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Selection on swallow tail streamers

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Abstract

Sexual selection results when one sex, usually females, discriminates among members of the opposite sex during mate choice. It is interesting because it is a mechanism by which those traits used in mate choice can become exaggerated in a way that is apparently detrimental, except in terms of mating, to the bearer of the ornaments1. One of the classic examples of an exaggerated trait produced by sexual selection is the tail streamers of swallows (Hirundo rustica)2. Here, however, by using tail-manipulation experiments, I show that the tail streamers of swallows are mainly the product of natural selection, with sexual selection only causing the streamer to extend beyond the aerodynamic optimum by a small amount.

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Figure 1: Relationship between manipulation group and top, mean flight velocity, centre, mean acceleration, and bottom, mean agility.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological and Molecular Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK

    Matthew R. Evans

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  1. Matthew R. Evans
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Evans, M. Selection on swallow tail streamers. Nature 394, 233–234 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/28297

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