New insights from female bird song: towards an integrated approach to studying male and female communication roles.

Abstract:

:Historically, bird song has been regarded as a sex-specific signalling trait; males sing to attract females and females drive the evolution of signal exaggeration by preferring males with ever more complex songs. This view provides no functional role for female song. Historic geographical research biases generalized pronounced sex differences of phylogenetically derived northern temperate zone songbirds to all songbirds. However, we now know that female song is common and that both sexes probably sang in the ancestor of modern songbirds. This calls for research on adaptive explanations and mechanisms regulating female song, and a reassessment of questions and approaches to identify selection pressures driving song elaboration in both sexes and subsequent loss of female song in some clades. In this short review and perspective we highlight newly emerging questions and propose a research framework to investigate female song and song sex differences across species. We encourage experimental tests of mechanism, ontogeny, and function integrated with comparative evolutionary analyses. Moreover, we discuss the wider implications of female bird song research for our understanding of male and female communication roles.

journal_name

Biol Lett

journal_title

Biology letters

authors

Riebel K,Odom KJ,Langmore NE,Hall ML

doi

10.1098/rsbl.2019.0059

subject

Has Abstract

pub_date

2019-04-26 00:00:00

pages

20190059

issue

4

eissn

1744-9561

issn

1744-957X

journal_volume

15

pub_type

杂志文章
  • Schlieren photography on freely flying hawkmoth.

    abstract::The aerodynamic force on flying insects results from the vortical flow structures that vary both spatially and temporally throughout flight. Due to these complexities and the inherent difficulties in studying flying insects in a natural setting, a complete picture of the vortical flow has been difficult to obtain expe...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2018.0198

    authors: Liu Y,Roll J,Van Kooten S,Deng X

    更新日期:2018-05-01 00:00:00

  • Leaf P increase outpaces leaf N in an Inner Mongolia grassland over 27 years.

    abstract::The dynamics of leaf nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) have been intensively explored in short-term experiments, but rarely at longer timescales. Here, we investigated leaf N : P stoichiometry over a 27-year interval in an Inner Mongolia grassland by comparing leaf N : P concentration of 2006 with that of 1979. Across 8...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2014.0981

    authors: Mi Z,Huang Y,Gan H,Zhou W,Flynn DF,He JS

    更新日期:2015-01-01 00:00:00

  • Dipteran larvae and microbes facilitate nutrient sequestration in the Nepenthes gracilis pitcher plant host.

    abstract::The fluid-containing traps of Nepenthes carnivorous pitcher plants (Nepenthaceae) are often inhabited by organisms known as inquilines. Dipteran larvae are key components of such communities and are thought to facilitate pitcher nitrogen sequestration by converting prey protein into inorganic nitrogen, although this h...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2016.0928

    authors: Lam WN,Chong KY,Anand GS,Tan HT

    更新日期:2017-03-01 00:00:00

  • Learning and discrimination of cuticular hydrocarbons in a social insect.

    abstract::Social insect cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) mixtures are among the most complex chemical cues known and are important in nest-mate, caste and species recognition. Despite our growing knowledge of the nature of these cues, we have very little insight into how social insects actually perceive and discriminate among these ...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2011.0643

    authors: van Wilgenburg E,Felden A,Choe DH,Sulc R,Luo J,Shea KJ,Elgar MA,Tsutsui ND

    更新日期:2012-02-23 00:00:00

  • A new level of complexity in the male alliance networks of Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.).

    abstract::Male bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay, Western Australia form two levels of alliances; two to three males cooperate to herd individual females and teams of greater than three males compete with other groups for females. Previous observation suggested two alliance tactics: small four to six member teams of relatives th...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2010.0852

    authors: Connor RC,Watson-Capps JJ,Sherwin WB,Krützen M

    更新日期:2011-08-23 00:00:00

  • Prior hormetic priming is costly under environmental mismatch.

