Dancing, drumming and singing: neural control of courtship behaviours

大多数动物为了吸引配偶都会表现出某种行为。特别是鸟类，表现出广泛的行为，从孔雀的尾巴扇动到鸟鸣。几个世纪以来，这一系列行为吸引了科学家的注意，并产生了关于其进化的丰富信息。这些展示本身是在性激素和中枢神经系统的控制下，它们相互作用产生性别和物种特异性的展示行为。尽管鸟类的展示行为种类繁多，但大多数关于展示的内分泌和神经控制的研究几乎完全集中在发声上，对其他展示知之甚少。最近，一组研究人员发现，一种小型的新热带鸟类，金领侏儒鸟，拥有一系列的内分泌，神经和肌肉适应能力，使它们能够进行非常快速的翅膀运动。然而，侏儒鸟在这方面是否是独一无二的，还不得而知。北美皱腿松鸡也拥有一种快速的翅膀跳动显示，称为击鼓，可能已经进化出类似的神经和内分泌适应。虽然我们对皱腿松鸡的基本生态学有很多了解，但对击鼓的神经或内分泌控制却一无所知。因此，我建议调查鼓的神经和内分泌控制的皱腿松鸡有两个主要目标：什么大脑区域和什么激素控制鼓。全年将检查皱腿松鸡的大脑和激素水平，以检查性别和季节变化。此外，其他松鸡物种的比较研究将揭示是否有物种特定的适应显示行为的神经和内分泌控制，以及大脑区域的大小和激素水平是否随交配系统和/或显示行为而变化。这项研究的结果将有助于深入了解鸟类的性表现是如何由激素和大脑控制的，以及内分泌系统和神经系统是如何相互协调进化的。

Most animals exhibit some kind of behavioural display in order to attract mates. Birds, in particular, exhibit a wide range of behaviours ranging from the tail fanning display of peacocks to birdsong. This array of behaviours has attracted the attention of scientists for centuries and has resulted in a wealth of information regarding their evolution. The displays themselves are under the control of both sex hormones and the central nervous system, which interact to produce sex and species specific display behaviours. Despite the wide array of display behaviours in birds, most of the research on the endocrine and nervous control of displays has focused almost entirely on vocalizations and little is known about other displays. Recently, a group of researchers has discovered that a small Neotropical bird, the Golden-collared Manakin, possesses an array of endocrine, nervous and muscle adaptations that enable them to engage in extremely rapid wing movements. Whether the manakin is unique in this regard is, however, unknown. The North American Ruffed Grouse also possesses a rapid wing-beating display known as drumming and may have evolved similar neural and endocrine adaptations. Although a great deal is known about the basic ecology of the Ruffed Grouse, nothing is known about the neural or endocrine control of drumming. Therefore, I propose to investigate the neural and endocrine control of drumming in the Ruffed Grouse with two main aims: what brain regions and what hormones control drumming. The brains and hormone levels of Ruffed Grouse will be examined throughout the year to examine both sex and seasonal variations. In addition, comparative studies of other grouse species will reveal whether there are species specific adaptations in the neural and endocrine control of display behaviours and whether brain region size and hormone levels vary with mating system and/or display behaviour. The results of this study will yield valuable insight into how the sexual displays of birds are controlled by the hormones and the brain and how the endocrine and nervous systems have evolved in concert with one another.