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Udino E, Oscos-Snowball MA, Buchanan KL, Mariette MM. A prenatal acoustic signal of heat reduces a biomarker of chronic stress at adulthood across seasons. Front Physiol 2024; 15:1348993. [PMID: 38617060 PMCID: PMC11009423 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1348993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2023] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 04/16/2024] Open
Abstract
During development, phenotype can be adaptively modulated by environmental conditions, sometimes in the long-term. However, with weather variability increasing under climate change, the potential for maladaptive long-term responses to environmental variations may increase. In the arid-adapted zebra finch, parents emit "heat-calls" when experiencing heat during incubation, which adaptively affects offspring growth in the heat, and adult heat tolerance. This suggests that heat-call exposure may adjust individual phenotype to hot conditions, potentially compromising individual sensitivity to cool weather conditions. To test this hypothesis, we manipulated individual prenatal acoustic and postnatal thermal experiences during development, and sought to assess subsequent chronic responses to thermal fluctuations at adulthood. We thus measured heterophil to lymphocyte (H/L) ratios in adults, when held in outdoor aviaries during two summers and two winters. We found that birds exposed to heat-calls as embryos, had consistently lower H/L ratios than controls at adulthood, indicative of lower chronic stress, irrespective of the season. Nonetheless, in all birds, the H/L ratio did vary with short-term weather fluctuations (2, 5 or 7 days), increasing at more extreme (low and high) air temperatures. In addition, the H/L ratio was higher in males than females. Overall, while H/L ratio may reflect how individuals were being impacted by temperature, heat-call exposed individuals did not show a stronger chronic response in winter, and instead appeared more resilient to thermal variability than control individuals. Our findings therefore suggest that heat-call exposure did not compromise individual sensitivity to low temperatures at adulthood. Our study also reveals that prenatal sound can lead to long-term differences in individual physiology or quality/condition, as reflected by H/L ratios, which are consistent with previously-demonstrated reproductive fitness differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eve Udino
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, Seewiesen, Germany
| | - Marja A. Oscos-Snowball
- Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Werribee, VIC, Australia
| | - Katherine L. Buchanan
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia
| | - Mylene M. Mariette
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia
- Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC), Sevilla, Spain
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2
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Rose EM, Scofield AJ, Wenstrom AM, Stennette KA, Shank BD, Ball GF. Male and female red-cheeked cordon bleus sing similar yet individualistic songs. J Acoust Soc Am 2024; 155:1909-1915. [PMID: 38456733 PMCID: PMC10924675 DOI: 10.1121/10.0025236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Accepted: 02/21/2024] [Indexed: 03/09/2024]
Abstract
Birdsong is an excellent system for studying complex vocal signaling in both males and females. Historically, most research in captivity has focused only on male song. This has left a gap in our understanding of the environmental, neuroendocrine, and mechanistic control of female song. Here, we report the overall acoustic features, repertoire, and stereotypy of both male and female Red-Cheeked Cordon Bleus (Uraeginthus bengalus) (RCCBs) songs in the lab. We found few sex differences in the acoustic structure, song repertoire, and song stereotypy of RCCBs. Both sexes had similar song entropy, peak frequency, and duration. Additionally, individuals of both sexes sang only a single song type each and had similar levels of song and syllable stereotypy. However, we did find that female RCCBs had higher song bandwidth but lower syllable repertoires. Finally, and most strikingly, we found highly individualistic songs in RCCBs. Each individual produced a stereotyped and unique song with no birds sharing song types and very few syllable types being shared between birds of either sex. We propose that RCCBs represent a promising species for future investigations of the acoustic sex differences in song in a lab environment, and also for understanding the evolutionary driving forces behind individualistic songs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evangeline M Rose
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
- Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
| | - Avery J Scofield
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
| | - Autumn M Wenstrom
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
| | - Katherine A Stennette
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA
| | - Benjamin D Shank
- Department of Physics, Hope College, Holland, Michigan 49423, USA
| | - Gregory F Ball
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
- Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
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3
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Éltető N, Nemeth D, Janacsek K, Dayan P. Tracking human skill learning with a hierarchical Bayesian sequence model. PLoS Comput Biol 2022; 18:e1009866. [PMID: 36449550 PMCID: PMC9744313 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2022] [Revised: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans can implicitly learn complex perceptuo-motor skills over the course of large numbers of trials. This likely depends on our becoming better able to take advantage of ever richer and temporally deeper predictive relationships in the environment. Here, we offer a novel characterization of this process, fitting a non-parametric, hierarchical Bayesian sequence model to the reaction times of human participants' responses over ten sessions, each comprising thousands of trials, in a serial reaction time task involving higher-order dependencies. The model, adapted from the domain of language, forgetfully updates trial-by-trial, and seamlessly combines predictive information from shorter and longer windows onto past events, weighing the windows proportionally to their predictive power. As the model implies a posterior over window depths, we were able to determine how, and how many, previous sequence elements influenced individual participants' internal predictions, and how this changed with practice. Already in the first session, the model showed that participants had begun to rely on two previous elements (i.e., trigrams), thereby successfully adapting to the most prominent higher-order structure in the task. The extent to which local statistical fluctuations in trigram frequency influenced participants' responses waned over subsequent sessions, as participants forgot the trigrams less and evidenced skilled performance. By the eighth session, a subset of participants shifted their prior further to consider a context deeper than two previous elements. Finally, participants showed resistance to interference and slow forgetting of the old sequence when it was changed in the final sessions. Model parameters for individual participants covaried appropriately with independent measures of working memory and error characteristics. In sum, the model offers the first principled account of the adaptive complexity and nuanced dynamics of humans' internal sequence representations during long-term implicit skill learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noémi Éltető
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Dezső Nemeth
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
- Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Karolina Janacsek
- Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
- Centre for Thinking and Learning, Institute for Lifecourse Development, Universtiy of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom
| | - Peter Dayan
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany
