Physiological control of elaborate male courtship: Female choice for neuromuscular systems

Abstract

Males of many animal species perform specialized courtship behaviours to gain copulations with females. Identifying physiological and anatomical specializations underlying performance of these behaviours helps clarify mechanisms through which sexual selection promotes the evolution of elaborate courtship. Our knowledge about neuromuscular specializations that support elaborate displays is limited to a few model species. In this review, we focus on the physiological control of the courtship of a tropical bird, the golden-collared manakin, which has been the focus of our research for nearly 20 years. Male manakins perform physically elaborate courtship displays that are quick, accurate and powerful. Females seem to choose males based on their motor skills suggesting that neuromuscular specializations possessed by these males are driven by female choice. Male courtship is activated by androgens and androgen receptors are expressed in qualitatively and quantitatively unconventional ways in manakin brain, spinal cord and skeletal muscles. We propose that in some species, females select males based on their neuromuscular capabilities and acquired skills and that elaborate steroid-dependent courtship displays evolve to signal these traits.

Associations between Manakin Display Complexity and Both Body and Brain Size Challenge Assumptions of Allometric Correction: A Response to Gutierrez-Ibanez et al. (2016)

“…Preliminary analyses suggest that body weight may better account for display complexity than regional brain volumes or whole brain volume, and that the tarsus length cubed, a common measure used to estimate body size, is not associated with courtship complexity. If these relationships hold, we would suggest that body mass is related to complexity as a consequence of coordinated motor function being necessary for the performance of court-Brain Behav Evol 2016;87:227-231 DOI: 10.1159/000446341 230 ship display [Fusani et al, 2007b[Fusani et al, , 2014Schlinger et al, 2013;Fuxjager et al, 2012aFuxjager et al, , b, 2015. We would also speculate that body mass relationships with complexity are linked to muscle hypertrophy and the increased bone density that is associated with certain display elements [Schlinger et al, 2013;Friscia et al, 2016].…”

What is orgasm? A model of sexual trance and climax via rhythmic entrainment

“…Rhythmic ability is fundamental in sexual selection (Darwin, 1872; Fusani, Barske, Day, Fuxjager, & Schlinger, 2014), with similar evolutionary logic applying to human coitus, bird song, and even the courtship of invertebrate insects (Griffith & Ejima, 2009). However, there may be unique mechanisms by which sexual compatibility and orgasm function as tests of mate quality in humans.…”

Adaptive evolution of a derived radius morphology in manakins (Aves, Pipridae) to support acrobatic display behavior

“…Males of this species court potential mates by performing a behavioral display that includes the production of mechanical, firecracker‐like wing‐snaps (Fusani et al, ; Barske et al, ; Fuxjager et al, ; Barske et al, ). To produce this signal, males are thought to rapidly hit their wings together above their back (Fusani et al, ; Fusani et al, ; Schlinger et al, ; Schlinger et al, ), and prior work suggests that this bird maintains a derived radius morphology that accommodates this percussive sound‐making ability (Friscia and Schlinger, ; Bodony et al, in press). Thus, we examine the forearm skeleton (including the radius, ulna, and humerus) in the golden‐collared manakin, and we compare our findings to a variety of other manakin and passerine species.…”