Eggs mimicry of Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) utilizing Ashy-throated Parrotbill (Paradoxornis alphonsianus) host  

大杜鹃(Cuculus canorus)与其宿主灰喉鸦雀(Paradoxornis alphonsianus)的卵色模拟(英文)

作　　者：杨灿朝[1] 蔡燕[1] 梁伟[1] 

机构地区：[1]热带动植物生态学省部共建教育部重点实验室,海南师范大学生命科学学院,海口571158

出　　处：《Chinese Birds》2013年第1期51-56,共6页中国鸟类（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31071938 and 31272328 to WL, 31101646 and 31260514 to CY);Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-10-0111 to WL);Key Project of Chinese Ministry of Education (No. 212136 to CY)

摘　　要：Polymorphism in egg coloration is prominent in the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) and a common host, the Ashy-throated Parrotbill (Paradoxornis alphonsianus). Egg polymorphism has probably evolved as a consequence of frequency-dependent selection in both host and parasite, and has, according to human vision, resulted in discrete immaculate white, pale blue and blue egg phenotypes within a single population. However, egg mimicry assessment is not always straightforward, and previous studies have shown that human based comparisons applied to the coloration of bird eggs may be inadequate. Here, we objectively quantify egg color of both parasite and host by spectrophotometry and assess egg mimicry of the Common Cuckoo to the eggs of its Ashy-throated Parrotbill host. Our results revealed that egg reflectance spectra agree well with the assessment based on human vision that cuckoo eggs mimic those of the parrotbill host, in both visible (VIS) and ultraviolet (UV) ranges. However, the white cuckoo egg shows slightly poorer mimicry than the blue cuckoo egg in corresponding host clutches. We suggest that the white parrotbill egg morph (and subsequently the whitish cuckoo egg color) may have evolved after the evolution of the blue egg morph due to strong selection from parasites in the cuckoo-parrotbill system.卵色多态性在大杜鹃(Cuculus canorus)与其宿主灰喉鸦雀(Paradoxornis alphonsianus)中非常明显,在同一地理种群内,大杜鹃和宿主灰喉鸦雀均分别对应出现了蓝色、浅蓝色和白色的卵。已有研究表明这很可能是两者协同进化过程中分裂选择的结果。然而,仅仅基于人眼评估的卵色分析结果是不够的,一是无法准确量化,二则由于人眼无法探测到鸟类所能感知的紫外光(UV)部分。本研究采用光纤光谱仪,量化比较了大杜鹃与其宿主灰喉鸦雀卵色的多态性及模拟程度。结果表明,光谱仪量化结果与基于人眼评估的卵色模拟情况大致吻合,同时发现大杜鹃与灰喉鸦雀二者卵色在紫外光部分也相当模拟。然而,产白色卵的杜鹃与产白色卵的鸦雀之间的模拟程度,要低于产蓝色卵的杜鹃和鸦雀。这表明,灰喉鸦雀产白色卵很可能是由于杜鹃寄生压力所导致的后进化结果。

关 键 词：brood parasitism egg coloration egg reflectance evolutionary lag 

分 类 号：Q958[生物学—动物学]