Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Plumage balances camouflage and thermoregulation in Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris)

View ORCID ProfileNicholas A. Mason, Eric A. Riddell, Felisha Romero, Carla Cicero, Rauri C.K. Bowie
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.07.15.452373
Nicholas A. Mason
1Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
2Museum of Natural Science and Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Nicholas A. Mason
  • For correspondence: mason@lsu.edu
Eric A. Riddell
1Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
3Iowa State University, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Ames, Iowa, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Felisha Romero
1Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Carla Cicero
1Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Rauri C.K. Bowie
1Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
4Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Supplementary material
  • Data/Code
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Animal coloration serves many biological functions and must therefore balance potentially competing selective pressures. For example, many animals have camouflage, in which coloration matches the visual background against which predators scan for prey. However, different colors reflect different amounts of solar radiation and may therefore have thermoregulatory implications as well. In this study, we examined geographic variation in dorsal patterning, color, and solar reflectance among Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris) of the western United States. We found associations between dorsal plumage brightness, hue, and patterning relative to the soil conditions where specimens were collected. Specifically, brighter dorsal plumage corresponded to brighter soil, while redder, more saturated hues in dorsal plumage corresponded to redder soils. Furthermore, backs with more high-contrast patterning were more common among females and also associated with soil that had coarser soil fragments, suggesting that lark plumage has been selected to optimize background matching in different environments. We also found that larks exhibited higher solar reflectance in hotter and more arid environments, which lowers the water requirements for homeothermy. Taken together, these findings suggest that natural selection has balanced camouflage and thermoregulation in Horned Larks across a wide variety of soil types and abiotic conditions.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • https://github.com/mason-lab/HornedLarkCamoThermo

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted July 15, 2021.
Download PDF

Supplementary Material

Data/Code
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Plumage balances camouflage and thermoregulation in Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris)
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Plumage balances camouflage and thermoregulation in Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris)
Nicholas A. Mason, Eric A. Riddell, Felisha Romero, Carla Cicero, Rauri C.K. Bowie
bioRxiv 2021.07.15.452373; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.07.15.452373
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Plumage balances camouflage and thermoregulation in Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris)
Nicholas A. Mason, Eric A. Riddell, Felisha Romero, Carla Cicero, Rauri C.K. Bowie
bioRxiv 2021.07.15.452373; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.07.15.452373

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Zoology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (3590)
  • Biochemistry (7562)
  • Bioengineering (5503)
  • Bioinformatics (20753)
  • Biophysics (10308)
  • Cancer Biology (7964)
  • Cell Biology (11625)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (6598)
  • Ecology (10177)
  • Epidemiology (2065)
  • Evolutionary Biology (13589)
  • Genetics (9530)
  • Genomics (12830)
  • Immunology (7917)
  • Microbiology (19525)
  • Molecular Biology (7651)
  • Neuroscience (42025)
  • Paleontology (307)
  • Pathology (1254)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2195)
  • Physiology (3261)
  • Plant Biology (7028)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1294)
  • Synthetic Biology (1949)
  • Systems Biology (5422)
  • Zoology (1113)