...continued from https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/milewski/95051-a-new-interpretation-of-the-evolutionary-and-ecological-strategy-of-whiteyes-and-silvereyes-zosterops-part-1#
In general, the genus Zosterops has combined great speciation with minimal adaptive radiation.
This is explained partly by the facts that
In other words, speciation in Zosterops has been nominal, with minimal modification of a morphological kind.
In this Post, I explore one example - on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean - in which two sympatric spp. of Zosterops have separated in terms of diet.
This example is 'an exception that proves a rule', in the sense that
References:
https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v088n01/p0035-p0060.pdf
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1365-2699.2002.00720.x
Zosterops chloronothos (https://earthlife.net/mauritius-olive-white-eyes/Mauritius), which is naturally restricted to Mauritius, has
The diet is mainly nectar and flying insects. Fleshy fruits and gleaned insects, normally part of the diets of Zosterops, are hardly taken by Z. chloronothos.
Zosterops chloronothos is not merely a 'cheat' in the sense of taking nectar without pollinating the plants. Unusually for its genus, it also collects pollen on the forehead.
Plant spp. possibly pollinated by Z. chloronothos (https://www.perplexity.ai/search/Which-plants-indigenous-2OJN2oIbQ2eGSNt0negoIQ) include
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0254629918322725
I interpret the nectarivory of Z. chloronothos as follows.
On one hand, it is true that
On the other hand, it is also true that
What this means is that the deviation from the norm in Z. chloronothos is open to interpretation. It is simultaneously true that here we have an island-effect, in which Zosterops has 'filled in for' the paucity if true nectarivores - particularly Nectariniidae (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbird) - in the avifauna of Mauritius.
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/Are-any-aphids-C5vQp3GrSe.lh2p4rkJcEg
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/Are-Flatopsis-nivea-nQDvKB2KTB..BGtqdj_9eg
Delphacidae occur on Oceanic islands and produce honeydew
to be continued in https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/milewski/95329-a-new-interpretation-of-the-evolutionary-and-ecological-strategy-of-whiteyes-silvereyes-zosterops-part-3-encephalisation-braininess#...
Comments
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/What-is-the-IpCdk3HkSWWdFKrsjvK.ow
https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.en.08.010163.001515
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphacidae
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/Which-families-of-sCsbqCTrSvePIqWOpBrZLw
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/Which-scale-insects-SSrSTfrbQ3yLGn4b0AlWLQ
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale_insect
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lerp_%28biology%29
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/What-is-the-KzYtGjJlQnGe2eO2dEyOVA
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Red_lerps_austrochardia_acaciae.jpg
https://bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2148-14-43#:~:text=For%20example%2C%20a%20bird%2Dpollination,the%20bird%20(Figure%201).
https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/checklist.jsp?region=MU
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