Avian egg colours and patterns are spectacularly diverse and provide a wonderful system to
study both the functional and mechanistic basis of animal colouration. In order to do this, it is …

Background The exceptional diversity of coloration found in avian eggshells has long
fascinated biologists and inspired a broad range of adaptive hypotheses to explain its …

Colouration and patterning are widespread amongst organisms. Regarding avian eggs,
colouration (reflectances) has been previously measured using spectrometers whereas …

Birds' eggshells are renowned for their striking colours and varied patterns. Although often
considered exceptionally diverse, we report that avian eggshell coloration, sampled here …

The diversity of eggshell colours and patterning across different birds is a fascinating
example of the extended avian phenotype. The avian egg's background colours range from …

Diversity in the colour and appearance of avian eggshells has been proposed to serve a
variety of visual functions, including crypsis from predation, mimicry and discrimination in …

Recent work suggests that the evolution of egg coloration may have been constrained in
three important ways that have not yet been critically synthesized in any review. First, on …

For many birds, the fight for survival begins at the egg stage: avoiding predation is
paramount. At a broad phylogenetic level, selection by predators for egg camouflage …

Studies of avian eggshell coloration have been a long-standing research focus in behavioral
evolutionary ecology. Museum collections have provided a widely used resource because …

Current research into the evolution and adaptive function of avian eggshell pigmentation,
including maculation, has focused mostly on signalling‐based and structural function …