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Mantzana‐Oikonomaki V, Rodríguez A, Castillo‐Tamayo G, Ibáñez R, Pröhl H. Predator perception of aposematic and cryptic color morphs in two Oophaga species. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e70351. [PMID: 39355114 PMCID: PMC11442059 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.70351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2024] [Revised: 09/03/2024] [Accepted: 09/05/2024] [Indexed: 10/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Animals that are toxic often advertise their unprofitability to potential predators through bright aposematic colors while cryptic ones blend in with their natural background to avoid predators. In the poison dart frogs, Oophaga pumilio and O. granulifera, some populations in Costa Rica and Panama display cryptic green and aposematic red color morphs. We herein used reflectance spectra from the dorsum of red and green morphs of these frogs to estimate their perception by the visual systems of three potential predators (birds, lizards, and crabs) against three natural backgrounds (leaves, trunks and leaf litter). Statistical analyses revealed no strong differences in color contrast against backgrounds between the two frog species. However, strong effects of frog morph, predator, background, and their interactions were observed. When viewed against diverse backgrounds, red frogs of both Oophaga species are more color conspicuous to birds and Anoline lizards than to crabs. A strong effect of species was observed on luminance contrast. Concerning the latter, green frogs particularly in O. granulifera appear more conspicuous than red frogs, while birds perceive higher brightness contrasts than lizards or crabs. Our results further support the importance of birds and lizards as Oophaga predators and provide a first quantitative comparison of conspicuousness between these two frog species.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ariel Rodríguez
- Stiftung Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover Institut für ZoologieHannoverGermany
| | - Giselle Castillo‐Tamayo
- Centro de Investigaciones en Productos Naturales (CIPRONA) & Escuela de QuímicaUniversidad de Costa RicaSan JoséCosta Rica
| | - Roberto Ibáñez
- Smithsonian Tropical Research InstitutePanama CityPanama
| | - Heike Pröhl
- Stiftung Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover Institut für ZoologieHannoverGermany
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2
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Margetts BM, Stuart‐Fox D, Franklin AM. Red vision in animals is broadly associated with lighting environment but not types of visual task. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e10899. [PMID: 38304263 PMCID: PMC10828735 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2023] [Revised: 12/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Red sensitivity is the exception rather than the norm in most animal groups. Among species with red sensitivity, there is substantial variation in the peak wavelength sensitivity (λmax) of the long wavelength sensitive (LWS) photoreceptor. It is unclear whether this variation can be explained by visual tuning to the light environment or to visual tasks such as signalling or foraging. Here, we examine long wavelength sensitivity across a broad range of taxa showing diversity in LWS photoreceptor λmax: insects, crustaceans, arachnids, amphibians, reptiles, fish, sharks and rays. We collated a list of 161 species with physiological evidence for a photoreceptor sensitive to red wavelengths (i.e. λmax ≥ 550 nm) and for each species documented abiotic and biotic factors that may be associated with peak sensitivity of the LWS photoreceptor. We found evidence supporting visual tuning to the light environment: terrestrial species had longer λmax than aquatic species, and of these, species from turbid shallow waters had longer λmax than those from clear or deep waters. Of the terrestrial species, diurnal species had longer λmax than nocturnal species, but we did not detect any differences across terrestrial habitats (closed, intermediate or open). We found no association with proxies for visual tasks such as having red morphological features or utilising flowers or coral reefs. These results support the emerging consensus that, in general, visual systems are broadly adapted to the lighting environment and diverse visual tasks. Links between visual systems and specific visual tasks are commonly reported, but these likely vary among species and do not lead to general patterns across species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bryony M. Margetts
- School of BioSciencesThe University of MelbourneParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
| | - Devi Stuart‐Fox
- School of BioSciencesThe University of MelbourneParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
| | - Amanda M. Franklin
- School of BioSciencesThe University of MelbourneParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
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3
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Sobral G, Dubuc C, Winters S, Ruiz-Lambides A, Emery Thompson M, Maestripieri D, Milich KM. Facial and genital color ornamentation, testosterone, and reproductive output in high-ranking male rhesus macaques. Sci Rep 2024; 14:2621. [PMID: 38297064 PMCID: PMC10831099 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-52400-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Males in many vertebrate species have colorful ornaments that evolved by sexual selection. The role of androgens in the genesis and maintenance of these signals is unclear. We studied 21 adult high-ranking male rhesus macaques from nine social groups in the free-ranging population on Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico, and analyzed facial and genital skin luminance and redness, fecal androgens, rates of mating behaviors, and offspring sired. Facial and genital coloration varied in relation to age, mating behavior, reproductive success, and testosterone concentration. Our results indicate that skin coloration in high-ranking male rhesus macaques is a sexually-selected trait mediated by androgens. These results add to the growing literature on the proximate and ultimate causes of male sexual signals and highlight the need to examine how these characteristics change with age in other species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gisela Sobral
- Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Instituto de Biodiversidade e Sustentabilidade (NUPEM/UFRJ), Macaé, RJ, Brazil
| | - Constance Dubuc
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sandra Winters
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | | | | | | | - Krista M Milich
- Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
- Institute for Mind and Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
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4
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Lunn R, Baumhardt PE, Blackwell BF, Freyssinier JP, Fernández-Juricic E. Light wavelength and pulsing frequency affect avoidance responses of Canada geese. PeerJ 2023; 11:e16379. [PMID: 38025716 PMCID: PMC10668863 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Collisions between birds and aircraft cause bird mortality, economic damage, and aviation safety hazards. One proposed solution to increasing the distance at which birds detect and move away from an approaching aircraft, ultimately mitigating the probability of collision, is through onboard lighting systems. Lights in vehicles have been shown to lead to earlier reactions in some bird species but they could also generate attraction, potentially increasing the probability of collision. Using information on the visual system of the Canada goose (Branta canadensis), we developed light stimuli of high chromatic contrast to their eyes. We then conducted a controlled behavioral experiment (i.e., single-choice test) to assess the avoidance or attraction responses of Canada geese to LED lights of different wavelengths (blue, 483 nm; red, 631 nm) and pulsing frequencies (steady, pulsing at 2 Hz). Overall, Canada geese tended to avoid the blue light and move towards the red light; however, these responses depended heavily on light exposure order. At the beginning of the experiment, geese tended to avoid the red light. After further exposure the birds developed an attraction to the red light, consistent with the mere exposure effect. The response to the blue light generally followed a U-shape relationship (avoidance, attraction, avoidance) with increasing number of exposures, again consistent with the mere exposure effect, but followed by the satiation effect. Lights pulsing at 2 Hz enhanced avoidance responses under high ambient light conditions; whereas steady lights enhanced avoidance responses under dim ambient light conditions. Our results have implications for the design of lighting systems aimed at mitigating collisions between birds and human objects. LED lights in the blue portion of the spectrum are good candidates for deterrents and lights in the red portion of the spectrum may be counterproductive given the attraction effects with increasing exposure. Additionally, consideration should be given to systems that automatically modify pulsing of the light depending on ambient light intensity to enhance avoidance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan Lunn
- Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States of America
| | - Patrice E. Baumhardt
- Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States of America
| | - Bradley F. Blackwell
- United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health and Inspection Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Sandusky, OH, United States of America
| | - Jean Paul Freyssinier
- Lighting Research Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, United States of America
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5
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King J, Hemmi JM, Kelley JL. Camouflage using three-dimensional surface disruption. Biol Lett 2023; 19:20220596. [PMID: 37528728 PMCID: PMC10394419 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2022] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 08/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Disruptive markings are common in animal patterns and can provide camouflage benefits by concealing the body's true edges and/or by breaking the surface of the body into multiple depth planes. Disruptive patterns that are accentuated by high contrast borders are most likely to provide false depth cues to enhance camouflage, but studies to date have used visual detection models or humans as predators. We presented three-dimensional-printed moth-like targets to wild bird predators to determine whether: (1) three-dimensional prey with disrupted body surfaces have higher survival than three-dimensional prey with continuous surfaces, (2) two-dimensional prey with disruptive patterns or enhanced edge markings have higher survival than non-patterned two-dimensional prey. We found a survival benefit for three-dimensional prey with disrupted surfaces, and a significant effect of mean wing luminance. There was no evidence that false depth cues provided the same protective benefits as physical surface disruption in three-dimensional prey, perhaps because our treatments did not mimic the complexity of patterns found in natural animal markings. Our findings indicate that disruption of surface continuity is an important strategy for concealing a three-dimensional body shape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jemma King
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Perth, Australia
| | - Jan M. Hemmi
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Perth, Australia
- UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Perth, Australia
| | - Jennifer L. Kelley
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Perth, Australia
- UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Perth, Australia
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6
