1
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De Padova J, Anderson NK, Halbauer R, Preininger D, Fuxjager MJ. Acute hypoxia exposure rapidly triggers behavioral changes linked to cutaneous gas exchange in Lake Titicaca frogs. Behav Processes 2024:105047. [PMID: 38762053 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2024.105047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2023] [Revised: 03/07/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 05/20/2024]
Abstract
Ventilation is critical to animal life-it ensures that individuals move air/water across their respiratory surface, and thus it sustains gas exchange with the environment. Many species have evolved highly specialized (if not unusual) ventilatory mechanisms, including the use of behavior to facilitate different aspects of breathing. However, these behavioral traits are often only described anecdotally, and the ecological conditions that elicit them are typically unclear. We study one such "ventilation behavior" in Lake Titicaca frogs (Telmatobius culeus). These frogs inhabit high-altitude (i.e., low oxygen) lakes in the Andean Mountains of South America, and they have become textbook examples of cutaneous gas exchange, which is essentially breathing that occurs across the skin. Accordingly, this species has evolved large, baggy skin-folds that dangle from the body to increase the surface area for ventilation. We show that individuals exposed to acute hypoxic conditions that mirror what free-living individuals likely encounter quickly (within minutes) decrease their activity levels, and thus become very still. If oxygen levels continue to decline, the frogs soon begin to perform push-up behaviors that presumably break the low-oxygen boundary layer around skin-folds to increase the conductance of the water/skin gas exchange pathway. Altogether, we suspect that individuals rapidly adjust aspects of their behavior in response to seemingly sudden changes to the oxygen environment as a mechanism to fine tune cutaneous respiration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan De Padova
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 02912 USA
| | - Nigel K Anderson
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 02912 USA
| | | | - Doris Preininger
- Vienna Zoo, Vienna, Austria; Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Austria
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 02912 USA.
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2
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Mangiamele LA, Dawn A, LeCure KM, Mantica GE, Racicot R, Fuxjager MJ, Preininger D. How new communication behaviors evolve: Androgens as modifiers of neuromotor structure and function in foot-flagging frogs. Horm Behav 2024; 161:105502. [PMID: 38382227 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2024.105502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2023] [Revised: 12/08/2023] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
How diverse animal communication signals have arisen is a question that has fascinated many. Xenopus frogs have been a model system used for three decades to reveal insights into the neuroendocrine mechanisms and evolution of vocal diversity. Due to the ease of studying central nervous system control of the laryngeal muscles in vitro, Xenopus has helped us understand how variation in vocal communication signals between sexes and between species is produced at the molecular, cellular, and systems levels. Yet, it is becoming easier to make similar advances in non-model organisms. In this paper, we summarize our research on a group of frog species that have evolved a novel hind limb signal known as 'foot flagging.' We have previously shown that foot flagging is androgen dependent and that the evolution of foot flagging in multiple unrelated species is accompanied by the evolution of higher androgen hormone sensitivity in the leg muscles. Here, we present new preliminary data that compare patterns of androgen receptor expression and neuronal cell density in the lumbar spinal cord - the neuromotor system that controls the hind limb - between foot-flagging and non-foot-flagging frog species. We then relate our work to prior findings in Xenopus, highlighting which patterns of hormone sensitivity and neuroanatomical structure are shared between the neuromotor systems underlying Xenopus vocalizations and foot-flagging frogs' limb movement and which appear to be species-specific. Overall, we aim to illustrate the power of drawing inspiration from experiments in model organisms, in which the mechanistic details have been worked out, and then applying these ideas to a non-model species to reveal new details, further complexities, and fresh hypotheses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa A Mangiamele
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063, United States of America.
| | - AllexAndrya Dawn
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063, United States of America
| | - Kerry M LeCure
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063, United States of America
| | - Gina E Mantica
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063, United States of America
| | - Riccardo Racicot
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063, United States of America
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, United States of America
| | - Doris Preininger
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Vienna Zoo, Vienna, Austria
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3
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Anderson NK, Preininger D, Fuxjager MJ. Comment on 'Parasite defensive limb movements enhance acoustic signal attraction in male little torrent frogs'. eLife 2023; 12:e89134. [PMID: 37812202 PMCID: PMC10561974 DOI: 10.7554/elife.89134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Zhao et al. recently reported results which, they claim, suggest that sexual selection produces the multimodal displays seen in little torrent frogs (Amolops torrentis) by co-opting limb movements that originally evolved to support parasite defense (Zhao et al., 2022). Here, we explain why we believe this conclusion to be premature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nigel K Anderson
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Brown UniversityProvidenceUnited States
| | - Doris Preininger
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of ViennaViennaAustria
- Vienna ZooViennaAustria
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Brown UniversityProvidenceUnited States
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4
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Love N, Preininger D, Fuxjager MJ. Social regulation of androgenic hormones and gestural display behavior in a tropical frog. Horm Behav 2023; 155:105425. [PMID: 37683499 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2023.105425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2023] [Revised: 08/30/2023] [Accepted: 08/31/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023]
Abstract
Many animals use forms of gesture and dance to communicate with conspecifics in the breeding season, though the mechanisms of this behavior are rarely studied. Here, we investigate the hormone basis of such visual signal behavior in Bornean rocks frogs (Staurois parvus). Our results show that males aggregating at breeding waterfalls have higher testosterone (T) levels, and we speculate that this hormone increase is caused by social cues associated with sexual competition. To this end, we find that T levels in frogs at the waterfall positively predict the number waving gestures-or "foot flags"-that males perform while competing with rivals. By contrast, T does not predict differences in male calling behavior. In these frogs, vocal displays are used largely as an alert signal to direct a rival's attention to the foot flag; thus, our results are consistent with the view that factors related to reproductive context drive up T levels to mediate displays most closely linked to male-male combat, which in this case is the frog's elaborate gestural routine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nya Love
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Brown University, USA
| | - Doris Preininger
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Austria; Vienna Zoo, Vienna, Austria
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Brown University, USA.
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5
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Levin RN, Correa SM, Freund KA, Fuxjager MJ. Latitudinal and elevational variation in the reproductive biology of house wrens, Troglodytes aedon. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10476. [PMID: 37706165 PMCID: PMC10495810 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2022] [Revised: 07/31/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023] Open
Abstract
While cross-species comparisons of birds suggest that as latitude decreases or elevation increases, clutch size decreases and the duration of developmental stages and parental attentiveness increases, studies comparing populations of the same species are rare. We studied populations of house wrens, Troglodytes aedon, at high and low elevations in California and Costa Rica, collecting data on clutch size, the duration of incubation and nestling periods, parental attentiveness, nestling growth rate, and nesting success. Our data support results from cross-species comparisons, but also revealed unanticipated results from low elevation temperate zone house wrens in the southwest. This population had prolonged incubation and nestling periods similar to those found in the tropics. We also found that temperate zone females, especially those at our higher elevation site, spent more of their day incubating than did tropical females. Nest temperature at our high elevation temperate zone site was higher than that at all other tropical sites. Age at fledging did not differ between sites. Total feeding rates per chick and male feedings per chick did not vary between sites. Nest success rates showed the predicted effect of latitude, but not the predicted effects of elevation. Our results extend low elevation house wren research into the southwestern US and contribute the first intraspecific elevational comparison in the Neotropics. Data from our low elevation southwestern site present a unique suite of life history traits that align more with tropical house wrens, although with a larger clutch size, and point to food limitation and/or high predation pressure as being possible drivers of some of these differences. These results highlight the need for additional studies of house wrens and other broadly distributed species at a more diverse array of sites to better understand which forces drive the evolution of different life history strategies across major biogeographical gradients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel N. Levin
- Department of BiologyPomona CollegeClaremontCaliforniaUSA
- Department of NeurosciencePomona CollegeClaremontCaliforniaUSA
| | - Stephanie M. Correa
- Department of BiologyPomona CollegeClaremontCaliforniaUSA
- Present address:
Department of Integrative Biology & PhysiologyUniversity of CaliforniaLos AngelesCA94720USA
| | - Kate A. Freund
- Department of BiologyPomona CollegeClaremontCaliforniaUSA
- Present address:
US Fish & Wildlife, Pacific RegionPortlandOregonUSA
| | - Matthew J. Fuxjager
- Department of NeurosciencePomona CollegeClaremontCaliforniaUSA
- Present address:
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal BiologyBrown University ProvidenceProvidenceRI02906USA
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6
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Vitousek MN, Dantzer B, Fuxjager MJ, Schlinger BA. Evolutionary behavioral endocrinology: Introduction to the special issue. Horm Behav 2023; 152:105356. [PMID: 37031556 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2023.105356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/11/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Maren N Vitousek
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, United States of America; Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY 14850, United States of America
| | - Ben Dantzer
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States of America; Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States of America
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, United States of America
| | - Barney A Schlinger
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States of America; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States of America.
