Ecological effects on female bill colour explain plastic sexual dichromatism in a mutually-ornamented bird

Abstract Sex differences in ornamentation are common and, in species with conventional sex roles, are generally thought of as stable, due to stronger sexual selection on males. Yet, especially in gregarious species, ornaments can also have non-sexual social functions, raising the possibility that ob...

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Autores principales:	Rita Freitas, Cristiana Marques, Gonçalo C. Cardoso, Sandra Trigo
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/c5fa286057fd4648ada746ee225c4539
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:c5fa286057fd4648ada746ee225c45392021-12-02T16:17:28ZEcological effects on female bill colour explain plastic sexual dichromatism in a mutually-ornamented bird10.1038/s41598-021-93897-z2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/c5fa286057fd4648ada746ee225c45392021-07-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93897-zhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Sex differences in ornamentation are common and, in species with conventional sex roles, are generally thought of as stable, due to stronger sexual selection on males. Yet, especially in gregarious species, ornaments can also have non-sexual social functions, raising the possibility that observed sex differences in ornamentation are plastic. For example, females may invest in costly ornamentation more plastically, to protect body and reproductive ability in more adverse ecological conditions. We tested this hypothesis with experimental work on the mutually-ornamented common waxbill (Estrilda astrild), supplementing their diets either with pigmentary (lutein, a carotenoid) or non-pigmentary (vitamin E) antioxidants, or alleviating winter cold temperature. We found that both lutein and vitamin E supplementation increased red bill colour saturation in females, reaching the same mean saturation as males, which supports the hypothesis that female bill colour is more sensitive to environmental or physiological conditions. The effect of vitamin E, a non-pigment antioxidant, suggests that carotenoids were released from their antioxidant functions. Alleviating winter cold did not increase bill colour saturation in either sex, but increased the stability of female bill colour over time, suggesting that female investment in bill colour is sensitive to cold-mediated stress. Together, results show that waxbill bill sexual dichromatism is not stable. Instead, sexual dichromatism can be modulated, and even disappear completely, due to ecology-mediated plastic adjustments in female bill colour.Rita FreitasCristiana MarquesGonçalo C. CardosoSandra TrigoNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Rita Freitas Cristiana Marques Gonçalo C. Cardoso Sandra Trigo Ecological effects on female bill colour explain plastic sexual dichromatism in a mutually-ornamented bird
description	Abstract Sex differences in ornamentation are common and, in species with conventional sex roles, are generally thought of as stable, due to stronger sexual selection on males. Yet, especially in gregarious species, ornaments can also have non-sexual social functions, raising the possibility that observed sex differences in ornamentation are plastic. For example, females may invest in costly ornamentation more plastically, to protect body and reproductive ability in more adverse ecological conditions. We tested this hypothesis with experimental work on the mutually-ornamented common waxbill (Estrilda astrild), supplementing their diets either with pigmentary (lutein, a carotenoid) or non-pigmentary (vitamin E) antioxidants, or alleviating winter cold temperature. We found that both lutein and vitamin E supplementation increased red bill colour saturation in females, reaching the same mean saturation as males, which supports the hypothesis that female bill colour is more sensitive to environmental or physiological conditions. The effect of vitamin E, a non-pigment antioxidant, suggests that carotenoids were released from their antioxidant functions. Alleviating winter cold did not increase bill colour saturation in either sex, but increased the stability of female bill colour over time, suggesting that female investment in bill colour is sensitive to cold-mediated stress. Together, results show that waxbill bill sexual dichromatism is not stable. Instead, sexual dichromatism can be modulated, and even disappear completely, due to ecology-mediated plastic adjustments in female bill colour.
format	article
author	Rita Freitas Cristiana Marques Gonçalo C. Cardoso Sandra Trigo
author_facet	Rita Freitas Cristiana Marques Gonçalo C. Cardoso Sandra Trigo
author_sort	Rita Freitas
title	Ecological effects on female bill colour explain plastic sexual dichromatism in a mutually-ornamented bird
title_short	Ecological effects on female bill colour explain plastic sexual dichromatism in a mutually-ornamented bird
title_full	Ecological effects on female bill colour explain plastic sexual dichromatism in a mutually-ornamented bird
title_fullStr	Ecological effects on female bill colour explain plastic sexual dichromatism in a mutually-ornamented bird
title_full_unstemmed	Ecological effects on female bill colour explain plastic sexual dichromatism in a mutually-ornamented bird
title_sort	ecological effects on female bill colour explain plastic sexual dichromatism in a mutually-ornamented bird
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/c5fa286057fd4648ada746ee225c4539
work_keys_str_mv	AT ritafreitas ecologicaleffectsonfemalebillcolourexplainplasticsexualdichromatisminamutuallyornamentedbird AT cristianamarques ecologicaleffectsonfemalebillcolourexplainplasticsexualdichromatisminamutuallyornamentedbird AT goncaloccardoso ecologicaleffectsonfemalebillcolourexplainplasticsexualdichromatisminamutuallyornamentedbird AT sandratrigo ecologicaleffectsonfemalebillcolourexplainplasticsexualdichromatisminamutuallyornamentedbird
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Ecological effects on female bill colour explain plastic sexual dichromatism in a mutually-ornamented bird

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