ArticleOecologia2018
Colour polymorphism in owls is linked to light variability.
Article in Oecologia, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- Global patterns of colouration complexity in the Paridae: Effects of climate and species characteristics across body regions.The Journal of animal ecology · 2025Article
- Size, not color, drives assortative mating and influences fledging survival, weight and immunity in a polymorphic owl.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Color polymorphic carnivores have faster speciation rates.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Article
- Regional variation in climate change alters the range-wide distribution of colour polymorphism in a wild bird.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Genomic Evidence for Sensorial Adaptations to a Nocturnal Predatory Lifestyle in Owls.Genome biology and evolution · 2020Article
- Gray plumage color is more cryptic than brown in snowy landscapes in a resident color polymorphic bird.Ecology and evolution · 2020Article
- Fearsome white owls.Nature ecology & evolution · 2019Article
- Differential fitness effects of moonlight on plumage colour morphs in barn owls.Nature ecology & evolution · 2019Article
- Response time of an avian prey to a simulated hawk attack is slower in darker conditions, but is independent of hawk colour morph.Royal Society open science · 2019Article
- Cold winters have morph-specific effects on natal dispersal distance in a wild raptor.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
- Antagonistic effects of predator color morph abundance and saliency on prey anti-predator responses.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
- Context-dependent coloration of prey and predator decision making in contrasting light environments.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Owls show an astonishing variation in their degree of colour polymorphism, although the exact mechanisms driving such variation remain controversial. Here we address this fundamental question by considering information on all extant owls and recent advances in comparative methods in the frame of three mutually non-exclusive evolutionary scenarios. In addition, we study for the first time whether the evolution of influential ecological characters facilitated the evolution of colour polymorphism (or vice versa). In agreement with the niche divergence hypothesis, we found that species living under more variable luminal conditions, i.e., species with diurnal and crepuscular habits and those inhabiting in a mixture of open and closed habitats, were more likely to show colour polymorphism. Correlated evolution analyses revealed that a change in the luminal niche might be a fundamental requisite for the evolution of colour polymorphism. Moreover, polymorphism was more frequent among owl species occupying lower trophic levels, which could be explained by a particularly high selection for crypsis on small predator owls. Our results, thus, provide support for the idea that colour polymorphism in owls is an adaptive character likely maintained by the selective advantage of morphs under different environmental conditions via disruptive selection mechanisms.
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