| conserved genetic basis of a quantitative plumage trait involved in mate choice. | a key question in evolutionary genetics is whether shared genetic mechanisms underlie the independent evolution of similar phenotypes across phylogenetically divergent lineages. here we show that in two classic examples of melanic plumage polymorphisms in birds, lesser snow geese (anser c. caerulescens) and arctic skuas (stercorarius parasiticus), melanism is perfectly associated with variation in the melanocortin-1 receptor (mc1r) gene. in both species, the degree of melanism correlates with th ... | 2004 | 15031505 |
| molecular population genetics of the melanic plumage polymorphism in arctic skuas (stercorarius parasiticus): evidence for divergent selection on plumage colour. | the arctic skua (stercorarius parasiticus) is a classic example of an avian plumage polymorphism, with variation in melanin-based ventral plumage coloration defining pale, intermediate and dark morphs in adults of both sexes. however, despite several decades of field research, there is an incomplete understanding of how the polymorphism in ventral plumage colour is maintained and the selective forces involved. here, we investigate selection on a locus (mc1r) that is strongly associated with plum ... | 2013 | 23980902 |
| differences in speciation progress in feather mites (analgoidea) inhabiting the same host: the case of zachvatkinia and alloptes living on arctic and long-tailed skuas. | recent molecular phylogenetic analyses have revealed that some apparently oligoxenous feather mite species are in fact monoxenous cryptic species with little morphological differentiation. in this study we analyzed two species, zachvatkinia isolata (avenzoariidae) and alloptes (sternalloptes) stercorarii (alloptidae) which prefer different parts of the plumage of two sister species of birds: arctic skua (stercorarius parasiticus) and long-tailed skua (s. longicaudus) breeding on tundra in the hi ... | 2015 | 25342243 |
| combined bottom-up and top-down pressures drive catastrophic population declines of arctic skuas in scotland. | understanding drivers of population change is critical for effective species conservation. in the northeast atlantic ocean, recent changes amongst seabird communities are linked to human and climate change impacts on food webs. many species have declined severely, with food shortages, and increased predation reducing productivity. arctic skua stercorarius parasiticus, a kleptoparasite of other seabirds, is one such species. the aim of the study was to determine relative effects of bottom-up and ... | 2018 | 30155905 |
| dna damage in arctic seabirds: baseline, sensitivity to a genotoxic stressor, and association with organohalogen contaminants. | environmental contaminants are found throughout arctic marine ecosystems, and their presence in seabirds has been associated with toxicological responses. however, there are few studies of genotoxicity in arctic avian wildlife. the purpose of the present study was to quantify deoxyribonucleic acid (dna) damage in lymphocytes of selected seabird species and to examine whether accumulation of organohalogen contaminants (σohcs) affects dna damage. blood was sampled from common eider (somateria moll ... | 2017 | 29120089 |