An appraisal of how the vitamin A-redox hypothesis can maintain honesty of carotenoid-dependent signals

Abstract

The vitamin A-redox hypothesis provides an explanation for honest signaling of phenotypic quality by carotenoid-dependent traits. A key aspect of the vitamin A-redox hypothesis, applicable to both yellow and red coloration, is the hypothesized negative feedback of tightly regulated Vitamin A plasma levels on the enzyme responsible for sequestering both Vitamin A and carotenoids from the gut. We performed a meta-analysis and find that vitamin A levels are positively related to carotenoid plasma levels (r = 0.50, P = 0.0002). On the basis of this finding and further theoretical considerations, we propose that the vitamin A-redox hypothesis is unlikely to explain carotenoid-dependent honest signaling.