IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v10y2019i1d10.1038_s41467-019-09721-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ecological and geographical overlap drive plumage evolution and mimicry in woodpeckers

Author

Listed:
  • Eliot T. Miller

    (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

  • Gavin M. Leighton

    (Cornell Lab of Ornithology
    SUNY Buffalo State College)

  • Benjamin G. Freeman

    (University of British Columbia)

  • Alexander C. Lees

    (Cornell Lab of Ornithology
    Manchester Metropolitan University)

  • Russell A. Ligon

    (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

Abstract

Organismal appearances are shaped by selection from both biotic and abiotic drivers. For example, Gloger’s rule describes the pervasive pattern that more pigmented populations are found in more humid areas. However, species may also converge on nearly identical colours and patterns in sympatry, often to avoid predation by mimicking noxious species. Here we leverage a massive global citizen-science database to determine how biotic and abiotic factors act in concert to shape plumage in the world’s 230 species of woodpeckers. We find that habitat and climate profoundly influence woodpecker plumage, and we recover support for the generality of Gloger’s rule. However, many species exhibit remarkable convergence explained neither by these factors nor by shared ancestry. Instead, this convergence is associated with geographic overlap between species, suggesting occasional strong selection for interspecific mimicry.

Suggested Citation

  • Eliot T. Miller & Gavin M. Leighton & Benjamin G. Freeman & Alexander C. Lees & Russell A. Ligon, 2019. "Ecological and geographical overlap drive plumage evolution and mimicry in woodpeckers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:10:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-019-09721-w
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09721-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-09721-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-019-09721-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yichen He & Zoë K. Varley & Lara O. Nouri & Christopher J. A. Moody & Michael D. Jardine & Steve Maddock & Gavin H. Thomas & Christopher R. Cooney, 2022. "Deep learning image segmentation reveals patterns of UV reflectance evolution in passerine birds," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Arkadiusz Frӧhlich & Dorota Kotowska & Rafał Martyka & Matthew R. E. Symonds, 2023. "Allometry reveals trade-offs between Bergmann’s and Allen’s rules, and different avian adaptive strategies for thermoregulation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:10:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-019-09721-w. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.