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336 results for “sparrow”
Data from: Individual variation in cone photoreceptor density in house sparrows: implications for between-individual differences in visual resolution and chromatic contrast
Between-individual variation has been documented in a wide variety of taxa, especially for behavioral characteristics; however, intra-population variation in sensory systems has not received similar attention in wild animals. We measured a key trait of the visual system, the density of retinal cone photoreceptors, in a wild population of house sparrows (Passer domesticus). We tested whether individuals differed from each other in cone densities given within-individual variation across the retina and across eyes. We further tested whether the existing variation could lead to individual differences in two aspects of perception: visual resolution and chromatic contrast. We found consistent between-individual variation in the densities of all five types of avian cones, involved in chromatic and achromatic vision. Using perceptual modeling, we found that this degree of variation translated into significant between-individual differences in visual resolution and the chromatic contrast of a plumage signal that has been associated with mate choice and agonistic interactions. However, there was no evidence for a relationship between individual visual resolution and chromatic contrast. The implication is that some birds may have the sensory potential to perform "better" in certain visual tasks, but not necessarily in both resolution and contrast simultaneously. Overall, our findings (a) highlight the need to consider multiple individuals when characterizing sensory traits of a species, and (b) provide some mechanistic basis for between-individual variation in different behaviors (i.e., animal personalities) and for testing the predictions of several widely accepted hypotheses (e.g., honest signaling).
Data from: Heterozygosity predicts clutch and egg size but not plasticity in a house sparrow population with no evidence of inbreeding
We investigated the link between heterozygosity and the reaction norm attributes of reproductive performance in female house sparrows (Passer domesticus). We collected data on clutch size, egg size, hatching success, and nestling survival in 2 816 nesting attempts made by 791 marked individuals over a 16 year period. Pedigree analysis revealed no evidence of inbreeding. Neither parent-offspring regression nor an animal model revealed significant heritability in clutch or egg size. We selected 42 females that laid at least seven clutches at our study site and used a survey of 21 autosomal microsatellite loci to estimate heterozygosity for each female. We controlled for phenotypic plasticity and found that both clutch and egg size showed significant positive correlations with heterozygosity. We found no evidence that heterozygosity influenced the slope of individual reaction norms. Further analysis suggested that clutch size was affected by heterozygosity across the genome, but egg size had more complex relationships, with evidence favoring the influence of multiple loci. Given the apparent lack of inbreeding and large population size, our results suggest associative overdominance as the likely mechanism for the impact of heterozygosity, but also created a puzzle about the process producing associations between neutral markers and the genes affecting clutch size or egg size. One possible explanation is a long term residual effect of the historical bottleneck that occurred when house sparrows were introduced into North America. The existence of HFCs in a population with considerable phenotypic plasticity and little inbreeding implies that the effects of heterozygosity may be more significant than previously thought.
Data from: Female and male genetic effects on offspring paternity: additive genetic (co)variances in female extra-pair reproduction and male paternity success in song sparrows (Melospiza melodia)
Ongoing evolution of polyandry, and consequent extra-pair reproduction in socially monogamous systems, is hypothesised to be facilitated by indirect selection stemming from cross-sex genetic covariances with components of male fitness. Specifically, polyandry is hypothesised to create positive genetic covariance with male paternity success due to inevitable assortative reproduction, driving ongoing coevolution. However, it remains unclear whether such covariances could or do emerge within complex polyandrous systems. First, we illustrate that genetic covariances between female extra-pair reproduction and male within-pair paternity success might be constrained in socially monogamous systems where female and male additive genetic effects can have opposing impacts on the paternity of jointly reared offspring. Second, we demonstrate non-zero additive genetic variance in female liability for extra-pair reproduction and male liability for within-pair paternity success, modelled as direct and associative genetic effects on offspring paternity respectively, in free-living song sparrows (Melospiza melodia). The posterior mean additive genetic covariance between these liabilities was slightly positive, but the credible interval was wide and overlapped zero. Therefore, while substantial total additive genetic variance exists, the hypothesis that ongoing evolution of female extra-pair reproduction is facilitated by genetic covariance with male within-pair paternity success cannot yet be definitively supported or rejected either conceptually or empirically.
