An active body of research has demonstrated that females are likely to influence the evolution of male traits by preferring to mate with the most conspicuous males in a population. For example, female peafowl prefer to mate with peacocks possessing tails that are highly ornamented with eyespots and female frogs prefer to mate with males that produce longer or more complex vocal calls. The vast majority of this research, however, has focused on how females choose mates when presented with only a single kind of mating signal. For example, extensive experimental work has shown that female frogs express preferences for certain properties of male vocal (advertisement) calls. Under natural conditions, however, animals are likely to use several different sensory modalities (auditory, visual, olfactory etc.) to gather information about potential mates. Thus, experiments that consider only one kind of information may fail to demonstrate the outcome of female mate choice as it occurs under natural conditions. The experiments in this proposal are designed to determine how female tungara frogs, Physalaemus pustulosus, choose mates when they are presented with multiple kinds of information. The researchers will present female tungara frogs with a combination of auditory signals (male vocal calls) and visual cues (highly realistic robotic male frogs that mimic the movement of live males) to assess the outcome of mate choice. In doing so, the researchers will be able to gain a better understanding of the processes by which females choose mates and how those mate choices are likely to influence the evolution of both male calls and vocal sac pattern. In addition, this research seeks to understand how the female tungara frog brain processes multiple kinds of sensory information. The researchers will investigate neural activity within the frogs' brain to gain a better understanding of how multiple sensory inputs are processed. These data will yield insights into neural processes by which females integrate multiple information types into their mate choice decisions. Finally, this research will compare behavioral and neural responses of female frogs between two species, the tungara frog and the (Peter's Frog), Physalaemus petersi. Although these two species are closely related, their behavior and ecology are very different. Broader impacts ensue from comparisons of female responses to multiple stimuli across species thus, the researchers will be able to better understand the factors influencing the evolution of multicomponent sexual displays. Additionally the research program of the PI has had broader impacts in four areas: 1) student training; 2) especially of Latin Americans and women; 3) educational outreach, development of free research tools; and 4) a variety of miscellaneous results that heighten public awareness of animal behavior. Contributions in all of these areas of broader impact will be continued in this research program.
