How Embryos Assess Danger: The Role of Vibrational Cues

胚胎如何评估危险：振动线索的作用。Warkentin（PI）和J. Gregory McDaniel（co-PI）蛋经常遭受高水平的捕食，但被认为无法自卫。最近发现的两栖动物胚胎早期孵化以逃避捕食者改变了这一观点，鱼类和蜘蛛的类似反应的证据表明，许多胚胎可能会适应不断变化的风险。在生命的任何阶段，对威胁的适当反应取决于信息的获取和处理。本研究调查的感官世界和行为决定的胚胎，使用最好的研究情况下，胚胎反捕食者的反应。红眼树蛙的树栖胚胎利用卵块中的振动来探测捕食性的蛇和黄蜂，并将它们与风和雨等良性干扰区分开来。许多其他动物，从昆虫到哺乳动物，在交流和/或捕食者与猎物的相互作用中使用振动，但研究受到复制这些振动的技术困难的限制。这项跨学科的研究将开发新的方法来分析和再现生物相关的振动，然后应用它们来研究红眼树蛙胚胎如何利用振动来决定何时孵化。为了表征胚胎的感觉环境，将记录由重要的危险和良性自然干扰以及标准化的人工干扰引起的振动。这些记录将被分析，以确定振动的哪些特征携带胚胎可以用来评估风险的信息，并为实验刺激的设计提供信息。为了确定胚胎实际上使用哪些振动特征来评估危险，将使用机械振动器将胚胎暴露于标准化的振动刺激。这项研究将阐明胚胎丰富的感觉世界和信息处理能力，并提高我们对动物如何使用振动信息的认识。它将促进行为生物学和机械工程之间的信息流动，从而推进生物振动研究，并为学生提供参与这一跨学科奋进的独特机会。

How Embryos Assess Danger: The Role of Vibrational CuesKaren M. Warkentin (PI) and J. Gregory McDaniel (co-PI)Eggs often suffer high levels of predation, but were thought to be incapable of defending themselves. The recent discovery of amphibian embryos that hatch early to escape predators changed this view, and evidence for similar responses in fishes and spiders suggests that many embryos may respond adaptively to changing risks. In any life stage, appropriate responses to threat depend on the acquisition and processing of information. This study investigates the sensory world and behavioral decisions of embryos, using the best-studied case of embryonic anti-predator responses. The arboreal embryos of red-eyed treefrogs use vibrations in the egg mass to detect predatory snakes and wasps, and distinguish them from benign disturbances such as wind and rain. Many other animals, from insects to mammals, use vibrations in communication and/or predator-prey interactions, but research has been limited by technical difficulties in reproducing these vibrations. This interdisciplinary research will develop new methods for the analysis and reproduction of biologically relevant vibrations, and then apply them to ask how red-eyed treefrog embryos use vibrations to decide when to hatch. To characterize the sensory environment of embryos, vibrations caused by important dangerous and benign natural disturbances, and standardized artificial disturbances, will be recorded. These recordings will be analyzed to determine which characteristics of the vibrations carry information that embryos could use to assess risk, and to inform the design of experimental stimuli. To determine which characteristics of vibrations embryos actually use to assess danger, a mechanical shaker will be used to expose embryos to standardized sets of vibrational stimuli. This study will elucidate the rich sensory world and information processing abilities of embryos, and improve our knowledge of how animals use vibrational information. It will facilitate the flow of information between behavioral biology and mechanical engineering, thus advancing bio-vibrations research, and provide students with a unique opportunity to participate in this cross-disciplinary endeavor.