Erin Freed shares the spotlight with Joe Budny this coming Friday. Erin's presentation is entitled "Evolution of deception". Links to two relevant papers pertaining to her seminar are given below:
Bring your lunch and something to share with me this Friday!!!!
Summary: Erin's presentation looked at the fascinating world of mating-based deception that exists in the animal kingdom. She focused on a number of different groups of deception (including sensory traps, "sneaks and satellites," false advertisement, mimicry, and extra-pair copulation) that contained events ranging from outmatched male fish acting as females to male birds being unfaithful to their female counterparts. All of these different scenarios exist to give certain animals mating advantages when they may not otherwise be there.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: I think it's obvious what is the best question to ask here. What additional examples of animal mating-based deception exist in nature outside of what Erin talked about? What correlations can be drawn between these deceptions in terms of gender, type of animal, etc.?
Erin's presentation was one of the most entertaining that I have seen. It looked at a concept that people may not think to associate with animals but it does indeed exist in the animal kingdom. The idea of animal dishonesty is both easy to relate to and, as Erin showed, backed up by actual science. Obviously the animals do these things for the singular purpose of increasing their odds of passing on their genes, but it was entertaining none the less.
ReplyDeleteFiddler crabs often rely on large, but often weak, claws to intimidate their other male competitors so that they can stay on top in terms of breeding.
Excellent Presentation!!!
ReplyDeleteI thought Erin did a really good job presenting. Her presentation was entertaining and informative and opened my eyes to an area of science that I would usually overlook. In reference to the question, I read an article about male moths using deception in terms of their mating songs. Their mating songs mimic echolocation calls which are usually found in bats. The females hear these songs which they mistaken for the echolocation calls from the bats and react by "freezing". The male moths then come along and take advantage of the female moths.
ReplyDeleteOne really interesting example is that of the case of rye (not an animal, but living organism nonetheless) which actually fooled humans! Rye first came up as a weed growing among other crops like wheat. It continually lost its seeds (genetic material) to tilted soil. Over time it acquired characteristics, such as bigger-sized seeds, that made it look more similar to wheat; thus it was unknowingly cultivated as a crop by humans. This is known as a form of vavilovian mimicry, which Erin mentioned in her seminar. Now rye is a common ingredient, and staple crop used around the world.
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ReplyDeleteErin your presentation was so great and entertaining!
ReplyDeleteIn green frogs (Rana clamitans) mating based deception is seen in small males. Here, the small male frogs lower the frequency of their mating call, which exaggerates their size making them seem to be larger. The females are attracted to their call since mating with a larger male is more advantageous.
In small sized male mourning cuttlefish, a deceptive behavior known as dual-gender signaling has been noticed. This occurs when a the small sized male mourning cuttlefish is courting a female in the presence of a single rival male. They display a male-specific pattern towards a female to appear desirable while simultaneously displaying deceptive female coloration towards a rival male to avoid aggression towards them. However,these males do not employ deception when group membership was composed of two females and a single rival because of less competition and also do not employ this deception when there is more than one male rival because the deception would fail and they would be punished by larger sized males.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting talk, great job erin. I think that sometimes we forget to look at our own species when discussing certain behaviors throughout the animal kingdom, but I think one could make a good argument that humans are among the most deceptive when it comes to mate-selection. Both genders use many different tactics (cosmetic products, clothing, material goods) to convey to members of the opposite gender that they are reproductively fit and are good potential mates. Humans even go so far as to have their bodies surgically-altered as a way to make themselves more appealing, or in other cultures we may use tools to modify bodies in other ways (e.g. foot binding, face scarring).
ReplyDeleteErin’s talk was very entertaining. Josh’s question reminded of an article that I read years ago on how certain species of orchids reproduced by using deception. Many orchids developed adaptations that allow them to visually resemble the females of certain species of insects. This lures in and tricks the males of the species of insect that is resembling to mate with itself instead a prospective female. This allows the orchid to cover the insect with pollen and increase its chance of reproducing when the insect travels to another flower.
ReplyDeleteI can actually speak to this topic from what I witness on my farm frequently. Just as there are males who look and act like females, I have females who act like males. I call them my 'serial teasers'. Alpacas are stimulated ovulators and what stimulates them is the orgleing noise the males make while breeding. These girls that I am referring to take down a girl that is in heat and will ride her orgleing just as a male does while breeding. In a very short time there is a crowd of other girls cushed and waiting their turn. I have to wonder, is this a tactic to increase the potency of the male when the teaser comes into heat? These teasing girls never seem to fall exactly into cycle with the others.
ReplyDeleteMale nursery spiders prepare silk wraped presents to give to a potential mating partner. Most of the gives are typically insects for the female to eat, but some male spiders will give inedible plant materials or half eaten insects in an attempt to trick the female into mating with him. However, if the females suspects a poor gift then the female will attempt to eat the male.
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