Article
Inheritance patterns of plumage coloration in common buzzards Buteo buteo do not support a one-locus two-allele model.
Biology letters - 1 Apr 2018
Kappers Elena Frederika, de Vries Christiaan, Alberda Anneke, Forstmeier Wolfgang, Both Christiaan, Kempenaers Bart
Abstract excerpt
Balancing selection is a major mechanism to maintain colour polymorphisms over evolutionary time. In common buzzards, variation in plumage colour was reportedly maintained by a heterozygote advantage: heterozygote intermediates had higher fitness than homozygote light and dark morphs. Here, we challenge one of the basic premises of the heterozygote advantage hypothesis, by testing whether plumage colour variation...
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