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opencc-zeroDec 2023View details →

Ripple effects in a communication network: Anti-eavesdropper defence elicits elaborated sexual signals in rival males

Emitting conspicuous signals into the environment to attract mates comes with the increased risk of interception by eavesdropping enemies. As a defence, a commonly described strategy is for signallers to group together in leks, diluting each individual's risk. Lekking systems are often highly social settings in which competing males dynamically alter their signalling behaviour to attract mates. Thus, signalling at the lek requires navigating fluctuations in risk, competition, and reproductive opportunities. Here, we investigate how behavioural defence strategies directed at an eavesdropping enemy have cascading effects across the communication network. We investigated these behaviours in the túngara frog (Engystomops pustulosus), examining how a calling male's swatting defence directed at frog-biting midges indirectly affects the calling behaviour of his rival. We found that the rival responds to swat-induced water ripples by increasing his call rate and complexity. Then, performing phonotaxis experiments, we found that eavesdropping fringe-lipped bats (Trachops cirrhosus) do not exhibit a preference for a swatting male compared to his rival, but females strongly prefer the rival male. Defences to minimize attacks from eavesdroppers thus shift the mate competition landscape in favour of rival males. By modulating the attractiveness of signalling prey to female receivers, we posit that eavesdropping micropredators likely have an unappreciated impact on the ecology and evolution of sexual communication systems.

opencc-by-4.0Mar 2024View details →

Data from: Interactions between sexual signaling, thermoregulation and body size drive ecology and evolution of wing colors in Odonata

This dataset consists of images of the fore and hind wings (and associated metadata) of 4091 individual odonate specimens, and thus over 8000 wings, imaged on a commercially-available Epson desktop flatbed scanner and color-calibrated using a color-checker, comprising the Targeted Odonata Wing Digitization dataset (TOWD; <a href="https://digitizingdragonflies.org/">https://digitizingdragonflies.org/</a>)  The odonates imaged are all from the Nearctic, and represent 343 species.  In this dataset, 47% of images come from the Alabama Museum of Natural History (ALMNH), 19% from the PhD thesis collection of William Kuhn (now housed at the American Museum of Natural History, AMNH), 19% from the collection of the late Michael L. May, and 13% from Jessica Ware’s Rutgers-University Newark collection (now housed at the AMNH).  Files are individual PNGs where transparency is the background.  Metadata includes species, sex, and county.

opencc-zeroJun 2022View details →

Population genomics and sexual signals identify reproductive interference in Uperoleia

When closely related species come into contact via range expansion, both may experience reduced fitness as a result of the interaction. Selection is expected to favor traits that minimize costly interspecies reproductive interactions (such as mismating) via a phenomenon called reproductive character displacement (RCD). Research on RCD frequently assumes secondary contact between species, but the geographic history of species interactions is often unknown. Landscape genomic data allows tests of geographic hypotheses about species origins and secondary contact through range expansion. We used landscape genomic data from single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), mitochondrial sequence data, advertisement call data, and morphological data to investigate a species complex of toadlets (Uperoleia borealis, U. crassa, U. inundata) from northern Australia. Although the three species of frogs were morphologically indistinguishable in our analysis, we determined that U. crassa and U. inundata form a single species (synonymized here) based on an absence of genomic divergence. SNP data identified the phylogeographic origin of U. crassa as the Top End, with subsequent westward invasion into the range of U. borealis in the Kimberley. We identified six F1 hybrids, all of which had the U. borealis mitochondrial haplotype, suggesting unidirectional hybridization. Consistent with the RCD hypothesis, U. borealis and U. crassa sexual signals differ more in sympatry than in allopatry. Hybrid males have intermediate calls, which likely reduces attractiveness to females. Integrating landscape genomic data, mitochondrial sequencing, morphology, and behavioral approaches supplies us an unusually detailed collection of evidence for reproductive character displacement following range expansion and secondary contact.

