Only distance matters – non-choosy females in a poison frog population

Meuche, Ivonne; Brusa, Oscar; Linsenmair, K. Eduard; Keller, Alexander; Pröhl, Heike

doi:10.1186/1742-9994-10-29

Cited by 43 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 137 publications

(201 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In addition, sexual selection through nonrandom courtship within color morphs has been reported in O. pumilio (Reynolds & Fitzpatrick, 2007) and Ranitomeya (Twomey et al., 2014) and can possibly promote diversification of color among populations, while decreasing the variation within. However, this phenomenon seems highly dependent on the environmental context and genetic background of the frogs (Medina et al., 2013; Meuche, Brusa, Linsenmair, Keller, & Pröhl, 2013; Richards‐Zawacki et al., 2012; Twomey et al., 2014). A recent study reported an example of hybridization promoting new coloration and patterning between two close species O. histrionica and O. lehmanni (Medina et al., 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiation of the polymorphic Little Devil poison frog (Oophaga sylvatica) in Ecuador

Roland

Santos

Carriker³

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Some South American poison frogs (Dendrobatidae) are chemically defended and use bright aposematic colors to warn potential predators of their unpalatability. Aposematic signals are often frequency‐dependent where individuals deviating from a local model are at a higher risk of predation. However, extreme diversity in the aposematic signal has been documented in poison frogs, especially in Oophaga. Here, we explore the phylogeographic pattern among color‐divergent populations of the Little Devil poison frog Oophaga sylvatica by analyzing population structure and genetic differentiation to evaluate which processes could account for color diversity within and among populations. With a combination of PCR amplicons (three mitochondrial and three nuclear markers) and genome‐wide markers from a double‐digested RAD (ddRAD) approach, we characterized the phylogenetic and genetic structure of 199 individuals from 13 populations (12 monomorphic and 1 polymorphic) across the O. sylvatica distribution. Individuals segregated into two main lineages by their northern or southern latitudinal distribution. A high level of genetic and phenotypic polymorphism within the northern lineage suggests ongoing gene flow. In contrast, low levels of genetic differentiation were detected among the southern lineage populations and support recent range expansions from populations in the northern lineage. We propose that a combination of climatic gradients and structured landscapes might be promoting gene flow and phylogenetic diversification. Alternatively, we cannot rule out that the observed phenotypic and genomic variations are the result of genetic drift on near or neutral alleles in a small number of genes.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiation of the polymorphic Little Devil poison frog (Oophaga sylvatica) in Ecuador

Roland

Santos

Carriker³

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It is possible that O. pumilio chooses a microhabitat to increase (or decrease) their conspicuousness as it relates to predator avoidance (Pröhl & Ostrowski ; Maan & Cummings ), and therefore, mate choice may be the result of spatial autocorrelation (Meuche et al. ). Additional studies will be necessary to better understand whether females actively choose males with similar coloration, or whether similarly colored pairs occur as a result of closeness and habitat choice.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, female O. pumilio who are in contact with a male on a given day are highly likely to ultimately select that male to mate with (Meuche et al. ). Therefore, it was presumed that if a female interacted with a male for 15 min, a mating event was likely to occur.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Color Assortative Mating in a Mainland Population of the Poison Frog Oophaga pumilio

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Assortative mating is a reproductive strategy used by a diversity of animals, in which individuals choose a mate that shares similar characteristics. This mating strategy has the potential to promote the evolution of various sexual signals and has been a proposed mechanism driving and maintaining color variation in the anuran family Dendrobatidae. Most studies have examined this reproductive strategy in the polytypic poison frog, Oophaga pumilio, in the Bocas del Toro archipelago in Panama. Little attention, however, has been given to ancestral populations across this species’ mainland range, where dramatic color polytypism appears to lack. Additionally, most studies are exclusively experimental and investigate mate choice between allopatric populations, neglecting the behaviors of naturally occurring mates. This study observed natural mating pairs within a population of O. pumilio on mainland Costa Rica and tested the prediction that color phenotype of mating females and males would be correlated. Naturally occurring pairs were found to share similar coloration, suggesting that color assortative mating operates in nature, and in a mainland population. Our results indicate that coloration is an important trait in driving the natural mate choices of female O. pumilio, which provides valuable insight into realistic mate selection tactics of this dendrobatid frog.

show abstract

“…For example, males might gain mating advantages from female preference for conspicuous colouration, which originally evolved in a non-sexual context to warn predators. However, under certain laboratory conditions, females of Dendrobates pumilio prefer brighter and possibly more toxic males [35], while in natural conditions females prefer the closest calling male [36].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aposematism increases acoustic diversification and speciation in poison frogs

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Multimodal signals facilitate communication with conspecifics during courtship, but they can also alert eavesdropper predators. Hence, signallers face two pressures: enticing partners to mate and avoiding detection by enemies. Undefended organisms with limited escape abilities are expected to minimize predator recognition over mate attraction by limiting or modifying their signalling. Alternatively, organisms with anti-predator mechanisms such as aposematism (i.e. unprofitability signalled by warning cues) might elaborate mating signals as a consequence of reduced predation. We hypothesize that calls diversified in association with aposematism. To test this, we assembled a large acoustic signal database for a diurnal lineage of aposematic and cryptic/non-defended taxa, the poison frogs. First, we showed that aposematic and non-aposematic species share similar extinction rates, and aposematic lineages diversify more and rarely revert to the nonaposematic phenotype. We then characterized mating calls based on morphological (spectral), behavioural/physiological (temporal) and environmental traits. Of these, only spectral and temporal features were associated with aposematism. We propose that with the evolution of antipredator defences, reduced predation facilitated the diversification of vocal signals, which then became elaborated or showy via sexual selection.

show abstract

Only distance matters – non-choosy females in a poison frog population

Cited by 43 publications

References 137 publications

Radiation of the polymorphic Little Devil poison frog (Oophaga sylvatica) in Ecuador

Radiation of the polymorphic Little Devil poison frog (Oophaga sylvatica) in Ecuador

Color Assortative Mating in a Mainland Population of the Poison Frog Oophaga pumilio

Aposematism increases acoustic diversification and speciation in poison frogs

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About