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Lerch BA, Servedio MR. Predation drives complex eco-evolutionary dynamics in sexually selected traits. PLoS Biol 2023; 21:e3002059. [PMID: 37011094 PMCID: PMC10101644 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Revised: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/03/2023] [Indexed: 04/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Predation plays a role in preventing the evolution of ever more complicated sexual displays, because such displays often increase an individual's predation risk. Sexual selection theory, however, omits a key feature of predation in modeling costs to sexually selected traits: Predation is density dependent. As a result of this density dependence, predator-prey dynamics should feed back into the evolution of sexual displays, which, in turn, feeds back into predator-prey dynamics. Here, we develop both population and quantitative genetic models of sexual selection that explicitly link the evolution of sexual displays with predator-prey dynamics. Our primary result is that predation can drive eco-evolutionary cycles in sexually selected traits. We also show that mechanistically modeling the cost to sexual displays as predation leads to novel outcomes such as the maintenance of polymorphism in sexual displays and alters ecological dynamics by muting prey cycles. These results suggest predation as a potential mechanism to maintain variation in sexual displays and underscore that short-term studies of sexual display evolution may not accurately predict long-run dynamics. Further, they demonstrate that a common verbal model (that predation limits sexual displays) with widespread empirical support can result in unappreciated, complex dynamics due to the density-dependent nature of predation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian A Lerch
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Maria R Servedio
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
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2
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Mid-flight prey switching in the fringed-lipped bat (Trachops cirrhosus). Naturwissenschaften 2022; 109:43. [DOI: 10.1007/s00114-022-01813-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2022] [Revised: 08/07/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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3
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Cronin AD, Smit JAH, Muñoz MI, Poirier A, Moran PA, Jerem P, Halfwerk W. A comprehensive overview of the effects of urbanisation on sexual selection and sexual traits. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2022; 97:1325-1345. [PMID: 35262266 PMCID: PMC9541148 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12845] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2021] [Revised: 02/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Urbanisation can affect mating opportunities and thereby alter inter- and intra-sexual selection pressures on sexual traits. Biotic and abiotic urban conditions can influence an individual's success in pre- and post-copulatory mating, for example through impacts on mate attraction and mate preference, fertilisation success, resource competition or rival interactions. Divergent sexual selection pressures can lead to differences in behavioural, physiological, morphological or life-history traits between urban and non-urban populations, ultimately driving adaptation and speciation. Most studies on urban sexual selection and mating interactions report differences between urban and non-urban populations or correlations between sexual traits and factors associated with increased urbanisation, such as pollution, food availability and risk of predation and parasitism. Here we review the literature on sexual selection and sexual traits in relation to urbanisation or urban-associated conditions. We provide an extensive list of abiotic and biotic factors that can influence processes involved in mating interactions, such as signal production and transmission, mate choice and mating opportunities. We discuss all relevant data through the lens of two, non-mutually exclusive theories on sexual selection, namely indicator and sensory models. Where possible, we indicate whether these models provide the same or different predictions regarding urban-adapted sexual signals and describe different experimental designs that can be useful for the different models as well as to investigate the drivers of sexual selection. We argue that we lack a good understanding of: (i) the factors driving urban sexual selection; (ii) whether reported changes in traits result in adaptive benefits; and (iii) whether these changes reflect a short-term ecological, or long-term evolutionary response. We highlight that urbanisation provides a unique opportunity to study the process and outcomes of sexual selection, but that this requires a highly integrative approach combining experimental and observational work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew D Cronin
- Department of Ecological Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands
| | - Judith A H Smit
- Department of Ecological Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands
| | - Matías I Muñoz
- Department of Ecological Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands
| | - Armand Poirier
- Department of Ecological Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands
| | - Peter A Moran
- Department of Ecological Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands
| | - Paul Jerem
- Department of Ecological Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands
| | - Wouter Halfwerk
- Department of Ecological Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands
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4
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Ruether BF, Brady MJ, Derick TL, Dula BT, Smith SA, Trillo PA. Mechanisms of collateral damage: heterospecific neighbor density mediates parasitism by eavesdroppers on hourglass treefrogs. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2021.1975313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Brian F. Ruether
- Department of Biology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, USA
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancon, Panama
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Meghan J. Brady
- Department of Biology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, USA
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancon, Panama
- Department of Genetics, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Taylor L. Derick
- Department of Biology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, USA
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancon, Panama
| | - Brendan T. Dula
- Department of Biology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, USA
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancon, Panama
- Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Sarah A.R. Smith
- Department of Biology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, USA
