IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v11y2020i1d10.1038_s41467-020-15894-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exposure to UV radiance predicts repeated evolution of concealed black skin in birds

Author

Listed:
  • Michaël P. J. Nicolaï

    (Ghent University
    Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences)

  • Matthew D. Shawkey

    (Ghent University)

  • Sara Porchetta

    (KULeuven
    von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics)

  • Ruben Claus

    (Ghent University)

  • Liliana D’Alba

    (Ghent University)

Abstract

Plumage is among the most well-studied components of integumentary colouration. However, plumage conceals most skin in birds, and as a result the presence, evolution and function of skin colour remains unexplored. Here we show, using a database of 2259 species encompassing >99% of bird genera, that melanin-rich, black skin is found in a small but sizeable percentage (~5%) of birds, and that it evolved over 100 times. The spatial distribution of black skin follows Gloger’s rule, which states that pigmentation of endothermic animals increases towards the equator. Furthermore, most black-skinned birds inhabit high irradiation regions, and tend to be bald and/or have white feathers. Thus, taken together, our results suggest that melanin-rich, black skin helps to protect birds against ultraviolet irradiation. More generally, our results illustrate that feathered skin colour varies taxonomically, ontogenetically and temporally, providing an additional dimension for avian colour research.

Suggested Citation

  • Michaël P. J. Nicolaï & Matthew D. Shawkey & Sara Porchetta & Ruben Claus & Liliana D’Alba, 2020. "Exposure to UV radiance predicts repeated evolution of concealed black skin in birds," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-15894-6
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15894-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-15894-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-020-15894-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ricarda Laumeier & Martin Brändle & Mark-Oliver Rödel & Stefan Brunzel & Roland Brandl & Stefan Pinkert, 2023. "The global importance and interplay of colour-based protective and thermoregulatory functions in frogs," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Yichen He & Zoë K. Varley & Lara O. Nouri & Christopher J. A. Moody & Michael D. Jardine & Steve Maddock & Gavin H. Thomas & Christopher R. Cooney, 2022. "Deep learning image segmentation reveals patterns of UV reflectance evolution in passerine birds," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-15894-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.