Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34235412›Full record

ArticleiScience2021

Sucrose digestion capacity in birds shows convergent coevolution with nectar composition across continents.

Todd J McWhorter, Jonathan A Rader, Jorge E Schondube, Susan W Nicolson, Berry Pinshow, Patricia A Fleming, Yocelyn T Gutiérrez-Guerrero, Carlos Martínez Del Rio

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in iScience, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
4.0field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Sweet solutions: nectar chemistry and quality.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2022
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 7 institutions in 5 countries.

Todd J McWhorterSchool of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, University of Adelaide, Roseworthy Campus, SA 5371, Australia.
Jonathan A RaderDepartment of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3280, USA.
Jorge E SchondubeCentro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México campus Morelia, Morelia, Michoacán CP 58190, México.
Susan W NicolsonDepartment of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa.
Berry PinshowMitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 8499000 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel.
Patricia A FlemingEnvironmental and Conservation Sciences, Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia.
Yocelyn T Gutiérrez-GuerreroDepartamento de Biología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México, Mexico D.F., México.
Carlos Martínez Del RioDepartment of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071-3166, USA.
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México · MXBen-Gurion University of the Negev · ILMurdoch University · AUUniversity of Adelaide · AUUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · USUniversity of Pretoria · ZAUniversity of Wyoming · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The major lineages of nectar-feeding birds (hummingbirds, sunbirds, honeyeaters, flowerpiercers, and lorikeets) are considered examples of convergent evolution. We compared sucrose digestion capacity and sucrase enzymatic activity per unit intestinal surface area among 50 avian species from the New World, Africa, and Australia, including 20 nectarivores. With some exceptions, nectarivores had smaller intestinal surfaces, higher sucrose hydrolysis capacity, and greater sucrase activity per unit intestinal area. Convergence analysis showed high values for sucrose hydrolysis and sucrase activity per unit intestinal surface area in specialist nectarivores, matching the high proportion of sucrose in the nectar of the plants they pollinate. Plants pollinated by generalist nectar-feeding birds in the Old and New Worlds secrete nectar in which glucose and fructose are the dominant sugars. Matching intestinal enzyme activity in birds and nectar composition in flowers appears to be an example of convergent coevolution between plants and pollinators on an intercontinental scale.

Indexed as

Biological SciencesEvolutionary biologyPhylogeneticsZoology

Identifiers

PMID34235412
PMCPMC8246590
OpenAlexW3170355095

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.