Reduced song complexity in founder populations of a widely distributed songbird

摘要

Reduced vocal diversity in founder populations of songbirds is particularly well described in congeners and conspecifics introduced to remote islands but has rarely been examined in species that have been introduced to both island and mainland systems across an expansive geographical range. We examined male between- and within-song complexity variations between founder and native populations of the widely distributed Common Myna Acridotheres tristis and predicted reduced complexity within individuals from founder populations. The percentage of unique songs within a repertoire and within-song complexity were significantly lower in Mynas from founder populations. This reduced song complexity suggests that vocal founder effects may be exhibited in both island and mainland founder populations.