    abstract::It is increasingly recognized that hormetic environmental priming of stress responses can improve resilience to later life stress exposure. However, such phenotypic adjustments may be costly, particularly if the subsequent environment does not match that to which the adjustment was made. Here, we show that hormetic pr...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2013.1010

    authors: Costantini D,Monaghan P,Metcalfe NB

    更新日期:2014-02-12 00:00:00

  • Whisker isotopic signature depicts migration patterns and multi-year intra- and inter-individual foraging strategies in fur seals.

    abstract::The movement and dietary history of individuals can be studied using stable isotope records in archival keratinous tissues. Here, we present a chronology of temporally fine-scale data on the trophic niche of otariid seals by measuring the isotopic signature of serially sampled whiskers. Whiskers of male Antarctic fur ...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2009.0552

    authors: Cherel Y,Kernaléguen L,Richard P,Guinet C

    更新日期:2009-12-23 00:00:00

  • Structural equation modelling reveals plant-community drivers of carbon storage in boreal forest ecosystems.

    abstract::Boreal forest ecosystems are important drivers of the global carbon (C) cycle by acting as both sinks and sources of atmospheric CO(2). While several factors have been proposed as determining the ability of boreal forest to function as C sinks, little is known about their relative importance. In this study, we applied...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2009.0613

    authors: Jonsson M,Wardle DA

    更新日期:2010-02-23 00:00:00

  • Host age modulates within-host parasite competition.

    abstract::In many host populations, one of the most striking differences among hosts is their age. While parasite prevalence differences in relation to host age are well known, little is known on how host age impacts ecological and evolutionary dynamics of diseases. Using two clones of the water flea Daphnia magna and two clone...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2015.0131

    authors: Izhar R,Routtu J,Ben-Ami F

    更新日期:2015-05-01 00:00:00

  • The Early Cambrian tommotiid Micrina, a sessile bivalved stem group brachiopod.

    abstract::The tannuolinid Micrina belongs to the tommotiids-a common and widely distributed, but poorly understood, group of Early Cambrian fossil metazoans with multiple external organophosphatic sclerites. Recent findings of sessile articulated tommotiid scleritomes indicate that previous reconstructions of tommotiids as slug...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2008.0277

    authors: Holmer LE,Skovsted CB,Brock GA,Valentine JL,Paterson JR

    更新日期:2008-12-23 00:00:00

  • Comparison of the functional responses of invasive and native amphipods.

    abstract::While we can usually understand the impacts of invasive species on recipient communities, invasion biology lacks methodologies that are potentially more predictive. Such tools should ideally be straightforward and widely applicable. Here, we explore an approach that compares the functional responses (FRs) of invader a...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2007.0554

    authors: Bollache L,Dick JT,Farnsworth KD,Montgomery WI

    更新日期:2008-04-23 00:00:00

  • Local perceptions of climate change validated by scientific evidence in the Himalayas.

    abstract::The Himalayas are assumed to be undergoing rapid climate change, with serious environmental, social and economic consequences for more than two billion people. However, data on the extent of climate change or its impact on the region are meagre. Based on local knowledge, we report perceived changes in climate and cons...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2011.0269

    authors: Chaudhary P,Bawa KS

    更新日期:2011-10-23 00:00:00

  • Termites manipulate moisture content of wood to maximize foraging resources.

    abstract::Animals use cues to find their food, in microhabitats within their physiological tolerances. Termites build and modify their microhabitat, to transform hostile environments into benign ones, which raises questions about the relative importance of cues. Termites are desiccation intolerant and foraging termites are attr...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2019.0365

    authors: Oberst S,Lenz M,Lai JCS,Evans TA

    更新日期:2019-07-26 00:00:00

  • Gene swamping alters evolution during range expansions in the protist Tetrahymena thermophila.

