Testing a key assumption in animal communication: between-individual variation in female visual systems alters perception of male signals
Testing a key assumption in animal communication: between-individual variation in female visual systems alters perception of male signals
复制标题
测试动物交流的一个关键假设：雌性视觉系统的个体差异改变了对雄性信号的感知
作者：
Kelly L. Ronald;A. Ensminger;M. Shawkey;J. R. Lucas;E. Fernández‐Juricic
摘要 雄性信号产生的变化因其与动物交流和性选择的相关性而被广泛研究。尽管我们现在对导致雄性信号特性差异的机制了解很多，但仍然有一个普遍的假设，即雌性处理这些雄性信号的方式几乎没有变化。女性之间在信号处理方面的差异可能会导致女性之间对个体男性的排名有所不同，这意味着一个信号可能不会普遍吸引所有女性。我们在一群雌性野生捕获的棕头牛鹂（Molothrus ater）中测试了这一假设，该物种使用雄性视觉信号（例如展翅展示）来做出择偶决定。我们发现，女性与色视觉和消色差视觉相关的视觉感觉系统的两个关键参数存在差异：视锥细胞密度（总密度和比例）和视锥细胞油滴吸光度。使用视觉彩色和消色差对比模型，我们发现视觉生理学的这种个体间差异导致女性感知彩色和消色差男性信号的方式存在显着的个体间差异。这些差异可能导致女性对男性视觉信号的偏好发生变化，这将为解释择偶行为的个体差异提供潜在机制。摘要：动物交流研究通常假设个体之间的接收者感知是相同的。我们发现雌性的视觉生理学和对雄性信号的感知各不相同，这可能会影响她们的交配决定。
ABSTRACT Variation in male signal production has been extensively studied because of its relevance to animal communication and sexual selection. Although we now know much about the mechanisms that can lead to variation between males in the properties of their signals, there is still a general assumption that there is little variation in terms of how females process these male signals. Variation between females in signal processing may lead to variation between females in how they rank individual males, meaning that one single signal may not be universally attractive to all females. We tested this assumption in a group of female wild-caught brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater), a species that uses a male visual signal (e.g. a wingspread display) to make its mate-choice decisions. We found that females varied in two key parameters of their visual sensory systems related to chromatic and achromatic vision: cone densities (both total and proportions) and cone oil droplet absorbance. Using visual chromatic and achromatic contrast modeling, we then found that this between-individual variation in visual physiology leads to significant between-individual differences in how females perceive chromatic and achromatic male signals. These differences may lead to variation in female preferences for male visual signals, which would provide a potential mechanism for explaining individual differences in mate-choice behavior. Summary: Animal communication studies often assume receiver perception is equal across individuals; we found females vary in their visual physiology and perception of male signals which could influence their mating decisions.
DOI：
10.1016/j.brainresprot.2004.09.003
发表时间：
2004-11-01
期刊：
BRAIN RESEARCH PROTOCOLS
影响因子：
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作者：
Bonthius, DJ;McKim, R;Pantazis, NJ
通讯作者：
Pantazis, NJ