1
|
Hensley NM, Rivers TJ, Gerrish GA, Saha R, Oakley TH. Collective synchrony of mating signals modulated by ecological cues and social signals in bioluminescent sea fireflies. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20232311. [PMID: 38018106 PMCID: PMC10685132 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2311] [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: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Individuals often employ simple rules that can emergently synchronize behaviour. Some collective behaviours are intuitively beneficial, but others like mate signalling in leks occur across taxa despite theoretical individual costs. Whether disparate instances of synchronous signalling are similarly organized is unknown, largely due to challenges observing many individuals simultaneously. Recording field collectives and ex situ playback experiments, we describe principles of synchronous bioluminescent signals produced by marine ostracods (Crustacea; Luxorina) that seem behaviorally convergent with terrestrial fireflies, and with whom they last shared a common ancestor over 500 Mya. Like synchronous fireflies, groups of signalling males use visual cues (intensity and duration of light) to decide when to signal. Individual ostracods also modulate their signal based on the distance to nearest neighbours. During peak darkness, luminescent 'waves' of synchronous displays emerge and ripple across the sea floor approximately every 60 s, but such periodicity decays within and between nights after the full moon. Our data reveal these bioluminescent aggregations are sensitive to both ecological and social light sources. Because the function of collective signals is difficult to dissect, evolutionary convergence, like in the synchronous visual displays of diverse arthropods, provides natural replicates to understand the generalities that produce emergent group behaviour.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicholai M. Hensley
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9620, USA
| | - Trevor J. Rivers
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66405, USA
| | - Gretchen A. Gerrish
- Center for Limnology, Trout Lake Station, University of Wisconsin, Boulder Junction, Madison, WI 54512, USA
| | - Raj Saha
- Roux Institute, Northeastern University, Portland, ME 04101, USA
| | - Todd H. Oakley
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9620, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Greenfield MD, Aihara I, Amichay G, Anichini M, Nityananda V. Rhythm interaction in animal groups: selective attention in communication networks. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200338. [PMID: 34420386 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Animals communicating interactively with conspecifics often time their broadcasts to avoid overlapping interference, to emit leading, as opposed to following, signals or to synchronize their signalling rhythms. Each of these adjustments becomes more difficult as the number of interactants increases beyond a pair. Among acoustic species, insects and anurans generally deal with the problem of group signalling by means of 'selective attention' in which they focus on several close or conspicuous neighbours and ignore the rest. In these animals, where signalling and receiving are often dictated by sex, the process of selective attention in signallers may have a parallel counterpart in receivers, which also focus on close neighbours. In birds and mammals, local groups tend to be extended families or clans, and group signalling may entail complex timing mechanisms that allow for attention to all individuals. In general, the mechanisms that allow animals to communicate in groups appear to be fully interwoven with the basic process of rhythmic signalling. This article is part of the theme issue 'Synchrony and rhythm interaction: from the brain to behavioural ecology'.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michael D Greenfield
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA.,Equipe Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle, ENES/Neuro-PSI, CNRS UMR 9197, University of Lyon/Saint-Etienne, 42023 Saint Etienne, France
| | - Ikkyu Aihara
- Faculty of Engineering, Information and Systems, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8573, Japan
| | - Guy Amichay
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78467 Konstanz, Germany.,Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany.,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Marianna Anichini
- Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg Institute for Advanced Study, 'Brain' Research Area, 27753 Delmenhorst, Germany.,Animal Physiology and Behavior Group, Department of Neuroscience, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Vivek Nityananda
- Biosciences Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Henry Wellcome Building, Framlington Place, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Perez DM, Crisigiovanni EL, Pie MR, Rorato AC, Lopes SR, Araujo SBL. Ecology and signal structure drive the evolution of synchronous displays. Evolution 2019; 74:434-446. [PMID: 31503329 DOI: 10.1111/evo.13841] [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] [Received: 03/13/2019] [Revised: 08/27/2019] [Accepted: 08/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Animal synchrony is found in phylogenetically distant animal groups, indicating behavioral adaptations to different selective pressures and in different signaling modalities. A notable example of synchronous display is found in fiddler crabs in that males wave their single enlarged claw during courtship. They present species-specific signals, which are composed of distinctive movement signatures. Given that synchronous waving has been reported for several fiddler crab species, the display pattern