2024-03-28T14:03:55Zhttp://digital.csic.es/dspace-oai/requestoai:digital.csic.es:10261/1437332021-11-22T12:54:29Zcom_10261_108com_10261_8com_10261_16com_10261_77col_10261_361col_10261_269col_10261_330
Martínez-Padilla, Jesús
Vergara, Pablo
Pérez-Rodríguez, Lorenzo
Mougeot, François
Casas, Fabián
Ludwig, S.
Zeineddine, Mohammed
Redpath, Steve
2017-02-10T08:13:33Z
2017-02-10T08:13:33Z
2011
Biology Letters 7(3): 364-367 (2011)
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/143733
10.1098/rsbl.2010.0991
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000270
21247939
In many species, females display brightly coloured and elaborate traits similar to those that males use in intra- and inter-sexual selection processes. These female characters are sometimes related to fitness, and might function as secondary sexual characteristics that have evolved through sexual selection. Here, we used descriptive data from 674 females in 10 populations and an experimental removal of Trichostrongylus tenuis parasites in four populations, to examine the effects of season, age, condition, and parasites on the size of supraorbital combs displayed by female red grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus. We found that comb size (i) was greater during the breeding than the non-breeding season, (ii) was greater in adult than in young females, (iii) was positively correlated with body condition, and (iv) negatively correlated with parasite abundance. Experimentally, we showed that comb size increased proportionally to the number of worms removed after parasite dosing. Our findings provide a better understanding of proximate mechanisms behind the expression of a male-like trait in females, and we discuss its possible function as a female ornament.
eng
closedAccess
Comb size
Female
Trichostrongylus tenuis
Red grouse
Body condition
Condition- and parasite-dependent expression of a male-like trait in a female bird
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