Body size can be a good indicator of the quality of a potential mate in terms of fecundity. In ma... more Body size can be a good indicator of the quality of a potential mate in terms of fecundity. In many hermaphrodites, egg production is positively correlated with body size. Especially when donating sperm is costly, a preference for larger partners might be expected. Here we test this prediction for the great pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis. As expected, we find a clear effect of body size on egg production, and show that shell height can be used as a reliable predictor of body size. Additionally, behavioural observations reveal that these snails are not physically limited in mating with a much larger or smaller partner. Nonetheless, both in a choice experiment as well as in spontaneous copulations, we find no evidence of mate choice based on body size. These results contribute to a growing field of research which attempts to understand the evolution of the wide variation in the ways that hermaphroditic species respond to the size of potential mating partners.
Audio examples of the call repertoire of the zebra finch. (same pair as Fig. 1). Five calls for ... more Audio examples of the call repertoire of the zebra finch. (same pair as Fig. 1). Five calls for each sex and call type are spaced by one second silences. We randomly selected calls to be presented from the ones not containing noise. Sounds were recorded with backpack microphones and their amplitude normalised to -0.1 dB (maximal sample value). (7Z 240 kb)
GLMM model selection to estimate energy consumption via heart rate (fH), body temperature (Tb) or... more GLMM model selection to estimate energy consumption via heart rate (fH), body temperature (Tb) or the difference between Tb and Ta (Tdiff) in M. molossus. Shown are the corrected AIC value (AICc), and the model R2 for fixed factors only (R2m) and conditional R2 with random effects included (R2c).
De Boer, Pamela A.C.M., Andries Ter Maat, Anton W. Pieneman, Roger P. Croll, Makoto Kurokawa, and... more De Boer, Pamela A.C.M., Andries Ter Maat, Anton W. Pieneman, Roger P. Croll, Makoto Kurokawa, and René F. Jansen. Functional role of peptidergic anterior lobe neurons in male sexual behavior of the snail Lymnaea stagnalis. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 2823–2833, 1997. A morphologically defined group of peptidergic neurons in the CNS of the hermaphroditic snail, Lymnaea stagnalis, is concerned with the control of a very specific element of male sexual behavior. These neurons are located in the anterior lobe of the right cerebral ganglion (rAL). By using chronically implanted electrodes, we show that the rAL neurons are selectively active during eversion of the penis-carrying structure, the preputium. The preputium is normally contained inside the body cavity and is everted during copulation in the male role. Electrical stimulation of the rAL neurons through the implanted electrodes, induced eversion of the preputium in vivo. Injection of APGWamide (Ala-Pro-Gly-Try-NH2), a small neuropeptide ...
Reduction in metabolic rate and body temperature is a common strategy for small endotherms to sav... more Reduction in metabolic rate and body temperature is a common strategy for small endotherms to save energy. The daily reduction in metabolic rate and heterothermy, or torpor, is particularly pronounced in regions with a large variation in daily ambient temperature. This applies most strongly in temperate bat species (order Chiroptera), but it is less clear how tropical bats save energy if ambient temperatures remain high. However, many subtropical and tropical species use some daily heterothermy on cool days. We recorded the heart rate and the body temperature of free-ranging Pallas' mastiff bats () in Gamboa, Panamá, and showed that these individuals have low field metabolic rates across a wide range of body temperatures that conform to high ambient temperature. Importantly, low metabolic rates in controlled respirometry trials were best predicted by heart rate, and not body temperatureenter torpor-like states characterized by low metabolic rate and heart rates at body temperatu...
Social animals flexibly use a variety of vocalizations to communicate in complex and dynamic envi... more Social animals flexibly use a variety of vocalizations to communicate in complex and dynamic environments. However, it remains unknown whether the auditory perception of different vocalizations changes according to the ecological context. By using miniature wireless devices to synchronously record vocal interactions and local neural activity in freely-behaving zebra finches in combination with playback experiments, we investigate whether the auditory processing of vocalizations changes across life-history stages. We show that during breeding, females (but not males) increase their estrogen levels and reply faster to their mates when interacting vocally. These changes are associated with an increase in the amplitude of the female’s neural auditory responses. Furthermore, the changes in auditory response are not general, but specific to a subset of functionally distinct vocalizations and dependent on the emitter’s identity. These results provide novel insights into auditory plasticity...
The theory of communication accommodation refers to linguistic processes through which human inte... more The theory of communication accommodation refers to linguistic processes through which human interactants—consciously or subconsciously—shift their speech and gesture styles to resemble those of their conversation partners. This phenomenon represents a crucial feature of human language and is particularly pronounced in affiliative and/or strong relationships. Communication accommodation is suggested to reflect a need for social integration or identification with other individuals and, as such, plays an important role in communication within closely-knit social units and in particular monogamous relationships. Concerning nonhuman animals, the phenomenon of communication accommodation has received relatively little research attention. Here, we tested whether common ravens (Corvus corax), which are known for their sophisticated communicative skills and lifelong monogamous pair bonds, accommodate their nonvocal signals within a relationship (i.e., pair-partners). Specifically, we invest...
