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Threshold assessment, categorical perception, and the evolution of reliable signaling.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Peniston, JH; Green, PA; Zipple, MN; Nowicki, S
Published in: Evolution; international journal of organic evolution
December 2020

Animals often use assessment signals to communicate information about their quality to a variety of receivers, including potential mates, competitors, and predators. But what maintains reliable signaling and prevents signalers from signaling a better quality than they actually have? Previous work has shown that reliable signaling can be maintained if signalers pay fitness costs for signaling at different intensities and these costs are greater for lower quality individuals than higher quality ones. Models supporting this idea typically assume that continuous variation in signal intensity is perceived as such by receivers. In many organisms, however, receivers have threshold responses to signals, in which they respond to a signal if it is above a threshold value and do not respond if the signal is below the threshold value. Here, we use both analytical and individual-based models to investigate how such threshold responses affect the reliability of assessment signals. We show that reliable signaling systems can break down when receivers have an invariant threshold response, but reliable signaling can be rescued if there is variation among receivers in the location of their threshold boundary. Our models provide an important step toward understanding signal evolution when receivers have threshold responses to continuous signal variation.

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Published In

Evolution; international journal of organic evolution

DOI

EISSN

1558-5646

ISSN

0014-3820

Publication Date

December 2020

Volume

74

Issue

12

Start / End Page

2591 / 2604

Related Subject Headings

  • Models, Biological
  • Mating Preference, Animal
  • Male
  • Genetic Fitness
  • Female
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Biological Coevolution
  • Animals
  • Animal Communication
  • 3104 Evolutionary biology
 

Citation

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Peniston, J. H., Green, P. A., Zipple, M. N., & Nowicki, S. (2020). Threshold assessment, categorical perception, and the evolution of reliable signaling. Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution, 74(12), 2591–2604. https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.14122
Peniston, James H., Patrick A. Green, Matthew N. Zipple, and Stephen Nowicki. “Threshold assessment, categorical perception, and the evolution of reliable signaling.Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution 74, no. 12 (December 2020): 2591–2604. https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.14122.
Peniston JH, Green PA, Zipple MN, Nowicki S. Threshold assessment, categorical perception, and the evolution of reliable signaling. Evolution; international journal of organic evolution. 2020 Dec;74(12):2591–604.
Peniston, James H., et al. “Threshold assessment, categorical perception, and the evolution of reliable signaling.Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution, vol. 74, no. 12, Dec. 2020, pp. 2591–604. Epmc, doi:10.1111/evo.14122.
Peniston JH, Green PA, Zipple MN, Nowicki S. Threshold assessment, categorical perception, and the evolution of reliable signaling. Evolution; international journal of organic evolution. 2020 Dec;74(12):2591–2604.
Journal cover image

Published In

Evolution; international journal of organic evolution

DOI

EISSN

1558-5646

ISSN

0014-3820

Publication Date

December 2020

Volume

74

Issue

12

Start / End Page

2591 / 2604

Related Subject Headings

  • Models, Biological
  • Mating Preference, Animal
  • Male
  • Genetic Fitness
  • Female
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Biological Coevolution
  • Animals
  • Animal Communication
  • 3104 Evolutionary biology