Wilczynski Lab  Evolution of communication systems

Variation in signals, receiver characteristics, and behavior occurs at many levels within a communication system: among species, among geographically distinct populations within a species, among individuals within a population, and between sexes. Studying the pattern of this variation in relation to ecological and phylogenetic factors, as well as the consequences of this variation for sexual and natural selection provides insights into the evolution of communication and social behavior.

The Wilczynski Lab has been investigating the acoustic communication system of frogs and toads from this perspective for many years in a variety of ways. A long-term project investigating behavioral, neurophysiological, and morphological variation in cricket frogs (Acris crepitans) involves collaboration between the Wilczynski Lab and the laboratory of Dr. Michael J. Ryan (Section of Integrative Biology, University of Texas). Numerous studies have investigated the tuning characteristics of the peripheral and central auditory systems and their relationship to male call characteristics and female mate choice patterns. Supplementing this have been morphological studies of the larynx and ear to illuminate the underlying anatomical mechanisms between call and tuning differences among populations and between sexes.
		Picture at left shows larynx morphology, call structure, and tuning characteristics of three species of neotropical frogs. Photograph to the left of the title is a male Eleutherodactylus diastoma. Photograph to the right of the title is a cross section through the head of a cricket frog (Acris crepitans) showing brain, ear, and larynx. Figure below illustrates the call of  Physalaemus pustulosus with an oscillogram (A) and frequency spectrum (B). Immediately below that is an audiogram representing auditory tuning in P. pustulosus (A) and P. coloradurum (B).
	Photo at left shows calling male Physalaemus pustulosus.
Similar studies have targeted neotropical frogs. Most of this work has been done in collaboration with Dr. Michael J. Ryan and with Dr. A. Stanley Rand (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute) on the túngara frog (Physalaemus pustulosus), investigating the male call features females use when making mate choice decisions. A multi-investigator grant from the National Science Foundation’s program on Integrated Research Challenges in Environmental Biology allows the Wilczynski Lab to collaborate with the labs of Dr. David Cannetella and Dr. Michael Ryan in order to greatly expand this work into a systematic investigation of the Physalaemus species complex in Central and South America at many levels, from the molecular systematics of the species group, to the neurophysiology and neuroendocrine mechanisms associated with calling and mate choice, to the patterns of mate preference and sexual selection in these species.

Selected Publications

Sun, L.-X., W. Wilczynski, A. S. Rand, & M. J. Ryan (2000). Trade-off in short- and long-distance communication in tungara (Physalaemus pustulosus) and cricket (Acris crepitans) frogs. Behav. Ecol., 11: 102-109.

Wilczynski, W., A.S. Rand, & M.J. Ryan (1999). Female preferences for temporal order of call components in the tungara frog: A Bayesian analysis. Anim. Behav., 58: 841-851.

Burmeister, S., J. Konieczka, & W. Wilczynski (1999). Agonistic encounters in a cricket frog chorus: Behavioral outcomes vary with local competition and within the breeding season. Ethology, 105: 335-347.

 Burmeister, S., W. Wilczynski, & M. J. Ryan (1999). Temporal call changes and prior experience affect graded signaling in the cricket frog. Anim. Behav., 57: 611-618.

McClelland, B. E., W. Wilczynski, & A. S. Rand (1997).  Sexual dimorphism and species differences in the neurophysiology and morphology of the acoustic communication system of two neotropical hylids.  J. Comp. Physiol., 180: 451-462.

 McClelland, B. E., W. Wilczynski, and M. J. Ryan (1996).  Correlations between call characteristics and morphology in male cricket frogs, (Acris crepitans).  J. Exp Biol., 199: 1907-1919.

Wilczynski, W., A. S. Rand, and M. J. Ryan (1995).  The processing of spectral cues in the call analysis system of the túngara frog, Physalaemus pustulosus.  Anim. Behav., 49:911-929.

Wilczynski, W., B. E. McClelland, and A. S. Rand (1993).  Acoustic, auditory, and morphological divergence in three species of neotropical frog.  J. Comp. Physiol., 172:425-438.

 Wilczynski, W., A. C. Keddy-Hector, and M. J. Ryan (1992).  Call patterns and basilar papilla tuning in cricket frogs. I.  Differences among populations and between sexes.  Brain Behav. Evol., 39:229-237.

 Keddy-Hector, A. C., W. Wilczynski, and M. J. Ryan (1992).  Call patterns and basilar papilla tuning in cricket frogs. II.  Intrapopulational variation and allometry.  Brain Behav. Evol., 39: 238-246.

 Ryan, M. J., S. A. Perrill, and W. Wilczynski (1992).  Auditory tuning and call frequency predict population-based mating preferences in the cricket frog, Acris crepitans.  Am. Nat., 139: 1370-1383.

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