Plumage Patterns and Speciation in the Avian Genus Phylloscopus, Award in Indian Currency

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Description: This project provides support for travel and field research for Dr. Trevor Price and a graduate student to study tghe development and evolution of plumage patterns and their possible role in speciation, in a continental genus of birds, the Old World Leaf Warblers. The fieldwork will be in the Kashmir area of India. Laboratory work, for measurement to quantify morphological variation will follow. Recently developed quantitative genetic methods and theories of pattern formation will be applied to reconstruct selection pressures which occurred during evolution of the plumage patterns. The results are to contribute to the understanding of the development of evolution in bird populations. Scope: The P.I. has established formal contacts with India's Department of Forest and Wildlife and has received permission to conduct the proposed work. He will be collaborating with scientists from that Department and from Bombay Natural History Society. The research is likely to contribute to the body of knowledge on the ecology and natural evoluation of birds, and is also likely to enhance U.S.-Indian collaboration in this field.