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancon, Panama
- Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA
| | - Paula A. Trillo
- Department of Biology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, USA
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancon, Panama
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Prates I, D'Angiolella AB, Rodrigues MT, Melo-Sampaio PR, de Queiroz K, Bell RC. Evolutionary drivers of sexual signal variation in Amazon Slender Anoles. Evolution 2021; 75:1361-1376. [PMID: 33860933 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2020] [Revised: 03/19/2021] [Accepted: 03/25/2021] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Phenotypic variation among populations, as seen in the signaling traits of many species, provides an opportunity to test whether similar factors generate repeated phenotypic patterns in different parts of a species' range. We investigated whether genetic divergence, abiotic gradients, and sympatry with closely related species explain variation in the dewlap colors of Amazon Slender Anoles, Anolis fuscoauratus. To this aim, we characterized dewlap diversity in the field with respect to population genetic structure and evolutionary relationships, assessed whether dewlap phenotypes are associated with climate or landscape variables, and tested for nonrandom associations in the distributions of A. fuscoauratus phenotypes and sympatric Anolis species. We found that dewlap colors vary among but not within sites in A. fuscoauratus. Regional genetic clusters included multiple phenotypes, while populations with similar dewlaps were often distantly related. Phenotypes did not segregate in environmental space, providing no support for optimized signal transmission at a local scale. Instead, we found a negative association between certain phenotypes and sympatric Anolis species with similar dewlap color attributes, suggesting that interactions with closely related species promoted dewlap divergence among A. fuscoauratus populations. Amazon Slender Anoles emerge as a promising system to address questions about parallel trait evolution and the contribution of signaling traits to speciation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan Prates
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, 20560.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109
| | | | - Miguel T Rodrigues
- Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Paulo R Melo-Sampaio
- Departamento de Vertebrados, Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Kevin de Queiroz
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, 20560
| | - Rayna C Bell
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, 20560.,Herpetology Department, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, 94118
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6
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Legett HD, Page RA, Bernal XE. Synchronized mating signals in a communication network: the challenge of avoiding predators while attracting mates. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20191067. [PMID: 31594513 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.1067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Conspicuous mating signals attract mates but also expose signallers to predators and parasites. Signal evolution, therefore, is driven by conflicting selective pressures from multiple receivers, both target and non-target. Synchronization of mating signals, for example, is an evolutionary puzzle, given the assumed high cost of reduced female attraction when signals overlap. Synchronization may be beneficial, however, if overlapping signals reduce attraction of non-target receivers. We investigate how signal synchronization is shaped by the trade-off between natural and sexual selection in two anuran species: pug-nosed tree frogs (Smilisca sila), in which males produce mating calls in near-perfect synchrony, and túngara frogs (Engystomops pustulosus), in which males alternate their calls. To examine the trade-off imposed by signal synchronization, we conducted field and laboratory playback experiments on eavesdropping enemies (bats and midges) and target receivers (female frogs). Our results suggest that, while synchronization can be a general strategy for signallers to reduce their exposure to eavesdroppers, relaxed selection by females for unsynchronized calls is key to the evolution and maintenance of signal synchrony. This study highlights the role of relaxed selection in our understanding of the origin of mating signals and displays.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henry D Legett
- Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
| | - Rachel A Page
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
| | - Ximena E Bernal
- Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
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7
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Page RA, Bernal XE. The challenge of detecting prey: Private and social information use in predatory bats. Funct Ecol 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Ximena E. Bernal
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Balboa Panamá
- Department of Biological Sciences Purdue University West Lafayette Indiana
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8
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Trillo PA, Benson CS, Caldwell MS, Lam TL, Pickering OH, Logue DM. The Influence of Signaling Conspecific and Heterospecific Neighbors on Eavesdropper Pressure. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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9
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Adaptive changes in sexual signalling in response to urbanization. Nat Ecol Evol 2018; 3:374-380. [PMID: 30532046 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-018-0751-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2018] [Accepted: 11/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Urbanization can cause species to adjust their sexual displays, because the effectiveness of mating signals is influenced by environmental conditions. Despite many examples that show that mating signals in urban conditions differ from those in rural conditions, we do not know whether these differences provide a combined reproductive and survival benefit to the urban phenotype. Here we show that male túngara frogs have increased the conspicuousness of their calls, which is under strong sexual and natural selection by signal receivers, as an adaptive response to city life. The urban phenotype consequently attracts more females than the forest phenotype, while avoiding the costs that are imposed by eavesdropping bats and midges, which we show are rare in urban areas. Finally, we show in a translocation experiment that urban frogs can reduce risk of predation and parasitism when moved to the forest, but that forest frogs do not increase their sexual attractiveness when moved to the city. Our findings thus reveal that urbanization can rapidly drive adaptive signal change via changes in both natural and sexual selection pressures.
