IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v14y2023i1d10.1038_s41467-023-35788-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Migration direction in a songbird explained by two loci

Author

Listed:
  • Kristaps Sokolovskis

    (Lund University, Ecology Building)

  • Max Lundberg

    (Lund University, Ecology Building)

  • Susanne Åkesson

    (Lund University, Ecology Building)

  • Mikkel Willemoes

    (Lund University, Ecology Building)

  • Tianhao Zhao

    (University of Groningen)

  • Violeta Caballero-Lopez

    (Lund University, Ecology Building)

  • Staffan Bensch

    (Lund University, Ecology Building)

Abstract

Migratory routes and remote wintering quarters in birds are often species and even population specific. It has been known for decades that songbirds mainly migrate solitarily, and that the migration direction is genetically controlled. Yet, the underlying genetic mechanisms remain unknown. To investigate the genetic basis of migration direction, we track genotyped willow warblers Phylloscopus trochilus from a migratory divide in Sweden, where South-West migrating, and South-East migrating subspecies form a hybrid swarm. We find evidence that migration direction follows a dominant inheritance pattern with epistatic interaction between two loci explaining 74% of variation. Consequently, most hybrids migrate similarly to one of the parental subspecies, and therefore do not suffer from the cost of following an inferior, intermediate route. This has significant implications for understanding the selection processes that maintain narrow migratory divides.

Suggested Citation

  • Kristaps Sokolovskis & Max Lundberg & Susanne Åkesson & Mikkel Willemoes & Tianhao Zhao & Violeta Caballero-Lopez & Staffan Bensch, 2023. "Migration direction in a songbird explained by two loci," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-6, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-35788-7
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-35788-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-35788-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-023-35788-7?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. Matteo Sebastianelli & Sifiso M. Lukhele & Simona Secomandi & Stacey G. Souza & Bettina Haase & Michaella Moysi & Christos Nikiforou & Alexander Hutfluss & Jacquelyn Mountcastle & Jennifer Balacco & S, 2024. "A genomic basis of vocal rhythm in birds," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, 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:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-35788-7. 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.