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Eliason CM, McCullough JM, Hackett SJ, Andersen MJ. Complex plumages spur rapid color diversification in kingfishers (Aves: Alcedinidae). eLife 2023; 12:83426. [PMID: 37083474 PMCID: PMC10121218 DOI: 10.7554/elife.83426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2022] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 04/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Colorful signals in nature provide some of the most stunning examples of rapid phenotypic evolution. Yet, studying color pattern evolution has been historically difficult owing to differences in perceptual ability of humans and analytical challenges with studying how complex color patterns evolve. Island systems provide a natural laboratory for testing hypotheses about the direction and magnitude of phenotypic change. A recent study found that plumage colors of island species are darker and less complex than continental species. Whether such shifts in plumage complexity are associated with increased rates of color evolution remains unknown. Here, we use geometric morphometric techniques to test the hypothesis that plumage complexity and insularity interact to influence color diversity in a species-rich clade of colorful birds-kingfishers (Aves: Alcedinidae). In particular, we test three predictions: (1) plumage complexity enhances interspecific rates of color evolution, (2) plumage complexity is lower on islands, and (3) rates of plumage color evolution are higher on islands. Our results show that more complex plumages result in more diverse colors among species and that island species have higher rates of color evolution. Importantly, we found that island species did not have more complex plumages than their continental relatives. Thus, complexity may be a key innovation that facilitates evolutionary response of individual color patches to distinct selection pressures on islands, rather than being a direct target of selection itself. This study demonstrates how a truly multivariate treatment of color data can reveal evolutionary patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chad M Eliason
- Grainger Bioinformatics Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, United States
- Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, United States
| | - Jenna M McCullough
- Department of Biology and Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, United States
| | - Shannon J Hackett
- Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, United States
| | - Michael J Andersen
- Department of Biology and Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, United States
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7
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Ontogenetic change in the effectiveness of camouflage: growth versus pattern matching in Fowler's toad. Anim Behav 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2023.01.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/19/2023]
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8
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Blount JD, Rowland HM, Mitchell C, Speed MP, Ruxton GD, Endler JA, Brower LP. The price of defence: toxins, visual signals and oxidative state in an aposematic butterfly. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20222068. [PMID: 36651049 PMCID: PMC9845971 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.2068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
In a variety of aposematic species, the conspicuousness of an individual's warning signal and the quantity of its chemical defence are positively correlated. This apparent honest signalling is predicted by resource competition models which assume that the production and maintenance of aposematic defences compete for access to antioxidant molecules that have dual functions as pigments and in protecting against oxidative damage. To test for such trade-offs, we raised monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) on different species of their milkweed host plants (Apocynaceae) that vary in quantities of cardenolides to test whether (i) the sequestration of cardenolides as a secondary defence is associated with costs in the form of oxidative lipid damage and reduced antioxidant defences; and (ii) lower oxidative state is associated with a reduced capacity to produce aposematic displays. In male monarchs conspicuousness was explained by an interaction between oxidative damage and sequestration: males with high levels of oxidative damage became less conspicuous with increased sequestration of cardenolides, whereas those with low oxidative damage became more conspicuous with increased levels of cardenolides. There was no significant effect of oxidative damage or concentration of sequestered cardenolides on female conspicuousness. Our results demonstrate a physiological linkage between the production of coloration and oxidative state, and differential costs of sequestration and signalling in monarch butterflies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan D. Blount
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Hannah M. Rowland
- Research Group Predators and Toxic Prey, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Straße 8, Jena, 07745, Germany
| | - Christopher Mitchell
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Michael P. Speed
- Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7BE, UK
| | - Graeme D. Ruxton
- School of Biology, Sir Harold Mitchell Building, Greenside Place, St Andrews, UK
| | - John A. Endler
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216, Australia
| | - Lincoln P. Brower
- Department of Biology, Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, VA 24595, USA
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9
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Mark CJ, O'Hanlon JC, Holwell GI. Camouflage in lichen moths: Field predation experiments and avian vision modelling demonstrate the importance of wing pattern elements and background for survival. J Anim Ecol 2022; 91:2358-2369. [PMID: 36169598 PMCID: PMC10092008 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2022] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Background matching is perhaps the most ubiquitous form of defensive camouflage in the animal kingdom, an adaptive strategy that relies on the visual resemblance between a prey organism and its background to promote concealment from predators. The importance of background matching has been acknowledged for over a century, yet despite its renown and apparent pervasiveness, few studies exist that have objectively quantified its occurrence and tested the functional significance of background matching in a specific animal study system. The North Island lichen moth Declana atronivea presents a fascinating system to investigate such anti-predator coloration. This species possesses high contrast black and white forewings that appear to resemble lichen. Here we assessed the contribution of background matching to the antipredator defence of D. atronivea using field predation experiments with realistic models. We found that D. atronivea coloration confers a significant survival advantage against native avian predators when on lichen backgrounds compared to bark backgrounds, with an intermediate level of predation occurring when models were near, but not on lichen. This suggests that D. atronivea wing patterns are an adaptation for background matching. We subsequently used calibrated digital photography, avian vision modelling and image analysis techniques to objectively quantify the degree of background matching exhibited by D. atronivea and assessed the contribution of different visual elements (colour, luminance and pattern) to camouflage in this species. Only the pattern elements of D. atronivea presented a close match to that of the lichen backgrounds, with both chromatic and achromatic cues found to be poor predictors of background matching in this species. This study is one of the first to integrate vision modelling, quantitative image analysis and field predation experiments using realistic models to objectively quantify the level and functional significance of background matching in a real species, and presents an ideal system for further investigating the interrelation between multiple mechanisms of camouflage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cassandra J Mark
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - James C O'Hanlon
- School of Science and Technology, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Gregory I Holwell
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
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10
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Thurley K. Naturalistic neuroscience and virtual reality. Front Syst Neurosci 2022; 16:896251. [PMID: 36467978 PMCID: PMC9712202 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2022.896251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Virtual reality (VR) is one of the techniques that became particularly popular in neuroscience over the past few decades. VR experiments feature a closed-loop between sensory stimulation and behavior. Participants interact with the stimuli and not just passively perceive them. Several senses can be stimulated at once, large-scale environments can be simulated as well as social interactions. All of this makes VR experiences more natural than those in traditional lab paradigms. Compared to the situation in field research, a VR simulation is highly controllable and reproducible, as required of a laboratory technique used in the search for neural correlates of perception and behavior. VR is therefore considered a middle ground between ecological validity and experimental control. In this review, I explore the potential of VR in eliciting naturalistic perception and behavior in humans and non-human animals. In this context, I give an overview of recent virtual reality approaches used in neuroscientific research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kay Thurley
- Faculty of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Munich, Munich, Germany
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11
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Hempel de Ibarra N, Holtze S, Bäucker C, Sprau P, Vorobyev M. The role of colour patterns for the recognition of flowers by bees. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210284. [PMID: 36058248 PMCID: PMC9441241 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Bees discriminate between many different colours of flower petals, but it is not well understood how they perceive and learn patterns frequently found in flowers with colourful structures. We used multi-spectral imaging to explore chromatic cues in concentric flower patterns as they are seen through the low-resolution eyes of the honeybee. We find a diversity of colour combinations, which suggests that plants might exploit the sensory capabilities of pollinators, like bees, that learn colours easily. A consistent feature is that the surround of the pattern has a stronger chromatic contrast to the foliage background than the centre. This can potentially facilitate the fast identification of floral objects within colourful scenes when a foraging bee moves through a flower patch. In behavioural experiments we trained and tested bees with three types of concentric patterns. They recognized and discriminated patterns accurately in most tests, relying flexibly on both chromatic and spatial cues. Only rarely, depending on the training stimulus, chromatic cues determined their choices whilst pattern cues were ignored. The variability of floral designs and the bees' flexibility in recalling colour and spatial information suggest a role for colour vision in pattern processing. Implications for the signalling strategies of flowers are discussed. This article is part of the theme issue 'Understanding colour vision: molecular, physiological, neuronal and behavioural studies in arthropods'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie Hempel de Ibarra
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Department of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
- Neurobiology, Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Susanne Holtze
- Neurobiology, Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Cornelia Bäucker
- Neurobiology, Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Philipp Sprau
- Neurobiology, Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Misha Vorobyev
- Department of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
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12
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Miller AE, Hogan BG, Stoddard MC. Color in motion: Generating 3-dimensional multispectral models to study dynamic visual signals in animals. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.983369] [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
Analyzing color and pattern in the context of motion is a central and ongoing challenge in the quantification of animal coloration. Many animal signals are spatially and temporally variable, but traditional methods fail to capture this dynamism because they use stationary animals in fixed positions. To investigate dynamic visual displays and to understand the evolutionary forces that shape dynamic colorful signals, we require cross-disciplinary methods that combine measurements of color, pattern, 3-dimensional (3D) shape, and motion. Here, we outline a workflow for producing digital 3D models with objective color information from museum specimens with diffuse colors. The workflow combines multispectral imaging with photogrammetry to produce digital 3D models that contain calibrated ultraviolet (UV) and human-visible (VIS) color information and incorporate pattern and 3D shape. These “3D multispectral models” can subsequently be animated to incorporate both signaler and receiver movement and analyzed in silico using a variety of receiver-specific visual models. This approach—which can be flexibly integrated with other tools and methods—represents a key first step toward analyzing visual signals in motion. We describe several timely applications of this workflow and next steps for multispectral 3D photogrammetry and animation techniques.
