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

进化的最壮观的例子之一是存在的明亮，显眼的颜色，广泛分布在整个动物王国。举个例子，警戒性物种，用显眼的？警告？向捕食者发出释放毒性的信号。警戒性毒箭蛙，Dendrobates pumilio，最近经历了一个迅速多样化的警告颜色。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，男性警告颜色的亮度可以预测D。pumilio男性男性领土互动。从这一点出发，本研究调查的条件相关性和健身后果的警告颜色的变化，这些男性。实验室分析和行为观察将描绘激素和饮食的相关性和社会后果的男性颜色和亮度变化在自然种群的这species.Because警告色可以传达给三位一体的观众（捕食者，男性和女性），这项研究将提供洞察力之间的相互作用自然和性选择驱动显着的信号进化。研究结果还将提供有关环境和生理因素与警告颜色（一种重要的生态特征）相关的信息。这个物种已被证明是一个有魅力的动物教育推广：调查人员？在巴拿马和美国的公共宣传讲座以及国际广播的电视专题节目中，都对研究进行了介绍。拟议的工作将为本科生提供研究经验，与巴拿马科学家合作的机会，其研究结果将通过可访问的数据库，博客和正在进行的外展工作与公众分享。

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.