- University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Olimpi EM, Daly H, Garcia K, Glynn VM, Gonthier DJ, Kremen C, M'Gonigle LK, Karp DS. Interactive effects of multiscale diversification practices on farmland bird stress. Conserv Biol 2022; 36:e13902. [PMID: 35212020 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2021] [Revised: 12/21/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Farmland diversification practices (i.e., methods used to produce food sustainably by enhancing biodiversity in cropping systems) are sometimes considered beneficial to both agriculture and biodiversity, but most studies of these practices rely on species richness, diversity, or abundance as a proxy for habitat quality. Biodiversity assessments may miss early clues that populations are imperiled when species presence does not imply persistence. Physiological stress indicators may help identify low-quality habitats before population declines occur. We explored how avian stress indicators respond to on-farm management practices and surrounding seminatural area (1-km radius) across 21 California strawberry farms. We examined whether commonly used biodiversity metrics correlate with stress responses in wild birds. We used ∼1000 blood and feather samples and body mass and wing chord measurements, mostly from passerines, to test the effects of diversification practices on four physiological stress indicators: heterophil to lymphocyte ratios (H:L), body condition, hematocrit values, and feather growth rates of individual birds. We then tested the relationship between physiological stress indicators and species richness, abundance, occurrence, and diversity derived from 285 bird point count surveys. After accounting for other biological drivers, landscape context mediated the effect of local farm management on H:L and body condition. Local diversification practices were associated with reduced individual stress in intensive agricultural landscapes but increased it in landscapes surrounded by relatively more seminatural area. Feathers grew more slowly in landscapes dominated by strawberry production, suggesting that nutritional condition was lower here than in landscapes with more crop types and seminatural areas. We found scant evidence that species richness, abundance, occurrence, or diversity metrics were correlated with the individual's physiological stress, suggesting that reliance on these metrics may obscure the impacts of management on species persistence. Our findings underscore the importance of considering landscape context when designing local management strategies to promote wildlife conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elissa M Olimpi
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis, California, USA
| | - Hallie Daly
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis, California, USA
| | - Karina Garcia
- Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA
| | - Victoria M Glynn
- Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - David J Gonthier
- Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA
| | - Claire Kremen
- Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
- Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Center, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Leithen K M'Gonigle
- Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Daniel S Karp
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis, California, USA
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Choi N, Adams M, Fowler-Finn K, Knowlton E, Rosenthal M, Rundus A, Santer RD, Wilgers D, Hebets EA. Increased signal complexity is associated with increased mating success. Biol Lett 2022; 18:20220052. [PMID: 35579541 PMCID: PMC9113202 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 03/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The evolution of complex signals has often been explored by testing multiple functional hypotheses regarding how independent signal components provide selective benefits to offset the costs of their production. In the present study, we take a different approach by exploring the function of complexity per se. We test the hypothesis that increased vibratory signal complexity-based on both proportional and temporal patterning-provides selective benefits to courting male Schizocosa stridulans wolf spiders. In support of this hypothesis, all of our quantified metrics of vibratory signal complexity predicted the mating success of male S. stridulans. The rate of visual signalling, which is mechanistically tied to vibratory signal production, was also associated with mating success. We additionally found evidence that males can dynamically adjust the complexity of their vibratory signalling. Together, our results suggest that complexity per se may be a target of female choice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noori Choi
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588‐0118, USA
| | - Matt Adams
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588‐0118, USA
| | | | - Elise Knowlton
- University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine, Tulsa, OK 74135, USA
| | | | - Aaron Rundus
- West Chester University, West Chester, PA 19383, USA
| | - Roger D. Santer
- Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3DA, UK
| | | | - Eileen A. Hebets
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588‐0118, USA
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Allen MC, Clinchy M, Zanette LY. Fear of predators in free-living wildlife reduces population growth over generations. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2112404119. [PMID: 35131939 PMCID: PMC8851447 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2112404119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Accurately evaluating the total impact of predators on prey population growth rates is fundamental to forecasting the consequences of predator conservation and management. That the fear (antipredator responses) predators inspire could contribute to this total impact has only relatively recently been recognized. We experimentally demonstrate that fear itself can impact prey population growth rates in free-living wildlife, extending to transgenerational impacts reducing population growth beyond the parental generation. We report how fear may contribute considerably to the total impact of predators and why this may be the norm in birds and mammals. The critical significance of our work lies in experimentally establishing that inferring the effects of predators using data on direct killing alone risks dramatically underestimating their total impact. Correctly assessing the total impact of predators on prey population growth rates (lambda, λ) is critical to comprehending the importance of predators in species conservation and wildlife management. Experiments over the past decade have demonstrated that the fear (antipredator responses) predators inspire can affect prey fecundity and early offspring survival in free-living wildlife, but recent reviews have highlighted the absence of evidence experimentally linking such effects to significant impacts on prey population growth. We experimentally manipulated fear in free-living wild songbird populations over three annual breeding seasons by intermittently broadcasting playbacks of either predator or nonpredator vocalizations and comprehensively quantified the effects on all the components of population growth, together with evidence of a transgenerational impact on offspring survival as adults. Fear itself significantly reduced the population growth rate (predator playback mean λ = 0.91, 95% CI = 0.80 to 1.04; nonpredator mean λ = 1.06, 95% CI = 0.96 to 1.16) by causing cumulative, compounding adverse effects on fecundity and every component of offspring survival, resulting in predator playback parents producing 53% fewer recruits to the adult breeding population. Fear itself was consequently projected to halve the population size in just 5 years, or just 4 years when the evidence of a transgenerational impact was additionally considered (λ = 0.85). Our results not only demonstrate that fear itself can significantly impact prey population growth rates in free-living wildlife, comparing them with those from hundreds of predator manipulation experiments indicates that fear may constitute a very considerable part of the total impact of predators.