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7
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Fuxjager MJ, Ryder TB, Moody NM, Alfonso C, Balakrishnan CN, Barske J, Bosholn M, Boyle WA, Braun EL, Chiver I, Dakin R, Day LB, Driver R, Fusani L, Horton BM, Kimball RT, Lipshutz S, Mello CV, Miller ET, Webster MS, Wirthlin M, Wollman R, Moore IT, Schlinger BA. Systems biology as a framework to understand the physiological and endocrine bases of behavior and its evolution-From concepts to a case study in birds. Horm Behav 2023; 151:105340. [PMID: 36933440 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2023.105340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Revised: 02/10/2023] [Accepted: 02/21/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023]
Abstract
Organismal behavior, with its tremendous complexity and diversity, is generated by numerous physiological systems acting in coordination. Understanding how these systems evolve to support differences in behavior within and among species is a longstanding goal in biology that has captured the imagination of researchers who work on a multitude of taxa, including humans. Of particular importance are the physiological determinants of behavioral evolution, which are sometimes overlooked because we lack a robust conceptual framework to study mechanisms underlying adaptation and diversification of behavior. Here, we discuss a framework for such an analysis that applies a "systems view" to our understanding of behavioral control. This approach involves linking separate models that consider behavior and physiology as their own networks into a singular vertically integrated behavioral control system. In doing so, hormones commonly stand out as the links, or edges, among nodes within this system. To ground our discussion, we focus on studies of manakins (Pipridae), a family of Neotropical birds. These species have numerous physiological and endocrine specializations that support their elaborate reproductive displays. As a result, manakins provide a useful example to help imagine and visualize the way systems concepts can inform our appreciation of behavioral evolution. In particular, manakins help clarify how connectedness among physiological systems-which is maintained through endocrine signaling-potentiate and/or constrain the evolution of complex behavior to yield behavioral differences across taxa. Ultimately, we hope this review will continue to stimulate thought, discussion, and the emergence of research focused on integrated phenotypes in behavioral ecology and endocrinology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02906, USA.
| | - T Brandt Ryder
- Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC 20013, USA
| | - Nicole M Moody
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02906, USA
| | - Camilo Alfonso
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060, USA
| | | | - Julia Barske
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Mariane Bosholn
- Animal Behavior Lab, Ecology Department, National Institute for Amazon Research, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - W Alice Boyle
- Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
| | - Edward L Braun
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Ioana Chiver
- GIGA Neurosciences, University of Liège, Liege, Belgium
| | - Roslyn Dakin
- Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC 20013, USA
| | - Lainy B Day
- Department of Biology, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
| | - Robert Driver
- Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA
| | - Leonida Fusani
- Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, and Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna
| | - Brent M Horton
- Department of Biology, Millersville University, Millersville, PA 17551, USA
| | - Rebecca T Kimball
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Sara Lipshutz
- Department of Biology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL 60660, USA
| | - Claudio V Mello
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | | | - Michael S Webster
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA; Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Morgan Wirthlin
- Computational Biology Department, Carnegie Melon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Roy Wollman
- Department of Physiology and Integrative Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Ignacio T Moore
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060, USA
| | - Barney A Schlinger
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Department of Physiology and Integrative Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama.
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8
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Barske J, Fuxjager MJ, Ciofi C, Natali C, Schlinger BA, Billo T, Fusani L. Beyond plumage: acrobatic courtship displays show intermediate patterns in manakin hybrids. Anim Behav 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2023.01.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/12/2023]
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9
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Anderson NK, Goodwin SE, Schuppe ER, Dawn A, Preininger D, Mangiamele LA, Fuxjager MJ. Activational vs. organizational effects of sex steroids and their role in the evolution of reproductive behavior: Looking to foot-flagging frogs and beyond. Horm Behav 2022; 146:105248. [PMID: 36054981 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2022.105248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2022] [Revised: 07/14/2022] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Sex steroids play an important role in regulation of the vertebrate reproductive phenotype. This is because sex steroids not only activate sexual behaviors that mediate copulation, courtship, and aggression, but they also help guide the development of neural and muscular systems that underlie these traits. Many biologists have therefore described the effects of sex steroid action on reproductive behavior as both "activational" and "organizational," respectively. Here, we focus on these phenomena from an evolutionary standpoint, highlighting that we know relatively little about the way that organizational effects evolve in the natural world to support the adaptation and diversification of reproductive behavior. We first review the evidence that such effects do in fact evolve to mediate the evolution of sexual behavior. We then introduce an emerging animal model - the foot-flagging frog, Staurois parvus - that will be useful to study how sex hormones shape neuromotor development necessary for sexual displays. The foot flag is nothing more than a waving display that males use to compete for access to female mates, and thus the neural circuits that control its production are likely laid down when limb control systems arise during the developmental transition from tadpole to frog. We provide data that highlights how sex steroids might organize foot-flagging behavior through its putative underlying mechanisms. Overall, we anticipate that future studies of foot-flagging frogs will open a powerful window from which to see how sex steroids influence the neuromotor systems to help germinate circuits that drive signaling behavior. In this way, our aim is to bring attention to the important frontier of endocrinological regulation of evolutionary developmental biology (endo-evo-devo) and its relationship to behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nigel K Anderson
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States of America
| | - Sarah E Goodwin
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA, United States of America
| | - Eric R Schuppe
- Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States of America
| | - AllexAndrya Dawn
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA, United States of America
| | - Doris Preininger
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Vienna Zoo, Vienna, Austria
| | - Lisa A Mangiamele
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA, United States of America.
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States of America.
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10
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Stückler S, Fuxjager MJ, Preininger D. Evidence that catecholaminergic systems mediate dynamic colour change during explosive breeding events in toads. Biol Lett 2022; 18:20220337. [PMID: 36259941 PMCID: PMC9580614 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Many animals communicate by rapidly (within minutes or seconds) changing their body coloration; however, we know little about the physiology of this behaviour. Here we study how catecholaminergic hormones regulate rapid colour change in explosive breeding toads (Duttaphrynus melanostictus), where large groups of males gather and quickly change their colour from brown to bright yellow during reproduction. We find that both epinephrine (EP) and/or norepinephrine (NE) cause the toads' skin to become yellow in minutes, even in the absence of social and environmental cues associated with explosive breeding. We hypothesize that natural selection drives the evolution of rapid colour change by co-opting the functional effects of catecholaminergic action. If so, then hormones involved in ‘fight or flight’ responses may mechanistically facilitate the emergence of dynamic visual signals that mediate communication in a sexual context.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Matthew J. Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Doris Preininger
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Austria,Vienna Zoo, 1130 Vienna, Austria
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11
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Cárdenas-Posada G, Fuxjager MJ. Correlated evolution between colour conspicuousness and drum speed in woodpeckers. R Soc Open Sci 2022; 9:221096. [PMID: 36303940 PMCID: PMC9597178 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.221096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 09/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Sexual selection drives the evolution of many spectacular animal displays that we see in nature. Yet, how selection combines and elaborates different signal traits remains unclear. Here, we investigate this issue by testing for correlated evolution between head plumage colour and drumming behaviour in woodpeckers. These signals function in the context of mate choice and male-male competition, and they may appear to a receiver as a single multimodal display. We test for such correlations in males of 132 species using phylogenetic linear models, while considering the effect of habitat. We find that the plumage chromatic contrast is positively correlated with the speed of the drum, supporting the idea that species evolving more conspicuous plumage on their head also evolve faster drum displays. By contrast, we do not find evidence of correlated evolution between drum speed and head colour diversity, size of the head's red patch, or extent of the plumage achromatic contrast. Drum length was not correlated with any of the plumage coloration metrics. Lastly, we find no evidence that habitat acts as a strong selective force driving the evolution of head coloration or drumming elaboration. Coevolution between different signal modalities is therefore complex, and probably depends on the display components in question.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ghislaine Cárdenas-Posada
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA
| | - Matthew J. Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
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12
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Moody NM, Vivlamore EK, Fuxjager MJ. Woodpecker drum evolution: An analysis of covariation in elements of a multicomponent acoustic display among and within species. Evolution 2022; 76:1469-1480. [PMID: 35665503 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2021] [Revised: 02/15/2022] [Accepted: 03/10/2022] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Multicomponent signals are found throughout the animal kingdom, but how these elaborate displays evolve and diversify is still unclear. Here, we explore the evolution of the woodpecker drum display. Two components of this territorial sexually selected signal, drum speed and drum length, are used by territory holders to assess the threat level of an intruding drummer. We explore the coevolution of these display components both among and within species. Among species, we find evidence for strong coevolution of drum speed and length. Within species, we find that drum speed and length vary largely independent of each other. However, in some species, there is evidence of covariation in certain portions of the drum length distribution. The observed differences in component covariation at the macro- and microevolutionary scales highlight the importance of studying signal structure both among and within species. In all cases of covariation at both evolutionary scales, the relationship between drum speed and length is positive, indicating mutual elaboration of display components and not a performance trade-off.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole M Moody
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 02912, USA
| | - Emma K Vivlamore
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27101, USA
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 02912, USA
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13
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Abstract
In many vertebrates, courtship occurs through the performance of elaborate behavioral displays that are as spectacular as they are complex. The question of how sexual selection acts upon these animals' neuromuscular systems to transform a repertoire of pre-existing movements into such remarkable (if not unusual) display routines has received relatively little research attention. This is a surprising gap in knowledge, given that unraveling this extraordinary process is central to understanding the evolution of behavioral diversity and its neural control. In many vertebrates, courtship displays often push the limits of neuromuscular performance, and often in a ritualized manner. These displays can range from songs that require rapid switching between two independently controlled 'voice boxes' to precisely choreographed acrobatics. Here, we propose a framework for thinking about how the brain might not only control these displays, but also shape their evolution. Our framework focuses specifically on a major midbrain area, which we view as a likely important node in the orchestration of the complex neural control of behavior used in the courtship process. This area is the periaqueductal grey (PAG), as studies suggest that it is both necessary and sufficient for the production of many instinctive survival behaviors, including courtship vocalizations. Thus, we speculate about why the PAG, as well as its key inputs, might serve as targets of sexual selection for display behavior. In doing so, we attempt to combine core ideas about the neural control of behavior with principles of display evolution. Our intent is to spur research in this area and bring together neurobiologists and behavioral ecologists to more fully understand the role that the brain might play in behavioral innovation and diversification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan W Schwark
- Department of Biology, University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaUnited States
- Neuroscience Graduate Group, University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaUnited States
