Responses of Resident Male Dendrobates pumilio to Territory Intruders

Gardner, Emily A.; Graves, Brent M.

doi:10.1670/95-04a

Cited by 29 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Territorial interactions in D. pumilio involve approach by the intruder male and impingement on or near a male's territory followed by a stereotyped series of behaviors, including calling and approaches (pers. obs., Bunnell 1973; Baugh and Forester 1994; Gardner and Graves 2005; Prohl 2005), that can either lead to escalation (physical contact involving chases and wrestling) or submission by the intruder male and subsequent exit from the male's territory. Thus, to score male behaviors, we defined an “interaction zone” as the area within 4 cm (2 body lengths) of each stimulus male, as done previously (Maan and Cummings 2008, 2009).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This may be particularly true for highly territorial species such as D. pumilio. Male D. pumilio exhibit territory site fidelity (McVey et al 1981) and vigorously defend their sites through vocalizations and close‐range aggressive encounters (Bunnell 1973; Forester et al 1993; Baugh and Forester 1994; Gardner and Graves 2005; Prohl 2005). Thus, the selective pressures imparted by male–male competition may conflict with or facilitate signal divergence mediated by predators or female preference across populations.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Aposematic Signal Variation Predicts Male-Male Interactions in a Polymorphic Poison Frog

2010

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Many species use conspicuous "aposematic" signals to communicate unpalatability/unprofitability to potential predators. Although aposematic traits are generally considered to be classic examples of evolution by natural selection, they can also function in the context of sexual selection, and therefore comprise exceptional systems for understanding how conspicuous signals evolve under multifarious selection. We used males from a highly territorial poison frog species in a dichotomous choice behavioral test to conduct the first examination of how aposematic signal variation influences male-male interactions. Our results reveal two behavioral patterns: (1) male dorsal brightness influences the behaviors of male conspecifics such that males approach and call to brighter males more frequently and (2) a male's dorsal brightness predicts his own behavior such that bright males approach stimulus frogs faster, direct more calls to bright stimulus frogs, and exhibit lower advertising call pulse rates (a fitness-related trait). These findings indicate the potential for sexual selection by male-male competition to impact aposematic signal evolution.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Aposematic Signal Variation Predicts Male-Male Interactions in a Polymorphic Poison Frog

2010

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“…Littlejohn (1965) claimed that differences in call traits between geographically separated populations may equal those between species, which however is not surprising considering that many allopatric species have very similar calls. Gardner & Graves (2005) Divergence in communication signals between populations of the same species or lineage can result from various factors, such as (1) genetic drift (isolation-by-distance hypothesis), (2) natural selection, as adaptations to different habitats and environmental conditions, and (3) sexual selection, reinforcement and reproductive character displacement. In the following sections, we will address some of these influences on geographic call variation in more detail.…”

Section: Variation Among (Geographically Separate) Conspecific Populamentioning

confidence: 99%

The use of bioacoustics in anuran taxonomy: theory, terminology, methods and recommendations for best practice

Köhler

Jansen

Rodríguez³

et al. 2017

Zootaxa

481

410

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Vocalizations of anuran amphibians have received much attention in studies of behavioral ecology and physiology, but also provide informative characters for identifying and delimiting species. We here review the terminology and variation of frog calls from a perspective of integrative taxonomy, and provide hands-on protocols for recording, analyzing, comparing, interpreting and describing these sounds. Our focus is on advertisement calls, which serve as premating isolation mechanisms and, therefore, convey important taxonomic information. We provide recommendations for terminology of frog vocalizations, with call, note and pulse being the fundamental subunits to be used in descriptions and comparisons. However, due to the complexity and diversity of these signals, an unequivocal application of the terms call and note can be challenging. We therefore provide two coherent concepts that either follow a note-centered approach (defining uninterrupted units of sound as notes, and their entirety as call) or a call-centered approach (defining uninterrupted units as call whenever they are separated by long silent intervals) in terminology. Based on surveys of literature, we show that numerous call traits can be highly variable within and between individuals of one species. Despite idiosyncrasies of species and higher taxa, the duration of calls or notes, pulse rate within notes, and number of pulses per note appear to be more static within individuals and somewhat less affected by temperature. Therefore, these variables might often be preferable as taxonomic characters over call rate or note rate, which are heavily influenced by various factors. Dominant frequency is also comparatively static and only weakly affected by temperature, but depends strongly on body size. As with other taxonomic characters, strong call divergence is typically indicative of species-level differences, whereas call similarities of two populations are no evidence for them being conspecific. Taxonomic conclusions can especially be drawn when the general advertisement call structure of two candidate species is radically different and qualitative call differences are thus observed. On the other hand, quantitative differences in call traits might substantially vary within and among conspecific populations, and require careful evaluation and analysis. We provide guidelines for the taxonomic interpretation of advertisement call differences in sympatric and allopatric situations, and emphasize the need for an integrative use of multiple datasets (bio-acoustics, morphology, genetics), particularly for allopatric scenarios. We show that small-sized frogs often emit calls with frequency components in the ultrasound spectrum, although it is unlikely that these high frequencies are of biological relevance for the majority of them, and we illustrate that detection of upper harmonics depends also on recording distance because higher frequencies are attenuated more strongly. Bioacoustics remains a prime approach in integrative taxonomy of anurans if uncertainty due to possible intraspecific variation and technical artifacts is adequately considered and acknowledged.

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“…Observations of naturally occurring mating pairs of O. pumilio were conducted daily from 0600 to 1200 and 1500 to 1700, during the times in which male calling and male/female courtship are most common (Limerick 1980;Gardner & Graves 2005;Willink et al 2014). Males were located by following the sounds of their advertisement calls.…”

Section: Behavioral Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

2016

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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.

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Responses of Resident Male Dendrobates pumilio to Territory Intruders

Cited by 29 publications

References 21 publications

Aposematic Signal Variation Predicts Male-Male Interactions in a Polymorphic Poison Frog

Aposematic Signal Variation Predicts Male-Male Interactions in a Polymorphic Poison Frog

The use of bioacoustics in anuran taxonomy: theory, terminology, methods and recommendations for best practice

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

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