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Effect of Species Interaction on Beak Integration in an Avian Hybrid Species Complex

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Abstract

Theory predicts that variability in size and the shape of a morphological trait should often be stable both at the intra- and interspecific level. We studied variation in beak integration among several populations of two species of the genus Passer, a hybrid species, the Italian sparrow (Passer italiae) and one of its parents, the Spanish sparrow (Passer hispaniolensis). We show that the general shape of the beak has been conserved in these two species and that hybrid speciation has had no major effects on beak integration. However, in young, sympatric populations, phenotypic integration between beak height and length decreased significantly, to the extent that these two dimensions apparently became independent. This displacement in phenotypic integration seems to be accompanied with changes in the distribution of phenotypic variation at the univariate level. This suggests that while beak shape may have been constrained over evolutionary time-scales and major hybridization events (i.e. the formation of the hybrid Italian sparrow), under specific selection regimes linked to secondary contact, it can evolve rapidly.

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Acknowledgments

We thank K. L. Voje and R. I. Bailey for helpful comments and suggestions on earlier drafts of this manuscript. We also thank S. A. Sæther, C. N. Trier, M. H. Tu, M. Moan, A. M. Reynolds, M. Caldarella, and G. Albanese for their invaluable help in collecting this data. This study was financially supported by the Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES) and Molecular Life Sciences (MLS) at the University of Oslo, the Research Council of Norway and the Swedish Research Council.

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We declare no conflict of interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), University of Oslo, Blindern, P. O. Box 1066, 0316, Oslo, Norway

    F. Eroukhmanoff, T. O. Elgvin, M. F. Gonzàlez Rojas, F. Haas, J. S. Hermansen & G.-P. Sætre

  2. Department of Biology, Lund University, 223 62, Lund, Sweden

    F. Haas

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  1. F. Eroukhmanoff
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  2. T. O. Elgvin
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  3. M. F. Gonzàlez Rojas
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  4. F. Haas
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  5. J. S. Hermansen
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  6. G.-P. Sætre
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Correspondence to F. Eroukhmanoff.

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Eroukhmanoff, F., Elgvin, T.O., Gonzàlez Rojas, M.F. et al. Effect of Species Interaction on Beak Integration in an Avian Hybrid Species Complex. Evol Biol 41, 452–458 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11692-014-9278-3

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