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Brown UniversityProvidenceUnited States
| | - Marc F Schmidt
- Department of Biology, University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaUnited States
- Neuroscience Graduate Group, University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaUnited States
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14
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Schuppe ER, Tobiansky D, Goller F, Fuxjager MJ. Specialized androgen synthesis in skeletal muscles that actuate elaborate social displays. J Exp Biol 2022; 225:275472. [PMID: 35587151 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.243730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Androgens mediate the expression of many reproductive behaviors, including the elaborate displays used to navigate courtship and territorial interactions. In some vertebrates, males can produce androgen-dependent sexual behavior even when levels of testosterone (T) is low in the bloodstream. One idea is that select tissues make their own androgens from scratch to support behavioral performance. We first study this phenomenon in the skeletal muscles that actuate elaborate sociosexual displays in downy woodpeckers and two songbirds. We show that the woodpecker display muscle maintains elevated T when the testes are regressed in the non-breeding season. Both the display muscles of woodpeckers, as well as the display muscles in the avian vocal organ (syrinx or SYR) of songbirds, express all transporters and enzymes necessary to convert cholesterol into bioactive androgens locally. In a final analysis, we broaden our study by looking for these same transporters and enzymes in mammalian muscles that operate at different speeds. Using RNA-seq data, we find that the capacity for de novo synthesis is only present in "superfast" extraocular muscle. Together, our results suggest that skeletal muscle specialized to generate extraordinary twitch-times and/or extremely rapid contractile speeds may depend on androgenic hormones produced locally within the muscle itself. Our study therefore uncovers an important new dimension of androgenic regulation of behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric R Schuppe
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, 215 Tower Road, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
| | - Daniel Tobiansky
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Brown University, 171 Meeting Street, Providence, RI 02912, USA
| | - Franz Goller
- Department of Biology, University of Utah, USA.,Institute for Zoophysiology, University of Münster, Germany
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Brown University, 171 Meeting Street, Providence, RI 02912, USA
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15
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16
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Anderson NK, Gururaja KV, Mangiamele LA, Netoskie EC, Smith S, Fuxjager MJ, Preininger D. Insight into the Evolution of Anuran Foot Flag Displays: A Comparative Study of Color and Kinematics. Ichthyology & Herpetology 2021. [DOI: 10.1643/h2020160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Nigel K. Anderson
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912; (NKA) ; and (MJF) . Send reprint requests to NKA
| | - K. V. Gururaja
- Research and Development Center and Science Media Center, Indian Institute of Science Campus, Gubbi Labs, Bengaluru 560012, India;
| | - Lisa A. Mangiamele
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts 01063; (LAM) ; and (SS)
| | - Erin C. Netoskie
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania 16652;
| | - Sarah Smith
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts 01063; (LAM) ; and (SS)
| | - Matthew J. Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912; (NKA) ; and (MJF) . Send reprint requests to NKA
| | - Doris Preininger
- Vienna Zoo, 1130 Vienna, Austria; Department of Evolutionary Biology, University Vienna, Austria;
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17
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Anderson NK, Grabner M, Mangiamele LA, Preininger D, Fuxjager MJ. Testosterone amplifies the negative valence of an agonistic gestural display by exploiting receiver perceptual bias. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20211848. [PMID: 34784769 PMCID: PMC8595994 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.1848] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2021] [Accepted: 10/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Many animals communicate by performing elaborate displays that are incredibly extravagant and wildly bizarre. So, how do these displays evolve? One idea is that innate sensory biases arbitrarily favour the emergence of certain display traits over others, leading to the design of an unusual display. Here, we study how physiological factors associated with signal production influence this process, a topic that has received almost no attention. We focus on a tropical frog, whose males compete for access to females by performing an elaborate waving display. Our results show that sex hormones like testosterone regulate specific display gestures that exploit a highly conserved perceptual system, evolved originally to detect 'dangerous' stimuli in the environment. Accordingly, testosterone makes certain gestures likely to appear more perilous to rivals during combat. This suggests that hormone action can interact with effects of sensory bias to create an evolutionary optimum that guides how display exaggeration unfolds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nigel K. Anderson
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
| | - Martina Grabner
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna 1090, Austria
| | - Lisa A. Mangiamele
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063, USA
| | - Doris Preininger
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna 1090, Austria
- Vienna Zoo, Vienna 1130, Austria
| | - Matthew J. Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
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18
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Anderson NK, Schuppe ER, Gururaja KV, Mangiamele LA, Martinez JCC, Priti H, May RV, Preininger D, Fuxjager MJ. A Common Endocrine Signature Marks the Convergent Evolution of an Elaborate Dance Display in Frogs. Am Nat 2021; 198:522-539. [PMID: 34559606 DOI: 10.1086/716213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
AbstractUnrelated species often evolve similar phenotypic solutions to the same environmental problem, a phenomenon known as convergent evolution. But how do these common traits arise? We address this question from a physiological perspective by assessing how convergence of an elaborate gestural display in frogs (foot-flagging) is linked to changes in the androgenic hormone systems that underlie it. We show that the emergence of this rare display in unrelated anuran taxa is marked by a robust increase in the expression of androgen receptor (AR) messenger RNA in the musculature that actuates leg and foot movements, but we find no evidence of changes in the abundance of AR expression in these frogs' central nervous systems. Meanwhile, the magnitude of the evolutionary change in muscular AR and its association with the origin of foot-flagging differ among clades, suggesting that these variables evolve together in a mosaic fashion. Finally, while gestural displays do differ between species, variation in the complexity of a foot-flagging routine does not predict differences in muscular AR. Altogether, these findings suggest that androgen-muscle interactions provide a conduit for convergence in sexual display behavior, potentially providing a path of least resistance for the evolution of motor performance.
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19
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Abstract
Understanding how and why behavioral traits diversify during the course of evolution is a longstanding goal of organismal biologists. Historically, this topic is examined from an ecological perspective, where behavioral evolution is thought to occur in response to selection pressures that arise through different social and environmental factors. Yet organismal physiology and biomechanics also play a role in this process by defining the types of behavioral traits that are more or less likely to arise. Our paper explores the interplay between ecological, physiological, and mechanical factors that shape the evolution of an elaborate display in woodpeckers called the drum. Individuals produce this behavior by rapidly hammering their bill on trees in their habitat, and it serves as an aggressive signal during territorial encounters. We describe how different components of the display—namely, speed (bill strikes/beats sec–1), length (total number of beats), and rhythm—differentially evolve likely in response to sexual selection by male-male competition, whereas other components of the display appear more evolutionarily static, possibly due to morphological or physiological constraints. We synthesize research related to principles of avian muscle physiology and ecology to guide inferences about the biomechanical basis of woodpecker drumming. Our aim is to introduce the woodpecker as an ideal study system to study the physiological basis of behavioral evolution and how it relates to selection born through different ecological factors.
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20
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Smith SM, Eigerman AR, LeCure KM, Kironde E, Privett-Mendoza AG, Fuxjager MJ, Preininger D, Mangiamele LA. Androgen Receptor Modulates Multimodal Displays in the Bornean Rock Frog (Staurois parvus). Integr Comp Biol 2021; 61:221-230. [PMID: 34009301 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icab042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Multimodal communication is common in the animal kingdom. It occurs when animals display by stimulating two or more receiver sensory systems, and often arises when selection favors multiple ways to send messages to conspecifics. Mechanisms of multimodal display behavior are poorly understood, particularly with respect to how animals coordinate the production of different signals. One important question is whether all components in a multimodal display share an underlying physiological basis, or whether different components are regulated independently. We investigated the influence of androgen receptors (ARs) on the production of both visual and vocal signal components in the multimodal display repertoire of the Bornean rock frog (Staurois parvus). To assess the role of AR in signal production, we treated reproductively active adult males with the antiandrogen flutamide (FLUT) and measured the performance of each component signal in the multimodal display. Our results show that blocking AR inhibited the production of multiple visual signals, including a conspicuous visual signal known as the "foot flag," which is produced by rotating the hind limb above the body. However, FLUT treatment caused no measurable change in vocal signaling behavior, or in the frequency or fine temporal properties of males' calls. Our study, therefore, suggests that activation of AR is not a physiological prerequisite to the coordination of multiple signals, in that it either does not regulate all signaling behaviors in a male's display repertoire or it does so only in a context-dependent manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah M Smith
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063, USA
| | - Amelia R Eigerman
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063, USA
| | - Kerry M LeCure
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063, USA
| | - Eseza Kironde
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063, USA
| | | | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
| | - Doris Preininger
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Vienna Zoo, Vienna, Austria
| | - Lisa A Mangiamele
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063, USA
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21
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Tobiansky DJ, Long KM, Hamden JE, Brawn JD, Fuxjager MJ. Cost-reducing traits for agonistic head collisions: a case for neurophysiology. Integr Comp Biol 2021; 61:1394-1405. [PMID: 33885750 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icab034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Many animal species have evolved extreme behaviors requiring them to engage in repeated high-impact collisions. These behaviors include mating displays like headbutting in sheep and drumming in woodpeckers. To our knowledge, these taxa do not experience any notable acute head trauma, even though the deceleration forces would cause traumatic brain injury in most animals. Previous research has focused on skeletomuscular morphology, biomechanics, and material properties in an attempt to explain how animals moderate these high-impact forces. However, many of these behaviors are understudied, and most morphological or computational studies make assumptions about the behavior without accounting for the physiology of an organism. Studying neurophysiological and immune adaptations that co-vary with these behaviors can highlight unique or synergistic solutions to seemingly deleterious behavioral displays. Here, we argue that selection for repeated, high-impact head collisions may rely on a suite of coadaptations in intracranial physiology as a cost-reducing mechanism. We propose that there are three physiological systems that could mitigate the effects of repeated head trauma: (i) the innate neuroimmune response, (ii) the glymphatic system, and (iii) the choroid plexus. These systems are interconnected yet can evolve in an independent manner. We then briefly describe the function of these systems, their role in head trauma, and research that has examined how these systems may evolve to help reduce the cost of repeated, forceful head impacts. Ultimately, we note that little is known about cost-reducing intracranial mechanisms making it a novel field of comparative study that is ripe for exploration.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kira M Long
- The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana-Champaign, IL USAKML
| | | | - Jeffrey D Brawn
- The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana-Champaign, IL USAJDB
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22
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Feng S, Stiller J, Deng Y, Armstrong J, Fang Q, Reeve AH, Xie D, Chen G, Guo C, Faircloth BC, Petersen B, Wang Z, Zhou Q, Diekhans M, Chen W, Andreu-Sánchez S, Margaryan A, Howard JT, Parent C, Pacheco G, Sinding MHS, Puetz L, Cavill E, Ribeiro ÂM, Eckhart L, Fjeldså J, Hosner PA, Brumfield RT, Christidis L, Bertelsen MF, Sicheritz-Ponten T, Tietze DT, Robertson BC, Song G, Borgia G, Claramunt S, Lovette IJ, Cowen SJ, Njoroge P, Dumbacher JP, Ryder OA, Fuchs J, Bunce M, Burt DW, Cracraft J, Meng G, Hackett SJ, Ryan PG, Jønsson KA, Jamieson IG, da Fonseca RR, Braun EL, Houde P, Mirarab S, Suh A, Hansson B, Ponnikas S, Sigeman H, Stervander M, Frandsen PB, van der Zwan H, van der Sluis R, Visser C, Balakrishnan CN, Clark AG, Fitzpatrick JW, Bowman R, Chen N, Cloutier A, Sackton TB, Edwards SV, Foote DJ, Shakya SB, Sheldon FH, Vignal A, Soares AER, Shapiro B, González-Solís J, Ferrer-Obiol J, Rozas J, Riutort M, Tigano A, Friesen V, Dalén L, Urrutia AO, Székely T, Liu Y, Campana MG, Corvelo A, Fleischer RC, Rutherford KM, Gemmell NJ, Dussex N, Mouritsen H, Thiele N, Delmore K, Liedvogel M, Franke A, Hoeppner MP, Krone O, Fudickar AM, Milá B, Ketterson ED, Fidler AE, Friis G, Parody-Merino ÁM, Battley PF, Cox MP, Lima NCB, Prosdocimi F, Parchman TL, Schlinger BA, Loiselle BA, Blake JG, Lim HC, Day LB, Fuxjager MJ, Baldwin MW, Braun MJ, Wirthlin M, Dikow RB, Ryder TB, Camenisch G, Keller LF, DaCosta JM, Hauber ME, Louder MIM, Witt CC, McGuire JA, Mudge J, Megna LC, Carling MD, Wang B, Taylor SA, Del-Rio G, Aleixo A, Vasconcelos ATR, Mello CV, Weir JT, Haussler D, Li Q, Yang H, Wang J, Lei F, Rahbek C, Gilbert MTP, Graves GR, Jarvis ED, Paten B, Zhang G. Author Correction: Dense sampling of bird diversity increases power of comparative genomics. Nature 2021; 592:E24. [PMID: 33833441 PMCID: PMC8081657 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03473-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Shaohong Feng
