Interacting selection diversifies warning signals in a polytypic frog: an examination with the strawberry poison frog

Cummings, Molly E.; Crothers, Laura

doi:10.1007/s10682-013-9648-9

Cited by 62 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 91 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…If the nature of a relationship between warning signal components and physiological requirements changes across the geographic distribution of an organism, then it is possible that a shift in warning signal appearance will also ensue (Thompson 1984b, Brakefield 1985, Hegna et al 2013a. Two forces other than predation that are thought to be influential on visual warning signal traits through trade-offs are the need for thermoregulation (Speed & Ruxton 2007, Lindstedt et al 2009) and sexual selection , Cummings & Crothers 2013.…”

Section: Trait Trade-offs and Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such a scenario was first suggested for the interspecific diversification of firefly warning signals (Branham & Wenzel 2003), where selection by predators and mate choice are thought to impact the evolution of firefly flashes (Moosman et al 2009). Sexual selection is also thought to play a role in the intra-specific diversification of warning signals in the strawberry poison frog (Oophaga pumilio) (Rudh et al 2011, Cummings & Crothers 2013. Although it is well established that females prefer color morphs that are similar to their own coloration (Summers et al 1999, Maan & Cummings 2008, recent work has shown that predators may not select for local morphs on the basis of color alone (Hegna et al 2013b, Richards-Zawacki et al 2013.…”

Section: Trait Trade-offs and Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Instead, base coloration of O. pumilio may be related to their toxicity (Maan & Cummings 2012). Therefore, a possible synergistic effect between sexual and warning signaling, and how an element of honest signaling of toxicity may further interact certainly poses many questions for future work (Cummings & Crothers 2013).…”

Section: Trait Trade-offs and Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Influences of geographic differentiation in the forewing warning signal of the wood tiger moth in Alaska

Hegna

Mappes

2014

Evol Ecol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Geographic Variation in the WarningSignals of the Wood Tiger Moth (Parasemia plantaginis; Arctiidae)Esitetään Jyväskylän yliopiston matemaattis-luonnontieteellisen tiedekunnan suostumuksella julkisesti tarkastettavaksi yliopiston Ylistönrinteellä, salissa YAA303 marraskuun 8. päivänä 2013 kello 12.Academic dissertation to be publicly discussed, Warning signals are not expected to be diverse because they are under stabilizing selection. This dissertation aims to study historic and contemporary selection mechanisms underlying the geographic warning signal diversity in the wood tiger moth (Parasemia plantaginis). In the first study, I explored the variation in hindwing warning color frequencies across the distribution of P. plantaginis and the phylogeography of the species. Males have polymorphic hindwing color (yellow or white) across much of their distribution but turn reddish in the Caucasus and mostly white in Japan, which coincide with mitogenetic divergence. Females vary continuously in hindwing warning color between yellow and red, becoming yellow east of the Ural mountain range, but does not correspond to mitogenetic divergence. Post-glacial isolation may be one contributing factor to the genetic divergence and the hindwing warning signal differences in the Caucasus region. In the second study, I found that thermoregulation benefits of melanin can trade-off with a larger more effective warning signal, which contributes to variation in melanization within Europe. In the third study, I found that forewing patterns function as warning signals and that generalization by predators might play an important role in warning signal diversity along with frequency dependent selection. In the fourth chapter, I found three populations in Japan differing in warning signal traits with some gene flow suggesting both selection and isolation may be underlying causes. Overall, my results suggest that historical and abiotic factors contribute to the observed warning signal diversity in P. plantaginis, rather than predation alone. This adds to our understanding of how historical factors along with environmental heterogeneity in biotic and abiotic factors can promote warning signal diversity. My results highlight the need to take an integrated approach to studying geographic diversity in warning signals.

show abstract

Section: Trait Trade-offs and Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Trait Trade-offs and Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Trait Trade-offs and Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Influences of geographic differentiation in the forewing warning signal of the wood tiger moth in Alaska

