How New Communication Behaviors Evolve: Androgens as Modifiers of Neuromotor Structure and Function in Foot-Flagging Frogs
Author ORCID Identifier
Lisa A. Mangiamele: 0000-0003-4488-4904
Gina E. Mantica: 0000-0001-5329-3896
Riccardo Racicot: 0000-0001-6825-446X
Matthew J. Fuxjager: 0000-0003-0591-6854
Doris Preininger: 0000-0001-6842-1133
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-1-2024
Publication Title
Hormones and Behavior
Abstract
How diverse animal communication signals have arisen is a question that has fascinated many. Xenopus frogs have been a model system used for three decades to reveal insights into the neuroendocrine mechanisms and evolution of vocal diversity. Due to the ease of studying central nervous system control of the laryngeal muscles in vitro, Xenopus has helped us understand how variation in vocal communication signals between sexes and between species is produced at the molecular, cellular, and systems levels. Yet, it is becoming easier to make similar advances in non-model organisms. In this paper, we summarize our research on a group of frog species that have evolved a novel hind limb signal known as ‘foot flagging.’ We have previously shown that foot flagging is androgen dependent and that the evolution of foot flagging in multiple unrelated species is accompanied by the evolution of higher androgen hormone sensitivity in the leg muscles. Here, we present new preliminary data that compare patterns of androgen receptor expression and neuronal cell density in the lumbar spinal cord – the neuromotor system that controls the hind limb – between foot-flagging and non-foot-flagging frog species. We then relate our work to prior findings in Xenopus, highlighting which patterns of hormone sensitivity and neuroanatomical structure are shared between the neuromotor systems underlying Xenopus vocalizations and foot-flagging frogs' limb movement and which appear to be species-specific. Overall, we aim to illustrate the power of drawing inspiration from experiments in model organisms, in which the mechanistic details have been worked out, and then applying these ideas to a non-model species to reveal new details, further complexities, and fresh hypotheses.
Keywords
Androgen receptor, Communication, Evolutionary endocrinology, Foot-flagging frog, Sexual behavior, Testosterone
Volume
161
DOI
10.1016/j.yhbeh.2024.105502
ISSN
0018506X
Recommended Citation
Mangiamele, Lisa A.; Dawn, Allex Andrya; LeCure, Kerry M.; Mantica, Gina E.; Racicot, Riccardo; Fuxjager, Matthew J.; and Preininger, Doris, "How New Communication Behaviors Evolve: Androgens as Modifiers of Neuromotor Structure and Function in Foot-Flagging Frogs" (2024). Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/bio_facpubs/318
Comments
Available 5/1/2025 Peer reviewed accepted manuscript.