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Porzio NS, Crottini A, Leite RN, Mota PG. Song determined by phylogeny and body mass in two differently constrained groups of birds: manakins and cardinals. BMC Ecol Evol 2024; 24:109. [PMID: 39160456 PMCID: PMC11331619 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-024-02298-z] [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: 03/19/2024] [Accepted: 08/01/2024] [Indexed: 08/21/2024] Open
Abstract
The songs of birds are complex signals that may have several functions and vary widely among species. Different ecological, behavioural and morphological factors, as well as phylogeny, have been associated as predictors of the evolution of song structure. However, the importance of differences in development, despite their relevance, has seldom been considered. Here, we analysed the evolution of song in two families of songbirds that differ in song development, manakins (suboscines) and cardinals (oscines), with their phylogeny, morphology, and ecology. Our results show that song characteristics had higher phylogenetic signal in cardinals than in manakins, suggesting higher evolutionary lability in the suboscines. Body mass was the main predictor of song parameters in manakins, and together with habitat type, had a major effect on cardinals' song structure. Precipitation and altitude were also associated with some song characteristics in cardinals. Our results bring unexpected insights into birdsong evolution, in which non-learners (manakins) revealed greater evolutionary lability than song learners (cardinals).
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Affiliation(s)
- Natália S Porzio
- Departamento de Ciências da Vida, Faculdade de Ciências E Tecnologia, Universidade de Coimbra, 3000-456, Coimbra, Portugal.
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação Em Biodiversidade E Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade Do Porto, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal.
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal.
| | - Angelica Crottini
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação Em Biodiversidade E Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade Do Porto, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade Do Porto, Rua Do Campo Alegre S/N, 4169- 007, Porto, Portugal
| | - Rafael N Leite
- Graduate Program in Genetics, Conservation and Evolutionary Biology, National Institute for Amazonian Research, Manaus, AM, Brazil
| | - Paulo G Mota
- Departamento de Ciências da Vida, Faculdade de Ciências E Tecnologia, Universidade de Coimbra, 3000-456, Coimbra, Portugal
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação Em Biodiversidade E Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade Do Porto, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal
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2
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Machkour-M’Rabet S, Santamaría-Rivero W, Dzib-Chay A, Torres Cristiani L, MacKinnon-Haskins B. Multi-character approach reveals a new mangrove population of the Yellow Warbler complex, Setophaga petechia, on Cozumel Island, Mexico. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0287425. [PMID: 37347741 PMCID: PMC10287016 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The Setophaga petechia complex includes 43 subspecies distributed within the new world, of which some are migratory and others are resident, with only two resident subspecies in the Mexican Caribbean: Setophaga petechia bryanti a mangrove subspecies belonging to the erithachorides group resident on the mainland of the Yucatan Peninsula and Setophaga petechia rufivertex endemic to Cozumel Island and belonging to the petechia group. Recently, a new population of individuals presenting intermediate phenotypic traits and living in mangrove ecosystems was discovered and reported for Cozumel Island. In this study, we used a multi-character approach including genetic (five ISSR genetic markers), morphometric (eight traits), phenotypic (four characteristics of males), and acoustic dataset (11 parameters) to understand the process of differentiation and the status of these new island individuals in relation to the two well-established subspecies using a total of 60 individuals (20 for each group). Through multivariate analyses based on different dataset used in our study, we show how the new population is related to the endemic island subspecies, S. p. rufivertex and to the mainland subspecies, S. p. bryanti while demonstrating finite differences. We conclude that the new population of S. petechia on Cozumel Island is a well-established population with high level of differentiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salima Machkour-M’Rabet
- Laboratorio de Ecología Molecular y Conservación, Departamento de Conservación de la Biodiversidad, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), Chetumal, Quintana Roo, México
| | | | | | - Leopoldo Torres Cristiani
- Laboratorio de Ecología Molecular y Conservación, Departamento de Conservación de la Biodiversidad, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), Chetumal, Quintana Roo, México
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3
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Healy SD. Adding the neuro to cognition: from food storing to nest building. Anim Cogn 2023; 26:249-260. [PMID: 36482117 PMCID: PMC9876861 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01725-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2022] [Revised: 11/18/2022] [Accepted: 11/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Typically, investigations of animal cognition couple careful experimental manipulations with examination of the animal's behavioural responses. Sometimes those questions have included attempts to describe the neural underpinnings of the behavioural outputs. Over the past 25 years, behaviours that involve spatial learning and memory (such as navigation and food storing) has been one context in which such dual or correlated investigations have been both accessible and productive. Here I review some of that work and where it has led. Because of the wealth of data and insights gained from that work and song learning before it, it seems that it might also be useful to try to add some neurobiology to other systems in animal cognition. I finish then, with a description of recent work on the cognition and neurobiology of avian nest building. It is still relatively early days but asking questions about the cognition of nest building has already shown both neural correlates of nest building and that learning and memory play a much greater role in this behaviour than previously considered. While it is not yet clear how putting these components together will be synergistic, the examples of song learning and food storing provide encouragement. Perhaps this might be true for other behaviours too?
