Temporal order and the evolution of complex acoustic signals

The evolution of complex signals may be favoured by hidden preferences or pre-existing sensory biases. Females of two species of grey treefrogs (Hyla chrysoscelis and Hyla versicolor) were tested with combinations of a conspecific advertisement call and acoustic appendages. Appendages consisted of aggressive calls and segments of advertisement calls from conspecific males and males of three other species and bursts of filtered noise. When a wide variety of these acoustic appendages followed the advertisement call, the resulting compound signal was often more attractive than the same advertisement call alone. When the same appendages led advertisement calls, however, the compound signal was never more attractive and sometimes less attractive. The order effect was especially strong in tests of H. versicolor in which advertisement-call duration was decreased. These results cannot be explained by a general pre-existing bias for extra stimulation per se. Rather, order and other effects may constrain the evolution and subsequent modification of complex and extravagant signals, examples of which have been reported for a wide range of taxa.