Recent beak evolution in North American starlings after invasion
Abstract European starlings are one of the most abundant and problematic avian invaders in the world. From their native range across Eurasia and North Africa, they have been introduced to every continent except Antarctica. In 160 years, starlings have expanded into different environments throughout...
Published in: | Scientific Reports |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2024
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-49623-y https://doaj.org/article/a3e5df2c71e24bcbbda01357dacce606 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a3e5df2c71e24bcbbda01357dacce606 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a3e5df2c71e24bcbbda01357dacce606 2024-02-11T09:56:37+01:00 Recent beak evolution in North American starlings after invasion Julia M. Zichello Shelagh T. DeLiberto Paul Holmes Agnieszka A. Pierwola Scott J. Werner 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-49623-y https://doaj.org/article/a3e5df2c71e24bcbbda01357dacce606 EN eng Nature Portfolio https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-49623-y https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322 doi:10.1038/s41598-023-49623-y 2045-2322 https://doaj.org/article/a3e5df2c71e24bcbbda01357dacce606 Scientific Reports, Vol 14, Iss 1, Pp 1-17 (2024) Medicine R Science Q article 2024 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-49623-y 2024-01-14T01:52:08Z Abstract European starlings are one of the most abundant and problematic avian invaders in the world. From their native range across Eurasia and North Africa, they have been introduced to every continent except Antarctica. In 160 years, starlings have expanded into different environments throughout the world, making them a powerful model for understanding rapid evolutionary change and adaptive plasticity. Here, we investigate their spatiotemporal morphological variation in North America and the native range. Our dataset includes 1217 specimens; a combination of historical museum skins and modern birds. Beak length in the native range has remained unchanged during the past 206 years, but we find beak length in North American birds is now 8% longer than birds from the native range. We discuss potential drivers of this pattern including dietary adaptation or climatic pressures. Additionally, body size in North American starlings is smaller than those from the native range, which suggests a role for selection or founder effect. Taken together, our results indicate rapid recent evolutionary change in starling morphology coincident with invasion into novel environments. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Scientific Reports 14 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Medicine R Science Q |
spellingShingle |
Medicine R Science Q Julia M. Zichello Shelagh T. DeLiberto Paul Holmes Agnieszka A. Pierwola Scott J. Werner Recent beak evolution in North American starlings after invasion |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Abstract European starlings are one of the most abundant and problematic avian invaders in the world. From their native range across Eurasia and North Africa, they have been introduced to every continent except Antarctica. In 160 years, starlings have expanded into different environments throughout the world, making them a powerful model for understanding rapid evolutionary change and adaptive plasticity. Here, we investigate their spatiotemporal morphological variation in North America and the native range. Our dataset includes 1217 specimens; a combination of historical museum skins and modern birds. Beak length in the native range has remained unchanged during the past 206 years, but we find beak length in North American birds is now 8% longer than birds from the native range. We discuss potential drivers of this pattern including dietary adaptation or climatic pressures. Additionally, body size in North American starlings is smaller than those from the native range, which suggests a role for selection or founder effect. Taken together, our results indicate rapid recent evolutionary change in starling morphology coincident with invasion into novel environments. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Julia M. Zichello Shelagh T. DeLiberto Paul Holmes Agnieszka A. Pierwola Scott J. Werner |
author_facet |
Julia M. Zichello Shelagh T. DeLiberto Paul Holmes Agnieszka A. Pierwola Scott J. Werner |
author_sort |
Julia M. Zichello |
title |
Recent beak evolution in North American starlings after invasion |
title_short |
Recent beak evolution in North American starlings after invasion |
title_full |
Recent beak evolution in North American starlings after invasion |
title_fullStr |
Recent beak evolution in North American starlings after invasion |
title_full_unstemmed |
Recent beak evolution in North American starlings after invasion |
title_sort |
recent beak evolution in north american starlings after invasion |
publisher |
Nature Portfolio |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-49623-y https://doaj.org/article/a3e5df2c71e24bcbbda01357dacce606 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica |
op_source |
Scientific Reports, Vol 14, Iss 1, Pp 1-17 (2024) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-49623-y https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322 doi:10.1038/s41598-023-49623-y 2045-2322 https://doaj.org/article/a3e5df2c71e24bcbbda01357dacce606 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-49623-y |
container_title |
Scientific Reports |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1790604623566864384 |