Sexual selection accelerates signal evolution during speciation in birds

Seddon, Nathalie; Botero, Carlos A.; Tobias, Joe; Dunn, Peter O.; MacGregor, Hannah E. A.; Rubenstein, Dustin R.; Uy, J. Albert C.; Weir, Jason T.; Whittingham, Linda A.; Safran, Rebecca J.

doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.1065

Cited by 177 publications

(236 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Lack of robust phylogenies for Amazonian birds precluded us from incorporating tree topologies and branch lengths into our models. Thus, to control for phylogenetic nonindependence, we included taxonomy (genus nested within family) as a random effect, following numerous studies (57,58). In all cases, the mixed-effects model including taxonomy [family (genus)] had a significantly lower log-likelihood score than the model excluding taxonomy (Table S5).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species interactions and the structure of complex communication networks

Tobias

Planquè

Cram

et al. 2014

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

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A universal challenge faced by animal species is the need to communicate effectively against a backdrop of heterospecific signals. It is often assumed that this need results in signal divergence to minimize interference among community members, yet previous support for this idea is mixed, and few studies have tested the opposing hypothesis that interactions among competing species promote widespread convergence in signaling regimes. Using a null model approach to analyze acoustic signaling in 307 species of Amazonian birds, we show that closely related lineages signal together in time and space and that acoustic signals given in temporal or spatial proximity are more similar in design than expected by chance. These results challenge the view that multispecies choruses are structured by temporal, spatial, or acoustic partitioning and instead suggest that social communication between competing species can fundamentally organize signaling assemblages, leading to the opposite pattern of clustering in signals and signaling behavior.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species interactions and the structure of complex communication networks

Tobias

Planquè

Cram

et al. 2014

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

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123

114

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“…The striking colours of birds, and especially the large differences in colour across males of sexually dimorphic species, are thought to be a result of sexual selection [1]. Theories about how sexual selection drives the evolution of colour fall into three general classes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fishes and butterflies, variation in visual pigments has been implicated in mate choice, thereby shaping the evolution of male colours [12,19,24]. Birds are a notably colourful group, and have been the subject of many classic studies of sexual selection [1,25], that have shown plumage colour is used as a mating signal. To date, associations between birds' visual system and the evolution of plumage colour have been rarely studied ( [26,27], reviewed in [2]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…I compare patterns of opsin gene expression across a group of colourful birds, the New World warblers (Parulidae). This group has varying degrees of sexual dimorphism in colour, a commonly used measure of the intensity of sexual selection [1], and occupies a range of light environments, making it possible to evaluate the two alternative hypotheses for the evolution of colour perception.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evolution of opsin expression in birds driven by sexual selection and habitat

Bloch

2015

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Theories of sexual and natural selection predict coevolution of visual perception with conspecific colour and/or the light environment animals occupy. One way to test these theories is to focus on the visual system, which can be achieved by studying the opsin-based visual pigments that mediate vision. Birds vary greatly in colour, but opsin gene coding sequences and associated visual pigment spectral sensitivities are known to be rather invariant across birds. Here, I studied expression of the four cone opsin genes ( Lws, Rh2, Sws2 and Sws1 ) in 16 species of New World warblers (Parulidae). I found levels of opsin expression vary both across species and between the sexes. Across species, female, but not male Sws2 expression is associated with an index of sexual selection, plumage dichromatism. This fits predictions of classic sexual selection models, in which the sensory system changes in females, presumably impacting female preference, and co-evolves with male plumage. Expression of the opsins at the extremes of the light spectrum, Lws and Uvs, correlates with the inferred light environment occupied by the different species. Unlike opsin spectral tuning, regulation of opsin gene expression allows for fast adaptive evolution of the visual system in response to natural and sexual selection, and in particular, sex-specific selection pressures.

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“…Indeed, dimorphisms in both song and plumage colors have been shown to be associated with an assortment of life history traits besides mating system, including breeding latitude, seasonal migration, nesting behavior, and territoriality (Martin and Badyaev, 1996;Friedman et al, 2009;Price, 2009;Soler and Moreno, 2012;Johnson et al, 2013;Odom et al, 2015). Nevertheless, the perception that levels of sexual dimorphism reflect levels of sexual selection remains pervasive, even among some researchers (e.g., Seddon et al, 2013;Bloch, 2015).…”

Section: Sexual Dimorphism Is Not Due To Sexual Selection Alonementioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking our assumptions about the evolution of bird song and other sexually dimorphic signals

Price

2015

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Bird song is often cited as a classic example of a sexually-selected ornament, in part because historically it has been considered a primarily male trait. Recent evidence that females also sing in many songbird species and that sexual dimorphism in song is often the result of losses in females rather than gains in males therefore appears to challenge our understanding of the evolution of bird song through sexual selection. Here I propose that these new findings do not necessarily contradict previous research, but rather they disagree with some of our assumptions about the evolution of sexual dimorphisms in general and female song in particular. These include misconceptions that current patterns of elaboration and diversity in each sex reflect past rates of change and that levels of sexual dimorphism necessarily reflect levels of sexual selection. Using New World blackbirds (Icteridae) as an example, I critically evaluate these past assumptions in light of new phylogenetic evidence. Understanding the mechanisms underlying such sexually dimorphic traits requires a clear understanding of their evolutionary histories. Only then can we begin to ask the right questions.

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Sexual selection accelerates signal evolution during speciation in birds

Cited by 177 publications

References 57 publications

Species interactions and the structure of complex communication networks

Species interactions and the structure of complex communication networks

Evolution of opsin expression in birds driven by sexual selection and habitat

Rethinking our assumptions about the evolution of bird song and other sexually dimorphic signals

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