Ornamental Throat Feathers Predict Telomere Dynamic and Hatching Success in Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor) Males
Sexually selected signals reliably reflect individual phenotypic or genetic quality and, thus, survival prospects of holders. Telomere length is considered a good predictor of life expectancy and, consequently, exploring the links between telomere length and sexually selected traits is much needed t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fevo.2019.00520/full |
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| author | Manuel Azcárate-García Magdalena Ruiz-Rodríguez Silvia Díaz-Lora Cristina Ruiz-Castellano Manuel Martín-Vivaldi Manuel Martín-Vivaldi Jordi Figuerola Jordi Figuerola Josué Martínez-de la Puente Josué Martínez-de la Puente Gustavo Tomás Tomás Pérez-Contreras Juan José Soler Juan José Soler |
| author_facet | Manuel Azcárate-García Magdalena Ruiz-Rodríguez Silvia Díaz-Lora Cristina Ruiz-Castellano Manuel Martín-Vivaldi Manuel Martín-Vivaldi Jordi Figuerola Jordi Figuerola Josué Martínez-de la Puente Josué Martínez-de la Puente Gustavo Tomás Tomás Pérez-Contreras Juan José Soler Juan José Soler |
| author_sort | Manuel Azcárate-García |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Sexually selected signals reliably reflect individual phenotypic or genetic quality and, thus, survival prospects of holders. Telomere length is considered a good predictor of life expectancy and, consequently, exploring the links between telomere length and sexually selected traits is much needed to better understand the mechanisms that maintain the honesty of sexual signals. We manipulated the length of throat feathers in spotless starling (Sturnus unicolor) males (a sexually selected signal) before reproduction and explored its effects on telomere shortening and breeding performance in subsequent reproductive events. We did not detect an effect of the feathers clipping manipulation, but males with longer throat feathers before the experiment had shorter telomeres that also shortened more slowly than those of males with shorter throat feathers did. Moreover, length of throat feathers of males before manipulation was positively related to hatching success of second clutches. Thus, correlative but not experimental results support the expected associations between sexually selected signals, telomeres and reproduction. We discuss such results in scenarios of sexual selection where feather length reflects, but does not directly cause, telomere attrition, and enhanced reproductive success. Males with longer throat feathers might be older, more experienced males (i.e., with shorter telomeres), able to buffer telomere shortening between reproductive events. Because of the absence of experimental effects, differential incubation effort of females cannot explain the detected association with hatching success, but other sexually selected traits that covary with throat-feather length could be responsible. Exploring those physiological and/or morphological characteristics related to throat-feather length should therefore be the matter of future research. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T19:45:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a682466ac97c4e3fa975963d57a87437 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-701X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T19:45:41Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-a682466ac97c4e3fa975963d57a874372022-12-21T20:08:08ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution2296-701X2020-01-01710.3389/fevo.2019.00520499945Ornamental Throat Feathers Predict Telomere Dynamic and Hatching Success in Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor) MalesManuel Azcárate-García0Magdalena Ruiz-Rodríguez1Silvia Díaz-Lora2Cristina Ruiz-Castellano3Manuel Martín-Vivaldi4Manuel Martín-Vivaldi5Jordi Figuerola6Jordi Figuerola7Josué Martínez-de la Puente8Josué Martínez-de la Puente9Gustavo Tomás10Tomás Pérez-Contreras11Juan José Soler12Juan José Soler13Departamento de Ecología Funcional y Evolutiva, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (CSIC), Almería, SpainDepartamento de Ecología Funcional y Evolutiva, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (CSIC), Almería, SpainDepartamento de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Granada, SpainDepartamento de Ecología Funcional y Evolutiva, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (CSIC), Almería, SpainDepartamento de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Granada, SpainUnidad Asociada (CSIC): Coevolución: Cucos, Hospedadores y Bacterias Simbiontes, Universidad de Granada, Granada, SpainDepartamento de Ecología de Humedales, Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC), Sevilla, SpainCIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Sevilla, SpainDepartamento de Ecología de Humedales, Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC), Sevilla, SpainCIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Sevilla, SpainDepartamento de Ecología Funcional y Evolutiva, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (CSIC), Almería, SpainDepartamento de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Granada, SpainDepartamento de Ecología Funcional y Evolutiva, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (CSIC), Almería, SpainUnidad Asociada (CSIC): Coevolución: Cucos, Hospedadores y Bacterias Simbiontes, Universidad de Granada, Granada, SpainSexually selected signals reliably reflect individual phenotypic or genetic quality and, thus, survival prospects of holders. Telomere length is considered a good predictor of life expectancy and, consequently, exploring the links between telomere length and sexually selected traits is much needed to better understand the mechanisms that maintain the honesty of sexual signals. We manipulated the length of throat feathers in spotless starling (Sturnus unicolor) males (a sexually selected signal) before reproduction and explored its effects on telomere shortening and breeding performance in subsequent reproductive events. We did not detect an effect of the feathers clipping manipulation, but males with longer throat feathers before the experiment had shorter telomeres that also shortened more slowly than those of males with shorter throat feathers did. Moreover, length of throat feathers of males before manipulation was positively related to hatching success of second clutches. Thus, correlative but not experimental results support the expected associations between sexually selected signals, telomeres and reproduction. We discuss such results in scenarios of sexual selection where feather length reflects, but does not directly cause, telomere attrition, and enhanced reproductive success. Males with longer throat feathers might be older, more experienced males (i.e., with shorter telomeres), able to buffer telomere shortening between reproductive events. Because of the absence of experimental effects, differential incubation effort of females cannot explain the detected association with hatching success, but other sexually selected traits that covary with throat-feather length could be responsible. Exploring those physiological and/or morphological characteristics related to throat-feather length should therefore be the matter of future research.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fevo.2019.00520/fullhatching successsexual selectionsexual signalingSturnus unicolortelomere dynamicsthroat-feathers length |
| spellingShingle | Manuel Azcárate-García Magdalena Ruiz-Rodríguez Silvia Díaz-Lora Cristina Ruiz-Castellano Manuel Martín-Vivaldi Manuel Martín-Vivaldi Jordi Figuerola Jordi Figuerola Josué Martínez-de la Puente Josué Martínez-de la Puente Gustavo Tomás Tomás Pérez-Contreras Juan José Soler Juan José Soler Ornamental Throat Feathers Predict Telomere Dynamic and Hatching Success in Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor) Males Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution hatching success sexual selection sexual signaling Sturnus unicolor telomere dynamics throat-feathers length |
| title | Ornamental Throat Feathers Predict Telomere Dynamic and Hatching Success in Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor) Males |
| title_full | Ornamental Throat Feathers Predict Telomere Dynamic and Hatching Success in Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor) Males |
| title_fullStr | Ornamental Throat Feathers Predict Telomere Dynamic and Hatching Success in Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor) Males |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ornamental Throat Feathers Predict Telomere Dynamic and Hatching Success in Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor) Males |
| title_short | Ornamental Throat Feathers Predict Telomere Dynamic and Hatching Success in Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor) Males |
| title_sort | ornamental throat feathers predict telomere dynamic and hatching success in spotless starling sturnus unicolor males |
| topic | hatching success sexual selection sexual signaling Sturnus unicolor telomere dynamics throat-feathers length |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fevo.2019.00520/full |
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