- China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.,State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
| | - Josefin Stiller
- Villum Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Yuan Deng
- China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.,BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.,Villum Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Joel Armstrong
- UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Qi Fang
- China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.,BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.,Villum Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Andrew Hart Reeve
- Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Duo Xie
- China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.,BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.,BGI Education Center, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China
| | - Guangji Chen
- China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.,BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.,BGI Education Center, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China
| | - Chunxue Guo
- China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.,BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
| | - Brant C Faircloth
- Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.,Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
| | - Bent Petersen
- Centre of Excellence for Omics-Driven Computational Biodiscovery (COMBio), Faculty of Applied Sciences, AIMST University, Kedah, Malaysia.,Section for Evolutionary Genomics, The GLOBE Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Zongji Wang
- China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.,BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.,MOE Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis and Protection, Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.,Department of Neuroscience and Developmental Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Qi Zhou
- MOE Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis and Protection, Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.,Department of Neuroscience and Developmental Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Center for Reproductive Medicine, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Mark Diekhans
- UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Wanjun Chen
- China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.,BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
| | - Sergio Andreu-Sánchez
- Villum Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Ashot Margaryan
- Section for Evolutionary Genomics, The GLOBE Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Institute of Molecular Biology, National Academy of Sciences, Yerevan, Armenia
| | | | | | - George Pacheco
- Section for Evolutionary Genomics, The GLOBE Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Mikkel-Holger S Sinding
- Section for Evolutionary Genomics, The GLOBE Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Lara Puetz
- Section for Evolutionary Genomics, The GLOBE Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Emily Cavill
- Section for Evolutionary Genomics, The GLOBE Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Ângela M Ribeiro
- Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Leopold Eckhart
- Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Jon Fjeldså
- Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Peter A Hosner
- Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Robb T Brumfield
- Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.,Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
| | - Les Christidis
- Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Mads F Bertelsen
- Centre for Zoo and Wild Animal Health, Copenhagen Zoo, Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | - Thomas Sicheritz-Ponten
- Centre of Excellence for Omics-Driven Computational Biodiscovery (COMBio), Faculty of Applied Sciences, AIMST University, Kedah, Malaysia.,Section for Evolutionary Genomics, The GLOBE Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | | | - Gang Song
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia
| | - Gerald Borgia
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Santiago Claramunt
- Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Irby J Lovette
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Saul J Cowen
- Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Peter Njoroge
- Ornithology Section, Zoology Department, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | | | - Oliver A Ryder
- San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, Escondido, CA, USA.,Evolution, Behavior, and Ecology, Division of Biology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jérôme Fuchs
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, Paris, France
| | - Michael Bunce
- Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - David W Burt
- UQ Genomics, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Joel Cracraft
- Department of Ornithology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - Shannon J Hackett
- Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Peter G Ryan
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Knud Andreas Jønsson
- Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Ian G Jamieson
- Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Rute R da Fonseca
- Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Edward L Braun
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Peter Houde
- Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA
| | - Siavash Mirarab
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Alexander Suh
- Department of Ecology and Genetics - Evolutionary Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre (EBC), Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.,Department of Organismal Biology - Systematic Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre (EBC), Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.,School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - Bengt Hansson
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Suvi Ponnikas
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Hanna Sigeman
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Martin Stervander
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.,Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
| | - Paul B Frandsen
- Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA.,Data Science Lab, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | | | - Rencia van der Sluis
- Focus Area for Human Metabolomics, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
| | - Carina Visser
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | | | - Andrew G Clark
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | | | - Reed Bowman
- Avian Ecology Program, Archbold Biological Station, Venus, FL, USA
| | - Nancy Chen
- Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Alison Cloutier
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Scott V Edwards
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Dustin J Foote
- Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA.,Sylvan Heights Bird Park, Scotland Neck, NC, USA
| | - Subir B Shakya
- Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.,Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
| | - Frederick H Sheldon
- Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.,Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
| | - Alain Vignal
- GenPhySE, INRA, INPT, INP-ENVT, Université de Toulouse, Castanet-Tolosan, France
| | - André E R Soares
- Laboratório Nacional de Computação Científica, Petrópolis, Brazil.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Beth Shapiro
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Jacob González-Solís
- Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals (BEECA), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Joan Ferrer-Obiol
- Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Julio Rozas
- Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marta Riutort
- Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Anna Tigano
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA.,Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - Vicki Friesen
- Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - Love Dalén
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden.,Centre for Palaeogenetics, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Araxi O Urrutia
- Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath, Bath, UK.,Instituto de Ecologia, UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Tamás Székely
- Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath, Bath, UK
| | - Yang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Michael G Campana
- Center for Conservation Genomics, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | | | - Robert C Fleischer
- Center for Conservation Genomics, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Kim M Rutherford
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Neil J Gemmell
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Nicolas Dussex
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden.,Centre for Palaeogenetics, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Henrik Mouritsen
- AG Neurosensory Sciences, Institut für Biologie und Umweltwissenschaften, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Nadine Thiele
- AG Neurosensory Sciences, Institut für Biologie und Umweltwissenschaften, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Kira Delmore
- Biology Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.,MPRG Behavioural Genomics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany
| | | | - Andre Franke
- Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Christian-Albrechts- University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Marc P Hoeppner
- Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Christian-Albrechts- University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Oliver Krone
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Adam M Fudickar
- Environmental Resilience Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Borja Milá
- National Museum of Natural Sciences, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Andrew Eric Fidler
- Institute of Marine Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Guillermo Friis
- Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, Department of Biology, New York University - Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE
| | | | - Phil F Battley
- Wildlife and Ecology Group, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
| | - Murray P Cox
- School of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
| | - Nicholas Costa Barroso Lima
- Laboratório Nacional de Computação Científica, Petrópolis, Brazil.,Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Centro de Ciências, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil
| | - Francisco Prosdocimi
- Laboratório de Genômica e Biodiversidade, Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | | | - Barney A Schlinger
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
| | - Bette A Loiselle
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.,Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - John G Blake
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Haw Chuan Lim
- Center for Conservation Genomics, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.,Department of Biology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA
| | - Lainy B Day
- Department of Biology and Neuroscience Minor, University of Mississippi, University, MS, USA
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | | | - Michael J Braun
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.,Behavior, Ecology, Evolution and Systematics Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Morgan Wirthlin
- Computational Biology Department, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Rebecca B Dikow
- Data Science Lab, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | - T Brandt Ryder
- Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian National Zoological Park and Conservation Biology Institute, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Glauco Camenisch
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Lukas F Keller
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | - Mark E Hauber
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Matthew I M Louder
- Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA.,Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.,International Research Center for Neurointelligence, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Christopher C Witt
- Museum of Southwestern Biology, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Jimmy A McGuire
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Joann Mudge
- National Center for Genome Resources, Santa Fe, NM, USA
| | - Libby C Megna
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
| | - Matthew D Carling
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
| | - Biao Wang
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Scott A Taylor
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Glaucia Del-Rio
- Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
| | - Alexandre Aleixo
- Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | | | - Claudio V Mello
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Jason T Weir
- Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - David Haussler
- UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Qiye Li
- China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.,BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
| | - Huanming Yang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.,James D. Watson Institute of Genome Sciences, Hangzhou, China
| | | | - Fumin Lei
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Carsten Rahbek
- Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Danish Institute for Advanced Study, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.,Institute of Ecology, Peking University, Beijing, China.,Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - M Thomas P Gilbert
- Section for Evolutionary Genomics, The GLOBE Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Gary R Graves
- Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Erich D Jarvis
- Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.,The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA
| | - Benedict Paten
- UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
| | - Guojie Zhang
- China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China. .,State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China. .,Villum Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. .,Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.
