1. Repeatability and Validity of Phenotypic Trait Measurements in Birds
- Author
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Subasinghe, Kalya, Symonds, Matthew, Vidal-Garcia, Marta, Bonnet, Timothée, Prober, Suzanne M., Williams, Kristen J., Gardner, Janet, Subasinghe, Kalya, Symonds, Matthew, Vidal-Garcia, Marta, Bonnet, Timothée, Prober, Suzanne M., Williams, Kristen J., and Gardner, Janet
- Abstract
Phenotypic trait data play a central role in ecology and evolutionary research. The quality of trait data, and the findings of subsequent analyses, depend on the quality of measurement. However, most studies overlook measurement accuracy in their study designs. We investigated the repeatability of five frequently used linear measurements of avian traits: wing length, tarsus length, bill length, bill depth and bill width and the validity of proxies for three traits: bill surface area, structural body size and tarsus size, using species from the infra-order Meliphagides (honeyeaters, fairy wrens and their allies). Repeatability varied between traits and across species for a given trait: traits larger than 13
- Published
- 2021