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Sakata JT, Birdsong D. Vocal Learning and Behaviors in Birds and Human Bilinguals: Parallels, Divergences and Directions for Research. Languages 2022; 7:5. [DOI: 10.3390/languages7010005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Comparisons between the communication systems of humans and animals are instrumental in contextualizing speech and language into an evolutionary and biological framework and for illuminating mechanisms of human communication. As a complement to previous work that compares developmental vocal learning and use among humans and songbirds, in this article we highlight phenomena associated with vocal learning subsequent to the development of primary vocalizations (i.e., the primary language (L1) in humans and the primary song (S1) in songbirds). By framing avian “second-song” (S2) learning and use within the human second-language (L2) context, we lay the groundwork for a scientifically-rich dialogue between disciplines. We begin by summarizing basic birdsong research, focusing on how songs are learned and on constraints on learning. We then consider commonalities in vocal learning across humans and birds, in particular the timing and neural mechanisms of learning, variability of input, and variability of outcomes. For S2 and L2 learning outcomes, we address the respective roles of age, entrenchment, and social interactions. We proceed to orient current and future birdsong inquiry around foundational features of human bilingualism: L1 effects on the L2, L1 attrition, and L1<–>L2 switching. Throughout, we highlight characteristics that are shared across species as well as the need for caution in interpreting birdsong research. Thus, from multiple instructive perspectives, our interdisciplinary dialogue sheds light on biological and experiential principles of L2 acquisition that are informed by birdsong research, and leverages well-studied characteristics of bilingualism in order to clarify, contextualize, and further explore S2 learning and use in songbirds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suyash Sawant
- Department of Biology Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati Tirupati India
| | - Chiti Arvind
- Department of Biology Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati Tirupati India
| | - Viral Joshi
- Department of Biology Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati Tirupati India
| | - V. V. Robin
- Department of Biology Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati Tirupati India
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Abstract
The ecology of fear concerns the population-, community-, and ecosystem-level consequences of the behavioral interactions between predators and prey, i.e., the aggregate impacts of individual responses to life-threatening events. We review new experiments demonstrating that fear itself is powerful enough to affect the population growth rate in free-living wild birds and mammals, and fear of large carnivores—or the human super predator—can cause trophic cascades affecting plant and invertebrate abundance. Life-threatening events like escaping a predator can have enduring, even lifelong, effects on the brain, and new interdisciplinary research on the neurobiology of fear in wild animals is both providing insights into post-traumatic stress (PTSD) and reinforcing the likely commonality of population- and community-level effects of fear in nature. Failing to consider fear thus risks dramatically underestimating the total impact predators can have on prey populations and the critical role predator-prey interactions can play in shaping ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liana Y. Zanette
- Department of Biology, Western University, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada;,
| | - Michael Clinchy
- Department of Biology, Western University, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada;,
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Sierro J, Sierro J, Slabbekoorn H. Experimental test of the communicative value of syllable diversity and syllable switching in the common chiffchaff. Anim Behav 2020; 165:11-21. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.04.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Lelono A, Riedstra B, Groothuis TGG. The relationship between male social status, ejaculate and circulating testosterone concentration and female yolk androgen transfer in red junglefowl (Gallus gallus). Horm Behav 2019; 116:104580. [PMID: 31472122 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.104580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2019] [Revised: 08/02/2019] [Accepted: 08/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Several studies show that avian females prefer males based on their secondary sexual ornaments and dominance status. We tested in red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) how comb size affected the result of fighting and how the dominance status related to testosterone concentrations in their circulation and ejaculates. We subsequently tested how social status was related to female reproductive investment, including yolk hormone transfer. We found that after a fight 1) winners increased plasma T and decreased ejaculates T whereas losers' T remained unchanged, and 2) plasma T of winners was higher but ejaculates T was lower than those of losers. We argued those are consistent with the different reproductive strategies of dominant and subordinate males. Furthermore, in line with offspring sex-dependent growth patterns females transferred significantly more androstenedione to female than male embryos when mated with winners, while doing the opposite when mated with losers. We concluded therefore that female reproductive investment was affected by both partner quality and embryo sex. The results indicate that male quality influences sex-specific maternal investment, which could be mediated by ejaculate testosterone concentration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asmoro Lelono
- Behavioural Biology, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747 AG Groningen, the Netherlands.
| | - Bernd Riedstra
- Behavioural Biology, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747 AG Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Ton G G Groothuis
- Behavioural Biology, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747 AG Groningen, the Netherlands
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Robinson CM, Snyder KT, Creanza N. Correlated evolution between repertoire size and song plasticity predicts that sexual selection on song promotes open-ended learning. eLife 2019; 8:44454. [PMID: 31478482 PMCID: PMC6721395 DOI: 10.7554/elife.44454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Some oscine songbird species modify their songs throughout their lives ('adult song plasticity' or 'open-ended learning'), while others crystallize their songs around sexual maturity. It remains unknown whether the strength of sexual selection on song characteristics, such as repertoire size, affects adult song plasticity, or whether adult song plasticity affects song evolution. Here, we compiled data about song plasticity, song characteristics, and mating system and then examined evolutionary interactions between these traits. Across 67 species, we found that lineages with adult song plasticity show directional evolution toward increased syllable and song repertoires, while several other song characteristics evolved faster, but in a non-directional manner. Song plasticity appears to drive bi-directional transitions between monogamous and polygynous social mating systems. Notably, our analysis of correlated evolution suggests that extreme syllable and song repertoire sizes drive the evolution of adult song plasticity or stability, providing novel evidence that sexual selection may indirectly influence open- versus closed-ended learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina M Robinson
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, United States
| | - Kate T Snyder
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, United States
| | - Nicole Creanza
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, United States
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Paxton KL, Sebastián-González E, Hite JM, Crampton LH, Kuhn D, Hart PJ. Loss of cultural song diversity and the convergence of songs in a declining Hawaiian forest bird community. R Soc Open Sci 2019; 6:190719. [PMID: 31598249 PMCID: PMC6731710 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.190719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2019] [Accepted: 07/23/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The effects of population decline on culturally transmitted behaviours in animals have rarely been described, but may have major implications to population viability. Learned vocal signals in birds are of critical importance to behaviours associated with reproduction, intrasexual interactions and group cohesion, and the complexity of vocal signals such as song can serve as an honest signal of an individual's quality as well as the viability of a population. In this study, we examined how rapid population declines recently experienced by Hawaiian honeycreepers on the island of Kaua'i (USA) may have influenced the diversity, complexity and similarity of learned honeycreeper songs. We analysed the acoustic characteristics of songs recorded during three time periods over a 40-year time frame for three species of declining Kaua'i honeycreepers. We detected a loss of song complexity and diversity over the 40-year time period that paralleled dramatic population declines. Concurrent with the loss of complexity, we also found that the acoustic characteristics of the three honeycreepers' songs became more similar to one another. To our knowledge, this is the first documentation of convergence of acoustic characteristics among rapidly declining species. The reduction in song complexity and diversity and convergence of songs not only signals a loss of culturally transmitted behaviours in these endemic Hawaiian honeycreepers, but also potential challenges to the recovery of these rapidly declining species. Moreover, the present study highlights that there is a 'hidden' cost to declining populations beyond just the loss of individuals that is not often considered, the loss of culturally transmitted social behaviours.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Esther Sebastián-González