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23
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Husak JF, Fuxjager MJ, Johnson MA, Vitousek MN, Donald JW, Francis CD, Goymann W, Hau M, Kircher BK, Knapp R, Martin LB, Miller ET, Schoenle LA, Williams TD. Life history and environment predict variation in testosterone across vertebrates. Evolution 2021; 75:1003-1010. [PMID: 33755201 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2020] [Revised: 02/26/2021] [Accepted: 03/08/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Endocrine systems act as key intermediaries between organisms and their environments. This interaction leads to high variability in hormone levels, but we know little about the ecological factors that influence this variation within and across major vertebrate groups. We study this topic by assessing how various social and environmental dynamics influence testosterone levels across the entire vertebrate tree of life. Our analyses show that breeding season length and mating system are the strongest predictors of average testosterone concentrations, whereas breeding season length, environmental temperature, and variability in precipitation are the strongest predictors of within-population variation in testosterone. Principles from small-scale comparative studies that stress the importance of mating opportunity and competition on the evolution of species differences in testosterone levels, therefore, likely apply to the entire vertebrate lineage. Meanwhile, climatic factors associated with rainfall and ambient temperature appear to influence variability in plasma testosterone, within a given species. These results, therefore, reveal how unique suites of ecological factors differentially explain scales of variation in circulating testosterone across mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fishes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jerry F Husak
- Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
| | | | - Maren N Vitousek
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.,Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | | | - Clinton D Francis
- Department of Biological Sciences, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California, USA
| | | | - Michaela Hau
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, 82319, Germany.,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, 78457, Germany
| | - Bonnie K Kircher
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Rosemary Knapp
- Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Lynn B Martin
- Department of Global and Planetary Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA
| | | | - Laura A Schoenle
- Department of Global and Planetary Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA.,Office of Undergraduate Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | - Tony D Williams
- Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada
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24
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Abstract
Gestural communication is ubiquitous throughout the animal kingdom, occurring in species that range from humans to arthropods. Individuals produce gestural signals when their nervous system triggers the production of limb and body movement, which in turn functions to help mediate communication between or among individuals. Like many stereotyped motor patterns, the probability of a gestural display in a given social context can be modulated by sex steroid hormones. Here, we review how steroid hormones mediate the neural mechanisms that underly gestural communication in humans and nonhumans alike. This is a growing area of research, and thus we explore how sex steroids mediate brain areas involved in language production, social behavior, and motor performance. We also examine the way that sex steroids can regulate behavioral output by acting in the periphery via skeletal muscle. Altogether, we outline a new avenue of behavioral endocrinology research that aims to uncover the hormonal basis for one of the most common modes of communication among animals on Earth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J Tobiansky
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
- Correspondence: Daniel J. Tobiansky, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912.
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
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25
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Tobiansky DJ, Miles MC, Goller F, Fuxjager MJ. Androgenic modulation of extraordinary muscle speed creates a performance trade-off with endurance. J Exp Biol 2020; 223:jeb222984. [PMID: 32291320 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.222984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2020] [Accepted: 04/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Performance trade-offs can dramatically alter an organism's evolutionary trajectory by making certain phenotypic outcomes unattainable. Understanding how these trade-offs arise from an animal's design is therefore an important goal of biology. To explore this topic, we studied how androgenic hormones, which regulate skeletal muscle function, influence performance trade-offs relevant to different components of complex reproductive behaviour. We conducted this work in golden-collared manakins (Manacus vitellinus), a neotropical bird in which males court females by rapidly snapping their wings together above their back. Androgens help mediate this behavior by radically increasing the twitch speed of a dorsal wing muscle (scapulohumeralis caudalis, SH), which actuates the bird's wing-snap. Through hormone manipulations and in situ muscle recordings, we tested how these positive effects on SH speed influence trade-offs with endurance. Indeed, this latter trait impacts the display by shaping signal length. We found that androgen-dependent increases in SH speed incur a cost to endurance, particularly when this muscle performs at its functional limits. Moreover, when behavioural data were overlaid on our muscle recordings, displaying animals appeared to balance display speed with fatigue-induced muscle fusion (physiological tetanus) to generate the fastest possible signal while maintaining an appropriate signal duration. Our results point to androgen action as a functional trigger of trade-offs in sexual performance - these hormones enhance one element of a courtship display, but in doing so, impede another.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J Tobiansky
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
| | - Meredith C Miles
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
| | - Franz Goller
- Department of Biology, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
- Institute for Zoophysiology, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
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26
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Miles MC, Schuppe ER, Fuxjager MJ. Selection for Rhythm as a Trigger for Recursive Evolution in the Elaborate Display System of Woodpeckers. Am Nat 2020; 195:772-787. [PMID: 32364790 DOI: 10.1086/707748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Evolution is never truly predictable, in part because the process of selection is recursive: it operates on its own output to generate historical contingencies, so emergent traits can reshape how others evolve in the future. Studies rarely attempt to directly trace how recursion underlies present-day phenotypic pattern on a macroevolutionary basis. To address this gap, we examined how different selection regimes-each operating on a different timescale-guide the evolution of the woodpecker drum display. Approximately 200 species drum with distinctive speed and length, which are important for territorial competition. We discovered remarkable variation in drum rhythm, with some species drumming at constant rates and others changing speed along a range of mathematical functions. Rhythm undergoes divergent character displacement among sympatric sister species, a process that wanes as other reproductive boundaries emerge over time. Tracing the recursive effects of this process, we found that modifying rhythm may then potentiate or constrain speed/length elaboration. Additionally, increased sexual size dimorphism predicts the emergence of rhythms associated with constrained evolutionary rates of speed/length, implying that selection can also constrain itself. Altogether, our findings illustrate how recursion introduces contingencies that allow diverse phenotypes to arise from similar selection regimes.
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27
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Injaian AS, Francis CD, Ouyang JQ, Dominoni DM, Donald JW, Fuxjager MJ, Goymann W, Hau M, Husak JF, Johnson MA, Kircher BK, Knapp R, Martin LB, Miller ET, Schoenle LA, Williams TD, Vitousek MN. Baseline and stress-induced corticosterone levels across birds and reptiles do not reflect urbanization levels. Conserv Physiol 2020; 8:coz110. [PMID: 31993201 PMCID: PMC6978728 DOI: 10.1093/conphys/coz110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2019] [Revised: 09/10/2019] [Accepted: 12/03/2019] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Rates of human-induced environmental change continue increasing with human population size, potentially altering animal physiology and negatively affecting wildlife. Researchers often use glucocorticoid concentrations (hormones that can be associated with stressors) to gauge the impact of anthropogenic factors (e.g. urbanization, noise and light pollution). Yet, no general relationships between human-induced environmental change and glucocorticoids have emerged. Given the number of recent studies reporting baseline and stress-induced corticosterone (the primary glucocorticoid in birds and reptiles) concentrations worldwide, it is now possible to conduct large-scale comparative analyses to test for general associations between disturbance and baseline and stress-induced corticosterone across species. Additionally, we can control for factors that may influence context, such as life history stage, environmental conditions and urban adaptability of a species. Here, we take a phylogenetically informed approach and use data from HormoneBase to test if baseline and stress-induced corticosterone are valid indicators of exposure to human footprint index, human population density, anthropogenic noise and artificial light at night in birds and reptiles. Our results show a negative relationship between anthropogenic noise and baseline corticosterone for birds characterized as urban avoiders. While our results potentially indicate that urban avoiders are more sensitive to noise than other species, overall our study suggests that the relationship between human-induced environmental change and corticosterone varies across species and contexts; we found no general relationship between human impacts and baseline and stress-induced corticosterone in birds, nor baseline corticosterone in reptiles. Therefore, it should not be assumed that high or low levels of exposure to human-induced environmental change are associated with high or low corticosterone levels, respectively, or that closely related species, or even individuals, will respond similarly. Moving forward, measuring alternative physiological traits alongside reproductive success, health and survival may provide context to better understand the potential negative effects of human-induced environmental change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allison S Injaian
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853, USA
- Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca NY 14850, USA
| | - Clinton D Francis
- Biological Sciences Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA
| | - Jenny Q Ouyang
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Davide M Dominoni
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Wageningen, Netherlands
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Jeremy W Donald
- Coates Library, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212, USA
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence RI 02912, USA
| | | | - Michaela Hau
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen 82319, Germany
- University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Jerry F Husak
- Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN 55105, USA
| | - Michele A Johnson
- Department of Biology, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212, USA
| | - Bonnie K Kircher
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA
| | - Rosemary Knapp
- Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA
| | - Lynn B Martin
- Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | | | - Laura A Schoenle
- Office of Undergraduate Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853, USA
| | - Tony D Williams
- Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada
| | - Maren N Vitousek
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853, USA
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca NY 14850, USA
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28
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Schuppe ER, Miles MC, Fuxjager MJ. Evolution of the androgen receptor: Perspectives from human health to dancing birds. Mol Cell Endocrinol 2020; 499:110577. [PMID: 31525432 DOI: 10.1016/j.mce.2019.110577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2019] [Revised: 09/04/2019] [Accepted: 09/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Androgenic hormones orchestrate the development and activation of diverse reproductive phenotypes across vertebrates. Although extensive work investigates how selection for these traits modifies individual elements of this signaling system (e.g., hormone or androgen receptor [AR] levels), we know less about natural variation in the AR sequence across vertebrates. Our knowledge of AR sequence mutations is largely limited to work in human patients or cell-lines, providing a framework to contextualize single mutations at the expense of evolutionary timescale. Here we unite both perspectives in a review that explores the functional significance of AR on a domain-by-domain basis, using existing knowledge to highlight how and why each region might evolve. We then examine AR sequence variation on different timescales by examining sequence variation in clades originating in the Cambrian (vertebrates; >500 mya) and Cretaceous (birds; >65 mya). In each case, we characterize how the receptor has changed over time and discuss which regions are most likely to evolve in response to selection. Overall, domains that are required for androgenic signaling to function (e.g., DNA- and ligand-binding) tend to be conserved. Meanwhile, areas that interface with co-regulatory molecules can exhibit notable variation even between closely related species. We propose that accumulating mutations in regulatory regions is one way that AR structure might act as a substrate for selection to guide the evolution of reproductive traits. By synthesizing literature across disciplines and highlighting the evolutionary potential of specific AR regions, we hope to inspire new avenues of integrative research into endocrine system evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric R Schuppe
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA
| | - Meredith C Miles
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02912, USA
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02912, USA.
