Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2011
In species-rich assemblages of acoustically communicating animals, heterospecific sounds may cons... more In species-rich assemblages of acoustically communicating animals, heterospecific sounds may constrain not only the evolution of signal traits but also the much less-studied signal-processing mechanisms that define the recognition space of a signal. To test the hypothesis that the recognition space is optimally designed, i.e., that it is narrower toward the species that represent the higher potential for acoustic interference, we studied an acoustic assemblage of 10 diurnally active frog species. We characterized their calls, estimated pairwise correlations in calling activity, and, to model the recognition spaces of five species, conducted playback experiments with 577 synthetic signals on 531 males. Acoustic co-occurrence was not related to multivariate distance in call parameters, suggesting a minor role for spectral or temporal segregation among species uttering similar calls. In most cases, the recognition space overlapped but was greater than the signal space, indicating that signal-processing traits do not act as strictly matched filters against sounds other than homospecific calls. Indeed, the range of the recognition space was strongly predicted by the acoustic distance to neighboring species in the signal space. Thus, our data provide compelling evidence of a role of heterospecific calls in evolutionarily shaping the frogs' recognition space within a complex acoustic assemblage without obvious concomitant effects on the signal.
The pathogenic chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), constitutes a significant thr... more The pathogenic chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), constitutes a significant threat to more than 790 amphibian species occurring in Colombia. To date there is no molecular or morphological description of strains infecting Colombian populations. Here we report the genetic and morphological characterization of the first Colombian isolate of Bd (strain EV001). Our goals were threefold: (1) to characterize the morphology of EV001 using light and scanning electron microscopy, (2) to genotype this strain by direct sequencing of 17 polymorphic nuclear markers developed previously, and (3) to compare our findings with published reports on strains from other areas of the globe. We found that EV001 is morphologically consistent with previously described strains. Multi-locus genotyping suggested that EV001 is grouped genetically with Panamanian strains and is most similar to strain JEL203 isolated from a captive individual. This finding fills an important gap in our knowledge of Neotropical strains of Bd and provides a baseline for further evolutionary and functional analyses.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2011
In species-rich assemblages of acoustically communicating animals, heterospecific sounds may cons... more In species-rich assemblages of acoustically communicating animals, heterospecific sounds may constrain not only the evolution of signal traits but also the much less-studied signal-processing mechanisms that define the recognition space of a signal. To test the hypothesis that the recognition space is optimally designed, i.e., that it is narrower toward the species that represent the higher potential for acoustic interference, we studied an acoustic assemblage of 10 diurnally active frog species. We characterized their calls, estimated pairwise correlations in calling activity, and, to model the recognition spaces of five species, conducted playback experiments with 577 synthetic signals on 531 males. Acoustic co-occurrence was not related to multivariate distance in call parameters, suggesting a minor role for spectral or temporal segregation among species uttering similar calls. In most cases, the recognition space overlapped but was greater than the signal space, indicating that signal-processing traits do not act as strictly matched filters against sounds other than homospecific calls. Indeed, the range of the recognition space was strongly predicted by the acoustic distance to neighboring species in the signal space. Thus, our data provide compelling evidence of a role of heterospecific calls in evolutionarily shaping the frogs' recognition space within a complex acoustic assemblage without obvious concomitant effects on the signal.
The pathogenic chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), constitutes a significant thr... more The pathogenic chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), constitutes a significant threat to more than 790 amphibian species occurring in Colombia. To date there is no molecular or morphological description of strains infecting Colombian populations. Here we report the genetic and morphological characterization of the first Colombian isolate of Bd (strain EV001). Our goals were threefold: (1) to characterize the morphology of EV001 using light and scanning electron microscopy, (2) to genotype this strain by direct sequencing of 17 polymorphic nuclear markers developed previously, and (3) to compare our findings with published reports on strains from other areas of the globe. We found that EV001 is morphologically consistent with previously described strains. Multi-locus genotyping suggested that EV001 is grouped genetically with Panamanian strains and is most similar to strain JEL203 isolated from a captive individual. This finding fills an important gap in our knowledge of Neotropical strains of Bd and provides a baseline for further evolutionary and functional analyses.
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Papers by S. Flechas