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10
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Differential Survival and the Effects of Predation on a Color Polymorphic Species, the Red-Backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus). J HERPETOL 2018. [DOI: 10.1670/16-185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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11
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Villegas M, Blake JG, Sieving KE, Loiselle BA. Vocal variation in Chiroxiphia boliviana (Aves; Pipridae) along an Andean elevational gradient. Evol Ecol 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-018-9934-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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12
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Denzinger A, Tschapka M, Schnitzler HU. The role of echolocation strategies for niche differentiation in bats. CAN J ZOOL 2018. [DOI: 10.1139/cjz-2017-0161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Guilds subdivide bat assemblages into basic structural units of species with similar patterns of habitat use and foraging modes, but do not explain mechanisms of niche differentiation. Bats have evolved four different echolocation strategies allowing the access to four different trophic niche spaces differing in niche dimensions. Bats foraging in open and edge spaces use the “aerial hawking or trawling strategy” and detect and localize prey by evaluating pulse–echo trains in which the prey echo is unmasked. The pulse–echo pairs deliver mainly positional information on the prey and only little information on its nature. Signals are highly variable and are adapted for detection and localization in open space and (or) edge space. In narrow space, bats identify prey by solving a pattern recognition task. Bats using the “flutter detecting strategy” evaluate glint pattern in prey echoes; bats using the “active gleaning strategy” evaluate the spectral–temporal pattern of the prey–clutter echo complex; and bats using the “passive gleaning strategy” evaluate the pattern of prey-generated cues to find food and use echolocation only for spatial orientation. The less variable signals of narrow space bats are adapted for pattern recognition. The diverse and species-rich tropical bat assemblage at Barro Colorado Island, Panama, is here used as an exemplar for assigning bats to guilds, and we discuss the role of echolocation and other adaptations for niche differentiation within guilds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annette Denzinger
- Animal Physiology, Institute for Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 28, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Marco Tschapka
- Institute for Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069 Ulm, Germany; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado, P.O. Box 0843-03092, Balboa Ancón, Panamá, Republica de Panama
| | - Hans-Ulrich Schnitzler
- Animal Physiology, Institute for Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 28, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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Jones PL, Hämsch F, Page RA, Kalko EKV, O'Mara MT. Foraging and Roosting Behaviour of the Fringe-Lipped Bat, Trachops cirrhosus, on Barro Colorado Island, Panamá. ACTA CHIROPTEROLOGICA 2017. [DOI: 10.3161/15081109acc2017.19.2.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Patricia L. Jones
- Department of Biology, Bowdoin College, 6500 College Station, Brunswick ME 04011-8465, USA
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, República de Panamá
| | - Frank Hämsch
- Department of Biology, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 32, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Rachel A Page
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, República de Panamá
| | - Elisabeth K. V. Kalko
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, República de Panamá
- Institute of Experimental Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein Allee 11, D-89069 Ulm, Germany
| | - M. Teague O'Mara
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, República de Panamá
- Department of Migration & Immuno-ecology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
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14
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Trillo PA, Bernal XE, Caldwell MS, Halfwerk WH, Wessel MO, Page RA. Collateral damage or a shadow of safety? The effects of signalling heterospecific neighbours on the risks of parasitism and predation. Proc Biol Sci 2017; 283:rspb.2016.0343. [PMID: 27194694 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.0343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2016] [Accepted: 04/22/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Although males often display from mixed-species aggregations, the influence of nearby heterospecifics on risks associated with sexual signalling has not been previously examined. We tested whether predation and parasitism risks depend on proximity to heterospecific signallers. Using field playback experiments with calls of two species that often display from the same ponds, túngara frogs and hourglass treefrogs, we tested two hypotheses: (1) calling near heterospecific signallers attractive to eavesdroppers results in increased attention from predatory bats and parasitic midges (collateral damage hypothesis) or (2) calling near heterospecific signallers reduces an individual's predation and parasitism risks, as eavesdroppers are drawn to the heterospecifics (shadow of safety hypothesis). Bat visitation was not affected by calling neighbours. The number of frog-biting midges attracted to hourglass treefrog calls, however, rose threefold when played near túngara calls, supporting the collateral damage hypothesis. We thus show that proximity to heterospecific signallers can drastically alter both the absolute risks of signalling and the relative strengths of pressures from predation and parasitism. Through these mechanisms, interactions between heterospecific guild members are likely to influence the evolution of signalling strategies and the distribution of species at both local and larger scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula A Trillo