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29
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Schuppe ER, Fuxjager MJ. Phenotypic variation reveals sites of evolutionary constraint in the androgenic signaling pathway. Horm Behav 2019; 115:104538. [PMID: 31211944 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2019] [Revised: 05/19/2019] [Accepted: 06/10/2019] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Steroid hormone systems play an important role in shaping the evolution of vertebrate sexual traits, but several aspects of this relationship remain unclear. For example, we currently know little about how steroid signaling complexes are adapted to accommodate the emergence of behavior in response to sexual selection. We use downy woodpeckers (Dryobates pubescens) to evaluate how the machinery underlying androgen action can evolve to accommodate this bird's main territorial signal, the drum. We focus specifically on modifications to androgenic mechanisms in the primary neck muscle that actuates the hammering movements underlying this signal. Of the signaling components we examine, we find that levels of circulating testosterone (T) and androgen receptor (AR) expression are consistently increased in a way that likely enhances androgenic regulation of drumming. By contrast, the expression of nuclear receptor co-factors-the 'molecular rheostats' of steroid action-show no such relationship in our analyses. If anything, co-factors are expressed in directions that would presumably hinder androgenic regulation of the drum. These findings therefore collectively point to T levels and AR as the more evolutionarily labile components of the androgenic system, in that they are likely more apt to change over time to support sexual selection for territorial signaling in woodpeckers. Yet the signaling elements that fine-tune AR's functional effects on the genome-namely the receptor's transcriptional co-factors-do not change in such a manner, and thus may be under tighter evolutionary constraint.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric R Schuppe
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, 455 Vine Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, United States of America
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, United States of America.
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30
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Zhao X, Fuxjager MJ, McLamore Q, Marler CA. Rapid effects of testosterone on social decision-making in a monogamous California mice (Peromyscus californicus). Horm Behav 2019; 115:104544. [PMID: 31220461 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2019] [Revised: 06/14/2019] [Accepted: 06/16/2019] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Social animals must cope with challenges and opportunities by adjusting how they react to a salient stimulus. Here we use California mice (Peromyscus californicus) and investigate the mechanisms underlying social decision-making by studying (i) rapid effects of testosterone (T) pulses on a male's decisions to approach a novel male (challenge) versus a receptive female (opportunity), and (ii) whether social experience shapes how such effects are manifested. In Experiment 1, we found that sexually naïve males administered saline injections preferentially approached unfamiliar females over unfamiliar males, in contrast, 10 min after receiving a single T-injection, males expressed a preference for approaching unfamiliar males. Such an effect of T only occurred in sexually naïve males, but not pair-bonded males, suggesting that the rapid effects of T on approach behavior may rely on the pair-bonding experiences. Experiment 2 investigated social decision-making across three repeated exposures to the challenge/opportunity situations. Only the initial decision, approach to the challenge, predicted future aggressive behaviors, and such an effect relied on the rapid actions of T. We also found that experience with the controlled challenge situation (the male intruder was restrained behind a wire mesh) dampened the approach to the male side (potential threat) when later exposed to the same conditions. This suggests that a resident's motivation to defend against a threatening individual may decrease as the threat posed by the "neighbors" is reduced. Overall rapid effects of post-encounter T pulses may play important roles in influencing behavioral decisions during social interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Zhao
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
| | - Quinnehtukqut McLamore
- Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Catherine A Marler
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA
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31
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Abstract
Complexity and diversity are fundamental characteristics of life, but the relationship between the two remains murky. For example, both gaining and losing complexity can support diversity-so how exactly does complexity influence the emergence of unique phenotypes? Here we address this question by examining how complexity underlies the diversity of elaborate visual displays in the avian clade Ramphastides (toucans and barbets). These species communicate in part by using body movement and colorful ornaments on the tail. We find that sexual size dimorphism predicts the evolution of one specific signal, the tail-cock gesture, implying that tail cocking is more likely to evolve under stronger sexual selection. We also discover process-level constraints on the evolution of complexity: signals are gained along a strict order of operations, where the tail-cock gesture arises before other colors and gestures. Yet virtually any signal can be lost at any time. As a result, many extant phenotypes were more likely to arise through loss of complexity, highlighting the importance of secondary signal loss to phenotypic diversity. Collectively, our results demonstrate how sexual selection catalyzes the evolution of complex phenotypes, which indirectly support diversity by allowing different traits to be modified or lost in the future.
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32
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Vitousek MN, Johnson MA, Downs CJ, Miller ET, Martin LB, Francis CD, Donald JW, Fuxjager MJ, Goymann W, Hau M, Husak JF, Kircher BK, Knapp R, Schoenle LA, Williams TD. Macroevolutionary Patterning in Glucocorticoids Suggests Different Selective Pressures Shape Baseline and Stress-Induced Levels. Am Nat 2019; 193:866-880. [DOI: 10.1086/703112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
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33
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Martin LB, Vitousek M, Donald JW, Flock T, Fuxjager MJ, Goymann W, Hau M, Husak J, Johnson MA, Kircher B, Knapp R, Miller ET, Schoenle LA, Williams T, Francis CD. IUCN Conservation Status Does Not Predict Glucocorticoid Concentrations in Reptiles and Birds. Integr Comp Biol 2019; 58:800-813. [PMID: 30052988 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icy102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Circulating glucocorticoids (GCs) are the most commonly used biomarkers of stress in wildlife. However, their utility as a tool for identifying and/or managing at-risk species has varied. Here, we took a very broad approach to conservation physiology, asking whether International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listing status (concern versus no obvious concern) and/or location within a geographic range (edge versus non-edge) predicted baseline and post-restraint concentrations of corticosterone (CORT) among many species of birds and reptiles. Even though such an approach can be viewed as coarse, we asked in this analysis whether CORT concentrations might be useful to implicate species at risk. Indeed, our effort, relying on HormoneBase, a repository of data on wildlife steroids, complements several other large-scale efforts in this issue to describe and understand GC variation. Using a phylogenetically informed Bayesian approach, we found little evidence that either IUCN status or edge/non-edge location in a geographic distribution were related to GC levels. However, we did confirm patterns described in previous studies, namely that breeding condition and evolutionary relatedness among species predicted some GC variation. Given the broad scope of our work, we are reluctant to conclude that IUCN status and location within a range are unrelated to GC regulation. We encourage future more targeted efforts on GCs in at-risk populations to reveal how factors leading to IUCN listing or the environmental conditions at range edges impact individual performance and fitness, particularly in the mammals, amphibians, and fish species we could not study here because data are currently unavailable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lynn B Martin
- Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | - Maren Vitousek
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Jeremy W Donald
- Coates Library, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212, USA
| | - Travis Flock
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA
| | | | - Michaela Hau
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, 82319 Starnberg, Germany.,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Jerry Husak
- Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN 55105, USA
| | - Michele A Johnson
- Department of Biology, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212, USA
| | - Bonnie Kircher
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA
| | - Rosemary Knapp
- Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA
| | | | - Laura A Schoenle
- Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA.,Department of Biology, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY 13323, USA
| | - Tony Williams
- Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
| | - Clinton D Francis
- Biological Sciences Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA
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Miles MC, Schuppe ER, Ligon RM, Fuxjager MJ. Macroevolutionary patterning of woodpecker drums reveals how sexual selection elaborates signals under constraint. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 285:rspb.2017.2628. [PMID: 29467264 PMCID: PMC5832706 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.2628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2017] [Accepted: 01/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Sexual selection drives elaboration in animal displays used for competition and courtship, but this process is opposed by morphological constraints on signal design. How do interactions between selection and constraint shape display evolution? One possibility is that sexual selection continues exaggeration under constraint by operating differentially on each signal component in complex, modular displays. This is seldom studied on a phylogenetic scale, but we address the issue herein by studying macroevolutionary patterning of woodpecker drum displays. These territorial displays are produced when an individual rapidly hits its bill on a hard surface, and drums vary across species in the number of beats included (length) and the rate of drumbeat production (speed). We report that species body size limits drum speed, but not drum length. As a result of this biomechanical constraint, there is less standing variation in speed than length. We also uncover a positive relationship between sexual size dimorphism and the unconstrained trait (length), but with no effect on speed. This suggests that when morphology limits the exaggeration of one component, sexual selection instead exaggerates the unconstrained trait. Modular displays therefore provide the basis for selection to find novel routes to phenotypic elaboration after previous ones are closed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meredith C Miles
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA
| | - Eric R Schuppe
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA
| | - R Miller Ligon
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA
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Fuxjager MJ, Schuppe ER. Androgenic signaling systems and their role in behavioral evolution. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 2018; 184:47-56. [PMID: 29883693 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2018.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2018] [Revised: 05/25/2018] [Accepted: 06/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Sex steroids mediate the organization and activation of masculine reproductive phenotypes in diverse vertebrate taxa. However, the effects of sex steroid action in this context vary tremendously, in that steroid action influences reproductive physiology and behavior in markedly different ways (even among closely related species). This leads to the idea that the mechanisms underlying sex steroid action similarly differ across vertebrates in a manner that supports diversification of important sexual traits. Here, we highlight the Evolutionary Potential Hypothesis as a framework for understanding how androgen-dependent reproductive behavior evolves. This idea posits that the cellular mechanisms underlying androgenic action can independently evolve within a given target tissue to adjust the hormone's functional effects. The result is a seemingly endless number of permutations in androgenic signaling pathways that can be mapped onto the incredible diversity of reproductive phenotypes. One reason this hypothesis is important is because it shifts current thinking about the evolution of steroid-dependent traits away from an emphasis on circulating steroid levels and toward a focus on molecular mechanisms of hormone action. To this end, we also provide new empirical data suggesting that certain cellular modulators of androgen action-namely, the co-factors that dynamically adjust transcritpional effects of steroid action either up or down-are also substrates on which evolution can act. We then close the review with a detailed look at a case study in the golden-collared manakin (Manacus vitellinus). Work in this tropical bird shows how androgenic signaling systems are modified in specific parts of the skeletal muscle system to enhance motor performance necessary to produce acrobatic courtship displays. Altogether, this paper seeks to develop a platform to better understand how steroid action influences the evolution of complex animal behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, 455 Vine Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, United States.