Data from: A microsatellite-based linkage map for song sparrows (Melospiza melodia)
Although linkage maps are important tools in evolutionary biology, their availability for wild populations is limited. The population of song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) on Mandarte Island, Canada, is among the more intensively studied wild animal populations. Its long-term pedigree data, together with extensive genetic sampling, have allowed the study of a range of questions in evolutionary biology and ecology. However, the availability of genetic markers has been limited. We here describe 191 new microsatellite loci, including 160 high-quality polymorphic autosomal, 7 Z-linked and 1 W-linked markers. We used these markers to construct a linkage map for song sparrows with a total sex-averaged map length of 1731 cM and covering 35 linkage groups, and hence, these markers cover most of the 38–40 chromosomes. Female and male map lengths did not differ significantly. We then bioinformatically mapped these loci to the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) genome and found that linkage groups were conserved between song sparrows and zebra finches. Compared to the zebra finch, marker order within small linkage groups was well conserved, whereas the larger linkage groups showed some intrachromosomal rearrangements. Finally, we show that as expected, recombination frequency between linked loci explained the majority of variation in gametic phase disequilibrium. Yet, there was substantial overlap in gametic phase disequilibrium between pairs of linked and unlinked loci. Given that the microsatellites described here lie on 35 of the 38–40 chromosomes, these markers will be useful for studies in this species, as well as for comparative genomics studies with other species.
Data from: Offspring fitness varies with parental extra-pair status in song sparrows, Melospiza melodia
Numerous studies have tested for indirect selection on female extra-pair reproduction (EPR) by quantifying whether extra-pair young (EPY) are fitter than their within-pair young (WPY) maternal half-siblings. In contrast, the hypothesis that offspring of EPY and WPY (rather than the EPY and WPY themselves) differ in fitness has not been tested, even though inter-generational effects of parental extra-pair status on offspring fitness could alter the magnitude and direction of indirect selection on EPR. We tested whether offspring of EPY song sparrows, Melospiza melodia, were more likely to recruit or produce hatched or recruited offspring over their lifetimes than offspring of WPY. Hatchlings with one or two EPY parents were more likely to recruit and produce hatched offspring than hatchlings with two WPY parents. Furthermore, these relationships differed between maternal versus paternal extra-pair status. Hatchlings with EPY fathers were more likely to recruit and produce offspring than hatchlings with WPY fathers. In contrast, hatchlings with EPY mothers were as likely to recruit as hatchlings with WPY mothers and tended to be less likely to produce recruited offspring. Depending on the causal genetic and environmental mechanisms, such conflicting inter-generational relationships between parental extra-pair status and offspring fitness could substantially influence the evolutionary dynamics of EPR.
Data from: Hybrid speciation in sparrows I: phenotypic intermediacy, genetic admixture and barriers to gene flow
Homoploid hybrid speciation is thought to require unusual circumstances to yield reproductive isolation from the parental species, and few examples are known from nature. Here we present genetic evidence for this mode of speciation in birds. Using Bayesian assignment analyses of 751 individuals genotyped for 14 unlinked, nuclear microsatellite loci, we show that the phenotypically intermediate Italian sparrow (Passer italiae) does not form a cluster of its own, but instead exhibits clear admixture (over its entire breeding range) between its putative parental species, the house sparrow (P. domesticus) and the Spanish sparrow (P. hispaniolensis). Further, the Italian sparrow possesses mitochondrial (mt) DNA haplotypes identical to both putative parental species (although mostly of house sparrow origin), indicating a recent hybrid origin. Today, the Italian sparrow has a largely allopatric distribution on the Italian peninsula and some Mediterranean islands separated from its suggested parental species by the Alps and the Mediterranean Sea, but occurs sympatrically with the Spanish sparrow on the Gargano peninsula in southeast Italy. No evidence of interbreeding was found in this sympatric population. However, the Italian sparrow hybridizes with the house sparrow in a sparsely populated contact zone in the Alps. Yet, the contact zone is characterized by steep clines in species-specific male plumage traits, suggesting that partial reproductive isolation may also have developed between these two taxa. Thus, geographic and reproductive barriers restrict gene flow into the nascent hybrid species. We propose that an origin of hybrid species where the hybrid lineage gets geographically isolated from the parental species, as seems to have happened here, might be more common in nature than previously assumed.
Data from: Female, but not male, tropical sparrows respond more strongly to the local song dialect: implications for population divergence.
