Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39060476›Full record

ArticleNature ecology & evolution2024

Transitions between colour mechanisms affect speciation dynamics and range distributions of birds.

Chad M Eliason, Michaël P J Nicolaï, Cynthia Bom, Eline Blom, Liliana D'Alba, Matthew D Shawkey

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Nature ecology & evolution, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Bird Community Colours Across Different Types of Habitat.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
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

6 authors.

Chad M EliasonGrainger Bioinformatics Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, USA. celiason@fieldmuseum.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8426-0373
Michaël P J NicolaïBiology Department, Evolution and Optics of Nanostructures Group, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9570-0311
Cynthia BomFaculty of Science, Ecology & Evolution, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Eline BlomEvolutionary Ecology Group, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Liliana D'AlbaBiology Department, Evolution and Optics of Nanostructures Group, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2478-3455
Matthew D ShawkeyBiology Department, Evolution and Optics of Nanostructures Group, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5131-8209

Funding

National Science Foundation (NSF) EP-2112468
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Several ecogeographical 'rules' have been proposed to explain colour variation at broad spatial and phylogenetic scales but these rarely consider whether colours are based on pigments or structural colours. However, mechanism can have profound effects on the function and evolution of colours. Here, we combine geographic information, climate data and colour mechanism at broad phylogenetic (9,409 species) and spatial scales (global) to determine how transitions between pigmentary and structural colours influence speciation dynamics and range distributions in birds. Among structurally coloured species, we find that rapid dispersal into tropical regions drove the accumulation of iridescent species, whereas the build-up of non-iridescent species in the tropics was driven by a combination of dispersal and faster in situ evolution in the tropics. These results could be explained by pleiotropic links between colouration and dispersal behaviour or ecological factors influencing colonization success. These data elucidate geographic patterns of colouration at a global scale and provide testable hypotheses for future work on birds and other animals with structural colours.

Indexed as

Animal DistributionBirdsGenetic SpeciationPigmentationAnimalsColorPhylogeny

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.