The role of plasticity in the evolution of novelty in animal communication

了解新的特征是如何产生的，对于解释地球上生命的多样性是至关重要的，但想象动物交流中如何产生新的特征是具有挑战性的，因为交流需要发送者和接收者之间的协调。例如，如果发送者进化出新的信号，则该信号可能不会被预期的接收者感知或识别为信号。然而，我们知道，新的信号确实会进化。可塑性被认为是一种可能的解释。可塑性是指有机体对环境的反应变化。例如，也许接触到新的信号会可塑性地改变接收者的偏好，使他们愿意接受具有这种信号的发送者。在这项提议中，研究人员利用了最近发现的两种太平洋田野蟋蟀用来吸引配偶的新信号(歌曲)。研究人员提出了一项大型繁殖实验，从幼年开始，雄性和雌性蟋蟀就会听到不同的歌曲，包括这两首新奇的歌曲。然后，研究人员将测量成年蟋蟀的一系列生殖特征的可塑性，以揭示可塑性在新奇起源中的作用。该项目还整合了旨在支持LGBTQ+社区年轻科学家的教育，指导不同的本科生进行独立研究，创建使用该研究的数据教授可塑性和新颖性的教学资源，并使用基于网络的公民科学平台允许公众直接参与研究。新颖性很容易在宏观进化的尺度上被察觉，新的特征可以推动多样化，但实时观察新颖性的机会很少，因此缺乏实证例子和机会来询问新特征是如何产生的。想象动物交流中的新颖性如何演变尤其具有挑战性，因为交流需要发送者和接收者之间的协调。有研究表明，表型可塑性可能有助于新性状的建立，而发育可塑性与创新有明确的联系。两个新的信号(歌曲)最近在夏威夷的Teleogrolus Ocean anicus种群中进化，提供了一个前所未有的机会来检验可塑性促进新颖性建立的中心假说。研究人员提出了一项声学饲养处理的大型育种实验，以测量祖先和衍生物种生殖特征套件的接收者和发送者的可塑性。这项工作将揭示新颖性是在缺乏可塑性的情况下进化，还是通过接收者、发送者或两者的可塑性促进新的交流信号的产生。使用按环境进行的基因育种设计还将确定可塑性是否早于新信号特征的起源，以及在生殖过程的哪个阶段可塑性克服了生殖障碍。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Understanding how new traits arise is fundamental to explaining the diversity of life on Earth, but it is challenging to imagine how novel traits could arise in animal communication because communication requires coordination between a sender and a receiver. For example, if a sender evolves a novel signal, it may not be perceived or recognized by the intended receiver as a signal. Yet we know that novel signals do evolve. Plasticity has been suggested as a possible explanation. Plasticity refers to changes in an organism in response to the environment. For example, perhaps exposure to a novel signal plastically changes the preferences of the receiver so that they are willing to accept senders with this signal. In this proposal, the researchers capitalize on the recent discovery of two novel signals (songs) that Pacific field crickets use to attract mates. The researchers propose a large breeding experiment where male and female crickets are exposed to different songs, including the two novel songs, beginning at a young age. Researchers will then measure plasticity in adult crickets for a suite of reproductive traits to uncover the role of plasticity in the origins of novelty. This project also integrates education aims to support young scientists in the LGBTQ+ community, mentoring diverse undergraduate students in independent research, creating teaching resources that use data from this research to teach about plasticity and novelty, and using a web-based citizen science platform to allow the public to participate directly in the research. Novelty is readily detectable on a macroevolutionary scale, and novel traits can drive diversification, but opportunities to observe novelty in real time are rare, so empirical examples and opportunities to ask how novel traits arise are lacking. It is particularly challenging to imagine how novelty could evolve in animal communication because communication requires coordination between a sender and a receiver. It has been suggested that phenotypic plasticity may facilitate the establishment of novel traits, and developmental plasticity has been specifically linked to innovation. Two novel signals (songs) recently evolved in Hawaiian populations of Teleogryllus oceanicus, providing an unprecedented opportunity to test the central hypothesis that plasticity facilitates the establishment of novelty. The researchers propose a large breeding experiment with acoustic rearing treatments to measure plasticity in receivers and senders for suites of reproductive traits in ancestral and derived morphs. The work will reveal whether novelty can evolve in the absence of plasticity or instead if novel communication signals are facilitated by plasticity in receivers, senders, or both. The use of a genotype-by-environment breeding design will also establish whether plasticity pre-dates the origin of novel signal features and at what stages of the reproductive process plasticity overcomes reproductive barriers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.