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan D Healy
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9TH, UK.
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4
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Freeman BG, Rolland J, Montgomery GA, Schluter D. Faster evolution of a premating reproductive barrier is not associated with faster speciation rates in New World passerine birds. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20211514. [PMID: 34982949 PMCID: PMC8727149 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.1514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2021] [Accepted: 12/07/2021] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Why are speciation rates so variable across the tree of life? One hypothesis is that this variation is explained by how rapidly reproductive barriers evolve. We tested this hypothesis by conducting a comparative study of the evolution of bird song, a premating barrier to reproduction. Speciation in birds is typically initiated when geographically isolated (allopatric) populations evolve reproductive barriers. We measured the strength of song as a premating barrier between closely related allopatric populations by conducting 2339 field experiments to measure song discrimination for 175 taxon pairs of allopatric or parapatric New World passerine birds, and estimated recent speciation rates from molecular phylogenies. We found evidence that song discrimination is indeed an important reproductive barrier: taxon pairs with high song discrimination in allopatry did not regularly interbreed in parapatry. However, evolutionary rates of song discrimination were not associated with recent speciation rates. Evolutionary rates of song discrimination were also unrelated to latitude or elevation, but species with innate song (suboscines) evolved song discrimination much faster than species with learned song (oscines). We conclude that song is a key premating reproductive barrier in birds, but faster evolution of this reproductive barrier between populations does not consistently result in faster diversification between species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin G. Freeman
- Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada V6T1Z4
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada V6T1Z4
| | - Jonathan Rolland
- Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada V6T1Z4
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada V6T1Z4
- CNRS, UMR5174, Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, Université Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, Bâtiment 4R1, 118 Route de Narbonne, Toulouse 31062, France
| | - Graham A. Montgomery
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Dolph Schluter
- Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada V6T1Z4
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada V6T1Z4
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5
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Abstract
Birds are our best models to understand vocal learning – a vocal production ability guided by auditory feedback, which includes human language. Among all vocal learners, songbirds have the most diverse life histories, and some aspects of their vocal learning ability are well-known, such as the neural substrates and vocal control centers, through vocal development studies. Currently, species are classified as either vocal learners or non-learners, and a key difference between the two is the development period, extended in learners, but short in non-learners. But this clear dichotomy has been challenged by the vocal learning continuum hypothesis. One way to address this challenge is to examine both learners and canonical non-learners and determine whether their vocal development is dichotomous or falls along a continuum. However, when we examined the existing empirical data we found that surprisingly few species have their vocal development periods documented. Furthermore, we identified multiple biases within previous vocal development studies in birds, including an extremely narrow focus on (1) a few model species, (2) oscines, (3) males, and (4) songs. Consequently, these biases may have led to an incomplete and possibly erroneous conclusions regarding the nature of the relationships between vocal development patterns and vocal learning ability. Diversifying vocal development studies to include a broader range of taxa is urgently needed to advance the field of vocal learning and examine how vocal development patterns might inform our understanding of vocal learning.
