Presentation Details
| Classic drivers of signal evolution explain female song in antbirds Renata Beco1, Gabriel Macedo2, Gustavo Bravo3, Oscar Johnson4, 5, Amy Luo1, Robb Brumfield5, Elizabeth Derryberry1. 1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Collaborative for Animal Behavior, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.2Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.3Colecciones Ornitológicas, Centro de Colecciones y Gestión de Especies, Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, Villa de Leyva, Boyacá, Colombia.4Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, Florida, USA.5Museum of Natural Science and Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA |
Abstract
Despite growing recognition that female bird song is widespread, large-scale comparative tests of its evolutionary drivers remain rare. Most studies have focused on male traits, leaving open whether ecological, morphological, and social pressures shape female song. Here, we use phylogenetic comparative methods to test three classic hypotheses of signal evolution—acoustic adaptation, morphological adaptation, and species recognition—using female song in antbirds (Thamnophilidae), a socially monogamous Neotropical clade with widespread female vocalizations. Habitat structure and morphology constrained multiple song traits: species in closed habitats produced fewer notes, slower-paced songs, and lower vocal performance, and larger females with larger bills produced longer songs with lower peak frequency, narrower bandwidth, and lower performance. Syntopic species pairs exhibited reduced vocal similarity. Together, these results provide a rare comparative test of signal evolution using female song and highlight the importance of incorporating females to understand signal diversity.
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