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Open cup nests evolved from roofed nests in the early passerines
J Jordan Price1,2, Simon C Griffith2
1Department of Biology, St. Mary's College of Maryland, St. Mary's City, MD 20686, USA jjprice@smcm.edu.
Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|February 3, 2017
Summary
Domed nests, rare today, were built by the common ancestor of passerine birds. Open cup nests evolved convergently multiple times from these earlier designs, particularly in Australia.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Ornithology
- Animal Behavior
Background:
- Passerine birds (order Passeriformes) exhibit remarkable nest architectural diversity, contributing to their adaptive radiation and global dominance.
- Most passerines build open cup nests, but a minority construct more complex domed nests.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the evolutionary history of nest design in passerine birds.
- To determine the ancestral nest type of passerines and the frequency of convergent evolution in nest structures.
Main Methods:
- Conducted an extensive survey of nest designs across passerine families worldwide.
- Utilized ancestral state reconstruction to infer the evolutionary trajectory of nest architecture.
Main Results:
- Strong evidence indicates that domed nests were ancestral to all modern passerines.
- Open cup nests evolved independently at least four times from domed ancestors.
- At least three independent evolutions of cup nests occurred in early Australian passerine lineages.
Conclusions:
- The ubiquitous cup nest evolved convergently multiple times, suggesting adaptive advantages over earlier domed designs.
- Nest architectural evolution played a significant role in the diversification and success of passerine birds.
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