The Influence of Habitat on the Pattern of Sexual Signals in Darters
Presented at Evolution 2022 (virtually)
talk
Iain R. Moodie 
Tamra C. Mendelson
Julien P. Renoult
Abstract
The colour-patterns of sexual signals are among the most diverse traits in the animal kingdom. To understand why there is such diversity in sexual signals, it is necessary to understand the interplay between sexual selection, natural selection and the environment. Sensory drive, a theory based in signal detection, posits that the attractiveness of a signal will depend on its detectability in a habitat. Recent work suggests that sexual signals are also likely shaped by sexual selection for signal efficiency, such that they can be processed while optimising the use of brain resources. Natural selection is thought to have tuned the visual systems of animals for efficient processing of common stimuli such as redundant features of the environment, thus, giving rise to the hypothesis that the patterns of a species’ sexual signals will correlate with their environment. Darters (Percidae: Etheostomatinae) are a species-rich group of freshwater fish found in North America that exhibit remarkable variation in sexual signal pattern and colouration. Here, under sensory drive, we use phylogenetic comparative methods to test hypotheses as to the influence of habitat and range on the design of sexual signals and apply recent advancements in computer vision techniques to measure perceptual distances between species. We find that habitat and range have likely influenced the patterns of sexual signals, but only of specific body parts and often of only one sex. Our results could be interpreted to broadly align with the predictions of sensory drive, but require further research to be conclusive.
Citation
BibTeX citation:
@unpublished{moodie2022,
author = {Moodie, Iain R. and Mendelson, Tamra C. and Renoult, Julien
P.},
title = {The {Influence} of {Habitat} on the {Pattern} of {Sexual}
{Signals} in {Darters}},
date = {2022-06-21},
address = {ASN/SSB/SSE Evolution Conference},
url = {https://irmoodie.com/presentations/moodieEvolution2022.html},
langid = {en},
abstract = {The colour-patterns of sexual signals are among the most
diverse traits in the animal kingdom. To understand why there is
such diversity in sexual signals, it is necessary to understand the
interplay between sexual selection, natural selection and the
environment. Sensory drive, a theory based in signal detection,
posits that the attractiveness of a signal will depend on its
detectability in a habitat. Recent work suggests that sexual signals
are also likely shaped by sexual selection for signal efficiency,
such that they can be processed while optimising the use of brain
resources. Natural selection is thought to have tuned the visual
systems of animals for efficient processing of common stimuli such
as redundant features of the environment, thus, giving rise to the
hypothesis that the patterns of a species’ sexual signals will
correlate with their environment. Darters (Percidae:
Etheostomatinae) are a species-rich group of freshwater fish found
in North America that exhibit remarkable variation in sexual signal
pattern and colouration. Here, under sensory drive, we use
phylogenetic comparative methods to test hypotheses as to the
influence of habitat and range on the design of sexual signals and
apply recent advancements in computer vision techniques to measure
perceptual distances between species. We find that habitat and range
have likely influenced the patterns of sexual signals, but only of
specific body parts and often of only one sex. Our results could be
interpreted to broadly align with the predictions of sensory drive,
but require further research to be conclusive.}
}
For attribution, please cite this work as:
Moodie, I. R., T. C. Mendelson, and J. P. Renoult. 2022. The
Influence of Habitat on the Pattern of Sexual Signals in Darters.
Talk (12 mins), ASN/SSB/SSE Evolution Conference.