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7
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Freeman BG, Pennell MW. The latitudinal taxonomy gradient. Trends Ecol Evol 2021; 36:778-786. [PMID: 34074540 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2021] [Revised: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 05/06/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Emerging large-scale datasets coupled with statistical advances have provided new insights into the processes that generate the latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG). But many of these studies run into an old, if often underappreciated, problem: The interpretation of the data critically depends on the consistent application of criteria to define what constitutes a species. This is particularly pernicious for the LDG because good species have been easier to recognize in temperate than in tropical regions. We provide evidence that this latitudinal taxonomy gradient exists, discuss how this potentially impacts inferences about latitudinal variation in ecoevolutionary processes such as population differentiation and speciation, and provide a roadmap for how to mitigate taxonomic biases in the study of biodiversity patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin G Freeman
- Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6T1Z4; Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
| | - Matthew W Pennell
- Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6T1Z4; Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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8
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Mentesana L, Adreani NM. Acute aggressive behavior perturbates the oxidative status of a wild bird independently of testosterone and progesterone. Horm Behav 2021; 128:104913. [PMID: 33316269 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2020] [Revised: 10/30/2020] [Accepted: 12/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Aerobically demanding activities like aggression can lead to an elevated oxidative metabolism affecting the concentration of pro-oxidant and antioxidant compounds and can result in an overall perturbation of the oxidative status. Aggression may also alter the oxidative status indirectly through an increase in testosterone and progesterone concentrations. Given that changes in the oxidative status could represent a physiological cost of aggression, we tested the hypothesis that acute conspecific aggression impairs the oxidative status and evaluated the role of testosterone and progesterone as potential mediators. To achieve this, we experimentally manipulated the aggressive behavior of wild female and male birds and measured the concentrations of pro-oxidants, enzymatic- and non-enzymatic antioxidants, testosterone and progesterone in blood. After 20 min of conspecific aggressive behavior, both sexes had lower concentrations of non-enzymatic antioxidants than control individuals. This effect was independent of testosterone and progesterone concentrations, and much stronger in females than in males. Further, only in females (but not in males) being more aggressive came at the expense of lower antioxidant concentration. We provide the first experimental evidence that acute aggressive behavior perturbates the oxidative state of a wild vertebrate independently of testosterone and progesterone, with potential ecological and evolutionary implications given the role of the redox system in shaping life-history traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia Mentesana
- Evolutionary Physiology Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany.
| | - Nicolas M Adreani
- Department of Behavioural Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany; Konrad Lorenz Research Centre for Behavioural and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Grünau im Almtal, Austria
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9
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Garcia M, Theunissen F, Sèbe F, Clavel J, Ravignani A, Marin-Cudraz T, Fuchs J, Mathevon N. Evolution of communication signals and information during species radiation. Nat Commun 2020; 11:4970. [PMID: 33009414 PMCID: PMC7532446 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18772-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2020] [Accepted: 09/09/2020] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Communicating species identity is a key component of many animal signals. However, whether selection for species recognition systematically increases signal diversity during clade radiation remains debated. Here we show that in woodpecker drumming, a rhythmic signal used during mating and territorial defense, the amount of species identity information encoded remained stable during woodpeckers' radiation. Acoustic analyses and evolutionary reconstructions show interchange among six main drumming types despite strong phylogenetic contingencies, suggesting evolutionary tinkering of drumming structure within a constrained acoustic space. Playback experiments and quantification of species discriminability demonstrate sufficient signal differentiation to support species recognition in local communities. Finally, we only find character displacement in the rare cases where sympatric species are also closely related. Overall, our results illustrate how historical contingencies and ecological interactions can promote conservatism in signals during a clade radiation without impairing the effectiveness of information transfer relevant to inter-specific discrimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxime Garcia
- Equipe Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle ENES/CRNL, CNRS, INSERM, University of Lyon/Saint-Etienne, Saint-Étienne, France.
