Dominant females have brighter ornamentation in a sexually dimorphic lekking species

AD Earl, RK Simpson, JL Yorzinski - Ethology, 2022 - Wiley Online Library
Males often exhibit elaborate ornamentation that contributes to their fitness. Similarly,
females can also exhibit elaborate ornamentation, but we have a relatively limited …

Circulating testosterone and feather-gene expression of receptors and metabolic enzymes in relation to melanin-based colouration in the barn owl

P Béziers, AL Ducrest, C Simon, A Roulin - General and Comparative …, 2017 - Elsevier
Abstract Knowledge of how and why secondary sexual characters are associated with sex
hormones is important to understand their signalling function. Such a link can occur if i) …

Blood parasite infection differentially relates to carotenoid‐based plumage and bill color in the American goldfinch

DC Lumpkin, TG Murphy, KA Tarvin - Ecology and evolution, 2014 - Wiley Online Library
Male and female American goldfinches (Spinus tristis) express condition‐dependent
carotenoid‐based plumage and bill coloration. Plumage color is relatively static, as …

Intraspecific variation and directional casque asymmetry in adult southern cassowaries (Casuarius casuarius)

TL Green, DI Kay, PM Gignac - Journal of Anatomy, 2022 - Wiley Online Library
The cranial casques of modern cassowaries (Casuarius) have long intrigued researchers;
however, in‐depth studies regarding their morphological variation are scarce. Through …

Biomechanics of the peafowl's crest reveals frequencies tuned to social displays

SA Kane, D Van Beveren, R Dakin - PLoS One, 2018 - journals.plos.org
Feathers act as vibrotactile sensors that can detect mechanical stimuli during avian flight
and tactile navigation, suggesting that they may also detect stimuli during social displays. In …

Condition-dependent mate assessment and choice by peahens: implications for sexual selection

R Dakin, R Montgomerie - Behavioral Ecology, 2014 - academic.oup.com
Condition-dependent mate choice is thought to affect the strength and direction of sexual
selection. Although there is ample evidence of this from studies that experimentally …

It isn't always sexy when both are bright and shiny: considering alternatives to sexual selection in elaborate monomorphic species

KA Tarvin, TG Murphy - Ibis, 2012 - digitalcommons.trinity.edu
Since the dawn of abstract thinking, humans have wondered about the seemingly
unnecessary elaborate ornamentations of birds. Gaudy colours, cumbersome tails, complex …

Odor is linked to adrenocortical function and male ornament size in a colonial seabird

HD Douglas III, AS Kitaysky, EV Kitaiskaia - Behavioral Ecology, 2018 - academic.oup.com
Crested auklets (Aethia cristatella), colonial seabirds of Alaska and Siberia, emit a citrus-like
odorant from wick-like feathers. We examined whether the odorant emission is linked to …

Multi‐functional crest display in hoopoes Upupa epops

M Ruiz‐Rodríguez, M Martín‐Vivaldi… - Journal of Avian …, 2017 - Wiley Online Library
Animals can engage in visual displays, which may target conspecifics, heterospecifics or
both. Here we studied the function of the flamboyant crest‐raising display of hoopoes Upupa …

Peafowl antipredator calls encode information about signalers

JL Yorzinski - The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2014 - pubs.aip.org
Animals emit vocalizations that convey information about external events. Many of these
vocalizations, including those emitted in response to predators, also encode information …