Nature Communications (Jan 2018)

Carotenoid metabolism strengthens the link between feather coloration and individual quality

  • Ryan J. Weaver,
  • Eduardo S. A. Santos,
  • Anna M. Tucker,
  • Alan E. Wilson,
  • Geoffrey E. Hill

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02649-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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Studies of honest signaling have found an inconsistent relationship between carotenoid coloration and individual quality. Here, Weaver et al. compare dietary and biochemically converted carotenoid coloration using meta-analyses and show that converted carotenoids drive relationships with quality measures.