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13
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Pereira Martins AR, Martins LP, Ho W, McMillan WO, Ready JS, Barrett R. Scale-dependent environmental effects on phenotypic distributions in Heliconius butterflies. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9286. [PMID: 36177141 PMCID: PMC9471044 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2022] [Revised: 08/08/2022] [Accepted: 08/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Identifying the relative importance of different mechanisms responsible for the emergence and maintenance of phenotypic diversity can be challenging, as multiple selective pressures and stochastic events are involved in these processes. Therefore, testing how environmental conditions shape the distribution of phenotypes can offer important insights on local adaptation, divergence, and speciation. The red-yellow Müllerian mimicry ring of Heliconius butterflies exhibits a wide diversity of color patterns across the Neotropics and is involved in multiple hybrid zones, making it a powerful system to investigate environmental drivers of phenotypic distributions. Using the distantly related Heliconius erato and Heliconius melpomene co-mimics and a multiscale distribution approach, we investigated whether distinct phenotypes of these species are associated with different environmental conditions. We show that Heliconius red-yellow phenotypic distribution is strongly driven by environmental gradients (especially thermal and precipitation variables), but that phenotype and environment associations vary with spatial scale. While co-mimics are usually predicted to occur in similar environments at large spatial scales, patterns at local scales are not always consistent (i.e., different variables are best predictors of phenotypic occurrence in different locations) or congruent (i.e., co-mimics show distinct associations with environment). We suggest that large-scale analyses are important for identifying how environmental factors shape broad mimetic phenotypic distributions, but that local studies are essential to understand the context-dependent biotic, abiotic, and historical mechanisms driving finer-scale phenotypic transitions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ananda R. Pereira Martins
- Redpath MuseumMcGill UniversityMontrealQuebecCanada
- Smithsonian Tropical Research InstitutePanama CityPanama
| | - Lucas P. Martins
- School of Biological SciencesUniversity of CanterburyChristchurchNew Zealand
| | | | | | - Jonathan S. Ready
- Instituto de Ciências BiológicasUniversidade Federal do ParáBelémBrazil
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14
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Trifunović A, Pešić D, Čičević S. Experimental Study: Children's Perceptions Expressed Through Drawings and Coloring. Percept Mot Skills 2022; 129:1151-1176. [PMID: 35666521 DOI: 10.1177/00315125221104780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
A large body of literature has addressed processes underlying human perception, with some assertions that children do not perceive space or colors in the same way as adults. Since children express themselves easily and acquire knowledge through graphic symbols, when determining psycho-motor maturity and perceptions of a preschool aged children, observers must evaluate their use of non-verbal graphics. Thus, we used young children's drawings to examine their use of color and spatial perception, as well as to identify differences between children in rural and urban communities. Of 94 participants from rural and urban communities, 46 were kindergarten aged (5.5-6.5 years), and 48 were preschool aged (4.5-5.5 years). Comparing children from urban and rural areas, there were significant differences in their perception of different colors and spatial relations. Motor abilities were significantly different between children of different ages and gender. We argue that the applied assessment methods, such as children's drawings, could be a basis for measuring effective learning and practicing of children's abilities as expressed in the classroom, and that tools may be useful for creating individualized educational plans and programs for developing children's skills through play.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleksandar Trifunović
- 229817University of Belgrade, Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Dalibor Pešić
- 229817University of Belgrade, Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Svetlana Čičević
- 229817University of Belgrade, Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering, Belgrade, Serbia
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15
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Rigaill L, Vaglio S, Setchell JM, Suda-Hashimoto N, Furuichi T, Garcia C. Chemical cues of identity and reproductive status in Japanese macaques. Am J Primatol 2022; 84:e23411. [PMID: 35757843 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2022] [Revised: 04/26/2022] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Olfactory communication plays an important role in the regulation of socio-sexual interactions in mammals. There is growing evidence that both human and nonhuman primates rely on odors to inform their mating decisions. Nevertheless, studies of primate chemical ecology remain scarce due to the difficulty of obtaining and analyzing samples. We analyzed 67 urine samples from five captive female Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) and 30 vaginal swabs from three of these females using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and examined the relationship between odor (compounds identified, richness, intensity, and diversity) and female identity as well as cycle phase. We found a total of 36 urine compounds of which we identified 31, and 68 vaginal compounds of which we identified 37. Our results suggest that urine and vaginal odor varied more between individuals than within cycle phases. However, we found that within a female cycle, urine samples from similar phases may cluster more than samples from different phases. Our results suggest that female odor may encode information about identity (vaginal and urine odor) and reproductive status (urine odor). The question of how conspecifics use female urine and vaginal odor remains open and could be tested using bioassays. Our results and their interpretation are constrained by our limited sample size and our study design. Nonetheless, our study provides insight into the potential signaling role of female odor in sexual communication in Japanese macaques and contributes to our understanding of how odors may influence mating strategies in primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucie Rigaill
- EthoS (Éthologie animale et humaine), CNRS, Université de Rennes 1, Normandie Université, Rennes, France.,Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan
| | - Stefano Vaglio
- School of Sciences, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK
| | - Joanna M Setchell
- Department of Anthropology & Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Research Centre, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | - Naoko Suda-Hashimoto
- Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan
| | - Takeshi Furuichi
- Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan
| | - Cécile Garcia
- Eco-anthropologie (EA), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
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16
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Eaton MD, Benites P, Campillo L, Wilson RE, Sonsthagen SA. Gull Plumages are, and are Not, What They Appear to Human Vision. ANN ZOOL FENN 2022. [DOI: 10.5735/086.059.0116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Muir D. Eaton
- Biology Department, 2500 University Ave, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa 50310, USA
| | - Pilar Benites
- Museo de Zoología “Alfonso L. Herrera”, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-399, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
| | - Luke Campillo
- School of Life Sciences, University of Hawai'i – Mānoa, 2538 McCarthy Mall, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
| | - Robert E. Wilson
- National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 10th Street & Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20560, USA
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17
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Whitham W, Schapiro SJ, Troscianko J, Yorzinski JL. Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) gaze is conspicuous at ecologically-relevant distances. Sci Rep 2022; 12:9249. [PMID: 35661127 PMCID: PMC9166731 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-13273-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2022] [Accepted: 05/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) sclera appear much darker than the white sclera of human eyes, to such a degree that the direction of chimpanzee gaze may be concealed from conspecifics. Recent debate surrounding this topic has produced mixed results, with some evidence suggesting that (1) primate gaze is indeed concealed from their conspecifics, and (2) gaze colouration is among the suite of traits that distinguish uniquely social and cooperative humans from other primates (the cooperative eye hypothesis). Using a visual modelling approach that properly accounts for specific-specific vision, we reexamined this topic to estimate the extent to which chimpanzee eye coloration is discriminable. We photographed the faces of captive chimpanzees and quantified the discriminability of their pupil, iris, sclera, and surrounding skin. We considered biases of cameras, lighting conditions, and commercial photography software along with primate visual acuity, colour sensitivity, and discrimination ability. Our visual modeling of chimpanzee eye coloration suggests that chimpanzee gaze is visible to conspecifics at a range of distances (within approximately 10 m) appropriate for many species-typical behaviours. We also found that chimpanzee gaze is discriminable to the visual system of primates that chimpanzees prey upon, Colobus monkeys. Chimpanzee sclera colour does not effectively conceal gaze, and we discuss this result with regard to the cooperative eye hypothesis, the evolution of primate eye colouration, and methodological best practices for future primate visual ecology research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Will Whitham
- Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA. .,Department of Comparative Medicine, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Bastrop, TX, USA.
