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Full-Text Articles in Biology
Data From: Seasonal Variation In The Utility Of A Status Signaling System: Plumage Ornament Predicts Foraging Success Only During Periods Of High Competition, Philip Queller, Troy G. Murphy
Data From: Seasonal Variation In The Utility Of A Status Signaling System: Plumage Ornament Predicts Foraging Success Only During Periods Of High Competition, Philip Queller, Troy G. Murphy
Biology Faculty Research
No abstract provided.
Ornamental Bill Color Rapidly Signals Changing Condition, M. F. Rosenthal, Troy G. Murphy, N. Darling, K. A. Tarvin
Ornamental Bill Color Rapidly Signals Changing Condition, M. F. Rosenthal, Troy G. Murphy, N. Darling, K. A. Tarvin
Biology Faculty Research
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
Biology Faculty Research
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 …