Size and sex matter: reproductive biology and determinants of offspring survival in Gazella marica |
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Authors: | Andreas Rudh Martin F. Breed Anna Qvarnström |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Animal Ecology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, , 75236 Uppsala, Sweden;2. Department of Plant Ecology and Evolution, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, , 75236 Uppsala, Sweden;3. Australian Centre for Evolutionary Biology & Biodiversity (ACEBB) and School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, , North Terrace, SA, 5005 Australia |
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Abstract: | For prey, many behavioural traits are constrained by the risk of predation. Therefore, shifts between warning and cryptic coloration have been suggested to result in parallel changes in several behaviours. In the present study, we tested whether changes in chromatic contrast among eight populations of the strawberry poison‐dart frog, Dendrobates pumilio, co‐vary with behaviour, as expected if selection is imposed by predators relying on visual detection of prey. These eight populations are geographically isolated on different island in the Bocas del Toro region of Panama and have recently diverged morphologically and genetically. We found that aggression and explorative behaviour were strongly correlated and also that males tended to be more aggressive and explorative if they belonged to populations with conspicuously coloured individuals. We discuss how evolutionary switches between predator avoidance strategies and associated behavioural divergence between populations may affect reproductive isolation. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, ●● , ●●–●●. |
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Keywords: | Anura Amphibia aposematism co‐evolution evolutionary innovation Oophaga pumilio population divergence |
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