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119 results for “color evolution”
Data from: Evolution of long-term coloration trends with biochemically unstable ingredients
The evolutionarily persistent and widespread use of carotenoid pigments in animal coloration contrasts with their biochemical instability. Consequently, evolution of carotenoid-based displays should include mechanisms to accommodate or limit pigment degradation. In birds, this could involve two strategies: (i) evolution of a moult immediately prior to the mating season, enabling the use of particularly fast-degrading carotenoids and (ii) evolution of the ability to stabilize dietary carotenoids through metabolic modification or association with feather keratins. Here, we examine evolutionary lability and transitions between the two strategies across 126 species of birds. We report that species that express mostly unmodified, fast-degrading, carotenoids have pre-breeding moults, and a particularly short time between carotenoid deposition and the subsequent breeding season. Species that expressed mostly slow-degrading carotenoids in their plumage accomplished this through increased metabolic modification of dietary carotenoids, and the selective expression of these slow-degrading compounds. In these species, the timing of moult was not associated with carotenoid composition of plumage displays. Using repeated samples from individuals of one species, we found that metabolic modification of dietary carotenoids significantly slowed their degradation between moult and breeding season. Thus, the most complex and colourful ornamentation is likely the most biochemically stable in birds, and depends less on ecological factors, such as moult timing and migration tendency. We suggest that coevolution of metabolic modification, selective expression and biochemical stability of plumage carotenoids enables the use of unstable pigments in long-term evolutionary trends in plumage coloration.
Data from: Predictability and irreversibility of genetic changes associated with flower color evolution in Penstemon barbatus
Two outstanding questions in evolutionary biology are whether, and how often, the genetic basis of phenotypic evolution is predictable; and whether genetic change constrains evolutionary reversibility. We address these questions by studying the genetic basis of red flower color in Penstemon barbatus. The production of red flowers often involves the inactivation of one or both of two anthocyanin pathway genes, Flavonoid 3',5'-hydroxylase (F3'5'h) and Flavonoid 3'-hydroxylase (F3'h). We used gene expression and enzyme function assays to determine that redundant inactivating mutations to F3'5'h underlie the evolution of red flowers in P. barbatus. Comparison of our results to previously characterized shifts from blue to red flowers suggests that the genetic change associated with the evolution of red flowers is predictable: when it involves elimination of F3'5'H activity, functional inactivation or deletion of this gene tends to occur; however, when it involves elimination of F3'H activity, tissue-specific regulatory substitutions occur and the gene is not functionally inactivated. This pattern is consistent with emerging data from physiological experiments indicating that F3'h may have pleiotropic effects and is thus subject to purifying selection. The multiple, redundant inactivating mutations to F3'5'h suggest that reversal to blue-purple flowers in this group would be unlikely.
Data from: Using historical biogeography models to study color pattern evolution
Color is among the most striking features of organisms, varying not only in spectral properties like hue and brightness, but also in where and how it is produced on the body. Different combinations of colors on a bird's body are important in both environmental and social contexts. Previous comparative studies have treated plumage patches individually or derived plumage complexity scores from color measurements across a bird's body. However, these approaches do not consider the multivariate nature of plumages (allowing for plumage to evolve as a whole) or account for interpatch distances. Here, we leverage a rich toolkit used in historical biogeography to assess color pattern evolution in a cosmopolitan radiation of birds, kingfishers (Aves: Alcedinidae). We demonstrate the utility of this approach and test hypotheses about the tempo and mode of color evolution in kingfishers. Our results highlight the importance of considering interpatch distances in understanding macroevolutionary trends in color diversity and demonstrate how historical biogeography models are a useful way to model plumage color pattern evolution. Furthermore, they show that distinct color mechanisms (pigments or structural colors) spread across the body in different ways and at different rates. Specifically, net rates are higher for structural colors than pigment-based colors. Together, our study suggests a role for both development and selection in driving extraordinary color pattern diversity in kingfishers. We anticipate this approach will be useful for modeling other complex phenotypes besides color, such as parasite evolution across the body.
