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Citation for Study 902

About Citation title: "The adaptive significance of coloration in lagomorphs.".
About This study was previously identified under the legacy study ID S775 (Status: Published).

Citation

Stoner C., Bininda-emonds O., & Caro T. 2003. The adaptive significance of coloration in lagomorphs. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 79(2): 309-328.

Authors

  • Stoner C.
  • Bininda-emonds O.
  • Caro T.

Abstract

Lagomorph pelage coloration was matched to habitat type, geographical region, altitude and behaviour to explore the adaptive significance of coloration patterns in this little-studied order of mammals. Analyses were conducted with and without taking phylogeny into account. The former analyses were based on a weighted, phylogenetic supertree for all extant species of lagomorphs that we constructed using morphological and molecular data from 146 papers in the literature. Although our analyses represent an initial, somewhat crude investigation, several clear trends are evident. First, overall body coloration across lagomorphs tends to match the background as shown for pale and red coloration and perhaps seasonal pelage change. The case for countershading being a method of concealment is far less strong. Second, ear tips appear to have a communicative role since they are conspicuous in many different habitats. Third, hypotheses for tail tips having a communicative role, for extremities being dark for physiological reasons, and for Gloger's rule received only partial support.

Keywords

comparative method; hares; pelage coloration; phylogeny; pikas

External links

About this resource

  • Canonical resource URI: http://purl.org/phylo/treebase/phylows/study/TB2:S902
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