Show simple item record

dc.contributor.authorTattersall, Glenn J
dc.contributor.authorArnaout, Bassel
dc.contributor.authorSymonds, Matthew R. E.
dc.date.accessioned2016-10-25T15:24:33Z
dc.date.available2016-10-25T15:24:33Z
dc.date.issued2016-10-06
dc.identifier.citationTattersall, G. J., Arnaout, B. and Symonds, M. R. E. (2016), The evolution of the avian bill as a thermoregulatory organ. Biol Rev. doi:10.1111/brv.12299en_US
dc.identifier.issn1464-7931
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10464/10645
dc.description.abstractThe avian bill is a textbook example of how evolution shapes morphology in response to changing environments. Bills of seed-specialist finches in particular have been the focus of intense study demonstrating how climatic fluctuations acting on food availability drive bill size and shape. The avian bill also plays an important but under-appreciated role in body temperature regulation, and therefore in energetics. Birds are endothermic and rely on numerous mechanisms for balancing internal heat production with biophysical constraints of the environment. The bill is highly vascularised and heat exchange with the environment can vary substantially, ranging from around 2% to as high as 400% of basal heat production in certain species. This heat exchange may impact how birds respond to heat stress, substitute for evaporative water loss at elevated temperatures or environments of altered water availability, or be an energetic liability at low environmental temperatures. As a result, in numerous taxa, there is evidence for a positive association between bill size and environmental temperatures, both within and among species. Therefore, bill size is both developmentally flexible and evolutionarily adaptive in response to temperature. Understanding the evolution of variation in bill size however, requires explanations of all potential mechanisms. The purpose of this review, therefore, is to promote a greater understanding of the role of temperature on shaping bill size over spatial gradients as well as developmental, seasonal, and evolutionary timescales.en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherCambridge Philosophical Societyen_US
dc.titleThe evolution of the avian bill as a thermoregulatory organen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/brv.12299
refterms.dateFOA2017-09-01T00:00:00Z


Files in this item

Thumbnail
Name:
Thermoregulation Bill Manuscript ...
Size:
6.944Mb
Format:
PDF

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record