Data from: Ecological and social drivers of neighbor recognition and the dear enemy effect in a poison frog

Navigating social relationships frequently rests on the ability to
recognize familiar individuals using phenotypic characteristics. Across
diverse taxa, animals vary in their capacities for social recognition but
the ecological and social sources of selection for recognition are often
unclear. In a comparative study of two closely related species of poison
frogs, we identified a species difference in social recognition of
territory neighbors and investigated potential sources of selection
underlying this difference. In response to acoustic playbacks, male golden
rocket frogs (Anomaloglossus beebei) recognized the calls of neighbors and
displayed a “dear enemy effect” by responding less aggressively to
neighbors’ calls than strangers’ calls. In contrast, male Kai rocket frogs
(Anomaloglossus kaiei) were equally aggressive to the calls of neighbors
and strangers. This species difference in behavior is associated with key
differences in reproductive ecology and characteristics of territories.
Golden rocket frogs defend reproductive resources in the form of
bromeliads, which is expected to create a threat asymmetry between
neighbors and strangers favoring decreased aggression to neighbors. In
contrast, Kai rocket frogs do not defend reproductive resources. Further,
compared with Kai rocket frog territories, golden rocket frog territories
occur at higher densities and are defended for longer periods of time,
creating a more complex social environment with more opportunities for
repeated but unnecessary aggression between neighbors, which should favor
the ability to recognize and exhibit less aggression towards neighbors.
These results suggest that differences in reproductive ecology can drive
changes in social structure that select for social recognition.