Evidence for ecological causation of sexual dimorphism in a hummingbird

被引：193

作者：

Temeles, EJ ^{[1
]}

Pan, IL ^{[1
]}

Brennan, JL ^{[1
]}

Horwitt, JN ^{[1
]}

机构：

[1] Amherst Coll, Dept Biol, Amherst, MA 01002 USA

来源：

SCIENCE | 2000年 / 289卷 / 5478期

关键词：

D O I：

10.1126/science.289.5478.441

中图分类号：

O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];

学科分类号：

07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;

摘要：

Unambiguous examples of ecological causes of animal sexual dimorphism are rare. Here we present evidence for ecological causation of sexual dimorphism in the bill morphology of a hummingbird, the purple-throated carib. This hummingbird is the sole pollinator of two Heliconia species whose flowers correspond to the bills of either males or females. Each sex feeds most quickly at the flower species approximating its bill dimensions, which supports the hypothesis that floral specialization has driven the evolution of bill dimorphism. Further evidence for ecological causation of sexual dimorphism was provided by a geographic replacement of one Heliconia species by the other and the subsequent development of a floral dimorphism, with one floral morph matching the bills of males and the other of females.

引用

页码：441 / 443

页数：3

共 20 条

[1]

Berry F, 1991, HELICONIA IDENTIFICA

[2] Origin of hummingbird faunas [J].