Hegna

Mappes

2014

Evol Ecol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In a series of studies of anti-predator defense and sexual signaling of dendrobatids, Cummings and colleagues compared the skin toxicities of different frog species or morphs Maan and Cummings 2012;Cummings and Crothers 2013). To obtain extracts, frogs were euthanized by topically applying benzocaine to their head and venter, their skin was removed, and skin chemicals were extracted with methanol.…”

Section: The Bioassay and Its Purported Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the basis of this bioassay, referred to here as the sleepless mouse bioassay (SMB), the relative toxicities of frogs were assigned in purported demonstrations of (1) the correlation between frog toxicity and skin color brightness Maan and Cummings 2012;cf. Daly and Myers 1967), (2) the establishment of learned avoidances by predators of Batesian mimic and model frogs , and (3) the interaction of natural and sexual selection in the evolution of aposematism and signaling related to female mate choice and male-male competition (Cummings and Crothers 2013).…”

Section: The Bioassay and Its Purported Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Poison frogs, defensive alkaloids, and sleepless mice: critique of a toxicity bioassay

Weldon

2017

Chemoecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In studies of defensive allomones, appropriate methods of presenting chemicals and measuring their deterrent effects on consumers are essential for understanding the contributions that chemicals make to the survivorship of potential prey. However, unnatural chemical presentations and/or ambiguous bioassay responses occasionally have left open questions on some allelochemical effects. This discussion critiques a toxicity bioassay of Neotropical poison frogs (Dendrobatidae), a group whose skins are known to possess a diverse array of bioactive alkaloids. The problematic bioassay entails injecting laboratory mice with the skin extracts of frogs and monitoring the time taken for mice to fall back to sleep to estimate extract toxicity, where longer latencies of sleep onset were claimed to reflect greater toxicity. Dendrobatids do not invasively deliver skin alkaloids to offenders, hence the method of injecting mice with skin extracts does not correspond to the frogs' natural defense mechanisms. Neither does the injection of frog extracts permit gastrointestinal deactivation or clearance mechanisms that may reduce the bioavailability of toxins. Whether or not increased sleep latencies induced by injected skin extracts reflect toxicity, irritability or other effects, the ultimate protective value for frogs of prolonging the wakefulness of mice (or relevant predators) is unclear. Defensible bioassays entail both modes of chemical delivery consistent with those by which would-be predators normally encounter chemicals and quantified measures of responses by predators that detract from their success.

show abstract

Mating status correlates with dorsal brightness in some but not all poison frog populations

Dreher

Rodríguez

Cummings

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sexual signals are important for intraspecific communication and mate selection, but their evolution may be driven by both natural and sexual selection, and stochastic processes. Strawberry poison frogs (Oophaga pumilio) show strong color divergence among populations, but coloration also varies among individuals of the same population. The importance of coloration for female mate choice has been studied intensely, and sexual selection seems to affect color divergence in strawberry poison frogs. However, the effect of coloration on mating success under field conditions has received very little attention. Furthermore, few studies examined how phenotypic variation among individuals of the same color morph affects mate selection under natural conditions. We measured the spectral reflectance of courting and noncourting individuals and their background substrates in three geographically separated populations. In one population (Sarapiquí, Costa Rica), we found that naturally occurring courting pairs of males and females had significantly brighter dorsal coloration than individual males and females not engaged in courtship interactions. Our field observations suggest that, in the wild, females prefer brighter males while the reason for the higher courtship activity of brighter females remains unclear. Overall our results imply that brightness differences among individuals of the same color morph may actually affect reproductive success in some populations of strawberry poison frogs.

show abstract

Interacting selection diversifies warning signals in a polytypic frog: an examination with the strawberry poison frog

Cited by 62 publications

References 91 publications

Influences of geographic differentiation in the forewing warning signal of the wood tiger moth in Alaska

Influences of geographic differentiation in the forewing warning signal of the wood tiger moth in Alaska

Poison frogs, defensive alkaloids, and sleepless mice: critique of a toxicity bioassay

Mating status correlates with dorsal brightness in some but not all poison frog populations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About