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- Keyword
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- Sexual selection (5)
- Tail plumage (4)
- Elaborate monomorphism (3)
- Eumomota superciliosa (3)
- Mutual ornamentation (3)
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- Assortative mating (2)
- Female ornamentation (2)
- Social selection (2)
- Turquoise-browed Motmot (2)
- Alarm signaling (1)
- American goldfinch (1)
- Antipredator behavior (1)
- Antipredator behaviour (1)
- Araneus bicentenarius (1)
- Ave atrapada en telarana (1)
- Bill color (1)
- Bird caught in spider web (1)
- Bird song (1)
- Breeding biology (1)
- Cheating (1)
- Clutch size (1)
- Condition dependence (1)
- Condition-dependent dynamic signal (1)
- Dishonesty (1)
- Evolutionary loss (1)
- Female song (1)
- Fledgling success (1)
- Giant lichen orb-weaver spider (1)
- Growth bars (1)
- Host relation (1)
- File Type
Articles 1 - 23 of 23
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Painted Bunting (Passerina Ciris) Caught In The Web Of A Giant Lichen Orb-Weaver Spider (Araneus Bicentenarius), Philip Queller, Troy G. Murphy
Painted Bunting (Passerina Ciris) Caught In The Web Of A Giant Lichen Orb-Weaver Spider (Araneus Bicentenarius), Philip Queller, Troy G. Murphy
Troy G Murphy
Orb-weaver spiders weave large webs that are capable of entrapping various species of birds. We report a case of a male Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) caught in the web of a giant lichen orb-weaver (Araneus bicentenarius). Most cases of bird entrapment in spider webs involve spiders with larger webs (often Nephila sp.) and very small birds, usually hummingbirds. Our case is noteworthy because we report a relatively large bird caught in a relatively small web. Furthermore, the geographic distribution of A. bicentenarius extends beyond the tropics and subtropics, which is where most reported cases of bird …
Dynamic Status Signal Reflects Outcome Of Social Interactions, But Not Energetic Stress, Keith A. Tarvin, L Jin Wong, David C. Lumpkin, Gabrielle M. Schroeder, Dominic D'Andrea, Sophie Meade, Pearl Rivers, Troy G. Murphy
Dynamic Status Signal Reflects Outcome Of Social Interactions, But Not Energetic Stress, Keith A. Tarvin, L Jin Wong, David C. Lumpkin, Gabrielle M. Schroeder, Dominic D'Andrea, Sophie Meade, Pearl Rivers, Troy G. Murphy
Troy G Murphy
Social defeat induces stress-responses in a wide array of vertebrates and can generate winner-loser effects. Dynamic condition-dependent signaling systems that reflect preparation for subsequent agonistic interactions, and thereby mediate winner-loser effects, should be more sensitive to competitive history than to non-social sources of stress. Bill color of female American goldfinches (Spinus tristus) is a dynamic condition-dependent ornament that functions as a signal of competitive status and mediates intrasexual agonistic social interactions. We tested the “social experience signaling hypothesis” in female goldfinches by (1) manipulating a non-social energetic stressor by experimentally elevating flight costs via wing-clipping in free-ranging birds, …
Migration And The Evolution Of Sexual Dichromatism: Evolutionary Loss Of Female Coloration With Migration Among Wood-Warblers, Richard Simpson, Michele Johnson, Troy Murphy
Migration And The Evolution Of Sexual Dichromatism: Evolutionary Loss Of Female Coloration With Migration Among Wood-Warblers, Richard Simpson, Michele Johnson, Troy Murphy
Troy G Murphy
The mechanisms underlying evolutionary changes in sexual dimorphism have long been of interest to biologists. A striking gradient in sexual dichromatism exists among songbirds in North America, including the wood-warblers (Parulidae): males are generally more colourful than females at northern latitudes, while the sexes are similarly ornamented at lower latitudes. We use phylogenetically controlled comparative analysis to test three nonmutually exclusive hypotheses for the evolution of sexual dichromatism among wood-warblers. The first two hypotheses focus on the loss of female coloration with the evolution of migration, either owing to the costs imposed by visual predators during migration, or owing to …
Philornis Fasciventris (Wulp) (Diptera: Muscidae): Description Of The Male, Larva And Puparium, With Notes On Biology And Host Association, Marcia Couri, Troy Murphy, Richard Hoebeke
Philornis Fasciventris (Wulp) (Diptera: Muscidae): Description Of The Male, Larva And Puparium, With Notes On Biology And Host Association, Marcia Couri, Troy Murphy, Richard Hoebeke
Troy G Murphy
The male, larva and puparium of Philornis fasciventris (Wulp) are described for the first time, as well as the larval habit and host association. The material was collected in Yucatan, Mexico in a nest of the turquoise-browed motmot, Eumomota superciliosa (Sandbach) (Coraciformes: Momotidae), first host record for this species. E. superciliosa is also a new host record for Philornis.