Data from: Parallel plumage color evolution and introgressive hybridization in wheatears
Genetic and phenotypic mosaics, in which various phenotypes and different genomic regions show discordant patterns of species or population divergence, offer unique opportunities to study the role of ancestral and introgressed genetic variation in phenotypic evolution. Here, we investigated the evolution of discordant phenotypic and genetic divergence in a monophyletic clade of four songbird taxa – pied wheatear (O. pleschanka), Cyprus wheatear (O. cypriaca), and western and eastern subspecies of black-eared wheatear (O. h. hispanica and O. h. melanoleuca). Phenotypically, black back and neck-sides distinguish pied and Cyprus wheatears from the white-backed/necked black-eared wheatears. Meanwhile, mitochondrial variation only distinguishes western black-eared wheatear. In the absence of nuclear genetic data, and given frequent hybridization among eastern black-eared and pied wheatear, it remains unclear whether introgression is responsible for discordance between mitochondrial divergence patterns and phenotypic similarities, or whether plumage coloration evolved in parallel. Multispecies coalescent analyses of about 20'000 SNPs obtained from RAD data mapped to a draft genome assembly resolve the species tree, provide evidence for the parallel evolution of color phenotypes, and establish western and eastern black-eared wheatears as independent taxa that should be recognized as full species. The presence of the entire admixture spectrum in the Iranian hybrid zone and the detection of footprints of introgression from pied into eastern black-eared wheatear beyond the hybrid zone despite strong geographic structure of ancestry proportions furthermore suggest a potential role for introgression in parallel plumage color evolution. Our results support the importance of standing heterospecific and/or ancestral variation in phenotypic evolution.
Data from: Modular color evolution facilitated by a complex nanostructure in birds
The way in which a complex trait varies, and thus evolves, is critically affected by the independence, or modularity, of its subunits. How modular designs facilitate phenotypic diversification is well studied in non-ornamental (e.g., cichlid jaws), but not ornamental traits. Diverse feather colors in birds are produced by light absorption by pigments and/or light scattering by nanostructures. Such structural colors are deterministically related to the nanostructures that produce them and are therefore excellent systems to study modularity and diversity of ornamental traits. Elucidating if and how these nanostructures facilitate color diversity relies on understanding how nanostructural traits covary, and how these traits map to color. Both of these remain unknown in an evolutionary context. Most dabbling ducks (Anatidae) have a conspicuous wing patch with iridescent color caused by a two-dimensional photonic crystal of small (100–200 nm) melanosomes. Here, we ask how this complex nanostructure affects modularity of color attributes. Using a combination of electron microscopy, spectrophotometry, and comparative methods, we show that nanostructural complexity causes functional decoupling and enables independent evolution of different color traits. These results demonstrate that color diversity is facilitated by how nanostructures function and may explain why some birds are more color-diverse than others.
Data from: The evolution of feather coloration and song in Old World orioles (genus Oriolus)
What is the tempo and mode of evolution – how fast and in what pattern do traits evolve – is a major question of evolutionary biology. Here we studied patterns of evolutionary change in visual and acoustic signals in Old World orioles. Since producing multiple signals may be costly, we also tested whether there was an evolutionary trade-off between the elaboration of those two types of signals. We studied 30 Oriolus taxa using comparative methods and a recent molecular phylogeny. Morphology and plumage hue evolved comparatively slowly, whereas song evolved rapidly. Among individual feather patches, the evolutionary rate of color was slowest in primaries, which are critical for flapping flight, and fastest in patches exposed to observers (mantle and breast). Thus, primaries seem to be under functional constraint while the evolution of visually exposed patches is perhaps shaped by sexual selection. Song evolution was comparatively fast, but also attracted to a single optimum. This may be due to selection for signal efficacy, because all orioles inhabit similar forested habitats. Only color diversity was best fit by a speciational model: the biggest changes in coloration were concentrated at speciation events, thus perhaps linked to the evolution of species recognition. Our analysis did not reveal any evolutionary trade-off between acoustic and visual signals, suggesting that the elaboration of visual and acoustic signals in the Old World orioles evolved independently. Our study shows that patterns of evolutionary change may be surprisingly complex even within a single clade of birds and thus further studies are needed to identify general patterns of signal macroevolution.
Data from: Evolution of carotenoid pigmentation in caciques and meadowlarks (Icteridae): repeated gains of red plumage coloration by carotenoid C4-oxygenation
Many animals use carotenoid pigments to produce yellow, orange, and red coloration. In birds, at least 10 carotenoid compounds have been documented in red feathers; most of these are produced through metabolic modification of dietary precursor compounds. However, it is poorly understood how lineages have evolved the biochemical mechanisms for producing red coloration. We used high-performance liquid chromatography to identify the carotenoid compounds present in feathers from 15 species across two clades of blackbirds (the meadowlarks and allies, and the caciques and oropendolas; Icteridae), and mapped their presence or absence on a phylogeny. We found that the red plumage found in meadowlarks includes different carotenoid compounds than the red plumage found in caciques, indicating that these gains of red color are convergent. In contrast, we found that red coloration in two closely related lineages of caciques evolved twice by what appear to be similar biochemical mechanisms. The C4-oxygenation of dietary carotenoids was responsible for each observed transition from yellow to red plumage coloration, and has been commonly reported by other researchers. This suggests that the C4-oxygenation pathway may be a readily evolvable means to gain red coloration using carotenoids.
