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Dixit T, Lund J, Fulford AJC, Apostol AL, Chen KC, Tong W, Feeney WE, Hamusikili L, Colebrook-Robjent JFR, Town CP, Spottiswoode CN. Chase-away evolution maintains imperfect mimicry in a brood parasite-host system despite rapid evolution of mimics. Nat Ecol Evol 2023; 7:1978-1982. [PMID: 37872417 PMCID: PMC10697838 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02232-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
We studied a brood parasite-host system (the cuckoo finch Anomalospiza imberbis and its host, the tawny-flanked prinia Prinia subflava) to test (1) the fundamental hypothesis that deceptive mimics evolve to resemble models, selecting in turn for models to evolve away from mimics ('chase-away evolution') and (2) whether such reciprocal evolution maintains imperfect mimicry over time. Over only 50 years, parasites evolved towards hosts and hosts evolved away from parasites, resulting in no detectible increase in mimetic fidelity. Our results reflect rapid adaptive evolution in wild populations of models and mimics and show that chase-away evolution in models can counteract even rapid evolution of mimics, resulting in the persistence of imperfect mimicry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanmay Dixit
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
- DST-NRF Centre of Excellence at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa.
| | - Jess Lund
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- DST-NRF Centre of Excellence at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
| | | | | | - Kuan-Chi Chen
- Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Wenfei Tong
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - William E Feeney
- Behavioural and Evolutionary Ecology Group, Doñana Biological Station (CSIC), Seville, Spain
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | | | | | | | - Claire N Spottiswoode
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- DST-NRF Centre of Excellence at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
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2
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Kennerley JA, Somveille M, Hauber ME, Richardson NM, Manica A, Feeney WE. The overlooked complexity of avian brood parasite-host relationships. Ecol Lett 2022; 25:1889-1904. [PMID: 35763605 PMCID: PMC9543277 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2021] [Revised: 05/13/2022] [Accepted: 05/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The relationships between avian brood parasites and their hosts are widely recognised as model systems for studying coevolution. However, while most brood parasites are known to parasitise multiple species of host and hosts are often subject to parasitism by multiple brood parasite species, the examination of multispecies interactions remains rare. Here, we compile data on all known brood parasite-host relationships and find that complex brood parasite-host systems, where multiple species of brood parasites and hosts coexist and interact, are globally commonplace. By examining patterns of past research, we outline the disparity between patterns of network complexity and past research emphases and discuss factors that may be associated with these patterns. Drawing on insights gained from other systems that have embraced a multispecies framework, we highlight the potential benefits of considering brood parasite-host interactions as ecological networks and brood parasitism as a model system for studying multispecies interactions. Overall, our results provide new insights into the diversity of these relationships, highlight the stark mismatch between past research efforts and global patterns of network complexity, and draw attention to the opportunities that more complex arrangements offer for examining how species interactions shape global patterns of biodiversity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Marius Somveille
- Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, University College London, London, UK
| | - Mark E Hauber
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
| | | | - Andrea Manica
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - William E Feeney
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Durham, UK.,Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Starnberg, Germany
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3
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Molina-Morales M, Gómez J, Liñán-Cembrano G, Precioso M, Martínez JG, Avilés JM. The Role of Intra-Clutch Variation of Magpie Clutches in Foreign Egg Rejection Depends on the Egg Trait Considered. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.702637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The existence of a coevolutionary process between avian brood parasites and their hosts predicts a lower intra-clutch variation in egg appearance of host eggs among rejecters as this would favor egg discrimination of parasite eggs by hosts once parasitic egg mimicry had evolved. So far empirical tests of this prediction have ignored the fact that different aspects of host egg phenotypes may differ in the relative role of environmental vs. genetic determination, and hence that the role of intra-clutch variation in egg rejection within a population cannot be invariant. Here, we estimated whether the intra-clutch variation in several aspects of host eggshell features is consistently associated to rejection of parasitic foreign eggs across years in a magpie host population parasitized by great spotted cuckoos. We innovatively estimated spottiness by means of the fractal dimension of eggs, which considers the homogeneity of spot pattern complexity in eggshells. Our results show that low intra-clutch variation in the blue-green coloration at the middle area of the eggs associated with a high chance of rejection, but only in one of the 3 years we conducted the study. In addition, females that rejected foreign eggs presented more homogenous spot patterns in their clutches as estimated by their fractal dimension than females that accepted experimental eggs, independently of the year of study. Finally, intra-clutch variation in egg volume of host eggs was not associated to rejection. Analyses at the individual level revealed that the relative role of genetic vs. environmental factors that determine egg phenotype would be feature-specific in magpies, females having a characteristic spottiness, but not color or volume, pattern. Our work stresses the importance of considering a holistic approach including several aspects of variation in host egg phenotype (size, color, and homogeneity of spot pattern), as some aspects might be more susceptible to selection through egg rejection than others, presumably because they are less influenced by variation in the environmental conditions. Moreover, our study highlights the importance of replication in studies on the adaptive value of host traits in egg rejection.
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Hauber ME, Elek Z, Moskát C. Advancing onset of breeding dates in brood parasitic common cuckoos and their great reed warbler hosts over a 22-year period. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2021.1871968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Márk E. Hauber
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Zoltán Elek
- MTA-ELTE-MTM Ecology Research Group, a Joint Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Biological Institute of Eötvös Loránd University and the Hungarian Natural History Museum, MTM, Baross u. 13, Budapest H-1088, Hungary
| | - Csaba Moskát
- MTA-ELTE-MTM Ecology Research Group, a Joint Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Biological Institute of Eötvös Loránd University and the Hungarian Natural History Museum, MTM, Baross u. 13, Budapest H-1088, Hungary
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Moskát C, Taylor DM, Hauber ME. Effective conspecific communication with aberrant calls in the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-020-02946-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The obligate brood parasitic common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) is best known for its two-note “cu-coo” call, which is uttered repeatedly by adult males during the breeding season. This call advertises the male’s claim for his territory. A rare, aberrant version (“cu-kee”) was discovered in a population of cuckoos in central Hungary. In a playback experiment, we simulated conspecific territorial intrusions using either aberrant call sequences or normal calls (as control). Cuckoos responded to both calls similarly by approaching the speaker, flying around it several times, and perching on nearby trees. To identify the role of each note of these cuckoo calls, we also played sequences of the first (“cu”) or second (“coo” or “kee”) notes of the calls. Territorial males responded to first notes at similarly high frequencies as to each of the full calls, whereas responses toward either second note type were nearly absent. Thus, the first notes of both typical and aberrant cuckoo calls contain sufficient information to recognize conspecific males and the novel calls did not reduce the efficiency of male-male communication in cuckoos because the aberration occurred in the less functional second note.
Significance statement
Birds use songs and calls to communicate with each other, including advertising their territories to keep competitors away. However, when the acoustic signal is atypical and distorted, the receiver individual may not process it correctly. Common cuckoos recognize a territorial intruder by their well-known “cu-coo” calls. We studied a rare, aberrant version of the common cuckoo call (“cu-kee”), which differed from the normal call in the second note of the two-partite call. However, cuckoos responded similarly to both of the normal and aberrant calls in a playback experiment. When the first or second parts of the different calls were played separately, only the first part of the cuckoo calls was effective in eliciting territorial defence. Consequently, the aberrant second note did not reduce cuckoos’ communication efficiency.
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