Sexing a sex-role-reversed species based on plumage: potential challenges in the red phalarope
Sex-role reversal, in which males care for offspring, can occur when mate competition is stronger between females than males. Secondary sex traits and mate attracting displays in sex-role-reversed species are usually more pronounced in females than in males. The red phalarope ( Phalaropus fulicarius...
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crpeerj:10.7717/peerj.1989 2024-09-15T18:14:46+00:00 Sexing a sex-role-reversed species based on plumage: potential challenges in the red phalarope Giroux, Marie-Andrée Ditlecadet, Delphine Martin, Luc J. Lanctot, Richard B. Lecomte, Nicolas The W. Garfield Weston Foundation (fellowship to MAG) Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada Canadian Foundation for Innovation Polar Continental Shelf Project Canada Research Chair Program Government of Nunavut Indian and Northern Affairs Canada Igloolik Hunters and Trappers Organization US Fish and Wildlife Service Université de Moncton 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1989 https://peerj.com/articles/1989.pdf https://peerj.com/articles/1989.xml https://peerj.com/articles/1989.html en eng PeerJ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ PeerJ volume 4, page e1989 ISSN 2167-8359 journal-article 2016 crpeerj https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1989 2024-07-23T04:08:31Z Sex-role reversal, in which males care for offspring, can occur when mate competition is stronger between females than males. Secondary sex traits and mate attracting displays in sex-role-reversed species are usually more pronounced in females than in males. The red phalarope ( Phalaropus fulicarius ) is a textbook example of a sex-role-reversed species. It is generally agreed that males are responsible for all incubation and parental care duties, whereas females typically desert males after having completed a clutch and may pair with new males to lay additional clutches. The breeding plumage of female red phalaropes is usually more brightly colored than male plumage, a reversed sexual dichromatism usually associated with sex-role reversal. Here, we confirm with PCR-based sexing that male red phalaropes can exhibit both the red body plumage typical of a female and the incubation behavior typical of a male. Our result, combined with previous observations of brightly colored red phalaropes incubating nests at the same arctic location (Igloolik Island, Nunavut, Canada), suggests that plumage dichromatism alone may not be sufficient to distinguish males from females in this breeding population of red phalaropes. This stresses the need for more systematic genetic sexing combined with standardized description of intersexual differences in red phalarope plumages. Determining whether such female-like plumage on males is a result of phenotypic plasticity or genetic variation could contribute to further understanding sex-role reversal strategies in the short Arctic summer. Article in Journal/Newspaper Igloolik Nunavut Phalaropus fulicarius Red Phalarope PeerJ Publishing PeerJ 4 e1989 |
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PeerJ Publishing |
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English |
description |
Sex-role reversal, in which males care for offspring, can occur when mate competition is stronger between females than males. Secondary sex traits and mate attracting displays in sex-role-reversed species are usually more pronounced in females than in males. The red phalarope ( Phalaropus fulicarius ) is a textbook example of a sex-role-reversed species. It is generally agreed that males are responsible for all incubation and parental care duties, whereas females typically desert males after having completed a clutch and may pair with new males to lay additional clutches. The breeding plumage of female red phalaropes is usually more brightly colored than male plumage, a reversed sexual dichromatism usually associated with sex-role reversal. Here, we confirm with PCR-based sexing that male red phalaropes can exhibit both the red body plumage typical of a female and the incubation behavior typical of a male. Our result, combined with previous observations of brightly colored red phalaropes incubating nests at the same arctic location (Igloolik Island, Nunavut, Canada), suggests that plumage dichromatism alone may not be sufficient to distinguish males from females in this breeding population of red phalaropes. This stresses the need for more systematic genetic sexing combined with standardized description of intersexual differences in red phalarope plumages. Determining whether such female-like plumage on males is a result of phenotypic plasticity or genetic variation could contribute to further understanding sex-role reversal strategies in the short Arctic summer. |
author2 |
The W. Garfield Weston Foundation (fellowship to MAG) Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada Canadian Foundation for Innovation Polar Continental Shelf Project Canada Research Chair Program Government of Nunavut Indian and Northern Affairs Canada Igloolik Hunters and Trappers Organization US Fish and Wildlife Service Université de Moncton |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Giroux, Marie-Andrée Ditlecadet, Delphine Martin, Luc J. Lanctot, Richard B. Lecomte, Nicolas |
spellingShingle |
Giroux, Marie-Andrée Ditlecadet, Delphine Martin, Luc J. Lanctot, Richard B. Lecomte, Nicolas Sexing a sex-role-reversed species based on plumage: potential challenges in the red phalarope |
author_facet |
Giroux, Marie-Andrée Ditlecadet, Delphine Martin, Luc J. Lanctot, Richard B. Lecomte, Nicolas |
author_sort |
Giroux, Marie-Andrée |
title |
Sexing a sex-role-reversed species based on plumage: potential challenges in the red phalarope |
title_short |
Sexing a sex-role-reversed species based on plumage: potential challenges in the red phalarope |
title_full |
Sexing a sex-role-reversed species based on plumage: potential challenges in the red phalarope |
title_fullStr |
Sexing a sex-role-reversed species based on plumage: potential challenges in the red phalarope |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sexing a sex-role-reversed species based on plumage: potential challenges in the red phalarope |
title_sort |
sexing a sex-role-reversed species based on plumage: potential challenges in the red phalarope |
publisher |
PeerJ |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1989 https://peerj.com/articles/1989.pdf https://peerj.com/articles/1989.xml https://peerj.com/articles/1989.html |
genre |
Igloolik Nunavut Phalaropus fulicarius Red Phalarope |
genre_facet |
Igloolik Nunavut Phalaropus fulicarius Red Phalarope |
op_source |
PeerJ volume 4, page e1989 ISSN 2167-8359 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1989 |
container_title |
PeerJ |
container_volume |
4 |
container_start_page |
e1989 |
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1810452538064896000 |