Afrotropical passerines grow wing feathers faster than their European counterparts

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F68081766%3A_____%2F25%3A00639923" target="_blank" >RIV/68081766:_____/25:00639923 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/00216208:11310/25:10504571 RIV/00216224:14310/25:00142905

Result on the web

<a href="https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/205/2/zlaf123/8272966" target="_blank" >https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/205/2/zlaf123/8272966</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf123" target="_blank" >10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf123</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Afrotropical passerines grow wing feathers faster than their European counterparts

Original language description

Latitudinal gradients in environmental conditions shape avian life-history strategies by influencing resource allocation among growth, survival, and reproduction. Feather production, which is essential for flight, thermoregulation, and predator avoidance, represents a key component of avian energy allocation. We examined interspecific variation in wing and tail feather growth rates and quality in passerine birds from European temperate and Afrotropical regions using data from 679 adults representing 132 species from 36 families. Our findings reveal distinct latitudinal differences in feather growth: tropical breeding passerines exhibit significantly faster wing feather growth rates than temperate zone breeding species, while tail feather growth is lower in tropical species. Additionally, fault bars were common in the tail feathers of tropical species but almost absent in wing feathers across both regions. This absence was particularly apparent among temperate breeding long-distance migratory species. Overall, feather traits were strongly influenced by breeding rather than moulting latitudes, suggesting that latitude-driven selection on energy allocation and intrinsic physiological mechanisms shape feather investment strategies. Our results thus indicate that investments in feather traits are part of a recently uncovered and widening spectrum of avian evolutionary syndromes convergently evolving among phylogenetically unrelated lineages sharing the same breeding latitudes.

Czech name

—

Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10613 - Zoology

Project

Result was created during the realization of more than one project. More information in the Projects tab.

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

ISSN

0024-4082

e-ISSN

1096-3642

Volume of the periodical

205

Issue of the periodical within the volume

2

Country of publishing house

US - UNITED STATES

Number of pages

9

Pages from-to

zlaf123

UT code for WoS article

001586223400001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-105017561096