Display Of An Inedible Prop As A Signal Of Aggression? Adaptive Significance Of Leaf-Display By The Turquoise-Browed Motmot, Eumomota Superciliosa, Troy G. Murphy
Troy G Murphy
The incorporation of an inedible object (prop) into a behavioral display is rare among birds. Only four avian taxa have been reported to display with a prop, and in all studied species, prop use has been found to play a role in mate acquisition. However, little is known about the context and adaptive significance of prop use by the motmots. Both male and female motmots perform a leaf-display, whereby a leaf is held horizontally in the tip of the bill for an extended period. I collected observational data on leaf-display by the turquoise-browed motmots (Eumomota superciliosa) to investigate the potential …
Dishonest ‘Preemptive’ Pursuit-Deterrent Signal? Why The Turquoise-Browed Motmot Wags Its Tail Before Feeding Nestlings, Troy G. Murphy
Dishonest ‘Preemptive’ Pursuit-Deterrent Signal? Why The Turquoise-Browed Motmot Wags Its Tail Before Feeding Nestlings, Troy G. Murphy
Troy G Murphy
Both sexes of the turquoise-browed motmot, Eumomota superciliosa, display their long-racketed tail in an exaggerated side-to-side wag display in two contexts. In the first, the wag display is performed in the presence of predators (predator-elicited wag display), and evidence supports the hypothesis that the signal functions as a pursuit-deterrent signal (Murphy 2006, Behavioral Ecology, 17, 547e553). In the second, the wag display is performed in the apparent absence of predators immediately before feeding nestlings (prefeeding wag display). I tested four hypotheses on the adaptive significance of the prefeeding wag display: (1) a dishonest, preemptive, pursuit-deterrent signal given in case predators …
Breeding Biology And Longevity Of Russet-Crowned Motmots In Central Mexico, Troy Murphy, Vanya Rohwer, Edwin Scholes
Breeding Biology And Longevity Of Russet-Crowned Motmots In Central Mexico, Troy Murphy, Vanya Rohwer, Edwin Scholes
Troy G Murphy
Motmots, with their distinctive racketed-tails, represent one of the most easily recognized tropical birds, yet little is known about the basic natural history of most species in the family Momotidae. We report basic breeding biology and longevity of Russet-crowned Motmots (Momotus mexicanus), a medium-sized Neotropical bird that ranges from northwest Mexico to central Guatemala. We monitored nest success of eight pairs from 1 May to 17 July 1998 in tropical deciduous forests in central Mexico. Motmots laid an average of 4.1 eggs and incubated for approximately 20 d. Four of eight nests fledged young. Of these four nests, …
Condition And Brightness Of Structural Blue-Green: Motmot Tail-Racket Brightness Is Related To Speed Of Feather Growth In Males, But Not In Females, Troy Murphy, T Pham
Condition And Brightness Of Structural Blue-Green: Motmot Tail-Racket Brightness Is Related To Speed Of Feather Growth In Males, But Not In Females, Troy Murphy, T Pham
Troy G Murphy
Coloration plays an important role in sexual and social communication, and in many avian species both males and females maintain elaborate colours. Recent research has provided strong support for the hypothesis that elaborate female traits can be maintained by sexual or social selection; however, most research on female ornamentation has focused on pigment-based colours, and less is known about how structural colours are maintained. Both sexes of the turquoise-browed motmot (Eumomota superciliosa) have a blue-green racket-tipped tail, and it remains unknown if tail coloration serves as a sexual or social signal in one or both sexes. Here, we describe sexual …
Ornamental Bill Color Rapidly Signals Changing Condition, Malcolm Rosenthal, Troy Murphy, Nancy Darling, Keith Tarvin
Ornamental Bill Color Rapidly Signals Changing Condition, Malcolm Rosenthal, Troy Murphy, Nancy Darling, Keith Tarvin
Troy G Murphy
Ornamental bill color is postulated to function as a condition-dependent signal of individual quality in a variety of taxonomically distant bird families. Most red, orange, and yellow bill colors are derived from carotenoid pigments, and carotenoid deposition in ornamentation may trade off with their use as immunostimulants and antioxidants or with other physiological functions. Several studies have found that bill color changes in response to physiological perturbations, but how quickly such changes can occur remains unclear. We tested the hypothesis that carotenoid-based orange bill color of American goldfinches Spinus tristis responds dynamically to rapid changes in physiological stress and reflects …
