Unmelanized Plumage Patterns in Old World Leaf Warblers Do Not Correspond to Sequence Variation at the Melanocortin-1 Receptor Locus (MC1R)

Evolutionary changes in patterns and coloration of plumage are likely to represent a major mechanism for speciation among birds, yet the molecular basis for such changes remains poorly understood. Recently much attention has focused on the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) as a candidate locus for determining the level and extent of epidermal melanin deposition. We tested the hypothesis that MC1R sequence variation is associated with interspecific …