Wings have evolved in phylogenetically distant organisms with morphologies that depend on the combined effects of diverse, potentially contrasting selective forces. In birds, long pointed wings boost speed and energetic efficiency during cruising flight but reduce manoeuvrability. Migratory behavior is believed to lead to the evolution of more pointed wings, but selection on pointedness has never been estimated. Because annual routines of migrants are tightly scheduled, wing pointedness may be selected for because it allows for earlier arrival to the breeding grounds. In long-distance migratory barn swallows Hirundo rustica we showed that selection via breeding date and thus annual fecundity operates on wing pointedness, but not on other wing traits, among yearling females but not among older females or males. Selection on wing pointedness specifically in yearling females may result from climatic effects, which favour earlier arrival from migration, and from yearling females being the sex-by-age class with the latest migration and the smallest wing pointedness. Wing morphology differed between sexes and age classes because of change in size of the outermost but not the innermost wing feathers. Hence, sex- and age-specific selection on wing pointedness operates in a species with sex- and age-dependent variation in phenology and wing morphology

Saino, N., Rubolini, D., Ambrosini, R., Romano, A., Parolini, M., Canova, L., et al. (2017). Sex- and age-dependent morphology and selection on wing shape in the barn swallow Hirundo rustica. JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY, 48(11), 1441-1450 [10.1111/jav.01469].

Sex- and age-dependent morphology and selection on wing shape in the barn swallow Hirundo rustica

Ambrosini, R;
2017

Abstract

Wings have evolved in phylogenetically distant organisms with morphologies that depend on the combined effects of diverse, potentially contrasting selective forces. In birds, long pointed wings boost speed and energetic efficiency during cruising flight but reduce manoeuvrability. Migratory behavior is believed to lead to the evolution of more pointed wings, but selection on pointedness has never been estimated. Because annual routines of migrants are tightly scheduled, wing pointedness may be selected for because it allows for earlier arrival to the breeding grounds. In long-distance migratory barn swallows Hirundo rustica we showed that selection via breeding date and thus annual fecundity operates on wing pointedness, but not on other wing traits, among yearling females but not among older females or males. Selection on wing pointedness specifically in yearling females may result from climatic effects, which favour earlier arrival from migration, and from yearling females being the sex-by-age class with the latest migration and the smallest wing pointedness. Wing morphology differed between sexes and age classes because of change in size of the outermost but not the innermost wing feathers. Hence, sex- and age-specific selection on wing pointedness operates in a species with sex- and age-dependent variation in phenology and wing morphology
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Animal Science and Zoology
English
2017
48
11
1441
1450
none
Saino, N., Rubolini, D., Ambrosini, R., Romano, A., Parolini, M., Canova, L., et al. (2017). Sex- and age-dependent morphology and selection on wing shape in the barn swallow Hirundo rustica. JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY, 48(11), 1441-1450 [10.1111/jav.01469].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/178423
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