Morphological shifts of the external flight apparatus across the range of a passerine (Northern Wheatear) with diverging migratory behaviour.
We studied morphological differentiation in the flight apparatus of the four currently recognised sub-species of Northern Wheatears, Oenanthe oenanthe. Considering all measured birds without assigning them a priori to any sub-species we found a clinal morphological shift. Relative wing length, wing...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:f7cd22b981324b9e9d6d52aaea1bc6e7 2023-05-15T16:29:26+02:00 Morphological shifts of the external flight apparatus across the range of a passerine (Northern Wheatear) with diverging migratory behaviour. Marc I Förschler Franz Bairlein 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0018732 https://doaj.org/article/f7cd22b981324b9e9d6d52aaea1bc6e7 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3078915?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018732 https://doaj.org/article/f7cd22b981324b9e9d6d52aaea1bc6e7 PLoS ONE, Vol 6, Iss 4, p e18732 (2011) Medicine R Science Q article 2011 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0018732 2022-12-31T03:38:02Z We studied morphological differentiation in the flight apparatus of the four currently recognised sub-species of Northern Wheatears, Oenanthe oenanthe. Considering all measured birds without assigning them a priori to any sub-species we found a clinal morphological shift. Relative wing length, wing pointedness, and the degree of tail forking were positively correlated with migratory distance, whereas tail length (relative to wing length) was negatively correlated. The large-sized, long-distance migrant "Greenland" Wheatear, O. o. leucorhoa, is characterized by relatively longer, broader and more pointed wings and more forked tails, similar to the smaller-sized nominate Northern Wheatear, O. o. oenanthe, from North Europe, Siberia and Russia. In contrast, the short distance migrant "Seebohm's" Wheatear, O. o. seebohmi, from northwest Africa, possesses much rounder wings, and the tail is relatively longer and less forked. Sub-species with intermediate migratory habits (different populations of nominate Northern Wheatear, O. o. oenanthe, and "Mediterranean" Northern Wheatear, O. o. libanotica) show, as expected, intermediate features according to their intermediate migratory behaviour. Our results are congruent with other inter- and intraspecific studies finding similar adaptations for energy-effective flight in relation to migration distance (morphological migratory syndrome). Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Siberia Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland PLoS ONE 6 4 e18732 |
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English |
topic |
Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q Marc I Förschler Franz Bairlein Morphological shifts of the external flight apparatus across the range of a passerine (Northern Wheatear) with diverging migratory behaviour. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
We studied morphological differentiation in the flight apparatus of the four currently recognised sub-species of Northern Wheatears, Oenanthe oenanthe. Considering all measured birds without assigning them a priori to any sub-species we found a clinal morphological shift. Relative wing length, wing pointedness, and the degree of tail forking were positively correlated with migratory distance, whereas tail length (relative to wing length) was negatively correlated. The large-sized, long-distance migrant "Greenland" Wheatear, O. o. leucorhoa, is characterized by relatively longer, broader and more pointed wings and more forked tails, similar to the smaller-sized nominate Northern Wheatear, O. o. oenanthe, from North Europe, Siberia and Russia. In contrast, the short distance migrant "Seebohm's" Wheatear, O. o. seebohmi, from northwest Africa, possesses much rounder wings, and the tail is relatively longer and less forked. Sub-species with intermediate migratory habits (different populations of nominate Northern Wheatear, O. o. oenanthe, and "Mediterranean" Northern Wheatear, O. o. libanotica) show, as expected, intermediate features according to their intermediate migratory behaviour. Our results are congruent with other inter- and intraspecific studies finding similar adaptations for energy-effective flight in relation to migration distance (morphological migratory syndrome). |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Marc I Förschler Franz Bairlein |
author_facet |
Marc I Förschler Franz Bairlein |
author_sort |
Marc I Förschler |
title |
Morphological shifts of the external flight apparatus across the range of a passerine (Northern Wheatear) with diverging migratory behaviour. |
title_short |
Morphological shifts of the external flight apparatus across the range of a passerine (Northern Wheatear) with diverging migratory behaviour. |
title_full |
Morphological shifts of the external flight apparatus across the range of a passerine (Northern Wheatear) with diverging migratory behaviour. |
title_fullStr |
Morphological shifts of the external flight apparatus across the range of a passerine (Northern Wheatear) with diverging migratory behaviour. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Morphological shifts of the external flight apparatus across the range of a passerine (Northern Wheatear) with diverging migratory behaviour. |
title_sort |
morphological shifts of the external flight apparatus across the range of a passerine (northern wheatear) with diverging migratory behaviour. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0018732 https://doaj.org/article/f7cd22b981324b9e9d6d52aaea1bc6e7 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Siberia |
genre_facet |
Greenland Siberia |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 6, Iss 4, p e18732 (2011) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3078915?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018732 https://doaj.org/article/f7cd22b981324b9e9d6d52aaea1bc6e7 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0018732 |
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PLoS ONE |
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6 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
e18732 |
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