Philip Whitfield is at the Department of Zoology, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK.
Trends Ecol Evol. 1987 Jan;2(1):13-8. doi: 10.1016/0169-5347(87)90194-7.
A decade ago it was suggested that much of the plumage variability exhibited by flocking birds can be explained by 'status signalling', plumage variability being used to signal agonistic status(1). As a result of this suggestion, a number of studies have examined the social significance of plumage differences, but the status signalling hypothesis has not received unequivocal support. Other factors, such as the facilitation of individual recognition, also appear to be important in explaining plumage variability.
十年前有人提出，集群鸟类表现出的大部分羽毛变异可以用“地位信号”来解释，即羽毛变异被用来表示竞争地位(1)。由于这一建议，许多研究都检验了羽毛差异的社会意义，但地位信号假说并未得到明确支持。其他因素，如促进个体识别，似乎也在解释羽毛变异方面很重要。
