DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Connecting Cognition, Signaling, and Female Choice in Wild Birds

论文研究：野生鸟类的认知、信号传导和雌性选择的联系

• 批准号: 1600845
• 负责人: Vladimir Pravosudov
• 金额: $ 1.56万
• 依托单位: Board of Regents, NSHE, obo University of Nevada, Reno
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-04-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1600845&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Connecting; Cognition; Signaling

It has long been proposed that female animals use various external information containing signals to assess male quality when choosing mates. However, the connection between a male's level of intelligence and external traits that females can assess has been difficult to measure. Here the researchers will assess spatial memory ability, an intelligence trait thought to increase survival in wild food-storing birds, and two overt male signals, feather coloration and song production, to address the question of whether or not female mating choice is associated with these traits. The researchers will conduct the experiments with free-living birds using arrays of programmable 'smart' bird feeders that can track which individuals are using these feeders to test spatial learning ability. The researchers will then test whether individual variation in learning is associated with variation in communication signals and with mate choice. Findings from this work can be applied to a wide variety of species, including humans, that must make important decisions when using information that isn't always easily assessed or tangible. All of the results and findings will be widely available to a variety of audiences through publication in peer-reviewed journals and participation in professional conferences. Additionally, this work will support the research experience of undergraduate students and the equipment used in this project will also be used in public outreach activities in the community, including creating a museum display at the University of Nevada's Museum of Natural History that illustrates the differences in human and non-human.Signals are universally used across taxa to convey a diverse range of information, including social status, foraging locations, and predator presence. Several hypotheses have been proposed regarding how sexual signals of quality, in particular, have evolved to be honest as these signals are only useful insofar as they reflect some fitness associated trait(s) of the sender. Cognitive ability is one such fitness-related trait, yet direct evidence linking cognitive ability, signaling, and associated fitness consequences of female mating choices have historically been difficult to assess. Using wild birds fitted with passive integrated transponder leg bands and radio-frequency identification technology, the researchers will directly test whether (a) individual variation in a cognitive ability is associated with variation in two modes of signaling perceivable by females and (b) whether variation in cognitive ability and these two signals reflect female mating choices via production of extra-pair offspring. By doing so, the researchers will connect a cognitive trait thought to increase survival, with song production and plumage reflectance, to female mating choices in wild food-caching birds. These birds inhabit differentially harsh environments creating differential selection pressures on spatial memory ability used to retrieve cached food. Using this system the researchers will be able to directly test the assumption that signals reflect individual quality, an assumption that has been somewhat intangible in the past.

长期以来，已经提出，雌性动物在选择伴侣时使用包含信号的各种外部信息来评估男性质量。 但是，女性可以评估的男性智力水平与外部特征之间的联系很难衡量。在这里，研究人员将评估空间记忆能力，这是一种智力特征，认为智力特征会增加野生食品存储的鸟类的生存以及两个公开的男性信号，羽毛色和歌曲的产生，以解决女性交配选择是否与这些特征有关的问题。研究人员将使用可编程的“智能”喂食器阵列使用自由活动的鸟类进行实验，这些鸟类可以跟踪哪些人使用这些馈线来测试空间学习能力。然后，研究人员将测试学习中的个体差异是否与通信信号的变化和伴侣选择有关。这项工作的发现可以应用于包括人类在内的各种物种，这些物种必须在使用不容易评估或有形的信息时做出重要决定。 通过在同行评审期刊中出版并参与专业会议，所有结果和发现都将广泛地向各种观众获得。此外，这项工作将支持本科生的研究经验，该项目中使用的设备也将用于社区的公共宣传活动，包括在内华达大学自然历史博物馆创建博物馆展示，以说明人类和非人类的差异说明跨分类群中的差异，用于在各种群体中普遍使用，以传达各种信息，包括社交状况，包括社会地位，包括社会状况，供养，供您进行范围，供您进行范围。已经提出了一些关于质量的性信号，特别是诚实的假设，因为这些信号仅在反映了发送者的某些适应性特征的情况下是有用的。认知能力是一种与健身性相关的特征，但直接证据与女性交配选择的认知能力，信号传导和相关的适应性后果有关，这在历史上很难评估。研究人员使用配备有被动综合应答器腿带和无线电频识别技术的野生鸟类，研究人员将直接测试（a）认知能力的个体变化是否与女性可感知的两种信号传导方式的变化以及（b）认知能力的变化以及这两种信号是否反映了通过额外的pairsspring of Exteraim of prodiage of女性的变化。通过这样做，研究人员将连接一种认知性状，认为将歌曲的产生和羽毛反射率与野生食品禽鸟中的女性交配选择联系起来。这些鸟类居住在差异的环境中，造成了用于检索缓存食物的空间记忆能力的不同选择压力。使用此系统，研究人员将能够直接测试信号反映个人质量的假设，这一假设过去曾经是无形的。