History and mechanisms of carotenoid plumage evolution in the New World orioles (Icterus)

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dc.contributor.authorFriedman, Nicholas R.
dc.contributor.authorMcGraw, Kevin J.
dc.contributor.authorOmland, Kevin E.
dc.date.accessioned2018-11-08T17:46:49Z
dc.date.available2018-11-08T17:46:49Z
dc.date.issued2014-06
dc.description.abstractWhile many recent studies focus on the functions of carotenoids in visual signaling, they seldom address the phylogenetic origins of plumage coloration and its mechanisms. Here, we used the New World orioles (Icterus) as a model clade to study the history of orange carotenoid-based coloration and pigmentation, sampling 47 museum specimens from 12 species. We examined the identity and concentration of carotenoids in oriole feathers using high-performance liquid chromatography, and used phylogenetic comparative methods to compare these observations to reflectance measurements of plumage. Each of the seven yellow oriole species we sampled used only lutein to color their feathers. Ancestral state reconstruction of this trait suggests that the oriole common ancestor had yellow feathers pigmented with lutein. We found keto-carotenoids in small concentrations in the plumage of each of the five species scored as orange. This correlation suggests that discrete gains and losses of keto-carotenoids are behind independent gains of orange coloration in orioles. In contrast, total carotenoid concentration was not associated with hue, and total concentration of keto-carotenoids poorly explained variation in hue among species where they were present. These findings suggest that orioles most likely evolved orange plumage coloration at least twice, each time by gaining the ability to metabolize dietary carotenoids by C4-oxygenation. Given that red coloration is generated by this same oxygenation process in a wide range of bird species, it raises the question of why, if orioles possess this metabolic capability, no red oriole species exist.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThe authors would like to thank Jean Woods and the Delaware Museum of Natural History, and Nate Rice and the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia for their support in this project. The authors would also like to thank M. Toomey and M. Rowe for their assistance with HPLC analysis. NRF was supported by grants from Sigma Xi and the Maryland Ornithological Society, and project no. CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0041. KEO was supported by a National Science Foundation CAREER grant DEB-0347083 and DEB-1119506.en_US
dc.description.urihttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24704520en_US
dc.format.extent8 pagesen_US
dc.genrejournal articlesen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.13016/M2MP4VR96
dc.identifier.citationNicholas R. Friedman, Kevin J. McGraw, Kevin E. Omland, History and mechanisms of carotenoid plumage evolution in the New World orioles (Icterus), Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Volumes 172–173, June–July 2014, Pages 1-8, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpb.2014.03.004en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpb.2014.03.004
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/11924
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherElsevier Incen_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtThe University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Biological Sciences Department Collection
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Faculty Collection
dc.rightsThis item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.
dc.subjectBird colorationen_US
dc.subjectAncestral state reconstructionen_US
dc.subjectCarotenoidsen_US
dc.subjectHPLCen_US
dc.titleHistory and mechanisms of carotenoid plumage evolution in the New World orioles (Icterus)en_US
dc.typeTexten_US

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