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Ecomorphological patterns related to migration: a comparative osteological study with passerines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 November 2000

Ricardo G. Calmaestra  and
Eulalia Moreno
Ricardo G. Calmaestra
Affiliation:
Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, Department Ecología Evolutiva, José Gutiérrez Abascal, 2, E-28006 Madrid, Spain
Eulalia Moreno
Affiliation:
Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, CSIC, General Segura, 1, E-04001 Almería, Spain
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Abstract

An analysis of forelimb and hindlimb skeletal morphology of 15 passerine genera was performed to investigate the likely existence of an ecomorphological pattern relating morphology to migratory behaviour. Each genus was represented by a pair of species, one being sedentary and another migrant. Using a phylogenetic comparative method we found migrant species having longer sternum, deeper keel and longer coracoids than non-migrant species. Hindlimb morphology was not related to migration. These results are interpreted as adaptations for migrants favouring flight ability, as the larger the sternum and the coracoids the greater the surface available for attachment of the main muscles involved in active flight.

Keywords

ecomorphologymigrationpasserinesskeleton
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Zoology , Volume 252 , Issue 4 , December 2000 , pp. 495 - 501
Copyright
© 2000 The Zoological Society of London

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