DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The evolution of advertisement calls in the phylogenetic context of other complex phenotypes in poison frogs

生物学的核心问题之一是不同的特征如何有助于物种的生存和适应。 毒蛙家族（树蛙科）中的许多种都濒临灭绝，它们对捕食者有着不同寻常的防御能力：皮肤毒素和鲜艳的颜色。 在经历了令人厌恶的青蛙之后，一个视觉捕食者，如蛇或鸟，学会了避免类似的物种。 这种引人注目和令人不快的结合就是警戒主义。 这项研究调查了行为特征，如交配呼叫和代谢率，这似乎与警戒主义有关。该假说认为警戒性物种有更明显的叫声和更高的代谢率;这使它们能够频繁地为配偶做广告，并不断地寻找食物，因为它们受到保护免受捕食者的侵害。 这一假设将通过记录警戒和非警戒物种的广告呼叫和生理测量进行测试。 这些数据将通过比较方法进行分析，根据DNA序列推断它们的进化关系和可能的关联。这项研究具有广泛的意义，因为它综合了许多类型的证据（例如，交配行为，生理学），以了解有助于物种生存的特征的进化。这项研究在科学上很重要，因为关于这些性状相互作用的结论适用于许多其他脊椎动物和无脊椎动物物种。

One of the central questions in biology is how diverse traits contribute to the survival and adaptation of species. Poison frogs in the family (Dendrobatidae), many of which are endangered, have an unusual defense against predators: a combination of skin toxins and bright coloration. After experience with the distasteful frog, a visual predator such as a snake or a bird, learns to avoid similar species. This combination of conspicuousness and unpalatability is aposematism. This research investigates behavioral traits, such as mating calls and metabolic rates, which appear to be related to aposematism. The hypothesis is that aposematic species have more conspicuous calls and higher metabolic rates; this allows them to advertise for mates frequently, and to forage for food continuously because they are protected against predators. This hypothesis will be tested by recording advertisement calls and physiological measurements from aposematic and non-aposematic species. The data will be analyzed with comparative methods that infer their evolutionary relationships and possible association based on DNA sequences.This research is broadly significant because it synthesizes many types of evidence (e.g., mating behavior, physiology) to understand the evolution of traits that contribute to species survival. The research is scientifically important because conclusions about these trait interactions are applicable to many other vertebrate and invertebrate species.