Data from: Evolution of wing length and melanin-based coloration in insular populations of a cosmopolitan raptor
<p><b>Aim.</b> Insular populations face different conditions than those living on continents, thus resulting in the evolution of typical insular phenotypes, like smaller body sizes or reduced colourations. However, the generality of the so-called "island rule" has been questioned, and intraspecific analyses on the effects of insularity on cosmopolitan species are lacking. Here, we tested the predictions of the island rule in the cosmopolitan common barn owl group.</p> <p><b>Location.</b> World.</p> <p><b>Taxon.</b> Barn owl species complex.</p> <p><b>Methods.</b> We compared wing and bill length, as well as melanin-based plumage traits, between thousands of insular and continental barn owls living in the Afro-Palearctic region (<i>T. alba</i>), in the Americas (<i>T. furcata</i>), and in Australasia (<i>T. javanica</i>). We also tested whether the difference between insular and continental populations in these phenotypic traits varies among islands/archipelagos of different size and isolation.</p> <p><b>Results.</b> In all the regions, we found differences between insular and continental owls in all the traits but bill length, with insular populations convergently evolving shorter wings and paler colourations. In addition, the difference in wing size between insular and continental populations is particularly marked on small and remote island systems, while melanin-based traits are less expressed especially on large islands.</p> <p><b>Main conclusions.</b> We thus provide unprecedented evidence that insular conditions drive predictable phenotypic variations, even at the intraspecific level in different biogeographic regions, possibly promoting speciation events. In addition, our results also indicate that selective advantages of a given colouration can arise as the by‐product of positive selection on individuals displaying phenotypic traits which can favour island colonization and are genetically linked to melanisation.</p>
FIGURE 5 in Does soil color affect fish evolution? Differences in color change rate between lineages of the sailfin tetra
FIGURE 5 | Raw values of RBG; A. Red, B. Green and C. Blue measurements of Crenuchus spilurus body color during the beginning (Initial) and end (Final) periods of the trials. Black and grey boxes represent populations from the Negro lineage; red and brown represent populations from the Amazonas lineage.
FIGURE 4 in Does soil color affect fish evolution? Differences in color change rate between lineages of the sailfin tetra
FIGURE 4 | Mean and SE representing color change rates for each population of Crenuchus spilurus. Colors represent populations as in Fig. 1. Black and grey bars represent populations of the Negro lineage, red and brown bars represent populations of the Amazonas lineage. Letters represent groupings observed in Tukey's HSD test.
FIGURE 1 in Does soil color affect fish evolution? Differences in color change rate between lineages of the sailfin tetra
FIGURE 1 | Reflectance of the types of substrates commonly found in igarapés in the Amazon forest: dead leaves (brown), clay (orange) and sand (yellow). The strong dissimilarity between white sand and dead leaves creates a higher contrast at the environment.
Figure 6 from: Prötzel D, Lambert SM, Andrianasolo GT, Hutter CR, Cobb KA, Scherz MD, Glaw F (2018) The smallest 'true chameleon' from Madagascar: a new, distinctly colored species of the Calumma boettgeri complex (Squamata, Chamaeleonidae). Zoosystematics and Evolution 94(2): 409-423. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.94.27305
Figure 6 Posed photos of a subadult male specimen of Calummaroaloko sp. n. (ZSM 244/2018, KU 343177); (a) Indigo coloration on the rostral appendage and head scalation is apparent; (b) portrait of the same specimen.
Figure 2 from: Prötzel D, Lambert SM, Andrianasolo GT, Hutter CR, Cobb KA, Scherz MD, Glaw F (2018) The smallest 'true chameleon' from Madagascar: a new, distinctly colored species of the Calumma boettgeri complex (Squamata, Chamaeleonidae). Zoosystematics and Evolution 94(2): 409-423. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.94.27305
Figure 2 Maximum-likelihood tree of the Calummaboettgeri complex, based on 513 base-pairs of the mitochondrial ND2 gene. Nodal support values indicate the proportional support from 1000 rapid bootstrap replicates. Support values for intra-specific relationships are not shown. Outgroup (C.oshaughnessyi FGZC 4577) not shown for graphical reasons.