Lack Of Melanized Keratin And Barbs That Fall Off: How The Racketed Tail Of The Turquoise-Browed Motmot Eumomota Superciliosa Is Formed, Troy G. Murphy
Lack Of Melanized Keratin And Barbs That Fall Off: How The Racketed Tail Of The Turquoise-Browed Motmot Eumomota Superciliosa Is Formed, Troy G. Murphy
Troy G Murphy
The racket-tipped tail of the motmots is uniquely shaped and its formation has attracted much attention. Barbs that grow along the wire of the motmot’s two central tail feathers are weakly attached and shed soon after development. The cause of the weak attachment of these barbs is unclear. I induced feather growth by plucking the central tail feathers from seven turquoise-browed motmots Eumomota superciliosa and then collected the regrown feathers before the barbs along the wire had fully shed. I compared the barb-rachis junction (petiole of the ramus) along the distal flag (the racket-tip of the tail) where barbs are …
Sex-Role Reversal In Song? Females Sing More Frequently Than Males In The Streak-Backed Oriole, J. J. Price, L. Yunes-Jimenez, M. Osorio-Beristain, K. E. Omland, Troy G. Murphy
Sex-Role Reversal In Song? Females Sing More Frequently Than Males In The Streak-Backed Oriole, J. J. Price, L. Yunes-Jimenez, M. Osorio-Beristain, K. E. Omland, Troy G. Murphy
Troy G Murphy
Birds in which both sexes produce complex song are more common in the tropics than in the temperate north, where typically only males sing. Yet surprisingly little is known about female song characteristics in most tropical species. Here we present a comparison of female and male singing behaviors in the Streak-backed Oriole (Icterus pustulatus), a tropical songbird in which both sexes perform solo songs. Females sing much more frequently than males and produce songs with similar acoustic complexity. Rates of singing by both sexes were higher during breeding than postbreeding while the rates of most other vocalizations did …
Lack Of Assortative Mating For Tail, Body Size, Or Condition In The Elaborate Monomorphic Turquoise-Browed Motmot (Eumomota Superciliosa), Troy G. Murphy
Lack Of Assortative Mating For Tail, Body Size, Or Condition In The Elaborate Monomorphic Turquoise-Browed Motmot (Eumomota Superciliosa), Troy G. Murphy
Troy G Murphy
Elaborate male and female plumage can be maintained by mutual sexual selection and function as a mate-choice or status signal in both sexes. Both male and female Turquoise-browed Motmot (Eumomota superciliosa) have long tails that terminate in widened blue-and-black rackets that appear to hang, unattached, below the body of the bird. I tested whether mutual sexual selection maintains the Turquoise-browedMotmot’s elaborate tail plumage by testing the prediction that mating occurs in an assortative manner for tail plumage. I also tested whether assortative mating occurs for body size, a potential measure of dominance, and for phenotypic condition, a measure of individual …
Carotenoid-Based Ornaments Of Female And Male American Goldfinches (Spinus Tristis) Show Sex-Specific Correlations With Immune Function And Metabolic Rate, Ryan Kelly, Troy Murphy, Keith Tarvin, Gary Burness
Carotenoid-Based Ornaments Of Female And Male American Goldfinches (Spinus Tristis) Show Sex-Specific Correlations With Immune Function And Metabolic Rate, Ryan Kelly, Troy Murphy, Keith Tarvin, Gary Burness
Troy G Murphy
Conspicuous ornamentation has been linked to immunological and physiological condition in males of many species. In species where both sexes are ornamented, it is unclear whether the signal content of ornaments differs between males and females. We examined the immunological and physiological correlates of carotenoid-based bill and plumage ornamentation in American goldfinches Spinus tristis, a species in which bright orange bills are sexually monomorphic but yellow plumage is sexually dimorphic during the breeding season. Because bill color is dynamic over short periods while plumage color is static over longer time frames, we tested whether these signals have the potential to …
Carotenoid-Based Ornaments Of Female And Male American Goldfinches (Spinus Tristis) Show Sex-Specific Correlations With Immune Function And Metabolic Rate, Ryan J. Kelly, Troy G. Murphy, Keith A. Tarvin, Gary Burness
Carotenoid-Based Ornaments Of Female And Male American Goldfinches (Spinus Tristis) Show Sex-Specific Correlations With Immune Function And Metabolic Rate, Ryan J. Kelly, Troy G. Murphy, Keith A. Tarvin, Gary Burness