could influence the ability of a given species to sufficiently adjust wave timing to allow for synchrony. In this study, we quantified the wave displays of fiddler crabs to predict their synchronous behavior. We combined this information with the group's phylogenetic relationships to trace the evolution of display synchrony in an animal taxon. We found no phylogenetic signal in interspecific variation in predicted wave synchrony, which mirrors the general nonphylogenetic pattern of synchrony across animal taxa. Interestingly, our analyses show that the phenomenon of synchronization stems from the peculiarities of display pattern, mating systems, and the complexity of microhabitats. This is the first study to combine mathematical simulations and phylogenetic comparative methods to reveal how ecological factors and the mechanics of animal signals affect the evolution of the synchronous phenomena.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniela M Perez
- Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
| | - Enzo L Crisigiovanni
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, 81531-990, Brazil.,Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, 81531, Brazil
| | - Marcio R Pie
- Departamento de Zoologia, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, 81531, Brazil
| | - Ana C Rorato
- Earth System Science Center, National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, SP, 12227, Brazil
| | - Sergio R Lopes
- Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, 81531, Brazil
| | - Sabrina B L Araujo
- Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, 81531, Brazil.,Laboratório de Ecologia e Evolução de Interações, Biological Interactions, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, 81531, Brazil
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Bogoni JA, Navarro AB, Graipel ME, Peroni N. Modeling the frugivory of a plant with inconstant productivity and solid interaction with relictual vertebrate biota. Ecol Modell 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2019.108728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
|
5
|
Perez DM, Backwell PRY. Selection for conspicuous visual signals in a fiddler crab. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-019-2670-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
|
6
|
Backwell PRY. Synchronous waving in fiddler crabs: a review. Curr Zool 2018; 65:83-88. [PMID: 30697243 PMCID: PMC6347057 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoy053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2018] [Accepted: 06/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Many animals that use acoustic communication synchronize their mate attraction signals: individuals precisely time their calls to overlap those of their neighbors. In contrast, synchrony in the mate attraction displays of species with visual/motion-based signals is rare. It has only been documented in five species of fiddler crabs. In all of them, small groups of males wave their single large claw in close synchrony. Here, I review what we know about synchrony in fiddler crabs, comparing the five species with each other to determine whether similar mechanisms and functions are common to all. I also propose future research questions that, if answered, would shed light on synchronous behavior in both visual and acoustic signallers.
Collapse
|
7
|
Rorato AC, Araujo SB, Perez DM, Pie MR. Social cues affect synchronization of male waving displays in a fiddler crab (Crustacea: Ocypodidae). Anim Behav 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.02.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
|
8
|
Peer N, Miranda NAF, Perissinotto R. A review of fiddler crabs (genusUcaLeach, 1814) in South Africa. AFRICAN ZOOLOGY 2015. [DOI: 10.1080/15627020.2015.1055700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
|
9
|
Halupka K. Spreading information in a network of interacting neighbours. PLoS One 2014; 9:e102801. [PMID: 25036106 PMCID: PMC4103867 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0102801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2014] [Accepted: 06/24/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Dispersed individuals can coordinate the onset of life history events, like reproduction or migration, on a large (population) spatial scale. However, the mechanism of this synchronisation has not yet been identified. In many species signals produced by one individual stimulate signalling activity of immediate neighbours. I propose that such local focuses of signalling could transform into waves propagating in space. This hypothesis predicts that signalling self-organizes into bursts, because neighbours tend to enter activity and refractory periods together. Temporal characteristics of such pulses should be more similar in locations proximate to one another than in distant ones. Finally, denser populations should produce relatively more complex wave patterns, since the number of propagating waves is proportional to the number of individuals. These predictions were tested in an analysis of time series of numbers of territorial songs in chaffinches, Fringilla coelebs, and the results supported the hypothesis. Time series of singing activity had memory of their past states: they were autoregressive processes with spectra in which low frequency oscillations predominated. The degree of similarity in two synchronously sampled time series, measured as a Euclidean distance between their spectra, decreased with the increasing physical distance of sampling spots and the number of signalling males. It is concluded that networks of interacting neighbours may integrate populations synchronising life cycles of dispersed individuals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Konrad Halupka
- Department of Behavioural Ecology, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|