- Department of Applied Biology, Miguel Hernández University, Avenida de la Universidad s/n 03202 Elche, Spain
| | - Justin M. Hite
- Kauai Forest Bird Recovery Project, Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit, Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife, University of Hawai‘i Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA
| | - Lisa H. Crampton
- Kauai Forest Bird Recovery Project, Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit, Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife, University of Hawai‘i Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA
| | - David Kuhn
- SoundsHawaiian, PO Box 1018, Waimea, HI 96796, USA
| | - Patrick J. Hart
- Department of Biology, University of Hawai‘i Hilo, Hilo, HI 96720, USA
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Robinson CM, Creanza N. Species-level repertoire size predicts a correlation between individual song elaboration and reproductive success. Ecol Evol 2019; 9:8362-8377. [PMID: 31380095 PMCID: PMC6662282 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2019] [Accepted: 06/09/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Birdsong has long been considered a sexually selected trait that relays honest information about male quality, and laboratory studies generally suggest that female songbirds prefer larger repertoires. However, analysis of field studies across species surprisingly revealed a weak correlation between song elaboration and reproductive success, and it remains unknown why only certain species show this correlation in nature. Taken together, these studies suggest that females in numerous species can detect and prefer larger repertoires in a laboratory setting, but larger individual repertoires correlate with reproductive success only in a subset of these species. This prompts the question: Do the species that show a stronger correlation between reproductive success and larger individual repertoires in nature have anything in common? In this study, we test whether between-species differences in two song-related variables-species average syllable repertoire size and adult song stability over time-can be used to predict the importance of individual song elaboration in reproductive success within a species. Our cross-species meta-analysis of field studies revealed that species with larger average syllable repertoire sizes exhibited a stronger correlation between individual elaboration and reproductive success than species with smaller syllable repertoires. Song stability versus plasticity in adulthood provided little predictive power on its own, suggesting that the putative correlation between repertoire size and age in open-ended learners does not explain the association between song elaboration and reproductive success.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nicole Creanza
- Department of Biological SciencesVanderbilt UniversityNashvilleTennessee
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Abstract
Bird songs may advertise aspects of cognition because song learning and learning speed in cognitive tasks are both affected by early-life environments. However, such relationships remain ambiguous in the literature. Here, I discuss 2 lines of research that may help to demystify links between song learning and cognition. First, learning strategies should be considered when assessing performance to ensure that individual differences in learning ability are not masked by individual differences in learning strategies. Second, song characteristics should be associated with social behavior because songs have a social purpose and, consequently, should be strongly related at functional and neural levels. Finally, if song learning and cognitive abilities are correlated because they develop concurrently and/or share or compete for the same resources, I discuss ways glucocorticoids may link early-life stress, song learning and cognitive ability, focusing particularly on oxidative stress as a potential mechanism.
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Caliani I, Poggioni L, D’agostino A, Fossi MC, Casini S. An immune response-based approach to evaluate physiological stress in rehabilitating loggerhead sea turtle. Vet Immunol Immunopathol 2019; 207:18-24. [DOI: 10.1016/j.vetimm.2018.11.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2018] [Revised: 10/26/2018] [Accepted: 11/19/2018] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
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Magoolagan L, Mawby PJ, Whitehead FA, Sharp SP. The effect of early life conditions on song traits in male dippers (Cinclus cinclus). PLoS One 2018; 13:e0205101. [PMID: 30427834 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2018] [Accepted: 09/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Song complexity and singing frequency in male birds are shaped by female choice; they signal male quality because song is costly to develop and produce. The timing of song learning and the development of the brain structures involved occur during a period when chicks are exposed to a number of potential stressors. The quality and quantity of song produced by adults may therefore reflect the level of stress experienced during early life, a theory known as the ‘developmental stress hypothesis’. We tested this hypothesis using song recordings and life-history data from an individually marked, long-term study population of wild dippers (Cinclus cinclus). The extent to which early life conditions predict adult song traits was investigated using natal brood size as a measure of sibling competition; the rate of provisioning by parents as a proxy for nutritional stress; and residuals of the linear regression between body mass and tarsus length as a measure of nestling condition. The syllable diversity in the songs of adult males was positively correlated with their body condition as nestlings, but there was no significant correlation with either provisioning rate or brood size. Provisioning rate did, however, predict song rate; males in relatively poor condition as nestlings or those raised in smaller broods which were fed more frequently by their parents sang at a higher rate in adulthood. These results support the developmental stress hypothesis and provide some of the first evidence from a wild bird of how the conditions experienced during early life impact adult song. Song traits may therefore provide females with information regarding both the current condition and developmental history of males.
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Hamaide J, Lukacova K, Van Audekerke J, Verhoye M, Kubikova L, Van der Linden A. Neuroplasticity in the cerebello-thalamo-basal ganglia pathway: A longitudinal in vivo MRI study in male songbirds. Neuroimage 2018; 181:190-202. [PMID: 29981906 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.07.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2018] [Accepted: 07/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Similar to human speech, bird song is controlled by several pathways including a cortico-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical (C-BG-T-C) loop. Neurotoxic disengagement of the basal ganglia component, i.e. Area X, induces long-term changes in song performance, while most of the lesioned area regenerates within the first months. Importantly however, the timing and spatial extent of structural neuroplastic events potentially affecting other constituents of the C-BG-T-C loop is not clear. We designed a longitudinal MRI study where changes in brain structure were evaluated relative to the time after neurotoxic lesioning or to vocal performance. By acquiring both Diffusion Tensor Imaging and 3-dimensional anatomical scans, we were able to track alterations in respectively intrinsic tissue properties and local volume. Voxel-based statistical analyses revealed structural remodeling remote to the lesion, i.e. in the thalamus and, surprisingly, the cerebellum, both peaking within the first two months after lesioning Area X. Voxel-wise correlations between song performance and MRI parameters uncovered intriguing brain-behavior relationships in several brain areas pertaining to the C-BG-T-C loop supervising vocal motor control. Our results clearly point to structural neuroplasticity in the cerebellum induced by basal ganglia (striatal) damage and might point to the existence of a human-like cerebello-thalamic-basal ganglia pathway capable of modifying vocal motor output.
