ArticleNature ecology & evolution2020
The global distribution of avian eggshell colours suggest a thermoregulatory benefit of darker pigmentation.
Article in Nature ecology & evolution, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- A New Antibacterial Protocol Based onAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Color and Near-Infrared Reflectance Covary in Distinct Ways Across Taxa.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Matching Multiple Backgrounds: Egg Camouflage Across Different Habitats in a Shorebird.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Egg Characteristics of Female Common Terns Are Repeatable, and Vary With Maternal Age and Laying Order.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Egg shape in an obligate brood parasite stabilizes temperature variation during incubation.Current zoology · 2025Article
- Article
- Hyperspectral imaging in animal coloration research: A user-friendly pipeline for image generation, analysis, and integration with 3D modeling.PLoS biology · 2024Article
- The macroecology of Mesozoic dinosaurs.Biology letters · 2024Review
- Plumage and eggshell colouration covary with the level of sex-specific parental contributions to nest building in birds.Die Naturwissenschaften · 2024Article
- Chase-away evolution maintains imperfect mimicry in a brood parasite-host system despite rapid evolution of mimics.Nature ecology & evolution · 2023Article
- Bird nest building: visions for the future.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Review
- To Prevent Oxidative Stress, What about Protoporphyrin IX, Biliverdin, and Bilirubin?Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Presence of the cloud cover and elevation angle of the sun affect measurements of eggshell coloration and patterning obtained from calibrated digital images.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Effect of light intensity in the nest site on eggshell pigmentation in a hole-nesting passerine.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- CamoEvo: An open access toolbox for artificial camouflage evolution experiments.Evolution; international journal of organic evolution · 2022Article
- Antimicrobial Proteins and Peptides in Avian Eggshell: Structural Diversity and Potential Roles in Biomineralization.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Review
- How much calcium to shell out? Eggshell calcium carbonate content is greater in birds with thinner shells, larger clutches and longer lifespans.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2021Article
- Hosts elevate either within-clutch consistency or between-clutch distinctiveness of egg phenotypes in defence against brood parasites.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Spatial variation in egg polymorphism among cuckoo hosts across 4 continents.Current zoology · 2020Article
- Expanding the eggshell colour gamut: uroerythrin and bilirubin from tinamou (Tinamidae) eggshells.Scientific reports · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The survival of a bird's developing embryo depends on the egg's ability to stay within strict thermal limits. How eggshell colours help maintain thermal balance is a long-standing and contested question. Using data spanning a wide phylogenetic diversity of birds on a global spatial scale, we find evidence that eggshell pigmentation may have been shaped by thermoregulatory needs. Birds living in cold habitats, particularly those with nests exposed to incident solar radiation, have darker eggs. We show evidence that darker eggs heat more rapidly than lighter ones when exposed to solar radiation. This evidence suggests that egg pigmentation could play an important role in thermoregulation in cold climates, while a range of competing selective pressures further influence eggshell colours in warmer climates. These findings advance our understanding of thermoregulation in the distribution of natural colours.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.