| | - Steven J Schapiro
- Department of Comparative Medicine, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Bastrop, TX, USA
| | - Jolyon Troscianko
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Jessica L Yorzinski
- Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
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18
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McCulloch KJ, Macias-Muñoz A, Mortazavi A, Briscoe AD. Multiple mechanisms of photoreceptor spectral tuning in Heliconius butterflies. Mol Biol Evol 2022; 39:6555095. [PMID: 35348742 PMCID: PMC9048915 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msac067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
The evolution of color vision is often studied through the lens of receptor gain relative to an ancestor with fewer spectral classes of photoreceptor. For instance, in Heliconius butterflies, a genus-specific UVRh opsin duplication led to the evolution of UV color discrimination in Heliconius erato females, a rare trait among butterflies. However, color vision evolution is not well understood in the context of loss. In Heliconius melpomene and Heliconius ismenius lineages, the UV2 receptor subtype has been lost, which limits female color vision in shorter wavelengths. Here, we compare the visual systems of butterflies that have either retained or lost the UV2 photoreceptor using intracellular recordings, ATAC-seq, and antibody staining. We identify several ways these butterflies modulate their color vision. In H. melpomene, chromatin reorganization has downregulated an otherwise intact UVRh2 gene, whereas in H. ismenius, pseudogenization has led to the truncation of UVRh2. In species that lack the UV2 receptor, the peak sensitivity of the remaining UV1 photoreceptor cell is shifted to longer wavelengths. Across Heliconius, we identify the widespread use of filtering pigments and co-expression of two opsins in the same photoreceptor cells. Multiple mechanisms of spectral tuning, including the molecular evolution of blue opsins, have led to the divergence of receptor sensitivities between species. The diversity of photoreceptor and ommatidial subtypes between species suggests that Heliconius visual systems are under varying selection pressures for color discrimination. Modulating the wavelengths of peak sensitivities of both the blue- and remaining UV-sensitive photoreceptor cells suggests that Heliconius species may have compensated for UV receptor loss.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyle J McCulloch
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, 321 Steinhaus Hall, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.,Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Aide Macias-Muñoz
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, 321 Steinhaus Hall, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.,Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA 93106, USA.,Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
| | - Ali Mortazavi
- Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
| | - Adriana D Briscoe
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, 321 Steinhaus Hall, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
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19
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Green NF, Guevara E, Osorio DC, Endler JA, Marshall NJ, Vorobyev M, Cheney KL. Color discrimination thresholds vary throughout color space in a reef fish (Rhinecanthus aculeatus). J Exp Biol 2022; 225:274644. [PMID: 35258087 PMCID: PMC9080749 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.243533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Animal use color vision in a range of behaviours. Visual performance is limited by thresholds, which are set by noise in photoreceptors and subsequent neural processing. The receptor noise limited (RNL) model of color discrimination is widely used for modelling color vision and accounts well for experimental data from many species. In one of the most comprehensive tests yet of color discrimination in a non-human species, we using Ishihara-style stimulus patterns to examine thresholds for 21 directions at five locations in color space for the fish Rhineacanthus aculeatus. Thresholds matched RNL model predictions most closely for stimuli near to the the achromatic point, but exceeded predictions (indicating a decline in sensitivity) with distance from this point. Thresholds were also usually higher for saturation than for hue differences. These changes in color threshold with color space location and direction may give insight into photoreceptor non-linearities and post-receptoral mechanisms of color vision in fish. Our results highlight the need for a cautious interpretation of the RNL model - especially for modelling colours that differ from one another in saturation (rather than hue), and especially for highly saturated colours distant from the achromatic point in colour space.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naomi F Green
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia.,Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Emily Guevara
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Daniel C Osorio
- School of Life Sciences, The University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QG, UK
| | - John A Endler
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Victoria, 3216, Australia
| | - N Justin Marshall
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Misha Vorobyev
- Department of Optometry and Vision Science, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
| | - Karen L Cheney
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia.,Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
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20
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Nokelainen O, Galarza JA, Kirvesoja J, Suisto K, Mappes J. Genetic colour variation visible for predators and conspecifics is concealed from humans in a polymorphic moth. J Evol Biol 2022; 35:467-478. [PMID: 35239231 PMCID: PMC9314616 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2021] [Revised: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 02/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The definition of colour polymorphism is intuitive: genetic variants express discretely coloured phenotypes. This classification is, however, elusive as humans form subjective categories or ignore differences that cannot be seen by human eyes. We demonstrate an example of a ‘cryptic morph’ in a polymorphic wood tiger moth (Arctia plantaginis), a phenomenon that may be common among well‐studied species. We used pedigree data from nearly 20,000 individuals to infer the inheritance of hindwing colouration. The evidence supports a single Mendelian locus with two alleles in males: WW and Wy produce the white and yy the yellow hindwing colour. The inheritance could not be resolved in females as their hindwing colour varies continuously with no clear link with male genotypes. Next, we investigated if the male genotype can be predicted from their phenotype by machine learning algorithms and by human observers. Linear discriminant analysis grouped male genotypes with 97% accuracy, whereas humans could only group the yy genotype. Using vision modelling, we also tested whether the genotypes have differential discriminability to humans, moth conspecifics and their bird predators. The human perception was poor separating the genotypes, but avian and moth vision models with ultraviolet sensitivity could separate white WW and Wy males. We emphasize the importance of objective methodology when studying colour polymorphism. Our findings indicate that by‐eye categorization methods may be problematic, because humans fail to see differences that can be visible for relevant receivers. Ultimately, receivers equipped with different perception than ours may impose selection to morphs hidden from human sight.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ossi Nokelainen
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.,Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Program, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki University, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Juan A Galarza
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.,Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Program, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki University, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jimi Kirvesoja
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Kaisa Suisto
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Johanna Mappes
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.,Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Program, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki University, Helsinki, Finland
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21
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Assessing male gelada chest patches: color measurement and physiological mechanisms. Mamm Biol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s42991-021-00211-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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22
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van der Kooi CJ, Kelber A. Achromatic Cues Are Important for Flower Visibility to Hawkmoths and Other Insects. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.819436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Studies on animal colour vision typically focus on the chromatic aspect of colour, which is related to the spectral distribution, and disregard the achromatic aspect, which is related to the intensity (“brightness”) of a stimulus. Although the chromatic component of vision is often most reliable for object recognition because it is fairly context independent, the achromatic component may provide a reliable signal under specific conditions, for example at night when light intensity is low. Here we make a case for the importance of achromatic cues in plant-pollinator signalling, based on experimental data on naïve Deilephila elpenor and Macroglossum stellatarum hawkmoths, optical modelling and synthesising published experiments on bees, flies, butterflies and moths. Our experiments show that in ecologically relevant light levels hawkmoths express a strong preference for brighter stimuli. Published experiments suggest that for flower-visiting bees, butterflies, moths and flies, achromatic cues may be more important for object detection than often considered. Our optical modelling enabled disentangling the contribution of pigments and scattering structures to the flower’s achromatic contrast, and illustrates how flower anatomy and background are important mediating factors. We discuss our findings in the context of the often-assumed dichotomy between detection and discrimination, chromatic versus achromatic vision, and the evolution of floral visual signals.
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23
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Lindstedt C, Bagley R, Calhim S, Jones M, Linnen C. The impact of life stage and pigment source on the evolution of novel warning signal traits. Evolution 2022; 76:554-572. [PMID: 35103303 PMCID: PMC9304160 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2021] [Accepted: 12/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Our understanding of how novel warning color traits evolve in natural populations is largely based on studies of reproductive stages and organisms with endogenously produced pigmentation. In these systems, genetic drift is often required for novel alleles to overcome strong purifying selection stemming from frequency‐dependent predation and positive assortative mating. Here, we integrate data from field surveys, predation experiments, population genomics, and phenotypic correlations to explain the origin and maintenance of geographic variation in a diet‐based larval pigmentation trait in the redheaded pine sawfly (Neodiprion lecontei), a pine‐feeding hymenopteran. Although our experiments confirm that N. lecontei larvae are indeed aposematic—and therefore likely to experience frequency‐dependent predation—our genomic data do not support a historical demographic scenario that would have facilitated the spread of an initially deleterious allele via drift. Additionally, significantly elevated differentiation at a known color locus suggests that geographic variation in larval color is currently maintained by selection. Together, these data suggest that the novel white morph likely spread via selection. However, white body color does not enhance aposematic displays, nor is it correlated with enhanced chemical defense or immune function. Instead, the derived white‐bodied morph is disproportionately abundant on a pine species with a reduced carotenoid content relative to other pine hosts, suggesting that bottom‐up selection via host plants may have driven divergence among populations. Overall, our results suggest that life stage and pigment source can have a substantial impact on the evolution of novel warning signals, highlighting the need to investigate diverse aposematic taxa to develop a comprehensive understanding of color variation in nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carita Lindstedt
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Robin Bagley
- Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 40506, USA.,Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University at Lima, Lima, OH, 45804, USA
| | - Sara Calhim
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Mackenzie Jones
- Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 40506, USA
| | - Catherine Linnen
- Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 40506, USA
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24
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Wang LY, Stuart-Fox D, Walker G, Roberts NW, Franklin AM. Insect visual sensitivity to long wavelengths enhances colour contrast of insects against vegetation. Sci Rep 2022; 12:982. [PMID: 35046431 PMCID: PMC8770459 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-04702-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2021] [Accepted: 12/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The sensitivity of animal photoreceptors to different wavelengths of light strongly influence the perceived visual contrast of objects in the environment. Outside of the human visual wavelength range, ultraviolet sensitivity in many species provides important and behaviourally relevant visual contrast between objects. However, at the opposite end of the spectrum, the potential advantage of red sensitivity remains unclear. We investigated the potential benefit of long wavelength sensitivity by modelling the visual contrast of a wide range of jewel beetle colours against flowers and leaves of their host plants to hypothetical insect visual systems. We find that the presence of a long wavelength sensitive photoreceptor increases estimated colour contrast, particularly of beetles against leaves. Moreover, under our model parameters, a trichromatic visual system with ultraviolet (λmax = 355 nm), short (λmax = 445 nm) and long (λmax = 600 nm) wavelength photoreceptors performed as well as a tetrachromatic visual system, which had an additional medium wavelength photoreceptor (λmax = 530 nm). When we varied λmax for the long wavelength sensitive receptor in a tetrachromatic system, contrast values between beetles, flowers and leaves were all enhanced with increasing λmax from 580 nm to at least 640 nm. These results suggest a potential advantage of red sensitivity in visual discrimination of insect colours against vegetation and highlight the potential adaptive value of long wavelength sensitivity in insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lu-Yi Wang
- School of Biosciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia.
