Reproductive skew and selection on female ornamentation in social species

Dustin R. Rubenstein () and Irby J. Lovette
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Dustin R. Rubenstein: Columbia University, Evolution and Environmental Biology, 10th Floor Schermerhorn Extension, 1200 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, New York 10027, USA
Irby J. Lovette: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Fuller Evolutionary Biology Program, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, New York 14850, USA

Nature, 2009, vol. 462, issue 7274, 786-789

Abstract: Plumage to impress Many birds are distinguished by colourful males and drab females, referred to by bird-watchers as LBJs ('little brown jobs'). This is true for species in which males court many females and the females are choosy about mates — necessarily so, because they make most of the investment in raising young. But what about species that are co-operative breeders, where males and females share the load? In such species the sexes tend to look more alike. The conventional wisdom is that the males become less ornamented, but this is not necessarily the case, as shown by a study of ornamentation levels in male and female African starlings. In this group-living species, females compete with one another for the attention of males, and become more ornamented, matching the males. In species that do not live with relatives, males are more ornamented than females.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature08614

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