Sole coloration as an unusual aposematic signal in a Neotropical toad

Rößler, Daniela C.; Lötters, Stefan; Mappes, Johanna; Valkonen, Janne K.; Menin, Marcelo; Lima, Albertina P.; Pröhl, Heike

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-37705-1

Cited by 17 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…Our findings support “a classic view of aposematism” in which conspicuousness reduces the likelihood of recognition errors because predators can detect conspicuous prey at a greater distance and, thus, avoid them more reliably ( Guilford 1986 ). There has, however, been surprisingly few systematic observations of microhabitat selection by aposematic prey in this regard (but see Tabadkani and Nozari 2014 ; Rößler et al 2019 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This benefit of aposematism effectively negates the opposing selection faced by cryptic organisms between behaviors that maximize resource use (including favorable thermal environments) and minimize predator exposure ( Speed and Ruxton 2005 ). Multiple other aposematic animals behave in ways that expose them more to predators than comparable cryptic animals ( Pinheiro 1996 , 2007 ; Rudh et al 2013 ; Willink et al 2013 ; Tabadkani and Nozari 2014 ; Valkonen et al 2014 ; Rößler et al 2019 ). Based on our results, we predict that aposematic organisms may frequently use different microhabitats from cryptic organisms and may show reduced behavioral variation at least in terms of habitat preference or antipredator behavior.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Out in the open: behavior’s effect on predation risk and thermoregulation by aposematic caterpillars

Nielsen

Mappes

2020

Behavioral Ecology

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Warning coloration should be under strong stabilizing selection but often displays considerable intraspecific variation. Opposing selection on color by predators and temperature is one potential explanation for this seeming paradox. Despite the importance of behavior for both predator avoidance and thermoregulation, its role in mediating selection by predators and temperature on warning coloration has received little attention. Wood tiger moth caterpillars, Arctia plantaginis, have aposematic coloration, an orange patch on the black body. The size of the orange patch varies considerably: individuals with larger patches are safer from predators, but having a small patch is beneficial in cool environments. We investigated microhabitat preference by these caterpillars and how it interacted with their coloration. We expected caterpillar behavior to reflect a balance between spending time exposed to maximize basking and spending time concealed to avoid detection by predators. Instead, we found that caterpillars preferred exposed locations regardless of their coloration. Whether caterpillars were exposed or concealed had a strong effect on both temperature and predation risk, but caterpillars in exposed locations were both much warmer and less likely to be attacked by a bird predator (great tits, Parus major). This shared optimum may explain why we observed so little variation in caterpillar behavior and demonstrates the important effects of behavior on multiple functions of coloration.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Out in the open: behavior’s effect on predation risk and thermoregulation by aposematic caterpillars

Nielsen

Mappes

2020

Behavioral Ecology

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“…However, the presence of conspicuous colours in many animals still remains unexplained (e.g. contrasting colours in mammals (Caro, 2009), colourations in many frogs (Bordignon et al, 2018) and caecilians (Wollenberg & Measey, 2009)) with research on new systems revealing novel insights onto the role of such colourations (Rößler et al, 2019). Subterranean organisms which live in conditions devoid of light tend to have reduced vision and lose pigmentations (Culver & Pipan, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conspicuous colours reduce predation rates in fossorial uropeltid snakes

Cyriac

Kodandaramaiah

2019

PeerJ

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Uropeltid snakes (Family Uropeltidae) are non-venomous, fossorial snakes that are found above ground occasionally, during which time they are exposed to predation. Many species are brightly coloured, mostly on the ventral surface, but these colours are expected to have no function below the ground. Observations have shown that the cephalic resemblance (resemblance to heads) of uropeltid tails may direct attacks of predators towards the hardened tails, thereby potentially increasing handling times for predators. Experiments have also shown that predators learn to avoid prey that are non-toxic and palatable but are difficult to capture, hard to process or require long handling time when such prey advertise their unprofitability through conspicuous colours. We here postulate that uropeltid snakes use their bright colours to signal long handling times associated with attack deflection to the tails, thereby securing reduced predation from predators that can learn to associate colour with handling time. Captive chicken experiments with dough models mimicking uropeltids indicate that attacks were more common on the tail than on the head. Field experiments with uropeltid clay models show that the conspicuous colours of these snakes decrease predation rates compared to cryptic models, but a novel conspicuous colour did not confer such a benefit. Overall, our experiments provide support for our hypothesis that the conspicuous colours of these snakes reduce predation, possibly because these colours advertise unprofitability due to long handling times.

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“…Moreover, different backgrounds could represent environments in which one or another channel is more easily discriminable. Therefore, if discriminability is higher in one channel for a particular predator, but higher in another channel for a different predator (e.g., Rößler et al 2019), variation could be maintained in the population.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary trade‐offs may interact with physiological constraints to maintain color variation

Goedert

Clement

Calsbeek

2020

Ecological Monographs

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Animal coloration is a multifaceted trait with many ecological roles and related to a variety of developmental and physiological processes. Consequently, coloration is often subject to a variety of selective pressures, leading to the evolutionary maintenance of variation. In this study, we investigated hypotheses related to the maintenance of dorsal color variation in wood frogs (Rana sylvatica). First, we tested for multimodality, and whether color correlates with body size or condition or varies by sex or age-class. We combined behavioral trials with visual modeling to test for sex recognition. We also considered visual models for predators and tested for an interaction between discriminability indexes (JND) of color channel (chromatic vs. achromatic) and predator type (birds vs. snakes), as well as for a within individual trade-off between the JND of chromatic and achromatic coloration. Finally, we tested for disruptive viability selection on color using predation trials, and for antagonistic directional selection between viability selection and reproductive investment of females. We found that wood frogs present continuous color variation that does not correlate with body size or condition, but that changes with age. Wood frogs present subtle sexual dichromatism, but we found no evidence for a role of color in sex recognition. Instead, we discuss the possibility that sex differences might, at least in part, have a demographic explanation. Predator visual models indicated that wood frogs cannot solely rely on dorsal coloration for camouflage. Moreover, different predators might present selective pressures in different color channels, while individuals' achromatic and chromatic coloration trade-off in JND. Therefore, different selective pressures caused by different predators might interact with ontogenetic changes and developmental/physiological trade-offs to maintain color variation. We found no relationship between color and survival or reproductive investment, suggesting further work is required to fully understand selection on color. Our results highlight the importance of understanding evolutionary trade-offs and developmental/physiological constraints in combination with one another, and suggest the potential for an interaction between these proximate and ultimate mechanisms in the evolutionary maintenance of variation. These results likely extend beyond color expression in amphibians, and exemplify a more general process for such evolutionary outcomes.

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Sole coloration as an unusual aposematic signal in a Neotropical toad

Cited by 17 publications

References 59 publications

Out in the open: behavior’s effect on predation risk and thermoregulation by aposematic caterpillars

Out in the open: behavior’s effect on predation risk and thermoregulation by aposematic caterpillars

Conspicuous colours reduce predation rates in fossorial uropeltid snakes

Evolutionary trade‐offs may interact with physiological constraints to maintain color variation

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