Predicting and measuring decision rules for social recognition in a Neotropical frog

Many animals use signals to recognize familiar individuals but risk mistakes because the signal properties of different individuals often overlap. Further, outcomes of correct and incorrect decisions yield different fitness payoffs, and animals incur these payoffs at different frequencies depending on interaction rates. To understand how signal variation, payoffs, and interaction rates shape recognition decision rules, we studied male golden rocket frogs, which recognize the calls of territory neighbors and are less aggressive to neighbors than to strangers. We first quantified patterns of individual variation in call properties and predicted optimal discrimination thresholds using signal variation. We then measured thresholds for discriminating between neighbors and strangers using a habituation-discrimination field playback experiment. Territorial males discriminated between calls differing by 9% to 12% in temporal properties, slightly higher than the predicted thresholds (5-10%). Fin..., See paper for methods., See README file.

诸多动物依靠信号识别熟悉个体，但因不同个体的信号特征常存在重叠，故而面临识别失误风险。此外，正确与错误决策会带来不同的适合度收益，而动物获取此类收益的频率取决于其与同类的互动频率。为探究信号变异、收益与互动频率如何塑造个体识别决策规则，我们以雄性金色箭毒蛙（golden rocket frog）为研究对象：这类蛙能够识别领地邻居的鸣叫，且对邻居的攻击性弱于陌生个体。我们首先量化了鸣叫特征的个体变异模式，并基于信号变异预测了最优识别阈值。随后通过习惯化-辨别型野外回放实验，测量了其区分邻居与陌生个体鸣叫的识别阈值。具有领地性的雄性个体可区分时域特征差异9%至12%的鸣叫，该阈值略高于此前预测的5%至10%。（原文未尽，实验方法详见对应论文，数据集详情请参阅README文件。）