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Grunst ML, Grunst AS, Formica VA, Gonser RA, Tuttle EM. Multiple signaling functions of song in a polymorphic species with alternative reproductive strategies. Ecol Evol 2018; 8:1369-1383. [PMID: 29375804 PMCID: PMC5773301 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2017] [Revised: 08/23/2017] [Accepted: 09/14/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Vocal traits can be sexually selected to reflect male quality, but may also evolve to serve additional signaling functions. We used a long-term dataset to examine the signaling potential of song in dimorphic white-throated sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis). We investigated whether song conveys multifaceted information about the vocalizing individual, including fitness, species identity, individual identity, and morph. We also evaluated whether song traits correlate differently with fitness in the two morphs, as the more promiscuous strategy of white, relative to tan, morph males might impose stronger sexual selection. Males with high song rates achieved higher lifetime reproductive success, and this pattern was driven by white morph males. In addition, males that sang songs with many notes survived longer, but this pattern was less robust. Thus, song traits reflect differences in fitness and may more strongly affect fitness in the white morph. Song frequency was unrelated to fitness, body size, or morph, but was individual specific and could signal individual identity. Songs of the two morphs displayed similar frequency ratios and bandwidths. However, tan morph males sang songs with longer first notes, fewer notes, and higher variability. Thus, song could be used in morph discrimination. Variation in frequency ratios between notes was low and could function in conspecific recognition, but pitch change dynamics did differ between four different song types observed. Our results support a multiple messages model for white-throated sparrow song, in which different song traits communicate discrete information about the vocalizing individual.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa L Grunst
- Department of Biology Indiana State University Terre Haute IN USA
| | - Andrea S Grunst
- Department of Biology Indiana State University Terre Haute IN USA
| | | | - Rusty A Gonser
- Department of Biology Indiana State University Terre Haute IN USA
| | - Elaina M Tuttle
- Department of Biology Indiana State University Terre Haute IN USA
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Affiliation(s)
- Esther Sebastián‐González
- Dept of Biology Univ. of Hawai'i at Hilo Hilo HI 96720 USA
- Dept of Applied Biology Miguel Hernández Univ. Elche Spain
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Kershenbaum A, Déaux ÉC, Habib B, Mitchell B, Palacios V, Root-Gutteridge H, Waller S. Measuring acoustic complexity in continuously varying signals: how complex is a wolf howl? BIOACOUSTICS 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/09524622.2017.1317287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Éloïse C. Déaux
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Bilal Habib
- Department of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India
| | - Brian Mitchell
- The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA
| | - Vicente Palacios
- Instituto Cavanilles de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | | | - Sara Waller
- Department of Philosophy, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA
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Landgraf C, Wilhelm K, Wirth J, Weiss M, Kipper S. Affairs happen-to whom? A study on extrapair paternity in common nightingales. Curr Zool 2017; 63:421-431. [PMID: 29492002 PMCID: PMC5804193 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zox024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2016] [Accepted: 03/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Most birds engage in extrapair copulations despite great differences across and within species. Besides cost and benefit considerations of the two sex environmental factors have been found to alter mating strategies within or between populations and/or over time. For socially monogamous species, the main advantage that females might gain from mating with multiple males is probably increasing their offspring’s genetic fitness. Since male (genetic) quality is mostly not directly measurable for female birds, (extrapair) mate choice is based on male secondary traits. In passerines male song is such a sexual ornament indicating male phenotypic and/or genetic quality and song repertoires seem to affect female mate choice in a number of species. Yet their role in extrapair mating behavior is not well understood. In this study, we investigated the proportion of extrapair paternity (EPP) in a population of common nightingales Luscinia megarhynchos. We found that EPP rate was rather high (21.5% of all offspring tested) for a species without sexual dimorphism and high levels of paternal care. Furthermore, the occurrence of EPP was strongly related to the spatial distribution of male territories with males settling in densely occupied areas having higher proportions of extrapair young within their own brood. Also, song repertoire size affected EPP: here larger repertoires of social mates were negatively related to the probability of being cuckolded. When directly comparing repertoires sizes of social and extrapair mates, extrapair mates tended to have larger repertoires. We finally discuss our results as a hint for a flexible mating strategy in nightingales where several factors—including ecological as well as male song features—need to be considered when studying reproductive behavior in monogamous species with complex song.
