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1 January 2008 Lack of Assortative Mating for Tail, Body Size, or Condition in the Elaborate Monomorphic Turquoise-Browed Motmot (Eumomota Superciliosa)
Troy G. Murphy
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Abstract

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-browed Motmot'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 quality. Assortative mating was measured (1) within all pairs in the study population, (2) within newly formed pairs, and (3) within experimentally induced pairs that formed after removal of females from stable pairs. Assortative mating was not found for tail plumage, body size, or phenotypic condition in any of these samples. Therefore, there was no support for the “mutual sexual selection” hypothesis. I discuss the hypothesis that the tail is sexually selected in males only, and that natural selection accounts for the evolutionary maintenance of the elaborate female tail.

Ausencia de Apareamiento Asociativo con Respecto a la Cola, el Tamaño Corporal o la Condición en Eumomota superciliosa

Troy G. Murphy "Lack of Assortative Mating for Tail, Body Size, or Condition in the Elaborate Monomorphic Turquoise-Browed Motmot (Eumomota Superciliosa)," The Auk 125(1), 11-19, (1 January 2008). https://doi.org/10.1525/auk.2008.125.1.11
Received: 13 September 2005; Accepted: 1 August 2006; Published: 1 January 2008
KEYWORDS
assortative mating
elaborate monomorphism
Eumomota superciliosa
mutual ornamentation
sexual selection
tail plumage
Turquoise-browed Motmot
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