Female Gaze, Retinal Specializations, and the Evolution of Complex Male Courtship Displays in Habronattus Jumping Spiders

复杂动物视觉显示的研究（例如，颜色，图案，运动）让我们揭示了复杂性如何从信号和感知它们的眼睛的共同进化中产生。 在求偶过程中，色彩异常鲜艳的雄性Habronattus跳蛛会进行精心制作的舞蹈，向未来的配偶展示动作，颜色和图案。尽管雌性会通过改变脸的位置来对这些展示做出反应，但我们几乎不知道雌性在求爱期间会看哪里，或者雄性展示如何操纵雌性的凝视。为了了解这些显示器如何进化以捕捉和保留女性的视觉注意力，该研究计划将使用新可用的眼球追踪技术和数字化工具来研究火毛跳蛛中男性显示器和女性凝视之间的相互作用。Habronattus pyrrithrix。然后，研究小组将把他们的工作扩展到另外20个Habronattus物种，以了解更广泛的展示进化模式。这项研究计划将使我们更好地了解动物如何通过复杂的视觉显示进行交流，以及进化如何塑造复杂的信号。此外，科学团队将利用他们的研究见解，丰富与社区合作伙伴的教育合作。这些伙伴关系包括为地区公立学校开发和实施课程，以及与Assemble合作的仿生学主题的“超级英雄夏令营”和课后节目，Assemble是一个位于汉堡的非营利组织，专注于通过将艺术融入科学教育来教授内城青年科学。视觉系统的一个普遍特征是视觉能力在整个视觉领域的明显区域化，包括运动灵敏度、空间敏锐度和/或色觉提高的区域。动物通过头部或眼睛的运动来补偿这种区域化，这些运动将专门的视网膜区域瞄准视觉场景内的感兴趣区域。这些凝视运动决定了动物在与视觉刺激互动时看到了什么。然而，尽管凝视对动物视觉至关重要，但我们对动物如何使用凝视来评估交流展示几乎一无所知。我们对视觉显示器如何进化以有效地捕捉、保持或操纵信号接收者的目光知之甚少。这项研究将建立在目前的理解的视觉信号和视觉系统的共同进化，通过评估的进化相关性的凝视显示动态多样化的雄性求爱显示Habronattus蜘蛛。该研究将采用凝视跟踪，视频回放以及对雄性显示器的数字和物理操作，以揭示Habronattus pyrithrix物种中凝视-显示相互作用的基本特性。利用从这些深入研究中获得的见解，该研究将使用比较方法来测试关于Habronattus属中凝视显示相互作用进化的更广泛假设。

Studies of complex animal visual displays (e.g., colors, patterns, movements) allow us to uncover how complexity can result from the coevolution of signals and the eyes that perceive them. During courtship, the unusually colorful male Habronattus jumping spiders engage in elaborate dances that showcase movements, colors, and patterns to prospective mates. Although females react to these displays by changing where they face, we know almost nothing about where females look during courtship, or how male displays function to manipulate female gaze. To understand how these displays have evolved to capture and retain female visual attention, this research program will use newly available eye tracking technology and digital tools to examine interactions between male displays and female gaze in the Fiery Haired Jumping Spider, Habronattus pyrrithrix. The research team will then expand their work to 20 additional Habronattus species to understand broader patterns of display evolution. This research program will allow us to better understand how animals communicate through complex visual displays and how evolution shapes complex signals. In addition, the scientific team will use insights from their research to enrich educational collaborations with community partners. These partnerships include the development and implementation of curricula for regional public schools, as well as biomimicry-themed "superhero summer camps" and afterschool programming in collaboration with Assemble, a Pittsburgh-based non-profit organization which focuses on teaching inner-city youth about science by integrating art into science education.One widespread feature of visual systems is distinct regionalization of visual competency across the visual field, including regions of heightened motion sensitivity, spatial acuity and/or color vision. Animals compensate for this regionalization with movements of the head or eyes that aim specialized retinal regions at areas of interest within the visual scene. These gaze movements determine what animals see when they interact with visual stimuli. However, despite the fundamental importance of gaze to animal vision, we know almost nothing about how animals use their gaze to evaluate communicatory displays. We know even less about how visual displays have evolved to effectively capture, retain or manipulate the gaze of signal receivers. This research will build upon current understandings of the coevolution of visual signals and visual systems by evaluating the evolutionary relevance of gaze-display dynamics for diversification of male courtship displays in Habronattus spiders. The research will employ gaze-tracking, video playbacks, and digital and physical manipulations of male displays to reveal basic properties of gaze-display interactions in the species Habronattus pyrrithrix. Leveraging insights derived from these in-depth studies, the research will use comparative approaches to test broader hypotheses regarding the evolution of gaze-display interactions across the genus Habronattus.