The developmental stress hypothesis: A special case of the evolution of condition-dependent sexual traits Buchanan, Katherine L. 2011, The developmental stress hypothesis: A special case of the evolution of condition-dependent sexual traits, Behavioral Ecology, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 12-13. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title The developmental stress hypothesis: A special case of the evolution of condition-dependent sexual traits Author(s) Buchanan, Katherine L. orcid.org/0000-0002-6648-5819 Journal name Behavioral Ecology Volume number 22 Issue number 1 Start page 12 End page 13 Total pages 2 Publisher Oxford University Press Place of publication United States Publication date 2011 ISSN 1045-2249 1465-7279 Keyword(s) bird song developmental stress hypothesis sexual signals signal evolution song complexity Summary The idea that sexually selected traits might be condition dependent is far from novel (Zahavi 1975); however, the developmental stress hypothesis was proposed as a special case because of a highly plausible mechanism: the development of the neural circuits controlling song output coincides with a period of time during which developing birds are likely to be susceptible to stress. The elegant aspect of the hypothesis is that the mechanism is defined and effects can be readily tested (Nowicki et al. 1998; Buchanan et al. 2003). Compared with more general hypotheses about the evolution of condition-dependent sexual traits (Buchanan 2000), the second particularly interesting aspect of the developmental stress hypothesis is that, in some species, individuals may suffer historical markers of stress. This is because in species with a fixed period for neural growth and song learning, there is no possibility for compensation in later life for stress experienced during early development. Females using such a marker of stress may benefit by obtaining a partner whose other cognitive functions have not been impaired by stress. Language eng Field of Research 060201 Behavioural Ecology Socio Economic Objective 970106 Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal ERA Research output type C Journal article Copyright notice ©2011, Oxford University Press Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30040499 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment School of Life and Environmental Sciences Centre for Integrative Ecology Related Links Link Description Connect to published version (restricted access) Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Mon, 05 Dec 2011, 12:42:53 EST Thu, 08 Dec 2011, 16:25:05 EST Thu, 08 Dec 2011, 16:26:22 EST Mon, 17 Jun 2013, 17:16:24 EST Fri, 13 Jun 2014, 12:03:27 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 10 times in TR Web of Science Cited 8 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 921 Abstract Views, 1 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Mon, 05 Dec 2011, 12:42:53 EST