Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Hanley D
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4455735 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Hanley Daniel D Grim Tomáš T Cassey Phillip P Hauber Mark E ME
Biology letters 20150501 5
Birds' eggshells are renowned for their striking colours and varied patterns. Although often considered exceptionally diverse, we report that avian eggshell coloration, sampled here across the full phylogenetic diversity of birds, occupies only 0.08-0.10% of the avian perceivable colour space. The concentrations of the two known tetrapyrrole eggshell pigments (protoporphyrin and biliverdin) are generally poor predictors of colour, both intra- and interspecifically. Here, we show that the constra ...[more]