Evolutionary loss of a signalling colour is linked to increased response to conspecific chemicals

• Published in: Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Vol. 288; no. 1947; p. 20210256
• Main Authors: Romero-Diaz, Cristina, Pruett, Jake A, Campos, Stephanie M, Ossip-Drahos, Alison G, Zúñiga-Vega, J Jaime, Vital-García, Cuauhcihuatl, Hews, Diana K, Martins, Emília P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England The Royal Society 31.03.2021
• Subjects: Aggression; Animals; Behaviour; Color; Lizards; Phenotype; Pheromones; chemical communication; visual communication; Sceloporus lizards; comparative behaviour; multimodal compensation
• ISSN: 0962-8452; 1471-2954
• DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.0256

Behavioural responses to communicative signals combine input from multiple sensory modalities and signal compensation theory predicts that evolutionary shifts in one sensory modality could impact the response to signals in other sensory modalities. Here, we conducted two types of field experiments with 11 species spread across the lizard genus to test the hypothesis that the loss of visual signal elements affects behavioural responses to a chemical signal (conspecific scents) or to a predominantly visual signal (a conspecific lizard), both of which are used in intraspecific communication. We found that three species that have independently lost a visual signal trait, a colourful belly patch, responded to conspecific scents with increased chemosensory behaviour compared to a chemical control, while species with the belly patch did not. However, most species, with and without the belly patch, responded to live conspecifics with increased visual displays of similar magnitude. While aggressive responses to visual stimuli are taxonomically widespread in , our results suggest that increased chemosensory response behaviour is linked to colour patch loss. Thus, interactions across sensory modalities could constrain the evolution of complex signalling phenotypes, thereby influencing signal diversity.