Troy G Murphy
Conspicuous ornamentation has been linked to immunological and physiological condition in males of many species. In species where both sexes are ornamented, it is unclear whether the signal content of ornaments differs between males and females. We examined the immunological and physiological correlates of carotenoid-based bill and plumage ornamentation in American goldfinches Spinus tristis, a species in which bright orange bills are sexually monomorphic but yellow plumage is sexually dimorphic during the breeding season. Because bill color is dynamic over short periods while plumage color is static over longer time frames, we tested whether these signals have the potential to …
Lack Of Assortative Mating For Tail, Body Size, Or Condition In The Elaborate Monomorphic Turquoise-Browed Motmot (Eumomota Superciliosa), Troy G. Murphy
Lack Of Assortative Mating For Tail, Body Size, Or Condition In The Elaborate Monomorphic Turquoise-Browed Motmot (Eumomota Superciliosa), Troy G. Murphy
Troy G Murphy
Elaborate male and female plumage can be maintained by mutual sexual selection and function as a mate-choice or status signal in both sexes. Both male and female Turquoise-browed Motmot (Eumomota superciliosa) have long tails that terminate in widened blue-and-black rackets that appear to hang, unattached, below the body of the bird. I tested whether mutual sexual selection maintains the Turquoise-browedMotmot’s elaborate tail plumage by testing the prediction that mating occurs in an assortative manner for tail plumage. I also tested whether assortative mating occurs for body size, a potential measure of dominance, and for phenotypic condition, a measure of individual …
Same Trait, Different Receiver Response: Unlike Females, Male American Goldfinches Do Not Signal Status With Bill Colour, Troy Murphy, Joe West, T Pham, Lucy Cevallos, Richard Simpson, Keith Tarvin
Same Trait, Different Receiver Response: Unlike Females, Male American Goldfinches Do Not Signal Status With Bill Colour, Troy Murphy, Joe West, T Pham, Lucy Cevallos, Richard Simpson, Keith Tarvin
Troy G Murphy
In species in which both sexes have similar ornamentation, the ornaments often function as sexual or social signals in both sexes. However, males and females may use ornaments in different signalling contexts. We previously demonstrated that carotenoid-based bill colour of female American goldfinches, Spinus tristis, functions as a signal of status during intrasexual, but not intersexual, competition. Here we test whether male bill colour functions as a competitive status signal during both intra- and intersexual contests. We tested whether focal males and females avoided feeding adjacent to taxidermic male models as a function of the models’ experimentally altered bill colour. …
Racketed Tail Of The Male And Female Turquoise-Browed Motmot: Male But Not Female Tail Length Correlates With Pairing Success, Performance, And Reproductive Success, Troy Murphy
Troy G Murphy
Both males and females of many avian species maintain elaborate plumage traits, and elaborate monomorphic plumage may convey adaptive benefits to one or both sexes as inter- or intraspecific signals. Both sexes of the turquoise-browed motmot (Eumomota superciliosa) are elaborately plumed with long racket-tipped tail. I investigated whether the racketed tail functions as a sexually selected signal in one or both sexes by testing the predictions that males and/or females with the largest tails have: (1) greater pairing success, (2) greater reproductive performance (clutch-initiation date, clutch size, and hatching success), and (3) greater reproductive success. Yearling males with longer denuded …
Honesty Of A Dynamic Female Aggressive Status Signal: Baseline Testosterone Relates To Bill Color In Female American Goldfinches, T T. Pham, Philip Queller, K A. Tarvin, Troy G. Murphy
Honesty Of A Dynamic Female Aggressive Status Signal: Baseline Testosterone Relates To Bill Color In Female American Goldfinches, T T. Pham, Philip Queller, K A. Tarvin, Troy G. Murphy
Troy G Murphy
Status signals are linked to fighting ability and enable competitors to gain access to resources without risking injury in aggressive combat. The relationship between testosterone (T), a hormone that mediates aggression, and signals of status is well studied in males, but little is known about the relationship between T and female signals of status. Female and male American goldfinches Spinus tristis express a dynamic carotenoid-based orange bill color during the breeding season and previous work has demonstrated that females use orange bill color to communicate competitive ability during intrasexual competition. We test the hypothesis that female bill color reflects baseline …