- Animal Behaviour, Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland.
| | - Frédéric Theunissen
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, USA
- Department of Psychology and Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, USA
| | - Frédéric Sèbe
- Equipe Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle ENES/CRNL, CNRS, INSERM, University of Lyon/Saint-Etienne, Saint-Étienne, France
| | - Julien Clavel
- Institut de Biologie de l'École Normale Supérieure, CNRS, INSERM, École Normale Supérieure, Paris Sciences et Lettres Research University, Paris, France
- University of Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, ENTPE, UMR 5023 LEHNA, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Andrea Ravignani
- Comparative Bioacoustics Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, 6525 XD, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Thibaut Marin-Cudraz
- Equipe Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle ENES/CRNL, CNRS, INSERM, University of Lyon/Saint-Etienne, Saint-Étienne, France
| | - Jérôme Fuchs
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité ISYEB, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Paris, France
| | - Nicolas Mathevon
- Equipe Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle ENES/CRNL, CNRS, INSERM, University of Lyon/Saint-Etienne, Saint-Étienne, France.
- Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France.
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10
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Mentesana L, Moiron M, Guedes E, Cavalli E, Tassino B, Adreani NM. Defending as a unit: sex- and context-specific territorial defence in a duetting bird. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-020-02891-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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11
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Lack of consistent responses to aircraft noise in dawn song timing of bird populations near tropical airports. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-020-02865-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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12
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Marie-Orleach L, Sanz AM, Bailey NW, Ritchie MG. Does the response of D. melanogaster males to intrasexual competitors influence sexual isolation? Behav Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arz209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
AbstractThe evolutionary consequences of phenotypic plasticity are debated. For example, reproductive barriers between incipient species can depend on the social environment, but most evidence for this comes from studies focusing on the effects of experiencing heterospecific individuals of the opposite sex. In Drosophila melanogaster, males are well known to invest strategically in ejaculate components and show different courtship behavior when reared in the presence of male competitors. It is unknown whether such plasticity in response to same-sex social experience influences sexual isolation, so we tested this using African and cosmopolitan lines, which show partial sexual isolation. Males were housed in social isolation, with homopopulation, or with heteropopulation male partners. We then measured their mating success, latency, and duration, their paternity share, and female remating success. Isolated males copulated for a shorter duration than males housed with any male partners. However, we found no difference in any measure between homopopulation or heteropopulation treatments. Our findings suggest that the male intrasexual competitive social environment does not strongly influence sexual isolation in D. melanogaster, and that plastic effects on reproductive isolation may be influenced more strongly by the experience of social isolation than by the composition of individuals within different social environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas Marie-Orleach
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom
- Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- CNRS, Université de Rennes 1, ECOBIO (Écosystèmes, Biodiversité, Évolution)—UMR 6553, Rennes, France
| | - Annui M Sanz
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom
| | - Nathan W Bailey
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom
| | - Michael G Ritchie
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom
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13
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Weir JT, Price TD. Song playbacks demonstrate slower evolution of song discrimination in birds from Amazonia than from temperate North America. PLoS Biol 2019; 17:e3000478. [PMID: 31639139 PMCID: PMC6804960 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2019] [Accepted: 09/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Genetic data indicate differences in speciation rate across latitudes, but underlying causes have been difficult to assess because a critical phase of the speciation process is initiated in allopatry, in which, by definition, individuals from different taxa do not interact. We conducted song playback experiments between 109 related pairs of mostly allopatric bird species or subspecies in Amazonia and North America to compare the rate of evolution of male discrimination of songs. Relative to local controls, the number of flyovers and approach to the speaker were higher in Amazonia. We estimate that responses to songs of relatives are being lost about 6 times more slowly in Amazonia than in North America. The slow loss of response holds even after accounting for differences in song frequency and song length. Amazonian species with year-round territories are losing aggressive responses especially slowly. We suggest the presence of many species and extensive interspecific territoriality favors recognition of songs sung by sympatric heterospecifics, which results in a broader window of recognition and hence an ongoing response to novel similar songs. These aggressive responses should slow the establishment of sympatry between recently diverged forms. If male responses to novel allopatric taxa reflect female responses, then premating reproductive isolation is also evolving more slowly in Amazonia. The findings are consistent with previously demonstrated slower recent rates of expansion of sister taxa into sympatry, slower rates of evolution of traits important for premating isolation, and slower rates of speciation in general in Amazonia than in temperate North America.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason T. Weir
