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

进化最壮观的例子之一是广泛存在于整个动物界的明亮、显眼的颜色的存在。例如，厌食性物种使用明显的？警告？它们发出信号，宣传它们对捕食者的毒性。标记性的毒镖蛙，Dendrobates Pumilio，最近在警告颜色上经历了迅速的多样化。虽然警示颜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，雄性警示颜色的亮度可以预测短尾飞虱雄性与雄性区域相互作用的结果。在此基础上，本研究调查了警示颜色变化在这些男性中的条件相关性和健康后果。实验室分析和行为观察将描绘该物种自然种群中雄性颜色和亮度变化的荷尔蒙和饮食相关性以及社会后果。由于警示颜色可以传达给三个观众(捕食者、雄性和雌性)，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著的信号进化提供洞察力。结果还将提供哪些环境和生理因素与警告颜色相关的信息，警告颜色是一种重要的生态特征。这个物种已经被证明是一种有魅力的教育推广动物：研究人员？这项研究已经出现在巴拿马和美国的公众宣传讲座以及国际广播的电视专题节目中。这项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，其结果将通过公开可用的数据库、博客和德克萨斯自然科学中心的共同PI正在进行的外联工作与公众分享。

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.