Abstract

Birds exhibit remarkable variation in plumage patterns, both within individual feathers and among plumage patches. Differences in the size, shape, and location of pigments and structural colors comprise important visual signals involved in mate choice, social signaling, camouflage, and many other functions. While ornithologists have studied plumage patterns for centuries, recent technological advances in digital image acquisition and processing have transformed pattern quantification methods, enabling comprehensive, detailed datasets of pattern phenotypes that were heretofore inaccessible. In this review, we synthesize recent and classic studies of plumage patterns at different evolutionary and organismal scales and discuss the various roles that plumage patterns play in avian biology. We dissect the role of plumage patches as signals within and among species. We also consider the evolutionary history of plumage patterns, including phylogenetic comparative studies and evolutionary developmental research of the genetic architecture underlying plumage patterns. We also survey an expanding toolbox of new methods that characterize and quantify the size, shape, and distribution of plumage patches. Finally, we provide a worked example to illustrate a potential workflow with dorsal plumage patterns among subspecies of the Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris) in western North America. Studies of plumage patterning and coloration have played a prominent role in ornithology thus far, and recent methodological and conceptual advances have opened new avenues of research on the ecological functions and evolutionary origins of plumage patterns in birds.

中文翻译：

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羽状形态：生态功能，进化起源和量化进展

摘要

鸟类在单个羽毛和羽毛斑块之间的羽毛形态均表现出显着变化。颜料和结构颜色的大小，形状和位置的差异包括重要的视觉信号，这些视觉信号涉及配偶选择，社交信号，伪装和许多其他功能。尽管鸟类学家已经研究了羽毛图案数百年，但数字图像采集和处理技术的最新发展已改变了图案定量方法，从而实现了迄今为止无法获得的模式表型的全面，详细的数据集。在这篇综述中，我们综合了不同进化和生物规模的羽毛模式的最新研究和经典研究，并讨论了羽毛模式在禽类生物学中发挥的各种作用。我们剖析了羽毛斑块作为物种内部和物种之间的信号的作用。我们还考虑了羽毛模式的演变历史，包括系统发育比较研究和对羽毛模式基础的遗传结构的进化发展研究。我们还调查了新方法的扩展工具箱，这些工具箱可表征和量化羽毛补丁的大小，形状和分布。最后，我们提供了一个有效的示例，以说明有角云雀亚种之间具有背羽模式的潜在工作流程（我们还调查了新方法的扩展工具箱，这些工具箱可表征和量化羽毛补丁的大小，形状和分布。最后，我们提供了一个有效的示例，以说明有角云雀亚种之间具有背羽模式的潜在工作流程（我们还调查了新方法的扩展工具箱，这些工具箱可表征和量化羽毛补丁的大小，形状和分布。最后，我们提供了一个有效的示例，以说明有角云雀亚种之间具有背羽模式的潜在工作流程（北美西部的Eremophila alpestris。迄今为止，羽毛图案和颜色的研究在鸟类学中发挥了重要作用，并且最近的方法学和概念上的发展开辟了研究鸟类羽毛图案的生态功能和进化起源的新途径。