Figure 7 from: Prötzel D, Lambert SM, Andrianasolo GT, Hutter CR, Cobb KA, Scherz MD, Glaw F (2018) The smallest 'true chameleon' from Madagascar: a new, distinctly colored species of the Calumma boettgeri complex (Squamata, Chamaeleonidae). Zoosystematics and Evolution 94(2): 409-423. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.94.27305
Figure 7 In-situ photograph of an uncollected (in sleeping position) female of Calummaroalokosp. n., from the same locality as KU 343168.
Figure 5 from: Prötzel D, Lambert SM, Andrianasolo GT, Hutter CR, Cobb KA, Scherz MD, Glaw F (2018) The smallest 'true chameleon' from Madagascar: a new, distinctly colored species of the Calumma boettgeri complex (Squamata, Chamaeleonidae). Zoosystematics and Evolution 94(2): 409-423. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.94.27305
Figure 5 In-life photos of four specimens of Calummaroaloko sp. n.; (a) subadult male (ZSM 244/2018, KU 343177); (b) the holotype, adult male (KU 343178); (c) subadult male (UADBA-R, KU 343167); (d) adult female (KU 343168).
Figure 4 from: Prötzel D, Lambert SM, Andrianasolo GT, Hutter CR, Cobb KA, Scherz MD, Glaw F (2018) The smallest 'true chameleon' from Madagascar: a new, distinctly colored species of the Calumma boettgeri complex (Squamata, Chamaeleonidae). Zoosystematics and Evolution 94(2): 409-423. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.94.27305
Figure 4 Map showing the location of the known range of Calummaroaloko sp. n. in central-eastern Madagascar. Red stars indicate localities where C.roaloko sp. n. was found, gray "X" indicate localities surveyed but with no detection of the species. The map is a composite of Landsat 7 and SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission; Farr and Kobrick 2000) digital elevation data (U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center) created in QGIS v2.18.
Figure 1 from: Prötzel D, Lambert SM, Andrianasolo GT, Hutter CR, Cobb KA, Scherz MD, Glaw F (2018) The smallest 'true chameleon' from Madagascar: a new, distinctly colored species of the Calumma boettgeri complex (Squamata, Chamaeleonidae). Zoosystematics and Evolution 94(2): 409-423. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.94.27305
Figure 1 Micro-CT scans of skulls of Calummaroaloko sp. n. Male holotype KU 343178 in dorsal view (a) and lateral view (b), note the worm-like structure (presumably an endoparasite) in the throat of the holotype; female KU 343168 in dorsal view (c) and lateral view (d). See Materials and methods for abbreviations. See also Suppl. material 3 and 4 for a 360° movie of the skull.
Data from: Inaccurate color discrimination by pollinators promotes evolution of discrete color polymorphism in food-deceptive flowers
Many plant species employing food-deceptive pollination strategy show discrete or continuous floral polymorphism within their populations. Previous studies have suggested that negative frequency-dependent selection (NFDS) caused by learning behavior of pollinators was responsible for maintenance of floral polymorphism. However, NFDS alone does not explain why and when discrete or continuous polymorphism evolves. In this study, we use an evolutionary simulation model to propose that inaccurate discrimination of flower colors by pollinators results in evolution of discrete flower color polymorphism. Simulations showed that associative learning based on inaccurate discrimination in pollinators caused disruptive selection of flower colors. The degree of inaccuracy determined the number of discrete flower colors that evolved. Our results suggest that animal behavior based on inaccurate discrimination may be a general cause of disruptive selection that promotes discrete trait polymorphism.
The roles of wing color pattern and geography in the evolution of Neotropical Preponini butterflies
<p>Diversification rates and evolutionary trajectories are known to be influenced by phenotypic traits and the geographic history of the landscapes that organisms inhabit. One of the most conspicuous traits in butterflies is their wing color pattern, which has been shown to be important in speciation. The evolution of many taxa in the Neotropics has also been influenced by major geological events. Using a dated, species-level molecular phylogenetic hypothesis for Preponini, a colorful Neotropical butterfly tribe, we evaluated if diversification rates were constant or varied through time, and how they were influenced by color pattern evolution and biogeographic events. We found that Preponini originated approximately 28 million years ago and that diversification has increased through time consistent with major periods of Andean uplift. Even though some clades show evolutionarily rapid transitions in coloration, contrary to our expectations, these shifts were not correlated with shifts in diversification. Involvement in mimicry with other butterfly groups might explain the rapid changes in dorsal color patterns in this tribe, but such changes have not increased species diversification in this group. However, we found evidence for an influence of major Miocene and Pliocene geological events on the tribe's evolution. Preponini apparently originated within South America and range evolution has since been dynamic, congruent with Andean geologic activity, closure of the Panama Isthmus and Miocene climate variability.</p>
Data from: Tempo and mode of flower color evolution
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