Nebel, C., Sumasgutner, P., Rodseth, E. et al. (4 more authors) (2021) Multigenerational pedigree analysis of wild individually marked black sparrowhawks suggests that dark plumage coloration is a dominant autosomal trait. Journal of Zoology, 315 (2). pp. 123-130. ISSN 0952-8369
Abstract
The black sparrowhawk (Accipiter melanoleucus) is a color-polymorphic sub-Saharan raptor, with adults occurring in two discrete color morphs: dark and light. It has previously been suggested that plumage coloration is determined by a one-locus two-allele system, with the light allele being dominant over the dark allele. Here, we revisit that assumption with an extended dataset of 130 individuals and pedigree information from 75 individuals spanning five generations. We test the observed offspring phenotypic ratio against the expected ratio under the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium and find significant deviations from the expected values. Contrary to the previous assumption, our data indicate that the dark allele is in fact dominant over the light allele. Similarly, the multigenerational pedigrees obtained are incompatible with a one-locus two-allele system, where the light allele is dominant but are consistent with a scenario where the dark allele is dominant instead. However, without knowledge of the underlying molecular basis of plumage polymorphism, uncertainty remains, and the intra-morph variation observed suggests that modifier genes or environmental factors may also be involved. Our study not only provides a foundation for future research on the adaptive function of color polymorphism in the species but also highlights the need for caution when drawing conclusions about the mode of inheritance in wild animal populations in the absence of genetic data, especially when one color variant is numerically much rarer than the other.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 The Authors. Journal of Zoology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Zoological Society of London. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | color polymorphism; inheritance; raptor; bird of prey; Accipiter; Mendelian law; pedigree analysis |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 31 Aug 2021 15:00 |
Last Modified: | 09 Mar 2022 09:50 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/jzo.12913 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:177553 |