Meeting Abstract
The two main processes encompassed in the concept of sexual selection, male-male competition and female choice, can act as powerful selective pressure driving the development of traits as ornaments or weapons with direct effect of fitness. In turn, both processes -inter and intra sexual selection- can interplay and be influenced by environmental variables as landscape configuration fixing limits and constrains in their expression. We studied the role of habitat structure in the evolution of plumage coloration and bill daggers in hummingbirds. We collected reflectance spectrophotometry and stereomicroscope images of bill morphology from museum specimens (Moore Lab of Zoology, Occidental College) from 63 species representing each clade in the hummingbird phylogeny. In addition, we collected data from habitat use from bibliographic sources. We found a relation between habitat types and reflectance of gorgette and belly and the contrast between both patches. Species inhabiting open habitats tend to exhibit brighter plumage than species in closer habitats. We also found bill daggers more likely to develop in species inhabiting closer that open habitats. Our results suggest that physical properties of the environment where the sexual signals are emitted are relevant factors influencing the evolution of animal signaling by shaping their expression and limits.