In addition to the observed high diversity of species in the tropics, divergence among populations of the same species exists over short geographic distances in both phenotypic traits and neutral genetic markers. Divergence among populations suggests great potential for the evolution of reproductive isolation and eventual speciation. In birds, song can evolve quickly through cultural transmission resulting in regional dialects, which can be a critical component of reproductive isolation through variation in female preference. We examined female and male behavioral responses to local and non-local dialects in two allopatric populations of rufous-collared sparrows (Zonotrichia capensis) in the Andes of Ecuador. Here we show that female sparrows prefer their natal song dialect to the dialect from an allopatric population just 25 km away and separated by unsuitable higher elevation habitat (pass 4200 m), thus providing evidence of prezygotic reproductive isolation among populations. Males showed similar territorial responses to all conspecific dialects, with no consistent difference with respect to distance, making male territoriality uninformative for estimating reproductive isolation. This study provides novel evidence for culturally-based prezygotic isolation over very short distances in a tropical bird.
Sounds of senescence: Male swamp sparrows respond less aggressively to the song of older individuals
Age-related changes in assessment signals occur in a diverse array of animals, including humans. Age-related decline in vocal quality in humans is known to affect perceived attractiveness by potential mates and voters, but whether such changes have functional implications for non-human animals is poorly understood. Most studies of age-related change in animal signals focus on increases in signal quality that occur soon after the age of first breeding ("delayed maturation"), but a few have shown that signal quality declines in older individuals after a mid-life peak ("behavioral senescence"). Whether other individuals are able to detect this senescent decline of assessment signals has not previously been tested. Here we use playback experiments to show that wild male swamp sparrows (Melospiza georgiana) respond more aggressively to songs from two-year-old males as compared to songs from the same males when they are ten years old. Senescence in signals that, like birdsong, affect reproductive success though intra-sexual competition or mate choice may be of evolutionary significance.
FIGURE 33 in Menacanthus bonariensis new species (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae), parasitic on the Whitebellied Sparrow, Zonotrichia capensis hypoleuca (Todd, 1915) (Aves: Passeriformes: Fringillidae) in
FIGURE 33. Geographic range of Zonotrichia capensis hypoleuca (Todd, 1915) in Argentina (left) and in Buenos Aires Province (right), indicating the three major sampling sites: 1, Punta Piedras, Partido de Punta Indio; 2, La Balandra, Partido de Berisso; 3, Laguna Bellaca, Partido de San Vicente.
FIGURES 28–32 in Menacanthus bonariensis new species (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae), parasitic on the Whitebellied Sparrow, Zonotrichia capensis hypoleuca (Todd, 1915) (Aves: Passeriformes: Fringillidae) in
FIGURES 28–32. Oviposition sites of the five louse species recorded from Zonotrichia capensis hypoleuca (Todd, 1915) within the study area, corresponding to five individual hosts from the following localities: 28 and 31, Punta Piedras 6X1984; 29, La Balandra 12XII1986; 30, General Mansilla (13 km W from La Balandra) 18XII1984; 32 ditto 4XII1985. Abbreviations: MG Menacantus bonariensis n. sp., ML Machaerilaemus cfr. laticorpus (Carriker, 1903), MM Machaerilaemus maestus (Kellogg, 1899), Ph Philopterus n. sp., RD Ricinus diffusus (Kellogg, 1896). For further explanation see text.
FIGURES 10–16. Menacanthus bonariensis n in Menacanthus bonariensis new species (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae), parasitic on the Whitebellied Sparrow, Zonotrichia capensis hypoleuca (Todd, 1915) (Aves: Passeriformes: Fringillidae) in
FIGURES 10–16. Menacanthus bonariensis n. sp.: 10, 11, and 12 Nymphs III, II and I, respectively (dorsal and ventral, all at same scale); 13–16 cephalic setal complex and sensillum c: 13, male; 14, nymph III; 15, nymph II; 16, nymph I (all at same scale). Scale in micrometers (µm).
FIGURES 7–9. Menacanthus bonariensis n in Menacanthus bonariensis new species (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae), parasitic on the Whitebellied Sparrow, Zonotrichia capensis hypoleuca (Todd, 1915) (Aves: Passeriformes: Fringillidae) in
FIGURES 7–9. Menacanthus bonariensis n. sp., male: 7, habitus (dorsal and ventral); 8, genitalia (dorsal and ventral); 9, genital sac and "penis", extruded. Scale in micrometers (µm).
