Discussion
The maintenance and evolution of colour polymorphism remains one of the
most appealing yet elusive evolutionary questions. Since diversity in
life history strategies and complex traits have shown to segregate with
colour-defined phenotypes, it is plausible to expect evidence of those
associations also at molecular level. Here we report the first
assemblies of the tawny owl genome and a comprehensive
genome-wide-association study leading to the discovery of structural
variation associated with colour polymorphism – though not on the
traditional M1CR gene. Given the pleiotropic effect of the POMCgene, our results sheds light on the genetic basis of so-called
melanin-phenotypes and pave the way to explore evolutionary mechanisms
underlying the maintenance of colour polymorphism in melanin-pigmented
avian taxa.