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Affiliation(s)
- Conny Landgraf
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany.,Animal Behavior Group, Free University of Berlin, Takustraße 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Kerstin Wilhelm
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany.,Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert Einstein Allee 11, 89069 Ulm, Germany
| | - Jutta Wirth
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University, De Elst 1, 6708 WD Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Michael Weiss
- Animal Behavior Group, Free University of Berlin, Takustraße 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany.,Department of Exposition, Unit Epidemiology, Statistics and Mathematical Modelling, Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Max-Dohrn-Str. 8-10, 10589 Berlin, Germany
| | - Silke Kipper
- Animal Behavior Group, Free University of Berlin, Takustraße 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany.,Chair of Zoology, School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technische Universität München, Liesel-Beckmann-Straße 4, 85350 Freising, Germany
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Alward BA, Madison FN, Gravley WT, Ball GF. Antagonism of syringeal androgen receptors reduces the quality of female-preferred male song in canaries. Anim Behav 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.07.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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Casagrande S, Pinxten R, Eens M. Honest Signaling and Oxidative Stress: The Special Case of Avian Acoustic Communication. Front Ecol Evol 2016. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2016.00052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
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Losdat S, Arcese P, Sampson L, Villar N, Reid JM. Additive genetic variance and effects of inbreeding, sex and age on heterophil to lymphocyte ratio in song sparrows. Funct Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Sylvain Losdat
- School of Biological Sciences Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences University of Aberdeen Tillydrone Avenue Zoology Building Aberdeen AB24 2TZ UK
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution University of Bern Baltzerstrasse 6 3012 Bern Switzerland
| | - Peter Arcese
- Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences University of British Columbia 2424 Main Mall Vancouver BC V6T 1Z4 Canada
| | - Laura Sampson
- Grupo de Investigación en Ecología Animal Universidad del Valle Calle 13 N.# 100‐00 Cali Colombia
| | - Nacho Villar
- School of Biological Sciences Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences University of Aberdeen Tillydrone Avenue Zoology Building Aberdeen AB24 2TZ UK
| | - Jane M. Reid
- School of Biological Sciences Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences University of Aberdeen Tillydrone Avenue Zoology Building Aberdeen AB24 2TZ UK
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Zhang VY, Celis-Murillo A, Ward MP. Conveying information with one song type: changes in dawn song performance correspond to different female breeding stages. BIOACOUSTICS 2015. [DOI: 10.1080/09524622.2015.1076348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ellen C. Garland
- School of Biology University of St. Andrews St. Andrews Fife KY16 9TH UK
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Potvin D, Crawford P, MacDougall-Shackleton S, MacDougall-Shackleton E. Song repertoire size, not territory location, predicts reproductive success and territory tenure in a migratory songbird. CAN J ZOOL 2015. [DOI: 10.1139/cjz-2015-0039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
In territorial animals occupying environments that vary in quality over the landscape, high-quality individuals are predicted to monopolize high-quality territories. Thus, in many cases it may be difficult to disentangle the relative effects of individual quality from those of territory quality on long-term fitness. We used a 9-year field data set from a migratory population of Eastern Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia melodia (A. Wilson, 1810)) to evaluate the relative contributions of male song quality (as measured by song repertoire size) and territory location to fitness components including annual reproductive success, overwinter return rates, and between-year territory tenure. Song repertoire size did not predict territory location, allowing us to evaluate territory location and song quality separately. Song repertoire size, but not territory location, predicted annual reproductive success. Moreover, males with larger repertoires moved smaller distances between subsequent breeding seasons, suggesting more successful territory tenure. There was no effect of either repertoire size or territory location on overwinter return. We conclude that intrinsic male phenotype, indicated by song repertoire size, is an important predictor of male fitness, independent of breeding-territory location in this migratory population, and that the value of specific territories may depend largely on previous experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- D.A. Potvin
- Advanced Facility for Avian Research, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6G 1G9, Canada; Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5C2, Canada
| | - P.W. Crawford
- Department of Geography, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada
| | - S.A. MacDougall-Shackleton
- Advanced Facility for Avian Research, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6G 1G9, Canada; Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5C2, Canada
| | - E.A. MacDougall-Shackleton
- Advanced Facility for Avian Research, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6G 1G9, Canada, Department of Biology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada
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Vargas-Castro LE, Sánchez NV, Barrantes G. Song plasticity over time and vocal learning in clay-colored thrushes. Anim Cogn 2015; 18:1113-23. [PMID: 26116045 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-015-0883-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2014] [Revised: 05/11/2015] [Accepted: 06/08/2015] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Songbirds have been traditionally classified into close-ended or open-ended learning species according to the length of the sensitive period during which birds are able to memorize new vocalizations. Closed-ended learners are generally not capable of changing their song after the first year of life, while open-ended learners show song plasticity as adults. A few Turdus species have been suggested to be open-ended learners, but no long-term study has been conducted to investigate their song plasticity over time. We analyzed the songs of clay-colored thrushes, T. grayi, over four successive breeding seasons to assess song plasticity in their syllable repertoires within and between breeding seasons. A total of 16,262 syllables were classified through visual inspection of spectrograms and multidimensional scaling analysis based on spectrogram correlations. On average, 563 ± 153 (SD) syllables per male per breeding season were analyzed. Male repertoire size was 9-20 syllable types. Males were capable of modifying their syllable repertoire between the initial and final periods of the breeding season. Song plasticity within breeding seasons may be associated with imitation between neighboring males, suggesting song learning in males that were ≥2 years old. This short-term plasticity is not enough, however, to explain the high proportion of change (mean = 65 % syllable types) in repertoire composition between breeding seasons in adult males. Song plasticity resulting from annual changes in repertoire composition could be explained by open-ended learning, but another mechanism, extended memory and re-expression, could also explain long-term plasticity. Experimental studies controlling the acoustic environment are needed to determine which mechanism is responsible for such a high level of song plasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis E Vargas-Castro
- Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, 2060, San Pedro, San José, Costa Rica,
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Kershenbaum A, Freeberg TM, Gammon DE. Estimating vocal repertoire size is like collecting coupons: A theoretical framework with heterogeneity in signal abundance. J Theor Biol 2015; 373:1-11. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2015.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2014] [Revised: 02/19/2015] [Accepted: 03/05/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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McCallum ES, Capelle PM, Balshine S. Seasonal plasticity in telencephalon mass of a benthic fish. J Fish Biol 2014; 85:1785-1792. [PMID: 25229327 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.12507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2014] [Accepted: 07/18/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
To gain a deeper understanding of how environmental conditions affect brain plasticity, brain size was explored across different seasons using the invasive round goby Neogobius melanostomus. The results show that N. melanostomus had heavier telencephalon in the spring compared to the autumn across the two years of study. Furthermore, fish in reproductive condition had heavier telencephala, indicating that tissue investment and brain plasticity may be related to reproductive needs in N. melanostomus.
