Roulin Alexandre, Dubey Sylvain, Ito Shosuke, Wakamatsu Kazumasa
Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Biophore Building, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
HW Romandie SA, Avenue Des Alpes 25, CH-1820 Montreux, Switzerland.
J Ornithol. 2024;165(2):429-438. doi: 10.1007/s10336-023-02137-w. Epub 2023 Dec 26.
Although the evolutionary ecology of melanin pigments and melanin-based coloration has been studied in great details, particularly in birds, little is known about the function of melanin stored inside the body. In the barn owl , in which individuals vary in the degree of reddish pheomelanin-based coloration and in the size of black eumelanic feather spots, we measured the concentration in melanin pigments in seven organs. The eyes had by far the most melanin then the skin, pectoral muscle, heart, liver, trachea, and uropygial gland. The concentration in eumelanin was not necessarily correlated with the concentration in pheomelanin suggesting that their production can be regulated independently from each other. Redder barn owls had more pheomelanin in the skin and uropygial gland than white owls, while owls displaying larger black feather spots had more eumelanin in the skin than small-spotted owls. More data are required to evaluate whether melanin-based traits can evolve as an indirect response to selection exerted on melanin deposition in organs.
尽管黑色素色素和基于黑色素的着色的进化生态学已得到详细研究，尤其是在鸟类中，但对于体内储存的黑色素的功能却知之甚少。在仓鸮中，个体在基于微红褐黑素的着色程度和黑色真黑素羽毛斑点大小方面存在差异，我们测量了七个器官中黑色素色素的浓度。眼睛中的黑色素含量远高于皮肤、胸肌、心脏、肝脏、气管和尾脂腺。真黑素的浓度不一定与褐黑素的浓度相关，这表明它们的产生可以相互独立调节。颜色较红的仓鸮在皮肤和尾脂腺中的褐黑素比白色仓鸮更多，而黑色羽毛斑点较大的仓鸮在皮肤中的真黑素比斑点小的仓鸮更多。需要更多数据来评估基于黑色素的性状是否可以作为对器官中黑色素沉积所施加选择的间接反应而进化。
