An avian equivalent of make-up?
We report that a long-distance migrating shorebird, the red knot, makes a complete switch from commonly occurring monoester preen waxes to a much rarer class of higher-molecular-weight diester waxes at the time of take-off to the high arctic breeding grounds. The cold arctic climate would have requi...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1999
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/4210 |
| Summary: | We report that a long-distance migrating shorebird, the red knot, makes a complete switch from commonly occurring monoester preen waxes to a much rarer class of higher-molecular-weight diester waxes at the time of take-off to the high arctic breeding grounds. The cold arctic climate would have required a lowering of wax-viscosity, and thus, a shift in the reverse direction. We propose that a sexually selected need for a brilliant plumage has lead to this center-intuitive temporary shift from monoesters to diester waxes. The difficulty of application of the diester preen waxes under cold conditions would ensure the reliability of the quality-signalling function of this most probably sexually selected trait. |
|---|