Using structural equation modeling to construct behavioral syndromes formed by our selected personality traits, we found that urban and rural cardinals varied in the models representing syndrome structure. When utilizing the shared syndrome structural model to examine the effects of states, habitat type and 2-day CORT response appear to affect syndrome variation in a coordinated, not hierarchical, manner.

scholarly journals TESTING FOR PHYLOGENETIC SIGNAL IN COMPARATIVE DATA: BEHAVIORAL TRAITS ARE MORE LABILE

Evolution ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 717-745 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon P. Blomberg ◽  
Theodore Garland ◽  
Anthony R. Ives
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Signal ◽  
Comparative Data ◽  
Behavioral Traits

scholarly journals Trade‐offs between physical and chemical carbon‐based leaf defence: of intraspecific variation and trait evolution

2015 ◽  
Vol 103 (6) ◽  
pp. 1667-1679 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Eichenberg ◽  
Oliver Purschke ◽  
Christian Ristok ◽  
Ludger Wessjohann ◽  
Helge Bruelheide
Keyword(s):  
Intraspecific Variation ◽  
Trait Evolution ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Physical And Chemical ◽  
Carbon Based

scholarly journals Are some individuals generally more behaviorally plastic than others? An experiment with sailfin mollies

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Gibelli ◽  
Nadia Aubin-Horth ◽  
Frédérique Dubois
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Behavioral Plasticity ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Behavioral Traits ◽  
Physiological Constraints ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Proximate Factors ◽  
Evolutionary Consequences ◽  
Sailfin Mollies

Individuals within the same population generally differ among each other not only in their behavioral traits but also in their level of behavioral plasticity (i.e., in their propensity to modify their behavior in response to changing conditions). If the proximate factors underlying individual differences in behavioral plasticity were the same for any measure of plasticity, as commonly assumed, one would expect plasticity to be repeatable across behaviors and contexts. However, this assumption remains largely untested. Here, we conducted an experiment with sailfin mollies (Poecilia latipinna) whose behavioral plasticity was estimated both as the change in their personality traits or mating behavior across a social gradient and using their performance on a reversal-learning task. We found that the correlations between pairwise measures of plasticity were weak and non-significant, thus indicating that the most plastic individuals were not the same in all the tests. This finding might arise because either individuals adjust the magnitude of their behavioral responses depending on the benefits of plasticity, and/or individuals expressing high behavioral plasticity in one context are limited by neural and/or physiological constraints in the amount of plasticity they can express in other contexts. Because the repeatability of behavioral plasticity may have important evolutionary consequences, additional studies are needed to assess the importance of trade-offs between conflicting selection pressures on the maintenance of intra-individual variation in behavioral plasticity.

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