| | - Eric R Schuppe
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, 455 Vine Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, United States
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Miles MC, Goller F, Fuxjager MJ. Physiological constraint on acrobatic courtship behavior underlies rapid sympatric speciation in bearded manakins. eLife 2018; 7:e40630. [PMID: 30375331 PMCID: PMC6207423 DOI: 10.7554/elife.40630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2018] [Accepted: 10/11/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Physiology's role in speciation is poorly understood. Motor systems, for example, are widely thought to shape this process because they can potentiate or constrain the evolution of key traits that help mediate speciation. Previously, we found that Neotropical manakin birds have evolved one of the fastest limb muscles on record to support innovations in acrobatic courtship display (Fuxjager et al., 2016a). Here, we show how this modification played an instrumental role in the sympatric speciation of a manakin genus, illustrating that muscle specializations fostered divergence in courtship display speed, which may generate assortative mating. However, innovations in contraction-relaxation cycling kinetics that underlie rapid muscle performance are also punctuated by a severe speed-endurance trade-off, blocking further exaggeration of display speed. Sexual selection therefore potentiated phenotypic displacement in a trait critical to mate choice, all during an extraordinarily fast species radiation-and in doing so, pushed muscle performance to a new boundary altogether.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Franz Goller
- University of UtahSalt Lake CityUnited States
- Institute for ZoophysiologyUniversity of MünsterGermany
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Garamszegi LZ, Donald J, Francis CD, Fuxjager MJ, Goymann W, Hau M, Husak JF, Johnson MA, Kircher B, Knapp R, Martin LB, Miller ET, Schoenle LA, Vitousek MN, Williams TD. Species-Specific Means and Within-Species Variance in Glucocorticoid Hormones and Speciation Rates in Birds. Integr Comp Biol 2018; 58:763-776. [PMID: 30011006 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icy086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
At macroevolutionary scales, stress physiology may have consequences for species diversification and subspecies richness. Populations that exploit new resources or undergo range expansion should cope with new environmental challenges, which could favor higher mean stress responses. Within-species variation in the stress response may also play a role in mediating the speciation process: in species with broad variation, there will always be some individuals that can tolerate an unpredictable environment, whereas in species with narrow variation there will be fewer individuals that are able to thrive in a new ecological niche. We tested for the evolutionary relationship between stress response, speciation rate, and subspecies richness in birds by relying on the HormoneBase repository, from which we calculated within- and among-species variation in baseline (BL) and stress-induced (SI) corticosterone levels. To estimate speciation rates, we applied Bayesian analysis of macroevolutionary mixtures that can account for variation in diversification rate among clades and through time. Contrary to our predictions, lineages with higher diversification rates were not characterized by higher BL or SI levels of corticosterone either at the tips or at the deeper nodes of the phylogeny. We also found no association between mean hormone levels and subspecies richness. Within-species variance in corticosterone levels showed close to zero repeatability, thus it is highly unlikely that this is a species-specific trait that influences diversification rates. These results imply that stress physiology may play a minor, if any, role in determining speciation rates in birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- László Zsolt Garamszegi
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana-CSIC, c/Americo Vespucio, 26, 41092 Seville, Spain.,MTA-ELTE Theoretical Biology and Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Department of Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest H-1117, Hungary
| | - Jeremy Donald
- Coates Library, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212, USA
| | - Clinton D Francis
- Biological Sciences Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA
| | | | - Michaela Hau
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen 82319, Germany.,University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78464, Germany
| | - Jerry F Husak
- Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN 55105, USA
| | - Michele A Johnson
- Department of Biology, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212, USA
| | - Bonnie Kircher
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA
| | - Rosemary Knapp
- Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA
| | - Lynn B Martin
- Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | | | - Laura A Schoenle
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Maren N Vitousek
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Tony D Williams
- Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada
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Schuppe ER, Petersen JO, Fuxjager MJ. Woodpecker drumming behavior is linked to the elevated expression of genes that encode calcium handling proteins in the neck musculature. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018; 221:jeb.180190. [PMID: 29853547 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.180190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2018] [Accepted: 05/27/2018] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Many animals perform elaborate physical displays for social communication. Identifying molecular mechanisms that co-evolve with these complex behavioral signals can therefore help reveal how forces of selection shape animal design. To study this issue, we examined gene expression profiles in select skeletal muscles that actuate woodpecker drum displays. This remarkable whole-body signal is produced when individuals rapidly hammer their bill against trees. We found that, compared with muscles that play no part in producing this behavior, the main muscle used to drum abundantly expresses two genes that encode proteins that support myocytic calcium (Ca2+) handling dynamics - namely parvalbumin (PV) and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase 1 (SERCA1). Meanwhile, we found no such difference in the expression of another gene similarly vital to Ca2+ handling, ryanodine receptor 1 (RYR1). These differences are not present in a non-woodpecker species, which readily produce much slower drum-like movements for foraging (but not social signaling). Our data therefore point to an association between the fast drum displays of woodpeckers and muscle-specific expression of genes whose protein products enhance select aspects of myocytic Ca2+ handling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric R Schuppe
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA
| | - John O Petersen
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA
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40
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Francis CD, Donald JW, Fuxjager MJ, Goymann W, Hau M, Husak JF, Johnson MA, Kircher BK, Knapp R, Martin LB, Miller ET, Schoenle LA, Vitousek MN, Williams TD, Downs CJ. Metabolic Scaling of Stress Hormones in Vertebrates. Integr Comp Biol 2018; 58:729-738. [DOI: 10.1093/icb/icy063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Clinton D Francis
- Department of Biological Sciences, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA
| | - Jeremy W Donald
- Coates Library, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212, USA
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA
| | - Wolfgang Goymann
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, 82319 Starnberg, Germany
| | - Michaela Hau
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, 82319 Starnberg, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78464, Germany
| | - Jerry F Husak
- Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN 55105, USA
| | - Michele A Johnson
- Department of Biology, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212, USA
| | - Bonnie K Kircher
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA
| | - Rosemary Knapp
- Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA
| | - Lynn B Martin
- Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | | | - Laura A Schoenle
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Maren N Vitousek
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Tony D Williams
- Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
| | - Cynthia J Downs
- Department of Biology, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY 13323, USA
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Miles MC, Vitousek MN, Husak JF, Johnson MA, Martin LB, Taff CC, Zimmer C, Lovern MB, Fuxjager MJ. Standing Variation and the Capacity for Change: Are Endocrine Phenotypes More Variable Than Other Traits? Integr Comp Biol 2018; 58:751-762. [DOI: 10.1093/icb/icy062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Meredith C Miles
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA
| | - Maren N Vitousek
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
| | - Jerry F Husak
- Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN 55105, USA
| | - Michele A Johnson
- Department of Biology, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212, USA
| | - Lynn B Martin
- Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | - Conor C Taff
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Cedric Zimmer
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Matthew B Lovern
- Department of Zoology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA
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42
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Casagrande S, Zsolt Garamszegi L, Goymann W, Donald J, Francis CD, Fuxjager MJ, Husak JF, Johnson MA, Kircher B, Knapp R, Martin LB, Miller ET, Schoenle LA, Vitousek MN, Williams TD, Hau M. Do Seasonal Glucocorticoid Changes Depend on Reproductive Investment? A Comparative Approach in Birds. Integr Comp Biol 2018; 58:739-750. [DOI: 10.1093/icb/icy022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Stefania Casagrande
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Eberhard-Gwinner-Straße, Seewiesen 82319, Germany
| | - László Zsolt Garamszegi
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana-CSIC, c/Americo Vespucio 26, Seville 41092, Spain
- MTA-ELTE Theoretical Biology and Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Department of Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Wolfgang Goymann
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Eberhard-Gwinner-Straße, Seewiesen 82319, Germany
| | - Jeremy Donald
- Coates Library, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212, USA
| | - Clinton D Francis
- Biological Sciences Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA
| | - Jerry F Husak
- Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN 55105, USA
| | - Michele A Johnson
- Department of Biology, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212, USA
| | - Bonnie Kircher
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL32608, USA
| | - Rosemary Knapp
- Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA
| | - Lynn B Martin
- Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | | | - Laura A Schoenle
- Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
- Department of Biology, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY 13323, USA
| | - Maren N Vitousek
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Tony D Williams
- Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
| | - Michaela Hau
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Eberhard-Gwinner-Straße, Seewiesen 82319, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, Konstanz 78457, Germany
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Vitousek MN, Johnson MA, Donald JW, Francis CD, Fuxjager MJ, Goymann W, Hau M, Husak JF, Kircher BK, Knapp R, Martin LB, Miller ET, Schoenle LA, Uehling JJ, Williams TD. HormoneBase, a population-level database of steroid hormone levels across vertebrates. Sci Data 2018; 5:180097. [PMID: 29786693 PMCID: PMC5963335 DOI: 10.1038/sdata.2018.97] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2017] [Accepted: 03/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Hormones are central regulators of organismal function and flexibility that mediate a diversity of phenotypic traits from early development through senescence. Yet despite these important roles, basic questions about how and why hormone systems vary within and across species remain unanswered. Here we describe HormoneBase, a database of circulating steroid hormone levels and their variation across vertebrates. This database aims to provide all available data on the mean, variation, and range of plasma glucocorticoids (both baseline and stress-induced) and androgens in free-living and un-manipulated adult vertebrates. HormoneBase (www.HormoneBase.org) currently includes >6,580 entries from 476 species, reported in 648 publications from 1967 to 2015, and unpublished datasets. Entries are associated with data on the species and population, sex, year and month of study, geographic coordinates, life history stage, method and latency of hormone sampling, and analysis technique. This novel resource could be used for analyses of the function and evolution of hormone systems, and the relationships between hormonal variation and a variety of processes including phenotypic variation, fitness, and species distributions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maren N Vitousek
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Michele A Johnson
- Department of Biology, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212, USA
| | - Jeremy W Donald
- Coates Library, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212, USA
| | - Clinton D Francis
- Biological Sciences Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA
| | | | - Michaela Hau
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen 82319, Germany
| | - Jerry F Husak
- Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN 55105, USA
| | - Bonnie K Kircher
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA
| | - Rosemary Knapp
- Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA
| | - Lynn B Martin
- Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | | | - Laura A Schoenle
- Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | - Jennifer J Uehling
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Tony D Williams
- Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada
