Climate-driven convergent evolution of plumage colour in a cosmopolitan bird

Aim: The investigation of phenotypic diversity across geographical gradients is pivotal to understanding the evolution and adaptive functions of alternative phenotypes. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the polymorphism in ventral plumage colouration observed in the cosmopolitan common barn owl group is determined by climatic factors, such as temperature and rainfall, consistent with Gloger’s and Bogert’s biogeographical rules. Location: World. Time period: 1809–2017. Major taxa studied: Tyto alba species complex. Methods: We analysed the variation in heritable melanin-based plumage colour according to annual temperature and rainfall in 9,110 individuals of the cosmopolitan barn owl, with three distinct evolutionary lineages representing its entire distribution range: the Afro-European Tyto alba, occurring between Scandinavia and South Africa, the American Tyto furcata, found from southern Canada to Patagonia, and the Australasian Tyto javanica, living between the Himalayan Plateau and Tasmania. Results: Although the geographical distribution of colour morphs is heterogeneous among the lineages, in all of them plumage colour becomes darker with increasing annual rainfall, indicating a convergent selection of darker morphs in humid habitats possibly to improve camouflage against the dark environment and/or to repel water more efficiently. Moreover, in T. alba and T. furcata, melanization increases at decreasing temperature, suggesting its possible role in thermoregulation. Discussion: These findings provide convincing evidence of repeated evolution of similar body colouration patterns at a worldwide scale compatible with the main biogeographical rules, while emphasizing the possible role of melanin-based traits in animal adaptation to climate change.