opencc-zeroJul 2022View details →

Climate change alters sexual signaling in a desert-adapted frog

Climate change is altering species' habitats, phenology, and behavior. Although sexual behaviors impact population persistence and fitness, climate change's effects on sexual signals are understudied. Climate change can directly alter temperature-dependent sexual signals, cause changes in body size or condition that affect signal production, or alter the selective landscape of sexual signals. We tested whether temperature-dependent mating calls of Mexican spadefoot toads (Spea multiplicata) had changed in concert with climate in the Southwestern U.S.A. across 22 years. We document increasing air temperatures, decreasing rainfall, and changing seasonal patterns of temperature and rainfall in the spadefoots' habitat. Despite increasing air temperatures, spadefoots' ephemeral breeding ponds have been getting colder at most elevations, and male calls have been slowing as a result. However, temperature-standardized call characters have become faster and male condition has increased, possibly due to changes in the selective environment. Thus, climate change might generate rapid, complex changes in sexual signals with important evolutionary consequences.

opencc-zeroSep 2022View details →

Data from: The evolution of sex similarities in social signals: Climatic seasonality is associated with lower sexual dimorphism and greater elaboration of female and male signals in antbirds (Thamnophilidae)

Selection on signals that mediate social competition varies with resource availability. Climate regulates resource availability, which may affect the strength of competition and selection on signals. Traditionally, this meant that more seasonal, colder, or dryer – overall harsher – environments should favor the elaboration of male signals under stronger male-male competition, increasing sexual dimorphism. However, females also use signals to compete; thus, harsher environments could strengthen competition and favor elaboration of signals in both sexes, decreasing sexual dimorphism. Alternatively, harsher environments could decrease sexual dimorphism due to scarcer resources to invest in signal elaboration in both sexes. We evaluated these contrasting hypotheses in antbirds, a family of Neotropical passerines that varies in female and male signals and occurs across diverse climatic regimes. We tested the association of sexual dimorphism of plumage coloration and songs with temperature, precipitation and their seasonality. We found that greater seasonality is associated with lower sexual dimorphism in plumage coloration and greater elaboration of visual signals in both sexes, but not acoustic signals. Our results suggest that greater seasonality may be associated with convergent elaboration of female and male visual signals, highlighting the role of signals of both sexes in the evolution of sexual dimorphism.

FIGURE 2 in Positive allometry for exaggerated structures in the ceratopsian dinosaur Protoceratops andrewsi supports socio-sexual signaling

FIGURE 2. Changes in skull shape in Protoceratops andrewsi. All skulls are drawn to the same total length and are seen in dorsal view (upper row) and right lateral view (lower row). Left to right (with sources in parentheses) small juveniles (Fastovsky et al., 2011), juveniles (MPC-D 100/526), subadults (MPC-D 100534), putative 'female' morph, putative 'male' morph (both Dodson, 1976). The large fenestrae seen in the smallest animals are supratemporal fenestra and are not homologous with the frills of the fenestra in the larger animals.

FIGURE 1 in Positive allometry for exaggerated structures in the ceratopsian dinosaur Protoceratops andrewsi supports socio-sexual signaling

FIGURE 1. Size categories of specimens of Protoceratops andrewsi used in this study. Right to left: young juvenile, juvenile, subadult, adult. Scale bar is 1 m. Image modified from Hone et al. (2014a), original illustration by David Maas.

FIGURE 3 in Positive allometry for exaggerated structures in the ceratopsian dinosaur Protoceratops andrewsi supports socio-sexual signaling

FIGURE 3. Measurements taken from skulls of Protoceratops based on an idealised adult in dorsal view (above) and lateral view (below). Black lines and numbers indicate the measurements taken according to the variable of Dodson (1976). These are: 1, basal skull length; 2, total length (frill length is variable 2 subtracted from variable 1); 8, jugal width; 9, frill width; 13, orbit length; 14, orbit height. The grey lines indicate the maximum and minimum lengths of the frill as measured in juvenile animals. See text for further details.

