Dissertation Research: The Evolution of Acoustical and Functional Diversity of Advertisement calls in Asian and Melanesian Forest Frogs (subfamily Platymantinae)

[73]亚洲和美拉尼西亚森林蛙和褐蛙为研究体型、生态栖息地和进化历史对声通信系统多样性的影响提供了一个很好的模型系统。platymantiae亚科的青蛙，包括Platymantis属（估计有45-65种），表现出一系列的“广告呼叫”（通常是为了交配），在频谱特征（呼叫频率）和时间结构（呼叫传递率）上差异很大。研究生Rafe Brown在德克萨斯大学指导教师David Cannatella博士的指导下，正在研究可能影响这种声音多样性进化的因素。利用形态学和分子（DNA序列）数据对鸭嘴蛙进行系统发育研究，为建立鸭嘴蛙属亚系间性状变化的可能方向提供历史框架。反过来，这一系统发育框架将被用于研究物种之间在形态相关和生理相关的叫声性状类别上的差异。由于Platymantis的物种表现出一系列的栖息地偏好，从森林地面到树冠，该属构成了研究不同森林栖息地对信号传递和进化影响的理想系统。此外，本研究将探讨声囊功能的生物力学特征，并将这些特征与该领域广告呼叫的时间和频谱特征联系起来。

0073199Cannatella and Brown Asian and Melanesian forest frogs provide an excellent model system for studying the effects of body size, ecological habitat, and evolutionary history on diversity of acoustic communication systems. Frogs of the subfamily Platymantinae, including the large genus Platymantis (with an estimated 45-65 species), show a range of "advertisement calls" (often for mating) differing widely in spectral character (call frequencies) and temporal structure (rates of call delivery). Factors that may have influenced the evolution of this acoustic diversity are under study by graduate student Rafe Brown, with guidance from faculty adviser Dr. David Cannatella at the University of Texas. A phylogenetic study of platymantine frogs will be conducted using both morphological and molecular (DNA sequences) data to provide the historical framework for establishing the likely direction of character change among the sublineages of the genus. In turn, this phylogenetic framework will be employed to study variation among species in morphology-related and physiology-related classes of call characters. Because species of Platymantis exhibit a range of habitat preferences, from forest floor to the canopy, the genus constitutes an ideal system for studying the effects of constraints posed by different forest habitats on signal transmission and evolution. Also, the study will explore biomechanic features of vocal sac functioning and relate these to temporal and spectral characters of the advertisement calls in the field.