Dissertation Research: Predator Assessment of Prey Cues

为了吸引配偶，雄性经常发出明显的广告信号。一些例子包括许多雄鸟明亮多彩的羽毛，以及雄性青蛙在夜间大声合唱。虽然这些信号可以有效地吸引雌性，但它们也经常吸引捕食者。产生有吸引力的广告信号的雄性可能会增加生殖成功率;然而，这往往是以增加捕食风险为代价的。因此，在性选择（以及进化出越来越有吸引力的交配信号）和自然选择（以及为了生存而不被捕食者注意的需要）之间存在着冲突。 捕食者如何感知、处理和记住猎物信号对猎物信号的进化至关重要。然而，很少有人研究捕食者偷听他们的猎物。新热带蝙蝠以青蛙为食，并利用青蛙交配的叫声来探测、定位和评估猎物。仅根据青蛙的叫声，蝙蝠就能分辨出哪些青蛙好吃，哪些有毒。在巴拿马的巴罗科罗拉多岛（BCI）工作，PI将调查这些窃听蝙蝠如何评估猎物的交配信号。该项目包括调查该地区所有青蛙物种发出的叫声的差异，以及食蛙蝙蝠是否以及如何感知和区分美味青蛙和有毒青蛙的叫声。实验将涉及自然和合成呼叫的回放，以确定蝙蝠用来识别美味猎物的呼叫参数。 该项目将提供一个详细的分析青蛙交配呼叫和评估之间的权衡选择交配信号和避免predatation.Broader影响：该项目将提供科学教育的青年，少数民族和妇女。 来自巴拿马和得克萨斯大学的学生将担任研究助理，并将在实验设计，数据收集以及实地和实验室研究的其他方面进行指导。 将向对蝙蝠生物学感兴趣的学校团体和教师进行几次外联介绍。

To attract mates, males often produce conspicuous advertisement signals. A few examples include the bright, colorful plumage of many male birds, and the loud night choruses of male frogs. While these signals can be effective in attracting females, they often attract predators as well. Males that produce attractive advertisement signals may have increased reproductive success; however, this often comes at the cost of increased risk of predation. Hence there is a conflict between sexual selection on the one hand (and the evolution of ever more attractive mating signals) and natural selection on the other (and the need to be inconspicuous to predators in order to survive). How a predator perceives, processes and remembers a prey signal can be critical to the evolution of prey signals. However, there has been little study of predators that eavesdrop on their prey. The neotropical bat feeds on frogs and uses frog mating calls to detect, localize, and assess its prey. On the basis of frog calls alone, bats can tell which frogs are palatable and which are poisonous. Working on Barro Colorado Island (BCI) in Panama, the PIs will investigate how these eavesdropping bats assess the mating signals of their prey. The project includes an investigation of the variance in calls produced by all frog species in the area and if and how frog-eating bats perceive and discriminate among calls of palatable and poisonous frogs. Experiments will involve playbacks of natural and synthesized calls to determine those call parameters bats use to identify palatable prey. The project will provide a detailed analysis of mating calls by frogs and an assessment of tradeoffs between selection for mating signals and avoiding predation.Broader Impacts: The project will provide education in science to youth, minorities, and women. Students from Panama and the University of Texas will serve as research assistants and will be mentored in experimental design, data collection, and other aspects of field and laboratory research. Several outreach presentations will be given to school groups and teachers interested in bat biology.