ORCID Profile
0000-0003-0158-2455
Current Organisation
Centro Jambatu de Investigación y Conservación de Anfibios
Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the Feedback Form.
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 07-07-2006
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2006
DOI: 10.1038/NATURE04246
Abstract: As the Earth warms, many species are likely to disappear, often because of changing disease dynamics. Here we show that a recent mass extinction associated with pathogen outbreaks is tied to global warming. Seventeen years ago, in the mountains of Costa Rica, the Monteverde harlequin frog (Atelopus sp.) vanished along with the golden toad (Bufo periglenes). An estimated 67% of the 110 or so species of Atelopus, which are endemic to the American tropics, have met the same fate, and a pathogenic chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) is implicated. Analysing the timing of losses in relation to changes in sea surface and air temperatures, we conclude with 'very high confidence' (> 99%, following the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC) that large-scale warming is a key factor in the disappearances. We propose that temperatures at many highland localities are shifting towards the growth optimum of Batrachochytrium, thus encouraging outbreaks. With climate change promoting infectious disease and eroding bio ersity, the urgency of reducing greenhouse-gas concentrations is now undeniable.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-2007
DOI: 10.1038/NATURE05942
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 07-12-2014
Abstract: Multimodal signals facilitate communication with conspecifics during courtship, but they can also alert eavesdropper predators. Hence, signallers face two pressures: enticing partners to mate and avoiding detection by enemies. Undefended organisms with limited escape abilities are expected to minimize predator recognition over mate attraction by limiting or modifying their signalling. Alternatively, organisms with anti-predator mechanisms such as aposematism (i.e. unprofitability signalled by warning cues) might elaborate mating signals as a consequence of reduced predation. We hypothesize that calls ersified in association with aposematism. To test this, we assembled a large acoustic signal database for a diurnal lineage of aposematic and cryptic/non-defended taxa, the poison frogs. First, we showed that aposematic and non-aposematic species share similar extinction rates, and aposematic lineages ersify more and rarely revert to the non-aposematic phenotype. We then characterized mating calls based on morphological (spectral), behavioural hysiological (temporal) and environmental traits. Of these, only spectral and temporal features were associated with aposematism. We propose that with the evolution of anti-predator defences, reduced predation facilitated the ersification of vocal signals, which then became elaborated or showy via sexual selection.
Location: Ecuador
No related grants have been discovered for Luis Coloma.