- Department of Biology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panamá
| | - Ximena E Bernal
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panamá Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
| | - Michael S Caldwell
- Department of Biology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panamá
| | - Wouter H Halfwerk
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panamá Department of Ecological Science, Vrije Universitait, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Mallory O Wessel
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panamá Department of Biological Sciences, Butler University, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Rachel A Page
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panamá
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15
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Mating patterns and post-mating isolation in three cryptic species of the Engystomops petersi species complex. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0174743. [PMID: 28388628 PMCID: PMC5384746 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2016] [Accepted: 03/14/2017] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Determining the extent of reproductive isolation in cryptic species with dynamic geographic ranges can yield important insights into the processes that generate and maintain genetic divergence in the absence of severe geographic barriers. We studied mating patterns, propensity to hybridize in nature and subsequent fertilization rates, as well as survival and development of hybrid F1 offspring for three nominal species of the Engystomops petersi species complex in Yasuní National Park, Ecuador. We found at least two species in four out of six locations sampled, and 14.3% of the wild pairs genotyped were mixed-species (heterospecific) crosses. We also found reduced fertilization rates in hybrid crosses between E. petersi females and E. “magnus” males, and between E. “magnus” females and E. “selva” males but not in the reciprocal crosses, suggesting asymmetric reproductive isolation for these species. Larval development times decreased in F1 hybrid crosses compared to same species (conspecific) crosses, but we did not find significant reduction in larval survival or early metamorph survival. Our results show evidence of post-mating isolation for at least two hybrid crosses of the cryptic species we studied. The general decrease in fertilization rates in heterospecific crosses suggests that sexual selection and reinforcement might have not only contributed to the pattern of call variation and behavioral isolation we see between species today, but they may also contribute to further signal divergence and behavioral evolution, especially in locations where hybridization is common and fertilization success is diminished.
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16
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Rhebergen F, Taylor RC, Ryan MJ, Page RA, Halfwerk W. Multimodal cues improve prey localization under complex environmental conditions. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 282:rspb.2015.1403. [PMID: 26336176 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.1403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Predators often eavesdrop on sexual displays of their prey. These displays can provide multimodal cues that aid predators, but the benefits in attending to them should depend on the environmental sensory conditions under which they forage. We assessed whether bats hunting for frogs use multimodal cues to locate their prey and whether their use varies with ambient conditions. We used a robotic set-up mimicking the sexual display of a male túngara frog (Physalaemus pustulosus) to test prey assessment by fringe-lipped bats (Trachops cirrhosus). These predatory bats primarily use sound of the frog's call to find their prey, but the bats also use echolocation cues returning from the frog's dynamically moving vocal sac. In the first experiment, we show that multimodal cues affect attack behaviour: bats made narrower flank attack angles on multimodal trials compared with unimodal trials during which they could only rely on the sound of the frog. In the second experiment, we explored the bat's use of prey cues in an acoustically more complex environment. Túngara frogs often form mixed-species choruses with other frogs, including the hourglass frog (Dendropsophus ebraccatus). Using a multi-speaker set-up, we tested bat approaches and attacks on the robofrog under three different levels of acoustic complexity: no calling D. ebraccatus males, two calling D. ebraccatus males and five D. ebraccatus males. We found that bats are more directional in their approach to the robofrog when more D. ebraccatus males were calling. Thus, bats seemed to benefit more from multimodal cues when confronted with increased levels of acoustic complexity in their foraging environments. Our data have important consequences for our understanding of the evolution of multimodal sexual displays as they reveal how environmental conditions can alter the natural selection pressures acting on them.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Rhebergen
- Behavioral Biology, Institute of Biology (IBL), Leiden University, PO Box 9516, Leiden 2300 RA, The Netherlands
| | - R C Taylor
- Department of Biology, Salisbury University, Salisbury, MD 21801, USA Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092 Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panama
| | - M J Ryan