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada
- * E-mail:
| | - Trevor D. Price
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
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14
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Porter CK, Benkman CW. Character displacement of a learned behaviour and its implications for ecological speciation. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20190761. [PMID: 31362636 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.0761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Cultural evolution may accelerate population divergence and speciation, though most support for this hypothesis is restricted to scenarios of allopatric speciation driven by random cultural drift. By contrast, the role of cultural evolution in non-allopatric speciation (i.e. speciation with gene flow) has received much less attention. One clade in which cultural evolution may have figured prominently in speciation with gene flow includes the conifer-seed-eating finches in the red crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) complex. Here we focus on Cassia crossbills (Loxia sinesciuris; an ecotype recently split taxonomically from red crossbills) that learn social contact calls from their parents. Previous work found that individuals modify their calls throughout life such that they become increasingly divergent from a closely related, sympatric red crossbill ecotype. This open-ended modification of calls could lead to character displacement if it causes population-level divergence in call structure that, in turn, reduces (maladaptive) heterospecific flocking. Heterospecific flocking is maladaptive because crossbills use public information from flockmates to assess resource quality, and feeding rates are depressed when flockmates differ in their ability to exploit a shared resource (i.e. when flockmates are heterospecifics). We confirm the predictions of character displacement by documenting substantial population-level divergence in Cassia crossbill call structure over just two decades and by using field experiments to demonstrate that Cassia and red crossbills differentially respond to these evolved differences in call structure, reducing heterospecific flock formation. Moreover, because crossbills choose mates from within flocks, a reduction in heterospecific flocking should increase assortative mating and may have been critical for speciation of Cassia crossbills in the face of ongoing gene flow in as few as 5000 years. Our results provide evidence for a largely neglected yet potentially widespread mechanism by which reproductive isolation can evolve between sympatric lineages as a byproduct of adaptive cultural evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cody K Porter
- Program in Ecology, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 East University Avenue, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
| | - Craig W Benkman
- Program in Ecology, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 East University Avenue, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
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15
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Macedo G, Silva M, Amaral FRD, Maldonado-Coelho M. Symmetrical discrimination despite weak song differentiation in 2 suboscine bird sister species. Behav Ecol 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arz066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Song mediates territorial competition and mate choice in birds and population divergence in this signal can have important evolutionary consequences. For example, divergent songs can act in specific recognition and limit gene flow and, hence, have a fundamental role on the origin and/or integrity of evolutionary lineages. Especially interesting systems to test the role of song in specific recognition are species pairs that present small structural differences in this signal. Here, we perform song play-back experiments on males of a long-diverged sister pair of Neotropical Suboscine species, the squamate antbird (Myrmoderus squamosus) and the white-bibbed antbird (Myrmoderus loricatus), which occur in parapatry in the Atlantic Forest and that overlap extensively in song variation. Previous evidence indicates that genetic introgression between these species is either absent or negligible, suggesting that vocal discrimination or other mechanisms function as effective barriers to gene flow. Our results show that responses to heterospecific songs were symmetrical and intermediary compared with responses to conspecific songs in both species. A stronger response to conspecific territorial songs suggests that conspecific individuals pose greater competitive threat than heterospecifics. An important implication of our study is that even small song differences can play an important role in specific recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Macedo
- Instituto de Ciências Ambientais, Químicas e Farmacêuticas, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Diadema, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Marco Silva
- SAVE Brasil, BirdLife International, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Fábio Raposo do Amaral
- Instituto de Ciências Ambientais, Químicas e Farmacêuticas, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Diadema, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Marcos Maldonado-Coelho
