From uni- to multimodality: towards an integrative view on anuran communication

Starnberger, Iris; Preininger, Doris; Hödl, Walter

doi:10.1007/s00359-014-0923-1

Cited by 98 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 138 publications

(180 reference statements)

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“…Limitations of this approach, such as the difficulty of considering interactions between signal components and the possibility of individual signals having multiple functions, led to a suite of follow-up frameworks focused on intersignal interactions and potential sources of selection on signals [4,7,8,24]. The field has since been accruing multiple excellent case studies of complex signalling, including grounddwelling spiders (reviewed in [25,26]), crustaceans (reviewed in [27]), anurans ( [28], reviewed in [29]), insect pollinators (reviewed in [23,30]), birds [31,32], and primates [33,34], among others. Results from these studies and others have led to an appreciation that the function(s) of elements of communication displays are not fixed.…”

Section: Current State Of the Field (A) Modelling Multiple Signals Anmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systems approach to animal communication

Hebets¹,

et al. 2016

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Why animal communication displays are so complex and how they have evolved are active foci of research with a long and rich history. Progress towards an evolutionary analysis of signal complexity, however, has been constrained by a lack of hypotheses to explain similarities and/or differences in signalling systems across taxa. To address this, we advocate incorporating a systems approach into studies of animal communication-an approach that includes comprehensive experimental designs and data collection in combination with the implementation of systems concepts and tools. A systems approach evaluates overall display architecture, including how components interact to alter function, and how function varies in different states of the system. We provide a brief overview of the current state of the field, including a focus on select studies that highlight the dynamic nature of animal signalling. We then introduce core concepts from systems biology (redundancy, degeneracy, pluripotentiality, and modularity) and discuss their relationships with system properties (e.g. robustness, flexibility, evolvability). We translate systems concepts into an animal communication framework and accentuate their utility through a case study. Finally, we demonstrate how consideration of the system-level organization of animal communication poses new practical research questions that will aid our understanding of how and why animal displays are so complex.

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Section: Current State Of the Field (A) Modelling Multiple Signals Anmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systems approach to animal communication

Hebets¹,

et al. 2016

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“…Such crossmodal perceptual weighting reduces the masking impact of noise and could be a general receiver strategy (11,28). A shift in the use of signals and cues across sensory systems will also alter selection pressures acting on sexual displays (29,30). Thus, in noisy human-impacted areas such as in cities or along highways, we would expect to find a change in the multimodal content of communication signals (11).…”

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confidence: 99%

Bats perceptually weight prey cues across sensory systems when hunting in noise

Gomes¹,

Page²,

Geipel³

et al. 2016

Science

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Anthropogenic noise can interfere with environmental information processing and thereby reduce survival and reproduction. Receivers of signals and cues in particular depend on perceptual strategies to adjust to noisy conditions. We found that predators that hunt using prey sounds can reduce the negative impact of noise by making use of prey cues conveyed through additional sensory systems. In the presence of masking noise, but not in its absence, frog-eating bats preferred and were faster in attacking a robotic frog emitting multiple sensory cues. The behavioral changes induced by masking noise were accompanied by an increase in active localization through echolocation. Our findings help to reveal how animals can adapt to anthropogenic noise and have implications for the role of sensory ecology in driving species interactions.

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“…Like most frogs, S. parvus males use acoustic signals for intraspecific communication in reproductive contexts (22,23). However, in addition to vocalizations, male S. parvus signal using highly conspicuous hind leg movements, known as "foot flags" (22)(23)(24). This behavior is performed by fully extending a hind limb above the head, rotating it backward in an arc to expose white-colored foot webbing, and then retracting the leg back to the body ( Fig.…”

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confidence: 99%

Increased androgenic sensitivity in the hind limb muscular system marks the evolution of a derived gestural display

Mangiamele

Fuxjager

Schuppe

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Physical gestures are prominent features of many species' multimodal displays, yet how evolution incorporates body and leg movements into animal signaling repertoires is unclear. Androgenic hormones modulate the production of reproductive signals and sexual motor skills in many vertebrates; therefore, one possibility is that selection for physical signals drives the evolution of androgenic sensitivity in select neuromotor pathways. We examined this issue in the Bornean rock frog (Staurois parvus, family: Ranidae). Males court females and compete with rivals by performing both vocalizations and hind limb gestural signals, called "foot flags." Foot flagging is a derived display that emerged in the ranids after vocal signaling. Here, we show that administration of testosterone (T) increases foot flagging behavior under seminatural conditions. Moreover, using quantitative PCR, we also find that adult male S. parvus maintain a unique androgenic phenotype, in which androgen receptor (AR) in the hind limb musculature is expressed at levels ∼10× greater than in two other anuran species, which do not produce foot flags (Rana pipiens and Xenopus laevis). Finally, because males of all three of these species solicit mates with calls, we accordingly detect no differences in AR expression in the vocal apparatus (larynx) among taxa. The results show that foot flagging is an androgen-dependent gestural signal, and its emergence is associated with increased androgenic sensitivity within the hind limb musculature. Selection for this novel gestural signal may therefore drive the evolution of increased AR expression in key muscles that control signal production to support adaptive motor performance.androgen receptor | testosterone | courtship behavior | signal evolution | frogs

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From uni- to multimodality: towards an integrative view on anuran communication

Cited by 98 publications

References 138 publications

A systems approach to animal communication

A systems approach to animal communication

Bats perceptually weight prey cues across sensory systems when hunting in noise

Increased androgenic sensitivity in the hind limb muscular system marks the evolution of a derived gestural display

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