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092 Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panama Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - R A Page
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092 Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panama
| | - W Halfwerk
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092 Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panama Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712, USA
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17
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To Scream or to Listen? Prey Detection and Discrimination in Animal-Eating Bats. BAT BIOACOUSTICS 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-3527-7_4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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18
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Fugère V, Teague O’Mara M, Page RA. Perceptual bias does not explain preference for prey call adornment in the frog-eating bat. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-015-1949-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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19
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Kozak GM, Boughman JW. Predator experience overrides learned aversion to heterospecifics in stickleback species pairs. Proc Biol Sci 2015; 282:20143066. [PMID: 25808887 PMCID: PMC4389616 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2014.3066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2014] [Accepted: 02/25/2015] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Predation risk can alter female mating decisions because the costs of mate searching and selecting attractive mates increase when predators are present. In response to predators, females have been found to plastically adjust mate preference within species, but little is known about how predators alter sexual isolation and hybridization among species. We tested the effects of predator exposure on sexual isolation between benthic and limnetic threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus spp.). Female discrimination against heterospecific mates was measured before and after females experienced a simulated attack by a trout predator or a control exposure to a harmless object. In the absence of predators, females showed increased aversion to heterospecifics over time. We found that predator exposure made females less discriminating and precluded this learned aversion to heterospecifics. Benthic and limnetic males differ in coloration, and predator exposure also affected sexual isolation by weakening female preferences for colourful males. Predator effects on sexual selection were also tested but predators had few effects on female choosiness among conspecific mates. Our results suggest that predation risk may disrupt the cognitive processes associated with mate choice and lead to fluctuations in the strength of sexual isolation between species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Genevieve M Kozak
- Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Janette W Boughman
- Department of Zoology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA BEACON, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
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Goodman KR, Kelley JP, Welter SC, Roderick GK, Elias DO. Rapid diversification of sexual signals in Hawaiian Nesosydne planthoppers (Hemiptera: Delphacidae): the relative role of neutral and selective forces. J Evol Biol 2015; 28:415-27. [PMID: 25535672 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2014] [Revised: 12/08/2014] [Accepted: 12/16/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Changes in sexual signals have the potential to promote rapid divergence and reproductive isolation among populations of animals. Thus, identifying processes contributing to variation in signals is key to understanding the drivers of speciation. However, it is difficult to identify the processes initiating changes in signals in empirical systems because (1) the demographic history of populations under study is usually unclear, and (2) there is no unified hypothesis-testing framework for evaluating the simultaneous contribution of multiple processes. A unique system for study in the Hawaiian Islands, the planthopper species Nesosydne chambersi, offers a clear demographic context to disentangle these factors. By measuring variation in male vibratory sexual signals across different genetic populations on the island of Hawaii, we found that that multiple signal traits varied significantly between populations. We developed a mixed modelling framework to simultaneously test competing hypotheses about which processes contribute to changes in signal traits: genetic drift, sensory drive or reproductive character displacement. Our findings suggest that signal divergence proceeds along different axes for different signal traits under the influence of both neutral and selective processes. They are the first, to our knowledge, to document the relative importance of multiple processes on divergence in sexual signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- K R Goodman
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
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West-Eberhard MJ. Darwin's forgotten idea: The social essence of sexual selection. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2014; 46 Pt 4:501-8. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.06.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2014] [Revised: 05/26/2014] [Accepted: 06/27/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Jones PL, Ryan MJ, Page RA. Population and seasonal variation in response to prey calls by an eavesdropping bat. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-013-1675-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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