Avian eggshell coloration: new perspectives on adaptive explanations

Journal article

Recent work suggests that the evolution of egg coloration may have been constrained in three important ways that have not yet been critically synthesized in any review. First, on account of birds being able to see in the ultraviolet spectrum, the interaction between the properties of avian vision and the light environment of nests imply different perceptions of egg coloration from those experienced by humans. Second, a new hypothesis to explain blue-green egg coloration interprets it as a sex...

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Authors: Cherry, M; Gosler, A

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
• Volume: 100
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 753-762
• Publication date: 2010-08-01
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2010.01457.x
• EISSN: 1095-8312
• ISSN: 0024-4066
• Language: English
• Keywords: perception; signalling; maculation; vision; light environment; calcium; brood parasitism; egg