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Meta-analysis challenges a textbook example of status signalling and demonstrates publication bias

View ORCID ProfileAlfredo Sánchez-Tójar, View ORCID ProfileShinichi Nakagawa, View ORCID ProfileMoisés Sánchez-Fortún, View ORCID ProfileDominic A. Martin, View ORCID ProfileSukanya Ramani, View ORCID ProfileAntje Girndt, View ORCID ProfileVeronika Bókony, View ORCID ProfileBart Kempenaers, View ORCID ProfileAndrás Liker, View ORCID ProfileDavid F. Westneat, View ORCID ProfileTerry Burke, View ORCID ProfileJulia Schroeder
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/283150
Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar
1Evolutionary Biology Group, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
2Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, United Kingdom
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  • ORCID record for Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar
  • For correspondence: alfredo.tojar@gmail.com
Shinichi Nakagawa
3School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sidney, Australia
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  • ORCID record for Shinichi Nakagawa
Moisés Sánchez-Fortún
1Evolutionary Biology Group, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
4Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom
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Dominic A. Martin
2Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, United Kingdom
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  • ORCID record for Dominic A. Martin
Sukanya Ramani
1Evolutionary Biology Group, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
5Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, Germany.
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Antje Girndt
1Evolutionary Biology Group, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
2Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, United Kingdom
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Veronika Bókony
6Lendület Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
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  • ORCID record for Veronika Bókony
Bart Kempenaers
7Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
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András Liker
8MTA-PE Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary.
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  • ORCID record for András Liker
David F. Westneat
9Department of Biology and Center for Ecology, Evolution, and Behaviour, University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA.
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Terry Burke
4Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom
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Julia Schroeder
1Evolutionary Biology Group, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
2Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, United Kingdom
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Abstract

The status signalling hypothesis aims to explain within-species variation in ornamentation by suggesting that some ornaments signal dominance status. Here, we use multilevel meta-analytic models to challenge the textbook example of this hypothesis, the black bib of house sparrows (Passer domesticus). We conducted a systematic review, and obtained primary data from published and unpublished studies to test whether dominance rank is positively associated with bib size across studies. Contrary to previous studies, the overall effect size (i.e. meta-analytic mean) was small and uncertain. Furthermore, we found several biases in the literature that further question the support available for the status signalling hypothesis. We discuss several explanations including pleiotropic, population- and context-dependent effects. Our findings call for reconsidering this established textbook example in evolutionary and behavioural ecology, and should stimulate renewed interest in understanding within-species variation in ornamental traits.

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  • Note: this preprint was peer-reviewed by two reviewers, a reviewing editor and an editor in chief at eLife.

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.
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Posted September 25, 2018.
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Meta-analysis challenges a textbook example of status signalling and demonstrates publication bias
Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar, Shinichi Nakagawa, Moisés Sánchez-Fortún, Dominic A. Martin, Sukanya Ramani, Antje Girndt, Veronika Bókony, Bart Kempenaers, András Liker, David F. Westneat, Terry Burke, Julia Schroeder
bioRxiv 283150; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/283150
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Meta-analysis challenges a textbook example of status signalling and demonstrates publication bias
Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar, Shinichi Nakagawa, Moisés Sánchez-Fortún, Dominic A. Martin, Sukanya Ramani, Antje Girndt, Veronika Bókony, Bart Kempenaers, András Liker, David F. Westneat, Terry Burke, Julia Schroeder
bioRxiv 283150; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/283150

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