Sexy birds are superior at solving a foraging problem

Yellow, red or orange carotenoid-based colorations in male birds are often a signal to prospecting females about body condition, health status and ability to find food. However, this general ‘ability to find food’ has never been defined. Here we show that more brightly ornamented individuals may als...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Mateos González, Fernando, Quesada, Javier, Senar, Juan Carlos
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2011
País:España
Recursos:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:2072/354501
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/2072/354501
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.0163
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Color dels animals
Evolució
Adaptació animal
Etologia
Ocells
Descrição
Resumo:Yellow, red or orange carotenoid-based colorations in male birds are often a signal to prospecting females about body condition, health status and ability to find food. However, this general ‘ability to find food’ has never been defined. Here we show that more brightly ornamented individuals may also be more efficient when foraging in novel situations. The results highlight the fact that evolution may have provided females tools to evaluate cognitive abilities of the males.