    abstract::At species' range edges, individuals often face novel environmental conditions that may limit range expansion until populations adapt. The potential to adapt depends on genetic variation upon which selection can act. However, populations at species' range edges are often genetically depauperate. One mechanism increasi...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2020.0244

    authors: Moerman F,Fronhofer EA,Wagner A,Altermatt F

    更新日期:2020-06-01 00:00:00

  • Spiders fluoresce variably across many taxa.

    abstract::The evolution of fluorescence is largely unexplored, despite the newfound occurrence of this phenomenon in a variety of organisms. We document that spiders fluoresce under ultraviolet illumination, and find that the expression of this trait varies greatly among taxa in this species-rich group. All spiders we examined ...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2007.0016

    authors: Andrews K,Reed SM,Masta SE

    更新日期:2007-06-22 00:00:00

  • The veil of ignorance can favour biological cooperation.

    abstract::Lack of information is a constraint but ignorance can sometimes assist the evolution of cooperation by constraining selfishness. We discuss examples involving both ignorance of role or pay-off and ignorance of relatedness. Ignorance can favour cooperative traits like grouping and warning coloration and reduce conflict...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2013.0365

    authors: Queller DC,Strassmann JE

    更新日期:2013-10-16 00:00:00

  • Nestling immune response to phytohaemagglutinin is not heritable in collared flycatchers.

    abstract::The response to intradermally injected phytohaemagglutinin (PHA-response) is a commonly used quantification of avian immunocompetence (the ability to resist pathogens). Parasite-mediated sexual selection requires heritable immunocompetence, but evidence for heritability of PHA-response in birds largely stems from full...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2007.0135

    authors: Pitala N,Gustafsson L,Sendecka J,Brommer JE

    更新日期:2007-08-22 00:00:00

  • Does sex really matter? Explaining intraspecies variation in ocean acidification responses.

    abstract::Ocean acidification (OA) poses a major threat to marine ecosystems globally, having significant ecological and economic importance. The number and complexity of experiments examining the effects of OA has substantially increased over the past decade, in an attempt to address multi-stressor interactions and long-term r...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章,评审

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2016.0761

    authors: Ellis RP,Davison W,Queirós AM,Kroeker KJ,Calosi P,Dupont S,Spicer JI,Wilson RW,Widdicombe S,Urbina MA

    更新日期:2017-02-01 00:00:00

  • Determinants of spring migration departure decision in a bat.

    abstract::Migratory decisions in birds are closely tied to environmental cues and fat stores, but it remains unknown if the same variables trigger bat migration. To learn more about the rare phenomenon of bat migration, we studied departure decisions of female common noctules (Nyctalus noctula) in southern Germany. We did not f...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2017.0395

    authors: Dechmann DKN,Wikelski M,Ellis-Soto D,Safi K,O'Mara MT

    更新日期:2017-09-01 00:00:00

  • The recruitment of different compartments within a muscle depends on the mechanics of the movement.

    abstract::Muscles are commonly assumed to have uniform activations across their bellies. Yet animal studies have shown that different regions across a muscle can vary in their architecture, fibre type, levels of activation and the transfer of forces to the bones and tendons. The purpose of this study was to test whether regiona...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2008.0459

    authors: Wakeling JM

    更新日期:2009-02-23 00:00:00

  • Nutrient balance affects foraging behaviour of a trap-building predator.

    abstract::Predator foraging may be affected by previous prey capture, but it is unknown how nutrient balance affects foraging behaviour. Here, we use a trap-building predator to test whether nutrients from previous prey captures affect foraging behaviour. We fed orb-weaving spiders (Zygiella x-notata) prey flies of different nu...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2009.0431

    authors: Mayntz D,Toft S,Vollrath F

    更新日期:2009-12-23 00:00:00

  • Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius) overcome their current desires to anticipate two distinct future needs and plan for them appropriately.

    abstract::Western scrub-jays (Aphelocoma californica) have been shown to overcome present satiety to cache food they will desire in the future. Here, we show that another corvid, the Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius), can distinguish between two distinct future desires and plan for each appropriately, despite experiencing a co...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2011.0909

    authors: Cheke LG,Clayton NS

    更新日期:2012-04-23 00:00:00

  • Ovulation mode modifies paternity monopolization in mammals.

