Sexually dimorphic leading-edge serrations evolved in silent swallows
Hasegawa, M.
Show abstract
Leading-edge serrations are specialized feather structures, mitigating acoustic noise during foraging flight in owls, and have been extensively studied and applied to man-made noise-reducing structures. Similar structures occur in other avian species, such as swallows, although the ecological functions of the serrations in these species remain unclear. I conducted macroevolutionary analyses of hirundines (subfamily: Hirundininae), in which leading-edge serrations evolved multiple times, to examine their evolution in relation to vocal activity. I found that silent hirundines showed a higher probability of possessing leading-edge serrations, indicating that leading-edge serrations of swallows serve some functions associated with acoustics as in owls. I also found that silent vocal activity accompanied loss of song, a well-known acoustic sexual signal, but not with sexual plumage dimorphism, indicating that not sexual selection in general but sexual selection on acoustic traits matters. These findings explain sexually dimorphic leading-edge serrations, a unique characteristic in these diurnal visually-foraging birds: stealth males rather than noisy males would be favored. Although leading-edge serrations in hirundines would serve acoustic functions like nocturnal birds such as owls, they might serve a unique sexual function.
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