Browsing by Subject "Mate choice"
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Item Information Processing in Complex Environments: Insights from Treefrog Communication(2021-12) Gupta, SaumyaMany animals use sounds to perform critical biological functions, such as choosing a mate or evading a predator, in environments where multiple sound sources are simultaneously active. Discerning a sound of interest in such complex acoustic environments, however, is not a trivial task. It requires animals to perceptually organize mixtures of auditory input into meaningful information about their external environment. In this dissertation research, my broad aim was to understand how animals parse their complex acoustic environments to perform acoustically guided behaviors. Using Cope’s gray treefrogs (Hyla chrysoscelis) as a model system, I investigated how animals accomplish the different perceptual tasks that are required for recognizing and responding to a signal of interest in noisy social environments. I discovered some of the processes that act together to extract information and facilitate signal recognition. Specifically, I found a perceptual mechanism that allows animals to perceive the different vocal signals in their environment as distinct sounds. I also found specific neural adaptations that allow them to extract and recognize biologically meaningful information from their vocal signals. Additionally, my research reveals that despite the evolution of these perceptual and sensorineural mechanisms, background sounds present in the social environment can interfere with the information processing capacity of animals, and thus, can critically constrain their ability to perform important biological functions. This research opens up an exciting and unknown question of how animals are evolutionarily adapted to overcome the limitations in information processing to perform acoustically guided behaviors.Item Paternal effort in relation to acoustically mediated mate choice in a Neotropical frog(2012-08) Pettitt, Beth AnnOne aspect of communication not normally considered in studies of anuran amphibians involves the extent to which acoustic signals indicate the quality of parental care a male provides. My research examined this question in the golden rocket frog (Anomaloglossus beebei), a Neotropical dendrobatid that exhibits acoustically mediated mate choice and biparental care. I investigated the function of the male advertisement call of A. beebei in the context of female mate choice by testing the predictions of four hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the relationship between mate signals and male parental care quality. In addition, I conducted a series of studies on acoustic variability, female preferences for advertisement call traits and the importance of male parental care on offspring survival.