FIGURES 1–6. Menacanthus bonariensis n in Menacanthus bonariensis new species (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae), parasitic on the Whitebellied Sparrow, Zonotrichia capensis hypoleuca (Todd, 1915) (Aves: Passeriformes: Fringillidae) in
FIGURES 1–6. Menacanthus bonariensis n. sp.: 1, female (dorsal and ventral); 2–6, ventral spinous processes of the head, drawn at same scale: 2, female; 3, male; 4, nymph III; 5, nymph II; 6, nymph I. Scale in micrometers (µm).
FIGURES 17–20. Menacanthus bonariensis n in Menacanthus bonariensis new species (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae), parasitic on the Whitebellied Sparrow, Zonotrichia capensis hypoleuca (Todd, 1915) (Aves: Passeriformes: Fringillidae) in
FIGURES 17–20. Menacanthus bonariensis n. sp., ventral spinous processes of the head, gular plate, pro, meso and metasternum: 17, male; 18, nymph III; 19, nymph II; 20, nymph I (at same scale). Scale in micrometers (µm).
FIGURES 21–27. Menacanthus bonariensis n in Menacanthus bonariensis new species (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae), parasitic on the Whitebellied Sparrow, Zonotrichia capensis hypoleuca (Todd, 1915) (Aves: Passeriformes: Fringillidae) in
FIGURES 21–27. Menacanthus bonariensis n. sp.: 21, whole egg glued to a lower barb of a gular feather (opercular phanerum broken off); 22, operculum; 23–24, views of operculi showing irregularly spaced air chambers; 25–27, hatching organ of the embryonary cuticle of three nearly mature embryos. Scale in micrometers (µm).
FIGURE 4 in Two new quill mite species of the family Syringophilidae (Acari: Prostigmata) parasitising the house sparrow Passer domesticus (L.) (Aves: Passeriformes)
FIGURE 4. Krantziaulonastus dubinini sp. nov., female. A, dorsal view; B, ventral view; C, fan-like seta p'III.
FIGURE 2 in Two new quill mite species of the family Syringophilidae (Acari: Prostigmata) parasitising the house sparrow Passer domesticus (L.) (Aves: Passeriformes)
FIGURE 2. Picobia passeri sp. nov., female. A, hypostomal apex; B, peritreme; C, propodonotal seta ve; D, tarsus of leg III in ventral view; E, genito-anal region in ventral view; F, solenidia of leg I; G, movable cheliceral digit.
FIGURE 8 in Taxonomic revision of Saffron-billed Sparrow Arremon flavirostris Swainson, 1838 (Aves: Passerellidae) with comments on its holotype and type locality
FIGURE 8. Ventral, dorsal, lateral view of the holotype of A. flavirostris and its label (CUMZ27/Fri(E)/6/c/1) housed at the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, UK. Notice the crown stripe starting above the eye described by Swainson in the original description, which is characteristic of immature individuals. Photo taken by Dr. Michael Brooke (University of Cambridge).
FIGURE 5 in Taxonomic revision of Saffron-billed Sparrow Arremon flavirostris Swainson, 1838 (Aves: Passerellidae) with comments on its holotype and type locality
FIGURE 5. Dorsal and lateral view of the specimens of the three groups delimited: A. f. dorbignii (A–B, from Chuquisaca, Bolivia, ANSP 13496), A. f. flavirostris (C–D, type of A. f. flavirostris from "vicinities of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil", CUMZ 27/ Fri(E)/6/c/1) and A. f. polionotus (E–F, from Assis, São Paulo, Brazil, MN 38925).
FIGURE 7 in Taxonomic revision of Saffron-billed Sparrow Arremon flavirostris Swainson, 1838 (Aves: Passerellidae) with comments on its holotype and type locality
FIGURE 7. Variations found in the back color of the gray-backed group (A. polionotus). A) Adult specimen with Plumbeous back (AMNH786552) (Argentina, Chaco, Saenz Peña); adult specimens with paler gray tones in the back: B) (AMNH799306) (Argentina, Corrientes) and C) (AMNH32140) (Chapada, Mato Grosso, Brazil); D) immature male specimen with olivaceus tone in the back (AMNH32086) (Chapada, Mato Grosso, Brazil); E) sub-adult male specimen with dark gray back and green feathers mixed in (FMNH295505) (Bolivia, Santa Cruz, Santiago de Chiquitos); F) immature female specimen with buffy olivaceous tone in the back (FMNH296515) (Bolivia, Santa Cruz, Santiago Chiquitos).
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Allen Brain Atlas
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Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
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