Egg shape in the Common Guillemot Uria aalge and Brunnich’s Guillemot U. lomvia: not a rolling matter?
The adaptive significance of avian egg shape is poorly understood, and has been studied only in those species producing pyriform (pear-shaped, or pointed) eggs: waders and guillemots (murres) Uria spp., albeit to a limited extent. In the latter, it is widely believed that the pyriform shape has evol...
Published in: | Journal of Ornithology |
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Springer Verlag (Germany)
2017
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Online Access: | https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/112880/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/112880/1/TRB%20et%20all%20G%20eggs%202.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-017-1437-8 |
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ftleedsuniv:oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:112880 2023-05-15T15:55:59+02:00 Egg shape in the Common Guillemot Uria aalge and Brunnich’s Guillemot U. lomvia: not a rolling matter? Birkhead, T.R. Thompson, J.E. Biggins, J.D. Thompson, JE Biggins, JD 2017-02-17 text https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/112880/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/112880/1/TRB%20et%20all%20G%20eggs%202.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-017-1437-8 en eng Springer Verlag (Germany) https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/112880/1/TRB%20et%20all%20G%20eggs%202.pdf Birkhead, T.R., Thompson, J.E. and Biggins, J.D. (2017) Egg shape in the Common Guillemot Uria aalge and Brunnich’s Guillemot U. lomvia: not a rolling matter? Journal of Ornithology. ISSN 0021-8375 cc_by_4 CC-BY Article PeerReviewed 2017 ftleedsuniv https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-017-1437-8 2023-01-30T21:52:12Z The adaptive significance of avian egg shape is poorly understood, and has been studied only in those species producing pyriform (pear-shaped, or pointed) eggs: waders and guillemots (murres) Uria spp., albeit to a limited extent. In the latter, it is widely believed that the pyriform shape has evolved to minimise their likelihood of rolling off a cliff ledge: the idea being that the more pointed the egg, the narrower the arc in which it rolls, and the less likely it is it will fall from a cliff ledge. Previous research also claimed that the rolling trajectory—the diameter of the arc they describe—of Common Guillemot U. aalge eggs is influenced not only by its shape but also by its mass, with heavier (i.e. larger) eggs describing a wider arc than lighter eggs. The finding that both shape and mass determined the rolling trajectory of Common Guillemot eggs (the shape–mass hypothesis) was used to explain the apparent anomaly that Bru¨nnich’s Guillemot U. lomvia produce eggs that are less pointed, yet breed on narrower ledges than Common Guillemots. They are able to do this, it was suggested, because Bru¨nnich’s Guillemot eggs are smaller and lighter in mass than those of Common Guillemots. However, since some populations of Bru¨nnich’s Guillemots produce eggs that are as large or larger than those of some Common Guillemot populations, the shape–mass hypothesis predicts that that (1) larger (i.e. heavier) eggs of both guillemot species will be more pyriform (pointed) in shape, and (2) that eggs of the two species of same mass should be similarly pointed. We tested these predictions and found: (1) only a weak, positive association between egg volume and pointedness in both guillemot species (\3% of the variation in egg shape explained by egg volume), and (2) no evidence that eggs of the two species of similar mass were more similar in shape: regardless of their mass, Brunnich’s Guillemot eggs were less pointed than Common Guillemot eggs. Overall, our results call into question the long-held belief that protection ... Article in Journal/Newspaper common guillemot Uria aalge uria White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) Bru ENVELOPE(12.593,12.593,65.391,65.391) Journal of Ornithology 158 3 679 685 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) |
op_collection_id |
ftleedsuniv |
language |
English |
description |
The adaptive significance of avian egg shape is poorly understood, and has been studied only in those species producing pyriform (pear-shaped, or pointed) eggs: waders and guillemots (murres) Uria spp., albeit to a limited extent. In the latter, it is widely believed that the pyriform shape has evolved to minimise their likelihood of rolling off a cliff ledge: the idea being that the more pointed the egg, the narrower the arc in which it rolls, and the less likely it is it will fall from a cliff ledge. Previous research also claimed that the rolling trajectory—the diameter of the arc they describe—of Common Guillemot U. aalge eggs is influenced not only by its shape but also by its mass, with heavier (i.e. larger) eggs describing a wider arc than lighter eggs. The finding that both shape and mass determined the rolling trajectory of Common Guillemot eggs (the shape–mass hypothesis) was used to explain the apparent anomaly that Bru¨nnich’s Guillemot U. lomvia produce eggs that are less pointed, yet breed on narrower ledges than Common Guillemots. They are able to do this, it was suggested, because Bru¨nnich’s Guillemot eggs are smaller and lighter in mass than those of Common Guillemots. However, since some populations of Bru¨nnich’s Guillemots produce eggs that are as large or larger than those of some Common Guillemot populations, the shape–mass hypothesis predicts that that (1) larger (i.e. heavier) eggs of both guillemot species will be more pyriform (pointed) in shape, and (2) that eggs of the two species of same mass should be similarly pointed. We tested these predictions and found: (1) only a weak, positive association between egg volume and pointedness in both guillemot species (\3% of the variation in egg shape explained by egg volume), and (2) no evidence that eggs of the two species of similar mass were more similar in shape: regardless of their mass, Brunnich’s Guillemot eggs were less pointed than Common Guillemot eggs. Overall, our results call into question the long-held belief that protection ... |
author2 |
Thompson, JE Biggins, JD |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Birkhead, T.R. Thompson, J.E. Biggins, J.D. |
spellingShingle |
Birkhead, T.R. Thompson, J.E. Biggins, J.D. Egg shape in the Common Guillemot Uria aalge and Brunnich’s Guillemot U. lomvia: not a rolling matter? |
author_facet |
Birkhead, T.R. Thompson, J.E. Biggins, J.D. |
author_sort |
Birkhead, T.R. |
title |
Egg shape in the Common Guillemot Uria aalge and Brunnich’s Guillemot U. lomvia: not a rolling matter? |
title_short |
Egg shape in the Common Guillemot Uria aalge and Brunnich’s Guillemot U. lomvia: not a rolling matter? |
title_full |
Egg shape in the Common Guillemot Uria aalge and Brunnich’s Guillemot U. lomvia: not a rolling matter? |
title_fullStr |
Egg shape in the Common Guillemot Uria aalge and Brunnich’s Guillemot U. lomvia: not a rolling matter? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Egg shape in the Common Guillemot Uria aalge and Brunnich’s Guillemot U. lomvia: not a rolling matter? |
title_sort |
egg shape in the common guillemot uria aalge and brunnich’s guillemot u. lomvia: not a rolling matter? |
publisher |
Springer Verlag (Germany) |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/112880/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/112880/1/TRB%20et%20all%20G%20eggs%202.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-017-1437-8 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(12.593,12.593,65.391,65.391) |
geographic |
Bru |
geographic_facet |
Bru |
genre |
common guillemot Uria aalge uria |
genre_facet |
common guillemot Uria aalge uria |
op_relation |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/112880/1/TRB%20et%20all%20G%20eggs%202.pdf Birkhead, T.R., Thompson, J.E. and Biggins, J.D. (2017) Egg shape in the Common Guillemot Uria aalge and Brunnich’s Guillemot U. lomvia: not a rolling matter? Journal of Ornithology. ISSN 0021-8375 |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-017-1437-8 |
container_title |
Journal of Ornithology |
container_volume |
158 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
679 |
op_container_end_page |
685 |
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