- Instituto de Ciências Ambientais, Químicas e Farmacêuticas, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Diadema, São Paulo, Brazil
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16
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Louder MIM, Lawson S, Lynch KS, Balakrishnan CN, Hauber ME. Neural mechanisms of auditory species recognition in birds. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2019; 94:1619-1635. [PMID: 31066222 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2018] [Revised: 04/12/2019] [Accepted: 04/15/2019] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Auditory communication in humans and other animals frequently takes place in noisy environments with many co-occurring signallers. Receivers are thus challenged to rapidly recognize salient auditory signals and filter out irrelevant sounds. Most bird species produce a variety of complex vocalizations that function to communicate with other members of their own species and behavioural evidence broadly supports preferences for conspecific over heterospecific sounds (auditory species recognition). However, it remains unclear whether such auditory signals are categorically recognized by the sensory and central nervous system. Here, we review 53 published studies that compare avian neural responses between conspecific versus heterospecific vocalizations. Irrespective of the techniques used to characterize neural activity, distinct nuclei of the auditory forebrain are consistently shown to be repeatedly conspecific selective across taxa, even in response to unfamiliar individuals with distinct acoustic properties. Yet, species-specific neural discrimination is not a stereotyped auditory response, but is modulated according to its salience depending, for example, on ontogenetic exposure to conspecific versus heterospecific stimuli. Neuromodulators, in particular norepinephrine, may mediate species recognition by regulating the accuracy of neuronal coding for salient conspecific stimuli. Our review lends strong support for neural structures that categorically recognize conspecific signals despite the highly variable physical properties of the stimulus. The available data are in support of a 'perceptual filter'-based mechanism to determine the saliency of the signal, in that species identity and social experience combine to influence the neural processing of species-specific auditory stimuli. Finally, we present hypotheses and their testable predictions, to propose next steps in species-recognition research into the emerging model of the neural conceptual construct in avian auditory recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew I M Louder
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, U.S.A
| | - Shelby Lawson
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, U.S.A
| | - Kathleen S Lynch
- Department of Biology, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY 11759, U.S.A
| | | | - Mark E Hauber
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, U.S.A
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17
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Provost KL, Mauck WM, Smith BT. Genomic divergence in allopatric Northern Cardinals of the North American warm deserts is linked to behavioral differentiation. Ecol Evol 2018; 8:12456-12478. [PMID: 30619558 PMCID: PMC6309012 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.4596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2018] [Revised: 09/06/2018] [Accepted: 09/07/2018] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Biogeographic barriers are considered important in initiating speciation through geographic isolation, but they rarely indiscriminately and completely reduce gene flow across entire communities. Explicitly demonstrating which factors are associated with gene-flow levels across barriers would help elucidate how speciation is initiated and isolation maintained. Here, we investigated the association of behavioral isolation on population differentiation in Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) distributed across the Cochise Filter Barrier, a region of transitional habitat which separates the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts of North America. Using genomewide markers, we modeled demographic history by fitting the data to isolation and isolation-with-migration models. The best-fit model indicated that desert populations diverged in the Pleistocene with low, historic, and asymmetric gene flow across the barrier. We then tested behavioral isolation using reciprocal call-broadcast experiments to compare song recognition between deserts, controlling for song dialect changes within deserts. We found that male Northern Cardinals in both deserts were most aggressive to local songs and failed to recognize across-barrier songs. A correlation of genomic differentiation and strong song discrimination is consistent with a model where speciation is initiated across a barrier and maintained by behavioral isolation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaiya L. Provost
- Department of OrnithologyAmerican Museum of Natural HistoryNew YorkNew York
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental BiologyColumbia UniversityNew YorkNew York
- Richard Gilder Graduate SchoolAmerican Museum of Natural HistoryNew YorkNew York
| | - William M. Mauck
- Department of OrnithologyAmerican Museum of Natural HistoryNew YorkNew York
- Present address:
New York Genome CenterNew YorkNew York
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18
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Subspecies status and methods explain strength of response to local versus foreign song by oscine birds in meta-analysis. Anim Behav 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.05.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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