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Conserved Genetic Basis of a Quantitative Plumage Trait Involved in Mate Choice
Nicholas I. Mundy,1*Nichola S. Badcock,2Tom Hart,2Kim Scribner,3Kirstin Janssen,4Nicola J. Nadeau1
A key question in evolutionary genetics is whether shared geneticmechanisms underlie the independent evolution of similar phenotypesacross phylogenetically divergent lineages. Here we show thatin two classic examples of melanic plumage polymorphisms inbirds, lesser snow geese (Anser c. caerulescens) and arcticskuas (Stercorarius parasiticus), melanism is perfectly associatedwith variation in the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene. Inboth species, the degree of melanism correlates with the numberof copies of variant MC1R alleles. Phylogenetic reconstructionsof variant MC1R alleles in geese and skuas show that melanismis a derived trait that evolved in the Pleistocene.
1 Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK. 2 Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6QS, UK. 3 Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and Department of Zoology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. 4 Department of Molecular Biotechnology, University of Tromsø, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: nim21{at}cam.ac.uk
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