FIGURE 5 in Positive allometry for exaggerated structures in the ceratopsian dinosaur Protoceratops andrewsi supports socio-sexual signaling

FIGURE 5. Life restoration of adult Protoceratops andrewsi (foreground) engaging in speculative display postures, an activity in which non-mature animals (background) do not take part. Artwork by Rebecca Gelernter, who retains the copyright on this image — used with permission.

FIGURE 4 in Positive allometry for exaggerated structures in the ceratopsian dinosaur Protoceratops andrewsi supports socio-sexual signaling

FIGURE 4. Allometric relationships for frill length (1), frill width (2) and the width across the jugal bosses (3). Solid lines show the fitted lines from SMA regression, dashed grey lines show the line of isometry (slope = 1 and intercept = 0). All measurements were originally in mm prior to log transformation.

opencc-zeroMar 2023View details →

Data for: Decoupling of sexual signals and their underlying morphology facilitates rapid phenotypic diversification

How novel phenotypes evolve is challenging to imagine because traits are often underlain by numerous integrated phenotypic components, and changes to any one form can disrupt the function of the entire module. Yet novel phenotypes do emerge, and research on adaptive phenotypic evolution suggests that complex traits can diverge while either maintaining existing form-function relationships or through innovations that alter form-function relationships. How these alternate routes contribute to sexual signal evolution is poorly understood, despite the role of sexual signals in generating biodiversity. In Hawaiian populations of the Pacific field cricket, male song attracts both female crickets and a deadly acoustically orienting parasitoid fly. In response to this conflict between natural and sexual selection, male crickets have evolved altered wing morphologies multiple times, resulting in loss and dramatic alteration of sexual signals. More recently, we and others have observed a radical increase in sexual signal variation and the underlying morphological structures that produce song. We conducted the first combined analysis of form (wing morphology), function (emergent signal), and receiver responses to characterize novel variation, test alternative hypotheses about form-function relationships (Form-Function Continuity vs. Form-Function Decoupling) and investigate underlying mechanistic changes and fitness consequences of novel signals. We identified three sound-producing male morphs (one previously undescribed, named "rattling") and found that relationships between morphology and signals have been rewired (Form-Function Decoupling), rapidly and repeatedly, through the gain, loss, and alteration of morphological structures, facilitating the production of signals that exist in novel phenotypic space. By integrating across a hierarchy of phenotypes, we uncovered divergent morphs with unique solutions to the challenge of attracting mates while evading fatal parasitism.

opencc-zeroJul 2023View details →

Data for: Characterization of a sperm motility signaling pathway in a gonochoric coral suggests conservation across sexual systems

Most stony corals liberate their gametes into the water column via broadcast spawning, where fertilization hinges upon the activation of directional sperm motility. Sperm from gonochoric and hermaphroditic corals display distinct morphological and molecular phenotypes, yet it is unknown whether the signaling pathways controlling sperm motility are also distinct between these sexual systems. Here, we addressed this knowledge gap using the gonochoric broadcast spawning coral Astrangia poculata. We found that cytosolic alkalinization of sperm activates the pH-sensing enzyme soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC), which is required for motility. Additionally, we demonstrate for the first time in any cnidarian that sAC activity is necessary for PKA activation, and PKA activity is also required for motility. Ultrastructures of A. poculata sperm displayed morphological homology with other gonochoric cnidarians, and investigation of cnidarian proteomes revealed that sAC exhibits broad structural and functional conservation across this phylum. These results indicate a conserved role for pH-dependent sAC-PKA signaling in sperm motility across coral sexual systems and suggest that the role of this pathway in sperm motility is likely ancestral in metazoans. Finally, the dynamics of this pH-sensitive pathway may play a critical role in determining the sensitivity of marine invertebrate reproduction to anthropogenic ocean acidification.