| | - Devi Stuart-Fox
- School of Biosciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Geoff Walker
- School of Biosciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Nicholas W Roberts
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Amanda M Franklin
- School of Biosciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
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25
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Yu L, Xu X, Li F, Zhou W, Zeng H, Tan EJ, Zhang S, Li D. From crypsis to masquerade: Ontogeny changes the colour defences of a crab spider hiding as bird droppings. Funct Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Long Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering & Centre for Behavioural Ecology & Evolution School of Life Sciences Hubei University Wuhan China
| | - Xin Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering & Centre for Behavioural Ecology & Evolution School of Life Sciences Hubei University Wuhan China
- School of Life Sciences Hunan Normal University Changsha China
| | - Fan Li
- State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering & Centre for Behavioural Ecology & Evolution School of Life Sciences Hubei University Wuhan China
- Department of Biological Sciences National University of Singapore Singapore
- College of Life Sciences University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
| | - Wei Zhou
- Department of Biological Sciences National University of Singapore Singapore
| | - Hua Zeng
- State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research Peking‐Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies Peking University Beijing China
| | | | - Shichang Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering & Centre for Behavioural Ecology & Evolution School of Life Sciences Hubei University Wuhan China
| | - Daiqin Li
- Department of Biological Sciences National University of Singapore Singapore
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26
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Wuthrich KL, Nagel A, Swierk L. Rapid Body Color Change Provides Lizards with Facultative Crypsis in the Eyes of Their Avian Predators. Am Nat 2021; 199:277-290. [DOI: 10.1086/717678] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kelly Lin Wuthrich
- Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University, State University of New York, Binghamton, New York 13902
| | - Amber Nagel
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 73019
| | - Lindsey Swierk
- Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University, State University of New York, Binghamton, New York 13902
- School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511; and Amazon Conservatory for Tropical Studies, Iquitos, Loreto 16001, Perú
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27
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Nahmad-Rohen L, Vorobyev M. Angular dependence of polarisation contrast sensitivity in octopus. Vision Res 2021; 192:107973. [PMID: 34906788 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2021.107973] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2021] [Revised: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 11/24/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Cephalopod photoreceptors are polarisation-sensitive, giving them an ability to discriminate between lights of different angle and degree of polarisation. While colour vision is achieved by comparison of signals of photoreceptors tuned to different parts of light spectra, polarisation vision is achieved by comparison of signals of photoreceptors tuned to different orientations of e-vector. Therefore, from a theoretical point of view, polarisation vision is similar to colour vision. In particular, detection of polarised light against an unpolarised background is analogous to detection of chromatic light against grey. The dependence of polarisation contrast sensitivity on the angle of polarisation can be theoretically predicted using a receptor noise limited model in much the same way as it has been done for predicting the shape of the increment threshold spectral sensitivity in animals with colour vision. Here we report angular dependence of polarisation contrast sensitivity in octopus (O. tetricus, Gould 1852) and compare the theoretical predictions of polarisation contrast with the experimental results. Polarisation gratings were generated using LCD screens with removed polarisers and the orientation of polarisation was changed by rotating the screen. Reaction to the stimulus was recorded using a fixation reflex. We show that, in agreement with the theoretical predictions, the maximum contrast sensitivity is achieved at horizontal and vertical orientations of polarisation. Our results demonstrate that the dependence of polarisation contrast sensitivity on the angle of polarisation can be analysed in the same way as the dependence of colour thresholds on wavelength of monochromatic light added to a grey background.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Nahmad-Rohen
- Leigh Marine Laboratory, Institute of Marine Science, University of Auckland, Leigh, Auckland 0985, New Zealand
| | - Misha Vorobyev
- Optometry and Vision Science, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Grafton, Auckland 1023, New Zealand.
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28
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Influence of moon and clouds on night illumination in two different spectral ranges. Sci Rep 2021; 11:20642. [PMID: 34667243 PMCID: PMC8526603 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-98060-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2021] [Accepted: 09/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The variable brightness of the night sky affects plants as well as animals and humans. However, knowledge about this variability is still insufficient. Outstanding questions regarding how significant the influence of the moon, clouds, and artificial lighting remain. To be able to make statements about these effects, measurements over a long period of time are necessary. Fraunhofer IOSB performs such measurements in the 380-780 nm photopic visual and 800-1700 nm shortwave infrared spectral range. As the latter is only marginally affected by artificial lighting, a comparison of the two bands deepens insight into the influence of artificial lighting. First analyses show that the moon is, as expected, the dominant light source in the night sky, especially during a full moon. Illuminance values up to 200 mlx and irradiance values up to 600 µW/m2 were measured in the visible and infrared respectively. The influence of clouds is more complicated. The measured intensities depend, among other things, on cloud cover and cloud altitude. When the night sky is overcast, the measured intensities can drop as low as 0.5 mlx and 0.5 µW/m2, respectively. These small values were measured during rainfall. The influence of artificial illumination is difficult to estimate, as intensities in the shortwave infrared decrease with increasing cloud cover, but increase in the visual.
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29
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Günther A, Dedek K, Haverkamp S, Irsen S, Briggman KL, Mouritsen H. Double Cones and the Diverse Connectivity of Photoreceptors and Bipolar Cells in an Avian Retina. J Neurosci 2021; 41:5015-5028. [PMID: 33893221 PMCID: PMC8197639 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2495-20.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2020] [Revised: 03/03/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Double cones are the most common photoreceptor cell type in most avian retinas, but their precise functions remain a mystery. Among their suggested functions are luminance detection, polarized light detection, and light-dependent, radical pair-based magnetoreception. To better understand the function of double cones, it will be crucial to know how they are connected to the neural network in the avian retina. Here we use serial sectioning, multibeam scanning electron microscopy to investigate double-cone anatomy and connectivity with a particular focus on their contacts to other photoreceptor and bipolar cells in the chicken retina. We found that double cones are highly connected to neighboring double cones and with other photoreceptor cells through telodendria-to-terminal and telodendria-to-telodendria contacts. We also identified 15 bipolar cell types based on their axonal stratifications, photoreceptor contact pattern, soma position, and dendritic and axonal field mosaics. Thirteen of these 15 bipolar cell types contacted at least one or both members of the double cone. All bipolar cells were bistratified or multistratified. We also identified surprising contacts between other cone types and between rods and cones. Our data indicate a much more complex connectivity network in the outer plexiform layer of the avian retina than originally expected.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Like in humans, vision is one of the most important senses for birds. Here, we present the first serial section multibeam scanning electron microscopy dataset from any bird retina. We identified many previously undescribed rod-to-cone and cone-to-cone connections. Surprisingly, of the 15 bipolar cell types we identified, 11 received input from rods and 13 of 15 received at least part of their input from double cones. Therefore, double cones seem to play many different and important roles in avian retinal processing, and the neural network and thus information processing in the outer retina are much more complex than previously expected. These fundamental findings will be very important for several fields of science, including vertebrate vision, avian magnetoreception, and comparative neuroanatomy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anja Günther
- Neurosensorics/Animal Navigation, Institute for Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Karin Dedek
- Neurosensorics/Animal Navigation, Institute for Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
- Research Center for Neurosensory Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Silke Haverkamp
- Department of Computational Neuroethology, Center of Advanced European Studies and Reasearch (caesar), 53175 Bonn, Germany
| | - Stephan Irsen
- Electron Microscopy and Analytics, Center of Advanced European Studies and Research (caesar), 53175 Bonn, Germany
| | - Kevin L Briggman
- Department of Computational Neuroethology, Center of Advanced European Studies and Reasearch (caesar), 53175 Bonn, Germany
| | - Henrik Mouritsen
- Neurosensorics/Animal Navigation, Institute for Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
- Research Center for Neurosensory Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
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30
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Risau-Gusman S. Color discrimination properties arising from optimal decoding in the early stages of visual systems. J Theor Biol 2021; 526:110773. [PMID: 34033813 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2021.110773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2020] [Revised: 05/13/2021] [Accepted: 05/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
In order to interpret animal behavior we need to understand how they see the world. As directly testing color discrimination in animals is difficult and time consuming, it is important to develop theoretical models based in the properties of visual systems. One of the most successful for the prediction of color discrimination behavior is the receptor noise-limited (RNL) model, which depends only on the level of noise in photoreceptors and opponent mechanisms. Here a complementary approach to model construction is used, and optimal color discrimination properties are obtained using information theoretical tools, for the early stages of visual systems. It is shown here that, for most biologically relevant conditions the optimal discrimination function of an ideal observer coincides with the one obtained with the RNL model. Furthermore, within this framework the influence of opponency can be studied by considering models with and without that mechanism but with exactly the same parameters at the level of photoreceptors. As an example, it is shown here that opponency is necessary to explain the discrimination of monochromatic stimuli in honeybees, but not in budgerigars. Since this is a consequence of the narrowing of absorption spectra of photoreceptors, produced by the presence of oil droplets, this could also be true for most other species of birds. This suggests that in order to study opponency in birds, stimuli should have a relatively wide spectrum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastián Risau-Gusman
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas and Department of Medical Physics, Centro Atómico Bariloche, San Carlos de Bariloche, 8400 Río Negro, Argentina.
