Breeding behaviour of colour-aberrant Adélie penguins ( Pygoscelis adeliae ) at Cape Crozier, Ross Island, Antarctica
Abstract Plumage colour variation occurs widely among bird species and is often associated with individual fitness. More specifically, colouration can affect thermoregulatory ability, mate selection and conspicuousness during foraging. Colour aberrations can be caused by genetic mutations, dietary i...
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2021
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102021000158 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102021000158 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0954102021000158 2024-03-03T08:37:37+00:00 Breeding behaviour of colour-aberrant Adélie penguins ( Pygoscelis adeliae ) at Cape Crozier, Ross Island, Antarctica Levinson, Parker M. Schmidt, Annie E. Morandini, Virginia Elrod, Megan Jongsomjit, Dennis Ballard, Grant 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102021000158 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102021000158 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Antarctic Science volume 33, issue 4, page 335-343 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography journal-article 2021 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102021000158 2024-02-08T08:36:14Z Abstract Plumage colour variation occurs widely among bird species and is often associated with individual fitness. More specifically, colouration can affect thermoregulatory ability, mate selection and conspicuousness during foraging. Colour aberrations can be caused by genetic mutations, dietary imbalances, environmental conditions or disease and are rare. Plumage variations have previously been noted in Adélie penguins, although without any follow-up to measure implications for behaviour or fitness. To assess how this low-frequency condition affects breeding in Adélie penguins, we monitored the breeding of several colour-aberrant Adélie penguins during the 2019–2020 nesting season at the large Cape Crozier, Ross Island colony (> 300,000 pairs). In total, we found 12 individuals with unusual plumage for a frequency of 1:50,000 breeding penguins. There were seven dark brown Adélie penguins, three progressive greying Adélie penguins, one dilute Adélie penguin and one brown Adélie penguin, of which five were female, three male and four of unknown sex. Six colour aberrants initiated breeding with a normal-coloured mate, and five raised at least one chick to crèche. The likelihood of breeding and breeding success of colour aberrants were similar to those of normal-coloured Adélie penguins, suggesting that colour aberrations do not negatively affect breeding. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Science Antarctica Pygoscelis adeliae Ross Island Cambridge University Press Ross Island Crozier ENVELOPE(169.400,169.400,-77.517,-77.517) Cape Crozier ENVELOPE(169.400,169.400,-77.517,-77.517) Antarctic Science 1 9 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography Levinson, Parker M. Schmidt, Annie E. Morandini, Virginia Elrod, Megan Jongsomjit, Dennis Ballard, Grant Breeding behaviour of colour-aberrant Adélie penguins ( Pygoscelis adeliae ) at Cape Crozier, Ross Island, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
description |
Abstract Plumage colour variation occurs widely among bird species and is often associated with individual fitness. More specifically, colouration can affect thermoregulatory ability, mate selection and conspicuousness during foraging. Colour aberrations can be caused by genetic mutations, dietary imbalances, environmental conditions or disease and are rare. Plumage variations have previously been noted in Adélie penguins, although without any follow-up to measure implications for behaviour or fitness. To assess how this low-frequency condition affects breeding in Adélie penguins, we monitored the breeding of several colour-aberrant Adélie penguins during the 2019–2020 nesting season at the large Cape Crozier, Ross Island colony (> 300,000 pairs). In total, we found 12 individuals with unusual plumage for a frequency of 1:50,000 breeding penguins. There were seven dark brown Adélie penguins, three progressive greying Adélie penguins, one dilute Adélie penguin and one brown Adélie penguin, of which five were female, three male and four of unknown sex. Six colour aberrants initiated breeding with a normal-coloured mate, and five raised at least one chick to crèche. The likelihood of breeding and breeding success of colour aberrants were similar to those of normal-coloured Adélie penguins, suggesting that colour aberrations do not negatively affect breeding. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Levinson, Parker M. Schmidt, Annie E. Morandini, Virginia Elrod, Megan Jongsomjit, Dennis Ballard, Grant |
author_facet |
Levinson, Parker M. Schmidt, Annie E. Morandini, Virginia Elrod, Megan Jongsomjit, Dennis Ballard, Grant |
author_sort |
Levinson, Parker M. |
title |
Breeding behaviour of colour-aberrant Adélie penguins ( Pygoscelis adeliae ) at Cape Crozier, Ross Island, Antarctica |
title_short |
Breeding behaviour of colour-aberrant Adélie penguins ( Pygoscelis adeliae ) at Cape Crozier, Ross Island, Antarctica |
title_full |
Breeding behaviour of colour-aberrant Adélie penguins ( Pygoscelis adeliae ) at Cape Crozier, Ross Island, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Breeding behaviour of colour-aberrant Adélie penguins ( Pygoscelis adeliae ) at Cape Crozier, Ross Island, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Breeding behaviour of colour-aberrant Adélie penguins ( Pygoscelis adeliae ) at Cape Crozier, Ross Island, Antarctica |
title_sort |
breeding behaviour of colour-aberrant adélie penguins ( pygoscelis adeliae ) at cape crozier, ross island, antarctica |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102021000158 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102021000158 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(169.400,169.400,-77.517,-77.517) ENVELOPE(169.400,169.400,-77.517,-77.517) |
geographic |
Ross Island Crozier Cape Crozier |
geographic_facet |
Ross Island Crozier Cape Crozier |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Science Antarctica Pygoscelis adeliae Ross Island |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Science Antarctica Pygoscelis adeliae Ross Island |
op_source |
Antarctic Science volume 33, issue 4, page 335-343 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102021000158 |
container_title |
Antarctic Science |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
9 |
_version_ |
1792500250592673792 |