Departamento de Ciências da Vida, Faculdade de Ciências E Tecnologia, Universidade de Coimbra, 3000-456, Coimbra, Portugal.
CIBIO, Centro de Investigação Em Biodiversidade E Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade Do Porto, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal.
BMC Ecol Evol. 2024 Aug 19;24(1):109. doi: 10.1186/s12862-024-02298-z.
The songs of birds are complex signals that may have several functions and vary widely among species. Different ecological, behavioural and morphological factors, as well as phylogeny, have been associated as predictors of the evolution of song structure. However, the importance of differences in development, despite their relevance, has seldom been considered. Here, we analysed the evolution of song in two families of songbirds that differ in song development, manakins (suboscines) and cardinals (oscines), with their phylogeny, morphology, and ecology. Our results show that song characteristics had higher phylogenetic signal in cardinals than in manakins, suggesting higher evolutionary lability in the suboscines. Body mass was the main predictor of song parameters in manakins, and together with habitat type, had a major effect on cardinals' song structure. Precipitation and altitude were also associated with some song characteristics in cardinals. Our results bring unexpected insights into birdsong evolution, in which non-learners (manakins) revealed greater evolutionary lability than song learners (cardinals).
鸟类的歌声是复杂的信号，可能具有多种功能，并且在物种之间差异很大。不同的生态、行为和形态因素以及系统发育都与歌声结构的进化有关。然而，尽管其相关性很重要，但发育方面的差异的重要性很少被考虑。在这里，我们分析了在鸣禽的两个科中的歌声进化，它们在歌声发育方面有所不同，分别是蜂鸟（亚鸣禽）和红衣主教鸟（鸣禽），以及它们的系统发育、形态和生态。我们的结果表明，在红衣主教鸟中，歌声特征的系统发育信号比蜂鸟更高，这表明亚鸣禽的进化更具不稳定性。体重是蜂鸟歌声参数的主要预测因子，与栖息地类型一起，对红衣主教鸟的歌声结构有重大影响。降水和海拔也与红衣主教鸟的一些歌声特征有关。我们的结果为鸟类歌声进化带来了意想不到的见解，其中非学习者（蜂鸟）比学习者（红衣主教鸟）表现出更大的进化不稳定性。