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31
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Torres MDM, Viladrich LJ, Naretto S. Role of coloration in antipredator strategies of Pristidactylus achalensis (Squamata: Leiosauridae) related to sex and stages of predation. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blab012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The interaction between behavioural and phenotypic traits, such as coloration, plays a specific role at different stages of the predatory sequence. Cryptic coloration involves a match to the background that reduces the risk of detection, and it is usually optimized by immobility behaviour. In lizards, sexual dichromatism and within-individual changes of colour can influence the level of their crypsis and thus influence antipredator behaviour and the decision to flee. Here, we examined variation in coloration and antipredator behaviour between the sexes of the Achala copper lizard (Pristidactylus achalensis). We measured sexual dichromatism and crypsis in accordance with avian vision. We also exposed lizards to a raptor dummy to assess the colour change and behaviour at the detection and approach stages of the predatory event. Finally, we tested escape behaviour in the natural habitat. We found that males were more conspicuous than females. Additionally, individuals showed distinct behaviours at different stages of the predation simulation, but there were no differences between the sexes. However, in their natural habitat males initiated flight at greater distances than females, which might be related to their more conspicuous coloration. In summary, this study shows how differences in crypsis between the sexes affect escape behaviour during the approach stage of predation.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Del Milagro Torres
- Laboratorio de Biología del Comportamiento, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Vélez Sarsfield 299, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Leonel Jeremías Viladrich
- Laboratorio de Biología del Comportamiento, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Vélez Sarsfield 299, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Sergio Naretto
- Laboratorio de Biología del Comportamiento, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Vélez Sarsfield 299, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (IDEA), Av. Vélez Sarsfield 299, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina
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32
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Cueva Del Castillo R, González-Zertuche M, Ramírez-Delgado VH. Interpopulation variation in sexual dichromatism in the Neotropical grasshopper Sphenarium purpurascens (Orthoptera: Pyrgomorphidae). Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blaa227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Abstract
Cryptic coloration is an adaptative defensive mechanism against predators. Colour patterns appear cryptic through general background coloration matching or disruptive coloration. Disruptive coloration might evolve in visually heterogeneous microhabitats, whereas background matching could be favoured in chromatically homogeneous microhabitats. In this study, we used digital photography to explore the potential use of disruptive coloration and background matching in males and females of the Neotropical grasshopper Sphenarium purpurascens in different habitats. We found chromatic differences in three habitats and sexual dichromatism that might be explained by local adaptation. Although females and males were sexually dichromatic, interpopulation differences were found in the magnitude of the sexual dichromatism. In a highly contrasting environment, both males and females seemed to follow a disruptive strategy, whereas in a heterogeneous environments males and females followed different colour cryptic strategies, in which males were more disruptive than females, and females exhibited high background matching with fewer disruptive elements. Selective predation in different microhabitats and differences in mobility between the sexes might explain the colour pattern divergence between females and males.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raúl Cueva Del Castillo
- UBIPRO, Laboratorio de Ecología, FES Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 314, Tlalnepantla, Estatado de México, CP, Mexico
| | - Miguel González-Zertuche
- UBIPRO, Laboratorio de Ecología, FES Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 314, Tlalnepantla, Estatado de México, CP, Mexico
| | - Víctor Hugo Ramírez-Delgado
- UBIPRO, Laboratorio de Ecología, FES Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 314, Tlalnepantla, Estatado de México, CP, Mexico
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Higham JP, Kimock CM, Mandalaywala TM, Heistermann M, Cascio J, Petersdorf M, Winters S, Allen WL, Dubuc C. Female ornaments: is red skin color attractive to males and related to condition in rhesus macaques? Behav Ecol 2021; 32:236-247. [PMID: 33814977 PMCID: PMC7995641 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/araa121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2019] [Revised: 10/05/2020] [Accepted: 10/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Sexual selection produces extravagant male traits, such as colorful ornaments, via female mate choice. More rarely, in mating systems in which males allocate mating effort between multiple females, female ornaments may evolve via male mate choice. Females of many anthropoid primates exhibit ornaments that indicate intraindividual cyclical fertility, but which have also been proposed to function as interindividual quality signals. Rhesus macaque females are one such species, exhibiting cyclical facial color variation that indicates ovulatory status, but in which the function of interindividual variation is unknown. We collected digital images of the faces of 32 rhesus macaque adult females. We assessed mating rates, and consortship by males, according to female face coloration. We also assessed whether female coloration was linked to physical (skinfold fat, body mass index) or physiological (fecal glucocorticoid metabolite [fGCM], urinary C-peptide concentrations) condition. We found that redder-faced females were mated more frequently, and consorted for longer periods by top-ranked males. Redder females had higher fGCM concentrations, perhaps related to their increased mating activity and consequent energy mobilization, and blood flow. Prior analyses have shown that female facial redness is a heritable trait, and that redder-faced females have higher annual fecundity, while other evidence suggests that color expression is likely to be a signal rather than a cue. Collectively, the available evidence suggests that female coloration has evolved at least in part via male mate choice. Its evolution as a sexually selected ornament attractive to males is probably attributable to the high female reproductive synchrony found in this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- James P Higham
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA
| | - Clare M Kimock
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA
| | - Tara M Mandalaywala
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, 135 Hicks Way/Tobin Hall, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA
| | - Michael Heistermann
- Endocrinology Laboratory, German Primate Research Center (DPZ), Kellnerweg, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Julie Cascio
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA
| | - Megan Petersdorf
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sandra Winters
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA
| | - William L Allen
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA
| | - Constance Dubuc
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA
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Liénard MA, Bernard GD, Allen A, Lassance JM, Song S, Childers RR, Yu N, Ye D, Stephenson A, Valencia-Montoya WA, Salzman S, Whitaker MRL, Calonje M, Zhang F, Pierce NE. The evolution of red color vision is linked to coordinated rhodopsin tuning in lycaenid butterflies. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e2008986118. [PMID: 33547236 PMCID: PMC8017955 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2008986118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Color vision has evolved multiple times in both vertebrates and invertebrates and is largely determined by the number and variation in spectral sensitivities of distinct opsin subclasses. However, because of the difficulty of expressing long-wavelength (LW) invertebrate opsins in vitro, our understanding of the molecular basis of functional shifts in opsin spectral sensitivities has been biased toward research primarily in vertebrates. This has restricted our ability to address whether invertebrate Gq protein-coupled opsins function in a novel or convergent way compared to vertebrate Gt opsins. Here we develop a robust heterologous expression system to purify invertebrate rhodopsins, identify specific amino acid changes responsible for adaptive spectral tuning, and pinpoint how molecular variation in invertebrate opsins underlie wavelength sensitivity shifts that enhance visual perception. By combining functional and optophysiological approaches, we disentangle the relative contributions of lateral filtering pigments from red-shifted LW and blue short-wavelength opsins expressed in distinct photoreceptor cells of individual ommatidia. We use in situ hybridization to visualize six ommatidial classes in the compound eye of a lycaenid butterfly with a four-opsin visual system. We show experimentally that certain key tuning residues underlying green spectral shifts in blue opsin paralogs have evolved repeatedly among short-wavelength opsin lineages. Taken together, our results demonstrate the interplay between regulatory and adaptive evolution at multiple Gq opsin loci, as well as how coordinated spectral shifts in LW and blue opsins can act together to enhance insect spectral sensitivity at blue and red wavelengths for visual performance adaptation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marjorie A Liénard
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02142;
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Gary D Bernard
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
| | - Andrew Allen
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02142
| | - Jean-Marc Lassance
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Siliang Song
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Richard Rabideau Childers
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Nanfang Yu
- Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027
| | - Dajia Ye
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Adriana Stephenson
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Wendy A Valencia-Montoya
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Shayla Salzman
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Melissa R L Whitaker
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | | | - Feng Zhang
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02142
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cambridge, MA 02139
| | - Naomi E Pierce
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
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36
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Yoda S, Sakakura K, Kitamura T, KonDo Y, Sato K, Ohnuki R, Someya I, Komata S, Kojima T, Yoshioka S, Fujiwara H. Genetic switch in UV response of mimicry-related pale-yellow colors in Batesian mimic butterfly, Papilio polytes. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:7/2/eabd6475. [PMID: 33523992 PMCID: PMC7793577 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd6475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2020] [Accepted: 11/18/2020] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
In a Batesian mimic butterfly Papilio polytes, mimetic females resemble an unpalatable model, Pachliopta aristolochiae, but exhibit a different color pattern from nonmimetic females and males. In particular, the pale-yellow region on hind wings, which correspondingly sends important putative signals for mimicry and mate preference, is different in shape and chemical features between nonmimetic and mimetic morphs. Recently, we found that mimetic-type doublesex [dsx (H)] causes mimetic traits; however, the control of dimorphic pale-yellow colors remains unclear. Here, we revealed that dsx (H) switched the pale-yellow colors from UV-excited fluorescent type (nonmimetic) to UV-reflecting type (mimetic), by repressing the papiliochrome II synthesis genes and nanostructural changes in wing scales. Photoreceptor reactivities showed that some birds and butterflies could effectively recognize mimetic and nonmimetic pale-yellow colors, suggesting that a genetic switch in the UV response of pale-yellow colors may play essential roles in establishing the dimorphic female-limited Batesian mimicry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shinichi Yoda
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8562, Japan
| | - Kousuke Sakakura
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8562, Japan
| | - Tasuku Kitamura
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8562, Japan
| | - Yûsuke KonDo
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8562, Japan
| | - Kazuki Sato
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamazaki, Noda 278-8510, Japan
| | - Ryosuke Ohnuki
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamazaki, Noda 278-8510, Japan
| | - Itsuki Someya
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8562, Japan
| | - Shinya Komata
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8562, Japan
| | - Tetsuya Kojima
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8562, Japan
| | - Shinya Yoshioka
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamazaki, Noda 278-8510, Japan
| | - Haruhiko Fujiwara
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8562, Japan.
