Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary.
J Exp Biol. 2018 May 10;221(Pt 9):jeb176727. doi: 10.1242/jeb.176727.
Structural plumage colour is one of the most enigmatic sexually selected traits. The information content of structural colour variation is debated, and the heterogeneity of the findings is hard to explain because the proximate background of within-species colour differences is very scarcely studied. We combined measurements of feather macrostructure and nanostructure to explain within-population variability in blue tit crown reflectance. We found that sexual dichromatism in aspects of crown reflectance was explained only by feather macrostructure, whereas nanostructural predictors accounted for some of the age-related differences in reflectance. Moreover, we found that both mean reflectance and spectral shape traits reflected a combination of quantity and regularity aspects in macrostructure and nanostructure. This rich proximate background provides ample scope for reflectance to convey various types of information on individual quality.
结构羽色是最神秘的性选择特征之一。结构颜色变化的信息含量存在争议，而且由于对种内颜色差异的近因背景研究甚少，因此很难解释研究结果的异质性。我们结合羽毛宏观结构和微观结构的测量来解释蓝山雀冠反射率的种群内变异性。我们发现，冠反射率的两性二色性仅由羽毛宏观结构来解释，而微观结构预测因子则解释了反射率与年龄相关的一些差异。此外，我们发现，平均反射率和光谱形状特征反映了宏观结构和微观结构中数量和规律性方面的组合。这种丰富的近因背景为反射率提供了充分的空间，以传递有关个体质量的各种信息。