Colorful Displays Signal Male Quality In A Tropical Anole Lizard, Ellee Cook, Troy Murphy, Michele Johnson
Colorful Displays Signal Male Quality In A Tropical Anole Lizard, Ellee Cook, Troy Murphy, Michele Johnson
Troy G Murphy
Parasites influence colorful ornaments and their behavioral display in many animal hosts. Because coloration and display behavior are often critical components of communication, variation in these traits may have important implications for individual fitness, yet it remains unclear whether such traits are signals of quality in many taxa. We investigated the association between ectoparasitic mite load and the color and behavioral use of the throat fan (dewlap) by male Anolis brevirostris lizards. We found that heavily parasitized lizards exhibited lower body condition, duller dewlaps, and less frequent dewlap displays than less parasitized individuals. Our results thus suggest that highly parasitized …
Lack Of Melanized Keratin And Barbs That Fall Off: How The Racketed Tail Of The Turquoise-Browed Motmot Eumomota Superciliosa Is Formed, Troy G. Murphy
Lack Of Melanized Keratin And Barbs That Fall Off: How The Racketed Tail Of The Turquoise-Browed Motmot Eumomota Superciliosa Is Formed, Troy G. Murphy
Troy G Murphy
The racket-tipped tail of the motmots is uniquely shaped and its formation has attracted much attention. Barbs that grow along the wire of the motmot’s two central tail feathers are weakly attached and shed soon after development. The cause of the weak attachment of these barbs is unclear. I induced feather growth by plucking the central tail feathers from seven turquoise-browed motmots Eumomota superciliosa and then collected the regrown feathers before the barbs along the wire had fully shed. I compared the barb-rachis junction (petiole of the ramus) along the distal flag (the racket-tip of the tail) where barbs are …
It Isn't Always Sexy When Both Are Bright And Shiny: Considering Alternatives To Sexual Selection In Elaborate Monomorphic Species, Keith Tarvin, Troy Murphy
It Isn't Always Sexy When Both Are Bright And Shiny: Considering Alternatives To Sexual Selection In Elaborate Monomorphic Species, Keith Tarvin, Troy Murphy
Troy G Murphy
No abstract provided.
Predator-Elicited Visual Signal: Why The Turquoise-Browed Motmot Wag-Displays Its Racketed Tail, Troy Murphy
Predator-Elicited Visual Signal: Why The Turquoise-Browed Motmot Wag-Displays Its Racketed Tail, Troy Murphy
Troy G Murphy
Both sexes of the turquoise-browed motmot (Eumomota superciliosa) perform a wag-display in the presence of predators, whereby their long racketed tail is repeatedly rocked side-to-side in a pendulous fashion. I tested 3 hypotheses for the function of the predator-elicited wag-display: 1) pursuit-deterrent signal, 2) warning alarm signal, and 3) self-preservation alarm signal. These hypotheses were evaluated by testing whether the presence of potential receivers (kin, conspecifics, mate) modified the way in which the wag-display was performed. Data on wag-display were collected when I experimentally presented predators to motmots and when naturally occurring predators were observed at nesting colonies. The wag-display …
Blood Parasite Infection Differentially Relates To Carotenoidbased Plumage And Bill Color In The American Goldfinch, David Lumpkin, Troy Murphy, Keith Tarvin
Blood Parasite Infection Differentially Relates To Carotenoidbased Plumage And Bill Color In The American Goldfinch, David Lumpkin, Troy Murphy, Keith Tarvin
Troy G Murphy
Male and female American goldfinches (Spinus tristis) express condition-dependent carotenoid-based plumage and bill coloration. Plumage color is relatively static, as pigments incorporated into feathers during the spring molt cannot be mobilized thereafter. In contrast, bill color is dynamic, reflecting changes in condition over short time periods. Previous studies have shown that male and female ornaments, though similar in expression, are differentially related to measures of immunocompetence, suggesting that the relationship between ornamentation and parasite infection may differ between the sexes. In this study, we evaluate the relationship between condition-dependent ornamentation (plumage and bill color) and blood parasite infection in male …