Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.vq83bk473

Description of the data and file structure

GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Paper Citation

Gray, D. A. Intraspecific variation in animal mating signals: a test of Mayr’s conjecture. Behavioral Ecology

2. Brief abstract

Mayr proposed that the stringency of stabilizing selection on animal mating signals is context-dependent: in species lacking sympatric congeners, relaxed selection pressure would afford greater intraspecific variability. This idea has rarely (if ever) been directly tested. Here, I evaluate Mayr’s conjecture using a comprehensive dataset on acoustic mating signals from 39 taxa (33 named species and 6 unnamed lineages) of North American Gryllus field crickets. In doing so, I distinguish between two distinct functions of mating signal components: recognition versus persuasion. Contrary to Mayr’s prediction, intraspecific variation in recognition mating signals did not increase in species with fewer or no sympatric congeners. Stabilizing selection on recognition traits appears to be maintained across both isolated and sympatric populations, possibly due to selection for efficient intraspecific communication—aligning with some aspects of Paterson’s “Specific Mate Recognition System” model. Persuasion traits, on the other hand, show elevated levels of variation consistent with directional sexual selection promoting condition dependence. Together these results reveal the ubiquity of stabilizing selection on recognition traits when at evolutionary equilibrium, and the critical importance of distinguishing between recognition and persuasion functions of animal mating signals.

Files and variables

File: Mayr_Conjecture_Main_Data.csv

Description: Please note that this file is pulled in to the R script with a different name.

Variables

• Taxon: = species
• SNP: = count of sympatric or parapatric species
• S: = count of sympatric species
• FREQ: = coefficient of variation in Frequency [calculated from raw data in 'Raw_Song_Data.csv' file]
• PRATE: = coefficient of variation in Pulse Rate [calculated from raw data in 'Raw_Song_Data.csv' file]
• PDC: = coefficient of variation in Pulse Rate [calculated from raw data in 'Raw_Song_Data.csv' file]
• PPC: = coefficient of variation in Pulse Rate [calculated from raw data in 'Raw_Song_Data.csv' file]
• CRATE: = coefficient of variation in Pulse Rate [calculated from raw data in 'Raw_Song_Data.csv' file]
• CDC: = coefficient of variation in Pulse Rate [calculated from raw data in 'Raw_Song_Data.csv' file]

File: Raw_Song_Data.csv

Variables

• Row: = row
• Species: = species
• Recording: = ID for song archive
• Temp: = recording temperature, degrees C
• Sample: = individual measurements per song feature 1-5 for same individual
• PDUR: = Pulse Duration, ms
• IPI: = Interpulse Interval, ms
• PPC: = Pulses per chirp, count
• FREQ: = dominant frequency, Hz
• ICI:= Interchirp interval, ms
• CPT: = Chirps per trill [for stutter-trill species only], count
• ITI: = Intertrill interval [for stutter-trill species only], ms
• PPINT: = Pulses per introductory trill [for species with intro trill only], count
• PRATE: = pulse rate, p/s
• CRATE: = Chirp rate, c/s
• PDC: = Pulse Duty Cycle, proportion = PDUR/(PDUR+IPI)
• CDC: = Chirp Duty Cycle, proportion = CDUR/(CDUR+ICI). CDUR calculated as (PPC*PDUR)+((PPC-1)*IPI)

File: Code.R

Description: text file of R code

Code/software

SOFTWARE VERSIONS

R 4.3.1

loaded packages:

MCMCglmm 2.36

Ape 5.7-1

Phytools 2.3-0

Dplyr 1.0.10

Tidyr 1.3.1

Tibble 3.1.8

Ggplot2 3.5.1

File: GryllusbestUS.nex

Description: phylogeny input file for R code; standard nexus format

Access information

Other publicly accessible locations of the data:

• N/A

Data was derived from the following sources:

• Analysis of recordings of cricket from North America