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Miles MC, Fuxjager MJ. Synergistic selection regimens drive the evolution of display complexity in birds of paradise. J Anim Ecol 2018; 87:1149-1159. [PMID: 29637997 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12824] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2017] [Accepted: 01/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Integrated visual displays that combine gesture with colour are nearly ubiquitous in the animal world, where they are shaped by sexual selection for their role in courtship and competition. However, few studies assess how multiple selection regimens operate on different components of these complex phenotypes on a macroevolutionary scale. Here, we study this issue by assessing how both sexual and ecological selection work together to influence visual display complexity in the birds of paradise. We first find that sexual dichromatism is highest in lekking species, which undergo more intense sexual selection by female choice, than non-lekking species. At the same time, species in which males directly compete with one another at communal display courts have more carotenoid-based ornaments and fewer melanin ornaments. Meanwhile, display habitat influences gestural complexity. Species that dance in the cluttered understorey have more complex dances than canopy-displaying species. Taken together, our results illustrate how distinct selection regimens each operate on individual elements comprising a complex display. This supports a modular model of display evolution, wherein the ultimate integrated display is the product of synergy between multiple factors that select for different types of phenotypic complexity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meredith C Miles
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
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45
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric R. Schuppe
- Department of Biology Wake Forest University Winston‐Salem NC USA
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46
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Fuxjager MJ, Miles MC, Goller F, Petersen J, Yancey J. Androgens Support Male Acrobatic Courtship Behavior by Enhancing Muscle Speed and Easing the Severity of Its Tradeoff With Force. Endocrinology 2017; 158:4038-4046. [PMID: 28938418 DOI: 10.1210/en.2017-00599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2017] [Accepted: 08/23/2017] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Steroid hormone action in the brain regulates many animals' elaborate social displays used for courtship and competition, but it is increasingly recognized that the periphery may also be a site for potent steroidal modulation of complex behavior. However, the mechanisms of such "bottom-up" regulation of behavioral outflow are largely unclear. To study this problem, we examined how androgenic sex hormones act through the skeletal muscular system to mediate elaborate courtship acrobatics in a tropical bird called the golden-collared manakin. As part of their display, males snap their wings together above their backs at rates that are at least 2× faster than the normal wing-beat frequency used for flight. This behavior, called the roll-snap, is actuated by repeatedly activating a humeral retractor muscle-the scapulohumeralis caudalis (SH)-which produces contraction-relaxation cycling speeds similar to the "superfast" muscles of other taxa. We report that endogenous androgenic activation of androgen receptor (AR) sustains this muscle's exceptionally rapid contractile kinetics, allowing the tissue to generate distinct wing movements at oscillation frequencies >100 Hz. We also show that these effects are rooted in an AR-dependent increase to contractile velocity, which incurs no detectable cost to force generation. Thus, AR enhances SH speed necessary for courtship display performance while avoiding the expected tradeoff with strength that could otherwise negatively influence aspects of flight. Peripheral AR therefore not only sets up the muscular system to perform a complex wing display, but does so in a way that balances the functional requirements of this muscle for other life-sustaining behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27109
| | - Meredith C Miles
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27109
| | - Franz Goller
- Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112
| | - John Petersen
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27109
| | - Julia Yancey
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27109
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Fuxjager MJ, Fusani L, Goller F, Trost L, Maat AT, Gahr M, Chiver I, Ligon RM, Chew J, Schlinger BA. Neuromuscular mechanisms of an elaborate wing display in the golden-collared manakin ( Manacus vitellinus). ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017; 220:4681-4688. [PMID: 29061685 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.167270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2017] [Accepted: 10/18/2017] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Many species perform elaborate physical displays to court mates and compete with rivals, but the biomechanical mechanisms underlying such behavior are poorly understood. We address this issue by studying the neuromuscular origins of display behavior in a small tropical passerine bird, the golden-collared manakin (Manacus vitellinus). Males of this species court females by dancing around the forest floor and rapidly snapping their wings together above their back. Using radio-telemetry, we collected electromyographic (EMG) recordings from the three main muscles that control avian forelimb movement, and found how these different muscles are activated to generate various aspects of display behavior. The muscle that raises the wing (supracoracoideus, SC) and the primary muscle that retracts the wing (scapulohumeralis caudalis, SH) were activated during the wing-snap, whereas the pectoralis (PEC), the main wing depressor, was not. SC activation began before wing elevation commenced, with further activation occurring gradually. By contrast, SH activation was swift, starting soon after wing elevation and peaking shortly after the snap. The intensity of this SH activation was comparable to that which occurs during flapping, whereas the SC activation was much lower. Thus, light activation of the SC likely helps position the wings above the back, so that quick, robust SH activation can drive these appendages together to generate the firecracker-like snap sonation. This is one of the first looks at the neuromuscular mechanisms that underlie the actuation of a dynamic courtship display, and it demonstrates that even complex, whole-body display movements can be studied with transmitter-aided EMG techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA
| | - Leonida Fusani
- Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria.,Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, 1160 Vienna, Austria
| | - Franz Goller
- Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Lisa Trost
- Department of Behavioral Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, 82319, Germany
| | - Andries Ter Maat
- Department of Behavioral Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, 82319, Germany
| | - Manfred Gahr
- Department of Behavioral Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, 82319, Germany
| | - Ioana Chiver
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - R Miller Ligon
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA
| | - Jennifer Chew
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Barney A Schlinger
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
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Garcia SM, Kopuchian C, Mindlin GB, Fuxjager MJ, Tubaro PL, Goller F. Evolution of Vocal Diversity through Morphological Adaptation without Vocal Learning or Complex Neural Control. Curr Biol 2017; 27:2677-2683.e3. [PMID: 28867206 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.07.059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2017] [Revised: 06/15/2017] [Accepted: 07/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The evolution of complex behavior is driven by the interplay of morphological specializations and neuromuscular control mechanisms [1-3], and it is often difficult to tease apart their respective contributions. Avian vocal learning and associated neural adaptations are thought to have played a major role in bird diversification [4-8], whereas functional significance of substantial morphological diversity of the vocal organ remains largely unexplored. Within the most species-rich order, Passeriformes, "tracheophones" are a suboscine group that, unlike their oscine sister taxon, does not exhibit vocal learning [9] and is thought to phonate with tracheal membranes [10, 11] instead of the two independent sources found in other passerines [12-14]. Here we show tracheophones possess three sound sources, two oscine-like labial pairs and the unique tracheal membranes, which collectively represent the largest described number of sound sources for a vocal organ. Birds with experimentally disabled tracheal membranes were still able to phonate. Instead of the main sound source, the tracheal membranes constitute a morphological specialization, which, through interaction with bronchial labia, contributes to different acoustic features such as spectral complexity, amplitude modulation, and enhanced sound amplitude. In contrast, these same features arise in oscines from neuromuscular control of two labial sources [15-17]. These findings are supported by a modeling approach and provide a clear example for how a morphological adaptation of the tracheophone vocal organ can generate specific, complex sound features. Morphological specialization therefore constitutes an alternative path in the evolution of acoustic diversity to that of oscine vocal learning and complex neural control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah M Garcia
- Department of Biology, University of Utah, 257 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
| | - Cecilia Kopuchian
- CECOAL (Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral) CONICET, Corrientes, Argentina; División Ornitología, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia" MACN-CONICET, Avenida Ángel Gallardo 470, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Gabriel B Mindlin
- Depto. Física, FCEyN, Universidad de Buenos Aires, C. Universitaria, Pab I, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA
| | - Pablo L Tubaro
- División Ornitología, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia" MACN-CONICET, Avenida Ángel Gallardo 470, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Franz Goller
- Department of Biology, University of Utah, 257 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
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Fuxjager MJ, Trainor BC, Marler CA. What can animal research tell us about the link between androgens and social competition in humans? Horm Behav 2017; 92:182-189. [PMID: 27914879 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2016.11.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2016] [Revised: 11/14/2016] [Accepted: 11/15/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
A contribution to a special issue on Hormones and Human Competition. The relationship between androgenic hormones, like testosterone (T), and aggression is extensively studied in human populations. Yet, while this work has illuminated a variety of principals regarding the behavioral and phenotypic effects of T, it is also hindered by inherent limitations of performing research on people. In these instances, animal research can be used to gain further insight into the complex mechanisms by which T influences aggression. Here, we explore recent studies on T and aggression in numerous vertebrate species, although we focus primarily on males and on a New World rodent called the California mouse (Peromyscus californicus). This species is highly territorial and monogamous, resembling the modern human social disposition. We review (i) how baseline and dynamic T levels predict and/or impact aggressive behavior and disposition; (ii) how factors related to social and physical context influence T and aggression; (iii) the reinforcing or "rewarding" aspects of aggressive behavior; and (iv) the function of T on aggression before and during a combative encounter. Included are areas that may need further research. We argue that animal studies investigating these topics fill in gaps to help paint a more complete picture of how androgenic steroids drive the output of aggressive behavior in all animals, including humans.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Brian C Trainor
- Neuroscience Graduate Group, University of California, Davis, CA, USA; Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA; Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Catherine A Marler
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA; Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
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Miles MC, Cheng S, Fuxjager MJ. Biogeography predicts macro-evolutionary patterning of gestural display complexity in a passerine family. Evolution 2017; 71:1406-1416. [PMID: 28240772 PMCID: PMC5485165 DOI: 10.1111/evo.13213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2016] [Revised: 02/08/2017] [Accepted: 02/16/2017] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Gestural displays are incorporated into the signaling repertoire of numerous animal species. These displays range from complex signals that involve impressive and challenging maneuvers, to simpler displays or no gesture at all. The factors that drive this evolution remain largely unclear, and we therefore investigate this issue in New World blackbirds by testing how factors related to a species’ geographical distribution and social mating system predict macro‐evolutionary patterns of display elaboration. We report that species inhabiting temperate regions produce more complex displays than species living in tropical regions, and we attribute this to (i) ecological factors that increase the competitiveness of the social environment in temperate regions, and (ii) different evolutionary and geological contexts under which species in temperate and tropical regions evolved. Meanwhile, we find no evidence that social mating system predicts species differences in display complexity, which is consistent with the idea that gestural displays evolve independently of social mating system. Together, these results offer some of the first insight into the role played by geographic factors and evolutionary context in the evolution of the remarkable physical displays of birds and other vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meredith C Miles
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27109
| | - Samantha Cheng
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, 93106
| | - Matthew J Fuxjager
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27109
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