DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Rapid warning color evolution in a poison-dart frog: Does male-male competition play a role?

论文研究：箭毒蛙的快速警告颜色演变：雄性之间的竞争是否起作用？

• 批准号: 1110503
• 负责人: Molly Cummings
• 金额: $ 1.39万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-06-15 至 2014-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1110503&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Rapid; warning; color

One of the most spectacular examples of evolution is the existence of the bright, conspicuous colors that are widespread throughout the animal kingdom. Aposematic species, for example, use conspicuous ?warning? signals to advertize their toxicity to predators. The aposematic poison-dart frog, Dendrobates pumilio, has undergone a recent, rapid diversification in warning coloration. Though warning coloration evolves to deter predators, recent research suggests that it can also function in the context of within species communication. For example, the investigators have recently shown that male warning color brightness can predict the outcomes of D. pumilio male-male territorial interactions. Following from this, this study investigates the conditional correlates and fitness consequences of warning color variation in these males. Laboratory assays and behavioral observations will delineate the hormonal and dietary correlates and the social consequences of male color and brightness variation in natural populations of this species.Because warning coloration can communicate to a triad of viewers (predators, males, and females), this research will provide insights into how the interplay between natural and sexual selection drives conspicuous signal evolution. Results will also yield information on what environmental and physiological factors are correlated with warning color, an ecologically important trait. This species has proven to be a charismatic animal for educational outreach: the investigators? research has been featured in public outreach talks in Panama and the US and on internationally broadcasted television specials. The proposed work will provide research experience for undergraduates, opportunities for collaboration with Panamanian scientists, and its findings will be shared with the public through publically available databases, blogs, and ongoing outreach work by the co-PI at the Texas Natural Science Center.

进化中最引人注目的例子之一就是在动物王国中普遍存在的明亮、显眼的颜色。例如，警示性物种使用明显的警告。向捕食者宣传它们毒性的信号。警示性的毒镖蛙（dendroates pumilio）最近在警示性颜色上经历了快速的多样化。虽然警告色的进化是为了阻止捕食者，但最近的研究表明，它也可以在物种内部交流的背景下发挥作用。例如，研究人员最近表明，雄性警示色的亮度可以预测矮脚蛱蝶雄性和雄性领地相互作用的结果。在此基础上，本研究探讨了这些雄性警示色变化的条件相关性和适合度后果。实验室分析和行为观察将描绘出荷尔蒙和饮食的相关性以及雄性颜色和亮度变化对该物种自然种群的社会影响。因为警告色可以向三个观察者（捕食者、雄性和雌性）传达信息，这项研究将为自然选择和性选择之间的相互作用如何驱动显着信号进化提供见解。研究结果还将提供哪些环境和生理因素与警告色（一种重要的生态学特征）相关的信息。这个物种被证明是一种有魅力的教育推广动物：调查人员？这项研究在巴拿马和美国的公共宣传讲座以及国际广播电视特别节目中都有突出表现。拟议的工作将为本科生提供研究经验，提供与巴拿马科学家合作的机会，其发现将通过公开的数据库、博客和德克萨斯自然科学中心的联合项目负责人正在进行的外展工作与公众分享。