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Imada Y. Moss mimesis par excellence: integrating previous and new data on the life history and larval ecomorphology of long-bodied craneflies (Diptera: Cylindrotomidae: Cylindrotominae). Zool J Linn Soc 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Different physical structures play a central role in animal camouflage. However, in evolutionary studies of mimicry, the ecological and evolutionary significance of such structures has been poorly investigated. Larvae of long-bodied craneflies, Cylindrotominae, are all obligate herbivores and resemble plants. They are distinctively characterized by possessing numerous elongated cuticular lobes on the integument. A comprehensive overview of the biology and morphology of cylindrotomids, particularly their larval stages, is laid out, providing original data on nine species. To explore the ecological background of moss resemblance, host-plants of most examined species are clarified, revealing that terrestrial moss-feeding species tend to use specific groups of mosses, either belonging to Bryales or Hypnales. However, the evolution of cryptic forms remains paradoxical, due to the apparent absence of visual predators. Based on histological examinations, extensive internal musculatures within the cuticular lobes on the lateral side are discovered, shedding new light on their function in locomotion. Traditional functional explanations for these lobes, particularly as devices for respiration, locomotion and attachment, are challenged. This study promotes our understanding of the ecomorphology of mimicry devices, which is an angle often dismissed in evolutionary studies of mimicry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yume Imada
- Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ehime University, Bunkyo-cho, Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan
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38
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Caves EM, Green PA, Zipple MN, Bharath D, Peters S, Johnsen S, Nowicki S. Comparison of Categorical Color Perception in Two Estrildid Finches. Am Nat 2020; 197:190-202. [PMID: 33523788 DOI: 10.1086/712379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
AbstractSensory systems are predicted to be adapted to the perception of important stimuli, such as signals used in communication. Prior work has shown that female zebra finches perceive the carotenoid-based orange-red coloration of male beaks-a mate choice signal-categorically. Specifically, females exhibited an increased ability to discriminate between colors from opposite sides of a perceptual category boundary than equally different colors from the same side of the boundary. The Bengalese finch, an estrildid finch related to the zebra finch, is black, brown, and white, lacking carotenoid coloration. To explore the relationship between categorical color perception and signal use, we tested Bengalese finches using the same orange-red continuum as in zebra finches, and we also tested how both species discriminated among colors differing systematically in hue and brightness. Unlike in zebra finches, we found no evidence of categorical perception of an orange-red continuum in Bengalese finches. Instead, we found that the combination of chromatic distance (hue difference) and Michelson contrast (difference in brightness) strongly correlated with color discrimination ability on all tested color pairs in Bengalese finches. The pattern was different in zebra finches: this strong correlation held when discriminating between colors from different categories but not when discriminating between colors from within the same category. These experiments suggest that categorical perception is not a universal feature of avian-or even estrildid finch-vision. Our findings also provide further insights into the mechanism underlying categorical perception and are consistent with the hypothesis that categorical perception is adapted for signal perception.
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Color as an important biological variable in zebrafish models: Implications for translational neurobehavioral research. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 124:1-15. [PMID: 33359096 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.12.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2020] [Revised: 07/05/2020] [Accepted: 12/15/2020] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Color is an important environmental factor that in multiple ways affects human and animal behavior and physiology. Widely used in neuroscience research, various experimental (animal) models may help improve our understanding of how different colors impact brain and behavioral processes. Complementing laboratory rodents, the zebrafish (Danio rerio) is rapidly emerging as an important novel model species to explore complex neurobehavioral processes. The growing utility of zebrafish in biomedicine makes it timely to consider the role of colors in their behavioral and physiological responses. Here, we summarize mounting evidence implicating colors as a critical variable in zebrafish models and neurobehavioral traits, with a particular relevance to CNS disease modeling, genetic and pharmacological modulation, as well as environmental enrichment and animal welfare. We also discuss the growing value of zebrafish models to study color neurobiology and color-related neurobehavioral phenomics, and outline future directions of research in this field.
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Olsson P, Johnsson RD, Foster JJ, Kirwan JD, Lind O, Kelber A. Chicken colour discrimination depends on background colour. J Exp Biol 2020; 223:jeb209429. [PMID: 33097569 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.209429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2019] [Accepted: 10/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
How well can a bird discriminate between two red berries on a green background? The absolute threshold of colour discrimination is set by photoreceptor noise, but animals do not perform at this threshold; their performance can depend on additional factors. In humans and zebra finches, discrimination thresholds for colour stimuli depend on background colour, and thus the adaptive state of the visual system. We have tested how well chickens can discriminate shades of orange or green presented on orange or green backgrounds. Chickens discriminated slightly smaller colour differences between two stimuli presented on a similarly coloured background, compared with a background of very different colour. The slope of the psychometric function was steeper when stimulus and background colours were similar but shallower when they differed markedly, indicating that background colour affects the certainty with which the animals discriminate the colours. The effect we find for chickens is smaller than that shown for zebra finches. We modelled the response to stimuli using Bayesian and maximum likelihood estimation and implemented the psychometric function to estimate the effect size. We found that the result is independent of the psychophysical method used to evaluate the effect of experimental conditions on choice performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Olsson
- Department of Biology, Lund University, 223 62 Lund, Sweden
| | | | - James J Foster
- Department of Biology, Lund University, 223 62 Lund, Sweden
| | - John D Kirwan
- Department of Biology, Lund University, 223 62 Lund, Sweden
| | - Olle Lind
- Department of Philosophy, Lund University, 223 62 Lund, Sweden
| | - Almut Kelber
- Department of Biology, Lund University, 223 62 Lund, Sweden
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Yeager J, Barnett JB. Ultraviolet components offer minimal contrast enhancement to an aposematic signal. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:13576-13582. [PMID: 33391663 PMCID: PMC7771128 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2020] [Revised: 09/23/2020] [Accepted: 09/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Aposematic and sexual signals are often characterized by bright, highly contrasting colors. Many species can see colors beyond the human visible spectrum, and ultraviolet (UV) reflection has been found to play an important role in communication and sexual selection. However, the role of UV in aposematic signals is poorly explored. Poison frogs frequently produce high-contrast signals that have been linked to both aposematism and intraspecific communication. Yet despite considerable efforts studying interspecific and intraspecific diversity in color, poison frogs are not known to perceive UV, and UV reflection of the integument has not been described. We report UV-reflective spots in a population of Oophaga sylvatica and quantify the effect of UV on visual contrast with models of avian vision. We found that the frogs are highly contrasting, but UV had a minimal effect on signal saliency. These data highlight the importance of considering UV reflectance within aposematic signals, but that UV should not necessarily be regarded as an independent signal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin Yeager
- Biodiversidad Medio Ambiente y SaludUniversidad de Las AméricasQuitoEcuador
| | - James B. Barnett
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & BehaviourMcMaster UniversityHamiltonONCanada
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42
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Goedert D, Clement D, Calsbeek R. Evolutionary trade‐offs may interact with physiological constraints to maintain color variation. ECOL MONOGR 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/ecm.1430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Debora Goedert
- Department of Biological Sciences Dartmouth College Hanover03755 New Hampshire USA
- Ministry of Education of Brazil CAPES Foundation Brasília DF95616Brazil
| | - Dale Clement
- Department of Biological Sciences Dartmouth College Hanover03755 New Hampshire USA
| | - Ryan Calsbeek
- Department of Biological Sciences Dartmouth College Hanover03755 New Hampshire USA
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43
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Isherwood ZJ, Joyce DS, Parthasarathy MK, Webster MA. Plasticity in perception: insights from color vision deficiencies. Fac Rev 2020; 9:8. [PMID: 33659940 PMCID: PMC7886061 DOI: 10.12703/b/9-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Inherited color vision deficiencies typically result from a loss or alteration of the visual photopigments absorbing light and thus impact the very first step of seeing. There is growing interest in how subsequent steps in the visual pathway might be calibrated to compensate for the altered receptor signals, with the possibility that color coding and color percepts might be less severely impacted than the receptor differences predict. These compensatory adjustments provide important insights into general questions about sensory plasticity and the sensory and cognitive processes underlying how we experience color.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Daniel S Joyce
- Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
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44
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Hsiao YT, Chen TC, Yu PH, Huang DS, Hu FR, Chuong CM, Chang FC. Connectivity between nidopallium caudolateral and visual pathways in color perception of zebra finches. Sci Rep 2020; 10:19382. [PMID: 33168854 PMCID: PMC7653952 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-76542-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2020] [Accepted: 10/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Researchers demonstrated an elegant ability for red discrimination in zebra finches. It is interested to understand whether red activates exhibit much stronger response than other colors in neural network levels. To reveal the question, local field potentials (LFPs) was recorded and analyzed in two visual pathways, the thalamofugal and the tectofugal pathways, of zebra finches. Human studies demonstrate visual associated telencephalons communicate with higher order brain areas such as prefrontal cortex. The present study determined whether a comparable transmission occurs in zebra finches. Telencephalic regions of the thalamofugal (the visual Wulst) and the tectofugal pathway (the entopallium) with their higher order telencephalon, nidopallium caudolateral (NCL) were simultaneously recorded. LFPs of relay nuclei (the nucleus rotundus, ROT) of tectofugal pathway were also acquired. We demonstrated that LFP powers in the tectofugal pathway were higher than those in the thalamofugal pathway when illuminating blue lights. In addition, the LFP synchronization was stronger between the entopallium and NCL. LFPs also revealed a higher Granger causality from the direction of entopallium to NCL and from ROT to entopallium. These results suggest that zebra finches' tectofugal pathway predominately processing color information from ROT to NCL, relayed by entopallium, and blue could trigger the strongest response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi-Tse Hsiao
