Data from: Contrasting theory with the empirical data of species recognition

We tested hypotheses on how animals should respond to heterospecifics encountered in the environment. Hypotheses were formulated from models parameterized to emphasize four factors that are expected to influence species discrimination: mating and territorial interactions; sex differences in resource value; environments in which heterospecifics were common or rare; and the type of identity cues available for species recognition. We also considered the role of phylogeny on contemporary responses to heterospecifics. We tested the extent these factors explained variation among taxa in species discrimination using a meta-analysis of three decades of species recognition research. A surprising outcome was the absence of a general predictor of when species discrimination would most likely occur. Instead, species discrimination is dictated by the benefits and costs of responding to a conspecific or heterospecific that are governed by the specific circumstances of a given species. The phylogeny of species recognition provided another unexpected finding: the evolutionary relationships among species predicted whether courting males within species – but not females – would discriminate against heterospecifcs. This implies that species recognition has evolved quite differently in the sexes. Finally, we identify common pitfalls in experimental design that seem to have affected some studies (e.g., poor statistical power) and provide recommendations for future research.本研究围绕动物对环境中遭遇的异种个体（heterospecifics）的响应方式检验了相关假说。研究假说基于参数化模型构建，该模型重点关注四类预计影响物种辨别（species discrimination）的核心因素：交配与领地互动行为、资源价值的性别差异、异种个体常见或罕见的栖息环境，以及可用于物种识别（species recognition）的身份线索类型。本研究同时考量了系统发育（phylogeny）对动物当前应对异种个体行为的影响。通过对三十年间物种识别相关研究开展元分析（meta-analysis），本研究检验了上述因素在多大程度上解释了不同分类群间物种辨别的差异。一项令人意外的研究结果是，目前尚无能够普遍预测物种辨别最易发生时机的通用指标。反之，物种辨别由对同种个体（conspecific）或异种个体做出响应的收益与成本所决定，而这类收益与成本受特定物种的具体情境所调控。关于物种识别的系统发育特征带来了另一项意外发现：物种间的进化关系能够预测，同一物种内的求偶雄性（而非雌性）是否会对异种个体产生辨别行为。这一结果表明，物种识别在不同性别间的进化路径存在显著差异。最后，本研究梳理了部分已有研究中存在的常见实验设计缺陷（例如统计效力不足），并为未来的相关研究提出了针对性建议。