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dc.contributor.authorDobson, Ana E
dc.contributor.authorSchmidt, Daniel J
dc.contributor.authorHughes, Jane M
dc.date.accessioned2019-07-02T03:09:32Z
dc.date.available2019-07-02T03:09:32Z
dc.date.issued2019
dc.identifier.issn0018-067X
dc.identifier.doi10.1038/s41437-019-0212-4
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/386003
dc.description.abstractColour polymorphisms have evolutionary significance for the generation and maintenance of species diversity. Demonstrating heritability of polymorphic traits can be challenging for wild populations of long-lived species because accurate information is required on trait expression and familial relationships. The Australian magpie Cracticus tibicen has a continent-wide distribution featuring several distinct plumage morphs, differing primarily in colour of back feathers. Black or white-backed morphs occur in eastern Australia, with intermediate morphs common in a narrow hybrid zone where the two morphs meet. This study investigated heritability of back colour phenotypes in a hybrid zone population (Seymour, Victoria) based on long-term observational data and DNA samples collected over an 18 year period (1993–2010). High extra-pair paternity (~ 36% offspring), necessitated verification of parent–offspring relationships by parentage analysis. A total of 538 birds (221 parents and 317 offspring) from 36 territories were analysed. Back colour was a continuous trait scored on a five-morph scale in the field (0–4). High and consistent estimates of back colour heritability (h2) were obtained via weighted mid-parent regression (h2 = 0.94) and by animal models (h2 = 0.92, C.I. 0.80–0.99). Single-parent heritability estimates indicated neither maternal nor paternal non-genetic effects (e.g., parent body condition) played a large role in determining offspring back colour, and environmental effects of territory group and cohort contributed little to trait heritability. Distinctive back colouration of the Australian magpie behaves as a quantitative trait that is likely polygenic, although mechanisms responsible for maintaining these geographically structured morphs and the hybrid zone where they meet are unknown.
dc.description.peerreviewedYes
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherNature Publishing Group
dc.relation.ispartoflocationEngland
dc.relation.ispartofpagefrom1
dc.relation.ispartofpageto10
dc.relation.ispartofjournalHeredity
dc.subject.fieldofresearchEvolutionary biology
dc.subject.fieldofresearchGenetics
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode3104
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode3105
dc.titleHeritability of plumage colour morph variation in a wild population of promiscuous, long-lived Australian magpies.
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.descriptionC1 - Articles
dc.type.codeC - Journal Articles
dcterms.licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.description.versionVersion of Record (VoR)
gro.description.notepublicThis publication has been entered into Griffith Research Online as an Advanced Online Version.
gro.rights.copyright© The Author(s) 2019. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
gro.hasfulltextFull Text
gro.griffith.authorHughes, Jane M.
gro.griffith.authorSchmidt, Daniel J.


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