Negative Assortative Mating in Prothonotary Warblers: Crown Feathers Reveal Mating Preference
Negative Assortative Mating in Prothonotary Warblers: Crown Feathers Reveal Mating Preference Jordan Rasure, Depts. of Biology, Spanish, & Chemistry and Elsa Chen, Dept. of Biology, with Dr. Lesley Bulluck, Center for Environmental Studies While male ornamentation has been the subject of many av...
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ftvirginiacuniv:oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:uresposters-1380 2023-05-15T15:34:41+02:00 Negative Assortative Mating in Prothonotary Warblers: Crown Feathers Reveal Mating Preference Rasure, Jordan Chen, Elsa 2020-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/348 https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1380&context=uresposters unknown VCU Scholars Compass https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/348 https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1380&context=uresposters © The Author(s) Undergraduate Research Posters text 2020 ftvirginiacuniv 2023-03-12T19:10:24Z Negative Assortative Mating in Prothonotary Warblers: Crown Feathers Reveal Mating Preference Jordan Rasure, Depts. of Biology, Spanish, & Chemistry and Elsa Chen, Dept. of Biology, with Dr. Lesley Bulluck, Center for Environmental Studies While male ornamentation has been the subject of many avian studies, there is a dearth of studies on their female equivalents. Several studies have evaluated male ornamentation as an indication of individual quality and a driving factor in mate choice. Spectral analysis of feathers has revealed that color intensity can be interpreted as an indicator of both aggression and parental quality. We evaluated the correlation between male and female ornamentation in prothonotary warblers (Protonotaria citrea) to determine whether individuals select mates that share their same plumage characteristics. We collected 46 samples of crown and breast feathers from 46 individuals (23 breeding pairs) across two study sites in eastern Virginia, USA. From these samples, we measured reflectance and calculated three color metrics: violet-blue chroma (an index of carotenoid content), ultraviolet chroma, and yellow intensity. After ruling out age as a confounding variable, we found a significant negative correlation between the yellow intensity of female crown feathers and the yellow intensity of her respective male’s crown feathers. This finding suggests a pattern of non-assortative mating in prothonotary warblers, which may be explained by a trade-off between parental quality and aggression. Further studies are needed to expand the sample size of breeding pairs and to evaluate the role of ornamentation in parental care and aggression. https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1380/thumbnail.jpg Text Avian Studies Virginia Commonwealth University: VCU Scholars Compass |
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Virginia Commonwealth University: VCU Scholars Compass |
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Negative Assortative Mating in Prothonotary Warblers: Crown Feathers Reveal Mating Preference Jordan Rasure, Depts. of Biology, Spanish, & Chemistry and Elsa Chen, Dept. of Biology, with Dr. Lesley Bulluck, Center for Environmental Studies While male ornamentation has been the subject of many avian studies, there is a dearth of studies on their female equivalents. Several studies have evaluated male ornamentation as an indication of individual quality and a driving factor in mate choice. Spectral analysis of feathers has revealed that color intensity can be interpreted as an indicator of both aggression and parental quality. We evaluated the correlation between male and female ornamentation in prothonotary warblers (Protonotaria citrea) to determine whether individuals select mates that share their same plumage characteristics. We collected 46 samples of crown and breast feathers from 46 individuals (23 breeding pairs) across two study sites in eastern Virginia, USA. From these samples, we measured reflectance and calculated three color metrics: violet-blue chroma (an index of carotenoid content), ultraviolet chroma, and yellow intensity. After ruling out age as a confounding variable, we found a significant negative correlation between the yellow intensity of female crown feathers and the yellow intensity of her respective male’s crown feathers. This finding suggests a pattern of non-assortative mating in prothonotary warblers, which may be explained by a trade-off between parental quality and aggression. Further studies are needed to expand the sample size of breeding pairs and to evaluate the role of ornamentation in parental care and aggression. https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1380/thumbnail.jpg |
format |
Text |
author |
Rasure, Jordan Chen, Elsa |
spellingShingle |
Rasure, Jordan Chen, Elsa Negative Assortative Mating in Prothonotary Warblers: Crown Feathers Reveal Mating Preference |
author_facet |
Rasure, Jordan Chen, Elsa |
author_sort |
Rasure, Jordan |
title |
Negative Assortative Mating in Prothonotary Warblers: Crown Feathers Reveal Mating Preference |
title_short |
Negative Assortative Mating in Prothonotary Warblers: Crown Feathers Reveal Mating Preference |
title_full |
Negative Assortative Mating in Prothonotary Warblers: Crown Feathers Reveal Mating Preference |
title_fullStr |
Negative Assortative Mating in Prothonotary Warblers: Crown Feathers Reveal Mating Preference |
title_full_unstemmed |
Negative Assortative Mating in Prothonotary Warblers: Crown Feathers Reveal Mating Preference |
title_sort |
negative assortative mating in prothonotary warblers: crown feathers reveal mating preference |
publisher |
VCU Scholars Compass |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/348 https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1380&context=uresposters |
genre |
Avian Studies |
genre_facet |
Avian Studies |
op_source |
Undergraduate Research Posters |
op_relation |
https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/348 https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1380&context=uresposters |
op_rights |
© The Author(s) |
_version_ |
1766364996778852352 |