IRCEB: The Phylogenetics and Functional Integration of Complex Phenotypes Regulating Social/Reproductive Interactions

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Speciation, the evolutionary process by which one species splits into two, has created the staggering biodiversity that we see in the world today. Behavior plays a large role in speciation. Animals usually have signals - colors, songs, or smells - that indicate identity. Females attend to these signals closely when choosing a mate, and avoid mating with males of other species. Understanding how these communication systems regulate reproductive interactions is important to understanding why there are so many species.Information from DNA sequences will be used to reconstruct the phylogeny - the historical pattern of splitting - that produced the species in the frog genus Physalaemus. The phylogeny will be used to interpret differences among species in calls, vocal tract structure, hormone profiles, behavioral responses to call differences, and the neurobiology of the auditory centers in the brain. The goal is to deduce how differences in species-specific signals and differences in female preferences for these signals have evolved.