Presentation Details
| Cultural evolution in birdsong through the lens of cooperation and conflict Nicole Creanza, Jiaying Yang, Kate Snyder. Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA |
Abstract
Birdsong is a complex behavioral trait affected by multiple selection pressures. Traditionally, research has focused on male birdsong in the context of aggressive conflict or competition for mates. Here, in addition to its roles in conflict and aggression, we consider both male and female song in the context of cooperative behaviors. First, we examine male-female cooperation during song production, termed “duetting”, and use phylogenetic comparative methods to show that the pressures of cooperative interactions appear to drive song evolution to prevent the duetting songs from overlapping, affecting both the timing and pitch of songs. In addition, we studied whether a different type of cooperative interaction affects song evolution: cooperative breeding with helpers at the nest. We found that cooperative breeding and female song co-occur significantly more often than phylogenetically expected, and cooperative breeding appears to prevent the loss of female song. In addition, we find that male song repertoire size evolves more slowly in cooperative-breeding lineages. Our findings demonstrate how social interactions can shape the evolution of male and female vocal traits in songbirds.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
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