Melanin- versus carotenoid-based sexual signals : is the difference really so black and red?

By Simon C. Griffith, T. Parker, V. Olson. 2006

274 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Subfields: Cell Biology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/34cc546dad74ff5d1dc6f65a86115e385ad9a5e0

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Citations in the corpus

Dietary mineral content influences the expression of melanin-based ornamental coloration (2007, unknown): “…from food and play important health roles (Lozano 1994; Olson and Owens 1998; Hill 1999; Møller et al. 2000), and it is clear from several studies in several bird species that carotenoid-based colors typically reveal the nutritional and immunological state of individuals (reviewed in Hill 2006).”
Armaments and ornaments in the rock sparrow: a possible dual utility of a carotenoid-based feather signal (2006, background): “…(see Hill 1999b for a review), but evidence that these signals are also important in male–male competition is less abundant (Pryke et al. 2001b; Pryke and Andersson 2003a; Evans and Norris 1996; Etman et al. 2001; Preault et al. 2002; Bright et al. 2004; see Griffith et al. 2006 for a review).”
Feather-Degrading Bacteria: A New Frontier in Avian and Host–Parasite Research? (2008, background): “…selection, the deposition of particular feather pigments may be selected because of their protective value against FDB. Melanin pigments are responsible for most of the black and earth-toned colors of bird feathers (McGraw 2006) and are important for signaling (Griffith et al. 2006) and crypsis.”
Female American goldfinches use carotenoid-based bill coloration to signal status (2009, background): “…acquisition, assimilation, and conversion—and tradeoffs with certain physiological functions—render carotenoid signals reliable indicators of condition and thus ideal targets of mate choice but not particularly useful as status signals (McGraw and Hill 2000, but see Griffith et al. 2006).”
A melanin-based trait reflects environmental growth conditions of nestling male Eurasian kestrels (2007, background): “Evidence is starting to accumulate for environmentally induced variation in melanin traits (Griffith et al. 2006).”
Carotenoid-based signals in behavioural ecology : a review (2011, background): “However, typical carotenoid-based ornaments are not at this point because they will, generally, demonstrate condition dependent expression (Griffith et al., 2006) and positive responses to dietary supplements (Blount & McGraw, 2008).”
Corticosterone mediates the condition-dependent component of melanin-based coloration (2008, unknown): “However, the physiological mechanism that mediates the environmental component of interindividual variation in melanism is not yet known (Griffith et al. 2006).”
Taking the sensory approach: how individual differences in sensory perception can influence mate choice (2012, unknown): “Many organisms have visual signals in this wavelength range (Griffith et al. 2006), thus individual variation in the perception of these wavelengths may provide a mechanism for variation in receiver behaviour.”
Assessing the function of house sparrows' bib size using a flexible meta-analysis method (2007, background): “Although the plumage of male house sparrows (Passer domesticus) is far from extravagant, the house sparrow is one of the most intensively studied species in relation to plumage variation (reviewed in Jawor and Breitwisch 2003; Anderson 2006; Griffith et al. 2006 ).”
Testosterone and melanin-based black plumage coloration: a comparative study (2008, background): “Such an approach has been urged recently for teasing out general patterns ( Griffith et al. 2006 ) but, up to now, has been undertaken only for carotenoid ornaments in relation to diet (Mahler et al. 2003; Olson and Owens 2005).”