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Affiliation(s)
- E S McCallum
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
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Suzuki K, Ikebuchi M, Bischof H, Okanoya K. Behavioral and neural trade-offs between song complexity and stress reaction in a wild and a domesticated finch strain. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2014; 46:547-56. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.07.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2013] [Revised: 06/23/2014] [Accepted: 07/10/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Phillmore LS, MacGillivray HL, Wilson KR, Martin S. Effects of sex and seasonality on the song control system and FoxP2 protein expression in black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus). Dev Neurobiol 2014; 75:203-16. [PMID: 25081094 DOI: 10.1002/dneu.22220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2014] [Revised: 07/25/2014] [Accepted: 07/29/2014] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Plasticity in behavior is mirrored by corresponding plasticity in the brain in many songbird species. In some species, song system nuclei (Phillmore et al. [2006]: J Neurobiol 66:1002-1010) are larger in birds in breeding condition than birds in nonbreeding condition, possibly due to increased vocal output in spring. FOXP2, a transcription factor associated with language expression and comprehension in humans and song learning in songbirds, also shows plasticity. FoxP2 expression in songbird Area X, a region important for sensorimotor integration, is related to developmental and adult vocal plasticity (Teramitsu et al. [2010]: J Neurosci 24:3152-3163, Chen et al. [2013], J Exp Biol 216:3682-3692). In this study, we examined whether sex and breeding condition affects both song control system volume (HVC, X) and FoxP2 protein expression in black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus). HVC volume was larger in males in breeding condition than males in nonbreeding condition, but there were no sex differences. In contrast, Area X volume was larger in males than females, regardless of breeding condition, likely reflecting that male and female chickadees produce learned chick-a-dee calls year round, but output of the learned song increases in breeding males. FoxP2 protein levels did not differ between sexes or breeding condition when calculated as a ratio of labeled cells in Area X to labeled cells in the surrounding striato-pallium, however, absolute density of FoxP2 in both regions was higher in males than in females. This may indicate that chickadees maintain a level of FoxP2 necessary for plasticity year-round, but males have greater potential for plasticity compared to females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leslie S Phillmore
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3R 4H2, Canada
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Schmidt KL, MacDougall-Shackleton EA, Kubli SP, MacDougall-Shackleton SA. Developmental stress, condition, and birdsong: a case study in song sparrows. Integr Comp Biol 2014; 54:568-77. [PMID: 24951504 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icu090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Sexual-selection theory posits that ornaments and displays can reflect a signaler's condition, which in turn is affected both by recent and developmental conditions. Moreover, developmental conditions can induce correlations between sexually selected and other traits if both types of traits exhibit developmental phenotypic plasticity in response to stressors. Thus, sexually selected traits may reflect recent and/or developmental characteristics of signalers. Here, we review data on the relationships between birdsong, a sexually selected trait, and developmental and current condition of birds from a long-term study of a population of song sparrows (Melospiza melodia). Field studies of free-living birds indicate that the complexity of a male's songs, a permanent trait, reflects the size of a song-control region of his brain (HVC), and is correlated with body size and several parameters of immunity, specifically investment in protective proteins. However, the performance of a male's songs, a dynamic trait, is not correlated to immune investment. Complexity of song is correlated with the glucocorticoid stress-response, and in some years response to stress predicts overwinter survival. Experimental manipulations have revealed that stressors in early life impair development of HVC, but that HVC recovers in size by adulthood. These manipulations result in impaired song-complexity and song-learning, but not song-performance. Experimental developmental stressors also affect growth, endocrine physiology, metabolism, and immune-function, often in a sex-specific manner. Combined, these studies suggest that song-complexity provides reliable information about early developmental experience, and about other traits that have critical developmental periods. Birdsong thus provides a multi-faceted sexually selected trait that may be an indicator both of developmental and recent conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kim L Schmidt
- *Department of Biology, Advanced Facility for Avian Research, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychology, Advanced Facility for Avian Research, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Elizabeth A MacDougall-Shackleton
- *Department of Biology, Advanced Facility for Avian Research, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychology, Advanced Facility for Avian Research, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Shawn P Kubli
- *Department of Biology, Advanced Facility for Avian Research, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychology, Advanced Facility for Avian Research, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Scott A MacDougall-Shackleton
- *Department of Biology, Advanced Facility for Avian Research, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychology, Advanced Facility for Avian Research, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada *Department of Biology, Advanced Facility for Avian Research, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychology, Advanced Facility for Avian Research, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
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Grunst ML, Grunst AS. Song complexity, song rate, and variation in the adrenocortical stress response in song sparrows (Melospiza melodia). Gen Comp Endocrinol 2014; 200:67-76. [PMID: 24650781 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2014.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2014] [Accepted: 03/09/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Physiological mechanisms that pleiotropically affect condition, life-history decisions, and fitness may covary with the expression of sexually selected ornaments. The adrenocortical stress response regulates energy balance, controls vertebrate responses to survival threats, and may divert energy expenditure away from investment in costly sexual displays. Further, developmental stress may induce correlations between the stress response during adulthood and sexual signals that develop early in life, such as song in oscine birds. We examined the relationship between the adrenocortical stress response (measured by plasma corticosterone concentrations) and the sexually selected traits of song complexity and song rate in song sparrows (Melospiza melodia). Additionally, we explored whether the stress response, song complexity, or song rate predict other male quality and fitness metrics. In contrast to prior research, which reports negative relationships between song complexity and the stress response in this species, males with larger song repertoires had larger stress responses. Song rate was unrelated to the stress response, but positively correlated with male body mass and nestling mass. In addition, males with higher syllable diversity had longer wingchords and lower hematocrit, males with larger song repertoires had heavier nestlings and higher hematocrit, and males with larger stress responses and baseline corticosterone had higher hematocrit. Results suggest that the relationship between the stress response and song complexity is context-dependent, and that song repertoire size, syllable diversity, and song rate serve distinct signaling functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa L Grunst
- Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, United States.