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Ta-Ching Chen
- Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
- Research Center for Developmental Biology and Regenerative Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Pin-Huan Yu
- Institute of Veterinary Clinical Science, School of Veterinary Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Ding-Siang Huang
- Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Fung-Rong Hu
- Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Cheng-Ming Chuong
- Department of Pathology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Fang-Chia Chang
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
- Graduate Institute of Brain and Mind Sciences, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
- Graduate Institute of Acupuncture Science, College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
- Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
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45
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van den Berg CP, Hollenkamp M, Mitchell LJ, Watson EJ, Green NF, Marshall NJ, Cheney KL. More than noise: context-dependent luminance contrast discrimination in a coral reef fish ( Rhinecanthus aculeatus). J Exp Biol 2020; 223:jeb232090. [PMID: 32967998 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.232090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2020] [Accepted: 09/11/2020] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Achromatic (luminance) vision is used by animals to perceive motion, pattern, space and texture. Luminance contrast sensitivity thresholds are often poorly characterised for individual species and are applied across a diverse range of perceptual contexts using over-simplified assumptions of an animal's visual system. Such thresholds are often estimated using the receptor noise limited model (RNL). However, the suitability of the RNL model to describe luminance contrast perception remains poorly tested. Here, we investigated context-dependent luminance discrimination using triggerfish (Rhinecanthus aculeatus) presented with large achromatic stimuli (spots) against uniform achromatic backgrounds of varying absolute and relative contrasts. 'Dark' and 'bright' spots were presented against relatively dark and bright backgrounds. We found significant differences in luminance discrimination thresholds across treatments. When measured using Michelson contrast, thresholds for bright spots on a bright background were significantly higher than for other scenarios, and the lowest threshold was found when dark spots were presented on dark backgrounds. Thresholds expressed in Weber contrast revealed lower thresholds for spots darker than their backgrounds, which is consistent with the literature. The RNL model was unable to estimate threshold scaling across scenarios as predicted by the Weber-Fechner law, highlighting limitations in the current use of the RNL model to quantify luminance contrast perception. Our study confirms that luminance contrast discrimination thresholds are context dependent and should therefore be interpreted with caution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cedric P van den Berg
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Michelle Hollenkamp
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Laurie J Mitchell
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Erin J Watson
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Naomi F Green
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - N Justin Marshall
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Karen L Cheney
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
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46
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Visual Design Cues Impacting Food Choice: A Review and Future Research Agenda. Foods 2020; 9:foods9101495. [PMID: 33086720 PMCID: PMC7589873 DOI: 10.3390/foods9101495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2020] [Revised: 10/08/2020] [Accepted: 10/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
This review aims to tackle the challenge of understanding how visual design cues can affect behavioural outcomes in a food context. The review answers two key questions: (1) What are the effects of the most important visual design cues on behavioural outcomes and how can they be explained? (2) What are the research gaps in this area? We start from a comprehensive taxonomy of visual design cues delineating the most important visual design cues. Next, we evaluate the extant research based on a structured, narrative literature review on visual design cues in the food domain. We differentiate between object processed and spatially processed visual design cues in food choice contexts and show how they affect behavioural outcomes through a range of psychological processes (attention, affective-, cognitive- and motivational reactions, food perceptions and attitudes). We end with recommendations which take into account the current food store context, the state-of-art in measuring psychological processes and behavioural outcomes and the specific food-, person- and context-related moderators. This review offers guidance for research to untangle the complexity of the effect of visual design cues in a food choice context.
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47
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Stoddard MC, Eyster HN, Hogan BG, Morris DH, Soucy ER, Inouye DW. Wild hummingbirds discriminate nonspectral colors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:15112-15122. [PMID: 32541035 PMCID: PMC7334476 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1919377117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Many animals have the potential to discriminate nonspectral colors. For humans, purple is the clearest example of a nonspectral color. It is perceived when two color cone types in the retina (blue and red) with nonadjacent spectral sensitivity curves are predominantly stimulated. Purple is considered nonspectral because no monochromatic light (such as from a rainbow) can evoke this simultaneous stimulation. Except in primates and bees, few behavioral experiments have directly examined nonspectral color discrimination, and little is known about nonspectral color perception in animals with more than three types of color photoreceptors. Birds have four color cone types (compared to three in humans) and might perceive additional nonspectral colors such as UV+red and UV+green. Can birds discriminate nonspectral colors, and are these colors behaviorally and ecologically relevant? Here, using comprehensive behavioral experiments, we show that wild hummingbirds can discriminate a variety of nonspectral colors. We also show that hummingbirds, relative to humans, likely perceive a greater proportion of natural colors as nonspectral. Our analysis of plumage and plant spectra reveals many colors that would be perceived as nonspectral by birds but not by humans: Birds' extra cone type allows them not just to see UV light but also to discriminate additional nonspectral colors. Our results support the idea that birds can distinguish colors throughout tetrachromatic color space and indicate that nonspectral color perception is vital for signaling and foraging. Since tetrachromacy appears to have evolved early in vertebrates, this capacity for rich nonspectral color perception is likely widespread.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary Caswell Stoddard
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544;
- Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, CO 81224
| | - Harold N Eyster
- Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, CO 81224
- Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Benedict G Hogan
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
- Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, CO 81224
| | - Dylan H Morris
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
| | - Edward R Soucy
- Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - David W Inouye
- Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, CO 81224
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742
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48
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Variation in carotenoid-containing retinal oil droplets correlates with variation in perception of carotenoid coloration. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-020-02874-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
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49
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Nadal-Nicolás FM, Kunze VP, Ball JM, Peng BT, Krishnan A, Zhou G, Dong L, Li W. True S-cones are concentrated in the ventral mouse retina and wired for color detection in the upper visual field. eLife 2020; 9:e56840. [PMID: 32463363 PMCID: PMC7308094 DOI: 10.7554/elife.56840] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2020] [Accepted: 05/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Color, an important visual cue for survival, is encoded by comparing signals from photoreceptors with different spectral sensitivities. The mouse retina expresses a short wavelength-sensitive and a middle/long wavelength-sensitive opsin (S- and M-opsin), forming opposing, overlapping gradients along the dorsal-ventral axis. Here, we analyzed the distribution of all cone types across the entire retina for two commonly used mouse strains. We found, unexpectedly, that 'true S-cones' (S-opsin only) are highly concentrated (up to 30% of cones) in ventral retina. Moreover, S-cone bipolar cells (SCBCs) are also skewed towards ventral retina, with wiring patterns matching the distribution of true S-cones. In addition, true S-cones in the ventral retina form clusters, which may augment synaptic input to SCBCs. Such a unique true S-cone and SCBC connecting pattern forms a basis for mouse color vision, likely reflecting evolutionary adaptation to enhance color coding for the upper visual field suitable for mice's habitat and behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco M Nadal-Nicolás
- Retinal Neurophysiology Section, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of HealthBethesdaUnited States
| | - Vincent P Kunze
- Retinal Neurophysiology Section, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of HealthBethesdaUnited States
| | - John M Ball
- Retinal Neurophysiology Section, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of HealthBethesdaUnited States
| | - Brian T Peng
- Retinal Neurophysiology Section, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of HealthBethesdaUnited States
| | - Akshay Krishnan
- Retinal Neurophysiology Section, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of HealthBethesdaUnited States
| | - Gaohui Zhou
- Retinal Neurophysiology Section, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of HealthBethesdaUnited States
| | - Lijin Dong
- Genetic Engineering Facility, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of HealthBethesdaUnited States
| | - Wei Li
- Retinal Neurophysiology Section, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of HealthBethesdaUnited States
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50
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Didion JE, Smith K, Layne JE. Modifying twisted nematic LCD screens to create dichromatic visual stimuli with LEDs. Methods Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.13375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jeremiah E. Didion
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Cincinnati Cincinnati OH USA
| | - Karleigh Smith
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Cincinnati Cincinnati OH USA
| | - John E. Layne
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Cincinnati Cincinnati OH USA
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