    abstract::There are two forms of ovulation: spontaneous and induced. As copulation triggers ovulation for induced ovulators, males can predict the timing of ovulation and may have greater paternity monopolization than spontaneous ovulators. However, this prediction has never, to my knowledge, been tested. Using a cross-species ...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2009.0703

    authors: Soulsbury CD

    更新日期:2010-02-23 00:00:00

  • Infanticide by subordinates influences reproductive sharing in cooperatively breeding meerkats.

    abstract::In cooperative animal societies, dominant females typically show higher breeding success than subordinates, and are commonly believed to control the extent of reproductive sharing. However, studies of social insect societies reveal that subordinates too can interfere with the breeding attempts of others, with importan...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0463

    authors: Young AJ,Clutton-Brock T

    更新日期:2006-09-22 00:00:00

  • Potential impacts of climate change on the winter distribution of Afro-Palaearctic migrant passerines.

    abstract::We modelled the present and future sub-Saharan winter distributions of 64 trans-Saharan migrant passerines to predict the potential impacts of climate change. These predictions used the recent ensemble modelling developments and the latest IPCC climatic simulations to account for possible methodological uncertainties....

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2008.0715

    authors: Barbet-Massin M,Walther BA,Thuiller W,Rahbek C,Jiguet F

    更新日期:2009-04-23 00:00:00

  • Age-dependent inbreeding risk and offspring fitness costs in female black grouse.

    abstract::Dispersal is an important mechanism used to avoid inbreeding. However, dispersal may only be effective for part of an individual's lifespan since, post-dispersal individuals that breed over multiple reproductive events may risk mating with kin of the philopatric sex as they age. We tested this hypothesis in black grou...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2011.0379

    authors: Soulsbury CD,Alatalo RV,Lebigre C,Rokka K,Siitari H

    更新日期:2011-12-23 00:00:00

  • Extrinsic effects, estimating opponents' RHP, and the structure of dominance hierarchies.

    abstract::We examined the impact of winner and loser effects on dominance hierarchy formation when individuals are capable of estimating their opponent's resource holding power (RHP). The accuracy of such estimates was a variable in our simulations, and we considered cases in which all individuals err within the same bounds, as...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2007.0423

    authors: Dugatkin LA,Dugatkin AD

    更新日期:2007-12-22 00:00:00

  • Host manipulation as a parasite transmission strategy when manipulation is exploited by non-host predators.

    abstract::Trophically transmitted parasites often alter their intermediate host's phenotype, thereby predisposing hosts to increased predation. This is generally considered to be a parasite strategy evolved to enhance transmission to the next host. However, the adaptive value of host manipulation is not clear, as it may be asso...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2008.0335

    authors: Seppälä O,Jokela J

    更新日期:2008-12-23 00:00:00

  • Promotion of harmful algal blooms by zooplankton predatory activity.

    abstract::The relationship between algae and their zooplanktonic predators typically involves consumption of nutrients by algae, grazing of the algae by zooplankton which in turn enhances predator biomass, controls algal growth and regenerates nutrients. Eutrophication raises nutrient levels, but does not simply increase normal...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0447

    authors: Mitra A,Flynn KJ

    更新日期:2006-06-22 00:00:00

  • Grooming in Barbary macaques: better to give than to receive?

    abstract::It is well established that grooming underpins sociality in group-living primates, and a number of studies have documented the stress-reducing effects of being groomed. In this study, we quantified grooming behaviour and physiological stress (assessed by faecal glucocorticoid analysis) in free-ranging Barbary macaques...

    journal_title:Biology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1098/rsbl.2007.0052

    authors: Shutt K,MacLarnon A,Heistermann M,Semple S

    更新日期:2007-06-22 00:00:00