Body size can be a good indicator of the quality of a potential mate in terms of fecundity. In ma... more Body size can be a good indicator of the quality of a potential mate in terms of fecundity. In many hermaphrodites, egg production is positively correlated with body size. Especially when donating sperm is costly, a preference for larger partners might be expected. Here we test this prediction for the great pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis. As expected, we find a clear effect of body size on egg production, and show that shell height can be used as a reliable predictor of body size. Additionally, behavioural observations reveal that these snails are not physically limited in mating with a much larger or smaller partner. Nonetheless, both in a choice experiment as well as in spontaneous copulations, we find no evidence of mate choice based on body size. These results contribute to a growing field of research which attempts to understand the evolution of the wide variation in the ways that hermaphroditic species respond to the size of potential mating partners.
Audio examples of the call repertoire of the zebra finch. (same pair as Fig. 1). Five calls for ... more Audio examples of the call repertoire of the zebra finch. (same pair as Fig. 1). Five calls for each sex and call type are spaced by one second silences. We randomly selected calls to be presented from the ones not containing noise. Sounds were recorded with backpack microphones and their amplitude normalised to -0.1 dB (maximal sample value). (7Z 240 kb)
GLMM model selection to estimate energy consumption via heart rate (fH), body temperature (Tb) or... more GLMM model selection to estimate energy consumption via heart rate (fH), body temperature (Tb) or the difference between Tb and Ta (Tdiff) in M. molossus. Shown are the corrected AIC value (AICc), and the model R2 for fixed factors only (R2m) and conditional R2 with random effects included (R2c).
De Boer, Pamela A.C.M., Andries Ter Maat, Anton W. Pieneman, Roger P. Croll, Makoto Kurokawa, and... more De Boer, Pamela A.C.M., Andries Ter Maat, Anton W. Pieneman, Roger P. Croll, Makoto Kurokawa, and René F. Jansen. Functional role of peptidergic anterior lobe neurons in male sexual behavior of the snail Lymnaea stagnalis. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 2823–2833, 1997. A morphologically defined group of peptidergic neurons in the CNS of the hermaphroditic snail, Lymnaea stagnalis, is concerned with the control of a very specific element of male sexual behavior. These neurons are located in the anterior lobe of the right cerebral ganglion (rAL). By using chronically implanted electrodes, we show that the rAL neurons are selectively active during eversion of the penis-carrying structure, the preputium. The preputium is normally contained inside the body cavity and is everted during copulation in the male role. Electrical stimulation of the rAL neurons through the implanted electrodes, induced eversion of the preputium in vivo. Injection of APGWamide (Ala-Pro-Gly-Try-NH2), a small neuropeptide ...
Reduction in metabolic rate and body temperature is a common strategy for small endotherms to sav... more Reduction in metabolic rate and body temperature is a common strategy for small endotherms to save energy. The daily reduction in metabolic rate and heterothermy, or torpor, is particularly pronounced in regions with a large variation in daily ambient temperature. This applies most strongly in temperate bat species (order Chiroptera), but it is less clear how tropical bats save energy if ambient temperatures remain high. However, many subtropical and tropical species use some daily heterothermy on cool days. We recorded the heart rate and the body temperature of free-ranging Pallas' mastiff bats () in Gamboa, Panamá, and showed that these individuals have low field metabolic rates across a wide range of body temperatures that conform to high ambient temperature. Importantly, low metabolic rates in controlled respirometry trials were best predicted by heart rate, and not body temperatureenter torpor-like states characterized by low metabolic rate and heart rates at body temperatu...
Social animals flexibly use a variety of vocalizations to communicate in complex and dynamic envi... more Social animals flexibly use a variety of vocalizations to communicate in complex and dynamic environments. However, it remains unknown whether the auditory perception of different vocalizations changes according to the ecological context. By using miniature wireless devices to synchronously record vocal interactions and local neural activity in freely-behaving zebra finches in combination with playback experiments, we investigate whether the auditory processing of vocalizations changes across life-history stages. We show that during breeding, females (but not males) increase their estrogen levels and reply faster to their mates when interacting vocally. These changes are associated with an increase in the amplitude of the female’s neural auditory responses. Furthermore, the changes in auditory response are not general, but specific to a subset of functionally distinct vocalizations and dependent on the emitter’s identity. These results provide novel insights into auditory plasticity...
The theory of communication accommodation refers to linguistic processes through which human inte... more The theory of communication accommodation refers to linguistic processes through which human interactants—consciously or subconsciously—shift their speech and gesture styles to resemble those of their conversation partners. This phenomenon represents a crucial feature of human language and is particularly pronounced in affiliative and/or strong relationships. Communication accommodation is suggested to reflect a need for social integration or identification with other individuals and, as such, plays an important role in communication within closely-knit social units and in particular monogamous relationships. Concerning nonhuman animals, the phenomenon of communication accommodation has received relatively little research attention. Here, we tested whether common ravens (Corvus corax), which are known for their sophisticated communicative skills and lifelong monogamous pair bonds, accommodate their nonvocal signals within a relationship (i.e., pair-partners). Specifically, we invest...
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