Animals communicate with each other using specific behaviors that are controlled by the interaction of muscles, hormones, and the central nervous system. However, it is not yet known whether species that exhibit the same patterns of behavior have similar muscular, hormonal, and neural traits (collectively referred to as mechanisms of behavior), or if different combinations of these traits can produce the same behaviors. This project uses a group of 26 lizard species in the genus Anolis to determine the mechanisms that underlie two social behaviors: communication with other lizards through the extension of a throat fan, and copulation. Because these behaviors are simple, but can be directly compared across multiple species, this study allows a clear and comprehensive assessment of the interactions between the neuromuscular traits that control behavior in all vertebrates. This study is comprised of two components, both of which aim to determine the evolutionary relationships between social behaviors and their mechanisms. First, by combining detailed observations of the animals' natural behavior with biochemical assays that measure the neuromuscular traits of the animals, this project will determine if species that live in similar habitats have similar behaviors and their underlying mechanisms, and if species in different habitats exhibit different behaviors and behavioral mechanisms. Next, a laboratory experiment will manipulate rates of social behavior in males of four species by altering their levels of testosterone. This experiment will determine whether hormone-enhanced behaviors are associated with the same combination of neuromuscular traits across species. Overall, this project will provide intensive, hands-on research experiences for 12 undergraduate students, and will form the basis of a program for fifth grade science teachers and their students in urban public schools in San Antonio. These efforts will focus on providing accessible training in the science of behavior and physiology to a diverse community.
Data will be made available: EthoBank (www.indiana.edu/~ethobank/index.html) and lizardbase(http://lizardbase.org/pages/index.html)