| | - Andrea S Grunst
- Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, United States
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Kubli SP, MacDougall-Shackleton EA. Developmental Timing of Signals Affects Information Content: Song Complexity but Not Consistency Reflects Innate Immune Strategy in Male Song Sparrows. Am Nat 2014; 183:660-70. [DOI: 10.1086/675757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Krištofík J, Darolová A, Majtan J, Okuliarová M, Zeman M, Hoi H. Do females invest more into eggs when males sing more attractively? Postmating sexual selection strategies in a monogamous reed passerine. Ecol Evol 2014; 4:1328-39. [PMID: 24834329 PMCID: PMC4020692 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2013] [Revised: 02/18/2014] [Accepted: 02/19/2014] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Maternal investment can play an important role for offspring fitness, especially in birds, as females have to provide their eggs with all the necessary nutrients for the development of the embryo. It is known that this type of maternal investment can be influenced by the quality of the male partner. In this study, we first verify that male song is important in the mate choice of female Eurasian reed warblers, as males mate faster when their singing is more complex. Furthermore, female egg investment varies in relation to male song characteristics. Interestingly, clutch size, egg weight, or size, which can be considered as an high-cost investment, is not influenced by male song characteristics, whereas comparably low-cost investment types like investment into diverse egg components are adjusted to male song characteristics. In line with this, our results suggest that female allocation rules depend on investment type as well as song characteristics. For example, egg white lysozyme is positively correlated with male song complexity. In contrast, a negative correlation exists between-song speed and syllable repetitiveness and egg yolk weight as well as egg yolk testosterone concentration. Thus, our results suggest that female egg investment is related to male song performance in several aspects, but female investment patterns regarding various egg compounds are not simply correlated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ján Krištofík
- Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of SciencesDúbravská cesta 9, Bratislava, 84506, Slovakia
| | - Alžbeta Darolová
- Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of SciencesDúbravská cesta 9, Bratislava, 84506, Slovakia
| | - Juraj Majtan
- Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of SciencesDúbravská cesta 9, Bratislava, 84506, Slovakia
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Slovak Medical UniversityLimbová 12, 833 03, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Monika Okuliarová
- Department of Animal Physiology and Ethology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius UniversityMlynská dolina, 842 15, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
| | - Michal Zeman
- Department of Animal Physiology and Ethology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius UniversityMlynská dolina, 842 15, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
| | - Herbert Hoi
- Department of Integrative Biology and Evolution, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine ViennaSavoyenstr. 1a, Vienna, A – 1160, Austria
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Kriengwatana B, Wada H, Schmidt KL, Taves MD, Soma KK, MacDougall-Shackleton SA. Effects of nutritional stress during different developmental periods on song and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in zebra finches. Horm Behav 2014; 65:285-93. [PMID: 24417905 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2013.12.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2013] [Revised: 12/17/2013] [Accepted: 12/26/2013] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
In songbirds, developmental stress affects song learning and production. Altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function resulting in elevated corticosterone (CORT) may contribute to this effect. We examined whether developmental conditions affected the association between adult song and HPA axis function, and whether nutritional stress before and after nutritional independence has distinct effects on song learning and/or vocal performance. Zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) were raised in consistently high (HH) or low (LL) food conditions until post-hatch day (PHD) 62, or were switched from high to low conditions (HL) or vice versa (LH) at PHD 34. Song was recorded in adulthood. We assessed the response of CORT to handling during development and to dexamethasone (DEX) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) challenges during adulthood. Song learning and vocal performance were not affected by nutritional stress at either developmental stage. Nutritional stress elevated baseline CORT during development. Nutritional stress also increased rate of CORT secretion in birds that experienced stress only in the juvenile phase (HL group). Birds in the LL group had lower CORT levels after injection of ACTH compared to the other groups, however there was no effect of nutritional stress on the response to DEX. Thus, our findings indicate that developmental stress can affect HPA function without concurrently affecting song.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Kriengwatana
- Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; Advanced Facility for Avian Research, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
| | - H Wada
- Advanced Facility for Avian Research, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
| | - K L Schmidt
- Advanced Facility for Avian Research, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
| | - M D Taves
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - K K Soma
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - S A MacDougall-Shackleton
- Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; Advanced Facility for Avian Research, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
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Isden J, Panayi C, Dingle C, Madden J. Performance in cognitive and problem-solving tasks in male spotted bowerbirds does not correlate with mating success. Anim Behav 2013; 86:829-38. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.07.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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DeLeon S, Halitschke R, Hames RS, Kessler A, DeVoogd TJ, Dhondt AA. The effect of polychlorinated biphenyls on the song of two passerine species. PLoS One 2013; 8:e73471. [PMID: 24058475 PMCID: PMC3776824 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0073471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2013] [Accepted: 07/22/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are synthetic chemical pollutants with demonstrated detrimental toxic and developmental effects on humans and wildlife. Laboratory studies suggest that PCBs influence behavior due to their effects on endocrine and neurological systems, yet little is known about the behavioral consequences of sublethal PCB exposure in the field. Additionally, specific PCB congener data (in contrast to total PCB load) is necessary to understand the possible effects of PCBs in living organisms since number and position of chlorine substitution in a PCB molecule dictates the toxicity and chemical fate of individual PCB congeners. We non-lethally investigated total PCB loads, congener specific PCB profiles, and songs of black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) and song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) along a historical PCB gradient at the Hudson River in New York State. Our results indicate that black-capped chickadees and song sparrows have higher total blood PCBs in regions with higher historic PCB contamination. The two bird species varied substantially in their congener-specific PCB profiles; within sites, song sparrows showed a significantly higher proportion of lower chlorinated PCBs, while black-capped chickadees had higher proportions of highly chlorinated PCBs. In areas of PCB pollution, the species-specific identity signal in black-capped chickadee song varied significantly, while variation in song sparrow trill performance was best predicted by the mono-ortho PCB load. Thus, PCBs may affect song production, an important component of communication in birds. In conclusion, we suggest that the ramifications of changes in song quality for bird populations may extend the toxic effects of environmental PCB pollution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara DeLeon
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
- Department of Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science; Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Rayko Halitschke
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
| | - Ralph S. Hames
- Laboratory of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
| | - André Kessler
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
| | - Timothy J. DeVoogd
- Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
| | - André A. Dhondt
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
- Laboratory of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
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Schmidt KL, Moore SD, MacDougall-Shackleton EA, MacDougall-Shackleton SA. Early-life stress affects song complexity, song learning and volume of the brain nucleus RA in adult male song sparrows. Anim Behav 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.03.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
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Schmidt KL, McCallum ES, MacDougall-Shackleton EA, MacDougall-Shackleton SA. Early-life stress affects the behavioural and neural response of female song sparrows to conspecific song. Anim Behav 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.01.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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