opencc-zeroJul 2023View details →

Male sexual signaling and expected effects of hatchery-induced sperm competition vary with water depth at which whitefish are caught

<div> <div> <div> <div> Salmonids like whitefish (Coregonus spp.) are often propagated in supportive breeding. Spawners are caught from their spawning locations, their gametes mixed, and the resulting offspring reared in a protected environment before being released into the wild. This procedure can affect sexual selection, for example, by enhancing the importance of sperm competition or by reducing the relevance of sexual signals. While it is often unclear how sperm competitiveness is affected by a male's overall genetic quality, there is accumulating evidence that sexual signals reveal good genes and that mate choice based on such signals can increase offspring viability (Auld et al. 2019). Therefore, supportive breeding may affect the genetic variance and the mean genetic quality of next generations. We sampled whitefish from various locations along a depth gradient to test how male characteristics that are likely to affect sexual selection under natural conditions correlate with characteristics that affect hatchery-induced sperm competition. Whitefish are external fertilizers, and multi-male spawning and hence sperm competition is common under natural conditions. Mate choice is not sufficiently understood but could be based on breeding tubercles. These are small conical structures that grow on scales before the breeding sea- son and fall off shortly afterwards. The size of breeding tubercles varies much among males and has repeatedly been found to correlate positively with offspring viability (Wedekind et al. 2001; Keka ̈la ̈inen et al. 2010). Male dominance is typically depend- ent on body size (Auld et al. 2019) and could also be relevant in whitefish. Body size itself can reflect individual inbreeding coefficients (Su et al. 1996) and be an indicator of heritable genetic quality in small or structured populations (Neff and Pitcher 2008). In another fish with a somewhat comparable mating system, the size of breeding tubercles and male size was not correlated but could both be used to predict male reproductive success under close to natural conditions (Jacob et al. 2009). We study whitefish from Lake Hallwil (Switzerland). This lake has suffered so much from anthropogenic eutrophication that it is being artificially aerated since 1985. Three hatcheries around the lake are likely to have played a key role in maintaining the whitefish population, as concluded also from a recent mark–recapture experiment (Vonlanthen 2015). However, eutrophication combined with possible hybridization in hatcheries can have led to a speciation reversal (Vonlanthen et al. 2012) and may thereby have destroyed any genetic structure linked to water depth. Hatchery protocols now focus on maintaining over-all genetic variance by pooling milt of many males before adding the mix to eggs of multiple females. Milt volume varies among sires, for example, because males often lose milt when being pulled up from deep locations (Figure 1), an effect that likely depends on how much the swim bladder is inflated by the change in pressure. This variance in milt volume is likely to affect the genetic variance that, in combination with the average genetic quality, may then affect the long-term survival of a population. The extent to which hatchery protocols affect genetic quality can be estimated by the correlations between male quality indicators and traits that affect hatchery-induced sperm competition, that is, sperm number, velocity, and longevity (summarized here as "milt potency," see also Supplementary Material). Many breeding protocols are likely to promote genetic quality if male attractiveness or dominance are positively correlated to milt potency. If there are no such correlations or negative ones because of life-history trade-offs, hatchery-induced sperm competition is likely to reduce the average genetic quality in future generations. We sampled fish from various depths and determined their age, size, breeding ornamentation, and milt potency (see methods in the Supplementary Material) to test whether and how different male characteristics affect reproductive success in supportive breeding in a heavily managed population. </div> </div> </div> </div>

publicJul 2022View details →

Climate change alters sexual signaling in a desert-adapted frog

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publicJul 2024View details →

Sexually dimorphic eye-size in Dragonfishes, a response to a bioluminescent signaling gap

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publicFeb 2025View details →

Dance or disappear: Strategic sexual signalling in female Peninsular rock agama

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publicMar 2024View details →

Data for: Surviving the serenade: how conflicting selection pressures shape the early stages of sexual signal diversification

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publicJun 2022View details →

Population genomics and sexual signals identify reproductive interference in Uperoleia

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