Linked Life Data

11886625

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/11886625

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1489
pubmed:dateCreated
2002-3-11
pubmed:abstractText
Cuckoos (family Cuculidae) show the highest diversity of breeding strategies within one bird family (parental care, facultative and obligate brood parasites). We used independent contrasts from two phylogenies to examine how this variation was related to 13 ecological and life-history variables. The ancestral state was probably tropical, resident, forest cuckoos with parental care. The evolution of brood parasitism was correlated with a shift to more open habitats, a change in diet, increases in species breeding-range size and migration, and a decrease in egg size. Once parasitism had evolved, more elaborate parasitic strategies (more harmful to host fitness) were correlated with decreased egg size, a change in diet, increased breeding-range size and migration, a shortened breeding season and a decrease in local abundance. Establishing the most probable evolutionary pathways, using the method of Pagel, shows that changes in ecological variables (such as migration, range size and diet type) preceded the evolution of brood parasitism, which is likely to be a later adaptation to reduce the cost of reproduction. By contrast, brood parasitism evolved before changes in egg size occurred, indicating that egg size is an adaptive trait in host--parasite coevolution. Our results suggest that the evolution of cuckoo brood parasitism reflects selection from both ecological pressures and host defences.
pubmed:commentsCorrections
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Feb
pubmed:issn
0962-8452
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
22
pubmed:volume
269
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
375-81
pubmed:dateRevised
2010-11-18
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2002
pubmed:articleTitle
The evolution of cuckoo parasitism: a comparative analysis.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK. ok212@cam.ac.uk
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Comparative Study, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't