Austral birds offer insightful complementary models in ecology and evolution

Jörn Theuerkauf; Camila P Villavicencio; Nicolas M Adreani; Alfredo Attisano; Adrian Craig; Pietro B D'Amelio; Roman Gula; Alan T K Lee; Lucía Mentesana; Petra Quillfeldt; Veronica Quirici; René Quispe; Rodrigo A Vásquez; John C Wingfield; Juan F Masello

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2022.05.003

Austral birds offer insightful complementary models in ecology and evolution

Trends Ecol Evol. 2022 Sep;37(9):759-767. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.05.003. Epub 2022 Jun 9.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 00-679 Warsaw, Poland. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity, Department of Ecological Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Chile, 7800003 Santiago, Chile.
³ KLF Core Facility for Behaviour and Cognition, University of Vienna, 4645 Grünau im Almtal, Austria; Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, 82319 Seewiesen, Germany.
⁴ Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 00-679 Warsaw, Poland.
⁵ Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Makhanda 6140, South Africa.
⁶ FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa.
⁷ FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa; Centre for Functional Biodiversity, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Scottsville 3209, South Africa; BirdLife South Africa, Pinegowrie 2123, South Africa.
⁸ Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, 82319 Seewiesen, Germany.
⁹ Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, 35392 Giessen, Germany.
¹⁰ Centro de Investigación para la Sustentabilidad, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andres Bello, 8370251 Santiago, Chile.
¹¹ Department of Marine Biology, Faculty of Ocean Sciences, Universidad Catolica del Norte, 1781421 Coquimbo, Chile; Department of Animal Biological Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Chile, 8820808 Santiago, Chile.
¹² Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity, Department of Ecological Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Chile, 7800003 Santiago, Chile; Cape Horn International Center (CHIC), Puerto Williams, Magallanes, Chile.
¹³ Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, 35392 Giessen, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 35691772
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.05.003

Abstract

The Southern Hemisphere differs from the Northern Hemisphere in many aspects. However, most ecological and evolutionary research is conducted in the Northern Hemisphere and its conclusions are extrapolated to the entire globe. Therefore, unique organismal and evolutionary characteristics of the south are overlooked. We use ornithology to show the importance of including a southern perspective. We present examples of plumage pigmentation, brood-parasitic nestling ejection, flightlessness, female song, and female aggression modulated by progesterone as complementary models for investigating fundamental biological questions. More research in the Southern Hemisphere, together with increased cooperation among researchers across the hemispheres and within the Southern Hemisphere, will provide a greater global outlook into ecology and evolution.

Keywords: Austral ornithology; Southern Hemisphere; biological models; fundamental biological questions.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Biological Evolution
Birds*
Ecology
Female
Pigmentation*