Mutually honest? Physiological ‘qualities’ signalled by colour ornaments in monomorphic king penguins

• Published in: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
• Main Authors: Viblanc, Vincent A., Dobson, F. Stephen, Stier, Antoine, Schull, Quentin, Saraux, Claire, Gineste, Benoît, Pardonnet, Sylvia, Kauffmann, Marion, Robin, Jean-Patrice, Bize, Pierre
• Other Authors: Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Université de Lausanne (UNIL), Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud ), Department of Zoology, Auburn University (AU), Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie (DEPE-IPHC), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), MARine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation (UMR MARBEC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences Aberdeen, University of Aberdeen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2016
• Subjects: sexual selection; ornament; oxidative stress; body condition; king penguin; monomorphic seabird; mutual mate choice; ultra-violet signals; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; The Beak; King Penguins
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01356705; https://doi.org/10.1111/bij.12729

International audience Mate choice is expected to be important for the fitness of both sexes for species in which successful reproductionrelies strongly on shared and substantial parental investment by males and females. Reciprocal selection maythen favour the evolution of morphological signals providing mutual information on the condition/quality oftentative partners. However, because males and females often have differing physiological constraints, it isunclear which proximate physiological pathways guarantee the honesty of male and female signals in similarlyornamented species. We used the monomorphic king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) as a model to investigatethe physiological qualities signalled by colour and morphological ornaments known to be under sexual selection(coloration of the beak spots and size of auricular feather patches). In both sexes of this slow-breeding seabird, weinvestigated the links between ornaments and multiple indices of individual quality; including body condition,immunity, stress and energy status. In both sexes, individual innate immunity, resting metabolic rate, and theability to mount a stress response in answer to an acute disturbance (capture) were similarly signalled by variousaspects of beak coloration or auricular patch size. However, we also reveal interesting and contrastingrelationships between males and females in how ornaments may signal individual quality. Body condition andoxidative stress status were signalled by beak coloration, although in opposite directions for the sexes. Over anexhaustive set of physiological variables, several suggestive patterns indicated the conveyance of honestinformation about mate quality in this monomorphic species. However, sex-specific patterns suggested thatmonomorphic ornaments may signal different information concerning body mass and oxidative balance of malesand females, at least in king penguins.