g. shortening the vulnerable juvenile period and increasing the likelihood of realizing reproduction) versus advantages of continued growth and social maturation (e.g. larger body size, reduced predation and enhanced reproductive output) (Charnov, 1993; Roff, 2002). Although Ricklefs & Cadena (2007) reported that age at first reproduction did not strongly influence avian life spans (in captivity), de Magalhaes et al. (2007) found that

time to reproductive maturity was correlated with adult life span in mammals and birds. We also considered including ‘chemical protection’ as an additional see more independent variable in our analyses (see Blanco & Sherman, 2005). Edibility scores, based mostly on responses of ‘unnatural’ predators (e.g. insects, humans), have Trametinib solubility dmso been published for 105 species of birds from southern Africa (Cott & Benson, 1970; Götmark, 1994); in addition, nine species

in the New Guinean family Pachycephalidae (especially the genus Pitohui) have been found to contain defensive neurotoxins (batrachotoxins) in their skin and feathers (Dumbacher et al., 2008; Jønsson et al., 2008). Unfortunately, however, information on maximum life spans in nature is not available for most of these 114 species. Related species cannot be regarded as completely independent data points in comparative analyses of adaptations, and phylogenetic independent contrast analyses (PICs) are often employed to ‘control’ for effects of shared evolutionary ancestry (Felsenstein, 1985, 2008; Brooks & McLennan, 1991; Harvey & Pagel, 1991). However, use of PICs requires detailed phylogenetic information, and fine-scale trees that encompass the diversity of birds in our data base either do not exist or are controversial. Different techniques of phylogenetic reconstruction can yield conflicting phylogenies, often depending on whether

they are based on comparative anatomy (Cracraft, 2001; Livezey & Zusi, 2007), DNA–DNA hybridization (Sibley & Ahlquist, 1990), mtDNA (Mindell, Sorenson & Dimcheff, 1998; Braun & Kimball, 2002; Gibb et al., 2007; Slack et al., 2007; Brown et al., 2008) and various nuclear exons, rRNA and intron sequences Methane monooxygenase (Groth & Barrowclough, 1999; Shapiro & Dumbacher, 2001; van Tuinen & Hedges, 2001; Chubb, 2004; Fain & Houde, 2004; Ericson et al., 2006; Chojnowski, Kimball & Braun, 2008). Recently, Hackett et al. (2008) published a comprehensive phylogenomic study of birds based on sequences of non-coding introns. However, the adequacy of this technique for detecting deep divergences has already been questioned (e.g. Pratt et al., 2009). Given these ongoing controversies, we were not comfortable picking a single phylogeny for conducting contrast analysis on the diversity of birds in our data base (Appendices 1 and 2).