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Condition- and parasite-dependent expression of a male-like trait in a female bird

Overview of attention for article published in Biology Letters, January 2011
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (83rd percentile)
  • Average Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source

Mentioned by

news
1 news outlet

Citations

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26 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
61 Mendeley
Title
Condition- and parasite-dependent expression of a male-like trait in a female bird
Published in
Biology Letters, January 2011
DOI 10.1098/rsbl.2010.0991
Pubmed ID
Authors

J. Martinez-Padilla, P. Vergara, L. Pérez-Rodríguez, F. Mougeot, F. Casas, S. C. Ludwig, J. A. Haines, M. Zeineddine, S. M. Redpath

Abstract

In many species, females display brightly coloured and elaborate traits similar to those that males use in intra- and inter-sexual selection processes. These female characters are sometimes related to fitness, and might function as secondary sexual characteristics that have evolved through sexual selection. Here, we used descriptive data from 674 females in 10 populations and an experimental removal of Trichostrongylus tenuis parasites in four populations, to examine the effects of season, age, condition, and parasites on the size of supra-orbital combs displayed by female red grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus. We found that comb size (i) was greater during the breeding than the non-breeding season, (ii) was greater in adult than in young females, (iii) was positively correlated with body condition, and (iv) negatively correlated with parasite abundance. Experimentally, we showed that comb size increased proportionally to the number of worms removed after parasite dosing. Our findings provide a better understanding of proximate mechanisms behind the expression of a male-like trait in females, and we discuss its possible function as a female ornament.

Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 61 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Spain 2 3%
United Kingdom 2 3%
France 1 2%
Germany 1 2%
South Africa 1 2%
Unknown 54 89%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 26 43%
Student > Ph. D. Student 14 23%
Professor 4 7%
Student > Master 4 7%
Student > Bachelor 3 5%
Other 8 13%
Unknown 2 3%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 45 74%
Environmental Science 7 11%
Psychology 3 5%
Unknown 6 10%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 7. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 02 February 2011.
All research outputs
#4,599,559
of 23,577,761 outputs
Outputs from Biology Letters
#2,046
of 3,275 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#28,661
of 185,773 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Biology Letters
#18
of 34 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,577,761 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 80th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,275 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 55.3. This one is in the 37th percentile – i.e., 37% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 185,773 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 83% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 34 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 47th percentile – i.e., 47% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.