caa a22 4500 463176170 CHVBK 20180406164826.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170326e20071001xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10336-007-0173-x doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10336-007-0173-x Assortative pairing and divergent evolution in Darwin's Small Tree Finch, Camarhynchus parvulus [Elektronische Daten] [Rebekah Christensen, Sonia Kleindorfer] Size assortative mating has received increasing attention due to its potential to drive divergence and perhaps speciation. In this study, we examined assortative pairing at 17 nests of Darwin's Small Tree Finches, Camarhynchus parvulus. We found positive assortative pairing for two traits: bill length and tarsus length, and these traits showed a significant positive correlation to each other. Assortative pairing could be driven by female choice for similar phenotypes because male-male competition has rarely been observed in the Small Tree Finch, nor have males been observed to reject potential mates. Given the high heritability of bill morphology in Darwin's finches, it is possible that female preference for male bill length, a trait that is known to be important for foraging, will influence offspring bill size to maximise efficient exploitation of resources. The finding of size assortative pairing on the basis of tarsus length requires more research, but suggests different trait utilities for different foraging niches. Interestingly, the highland distribution of tarsus length across the population showed a unimodal distribution, but a bimodal distribution after pairing. While not significant, we found comparatively large differences across study plots in tarsus length, which suggests the possibility of phenotype-habitat matching at a small spatial scale in this species. Our findings are significant in the context of the adaptive radiation of Darwin's finches as they are consistent with the allopatric model of speciation but also show potential for adaptive divergence in sympatry in Darwin's tree finches. Dt. Ornithologen-Gesellschaft e.V., 2007 Assortative mating nationallicence Darwin's finches nationallicence Divergent evolution nationallicence Small tree finch nationallicence Sympatric evolution nationallicence Christensen Rebekah School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University of South Australia, GPO Box 2100, 5001, Adelaide, Australia aut Kleindorfer Sonia School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University of South Australia, GPO Box 2100, 5001, Adelaide, Australia aut Journal of Ornithology Springer-Verlag 148/4(2007-10-01), 463-470 0021-8375 148:4<463 2007 148 10336 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-007-0173-x text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-007-0173-x text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Christensen Rebekah School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University of South Australia, GPO Box 2100, 5001, Adelaide, Australia aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Kleindorfer Sonia School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University of South Australia, GPO Box 2100, 5001, Adelaide, Australia aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Journal of Ornithology Springer-Verlag 148/4(2007-10-01), 463-470 0021-8375 148:4<463 2007 148 10336 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer