Am Nat. 2022 Aug;200(2):236-249. doi: 10.1086/720267. Epub 2022 Jun 24.
AbstractAnimal signal colors evolve to efficiently stimulate conspecific visual systems. The sensory drive hypothesis proposes that species differences in habitat light conditions favor the evolution of color diversity. The strongest support comes from aquatic systems, while terrestrial systems offer fewer convincing examples. lizards occupy diverse habitats and signal with a colorful dewlap. Dewlap visibility depends on perceived chromatic contrast with the background. Visual system modeling has shown that red dewlaps are most visible in most habitat types. However, a majority of species possess white or yellow dewlaps. In a recent behavioral study, we showed that low light conditions can sometimes make yellow and white colors more visible by altering chromatic contrast perception with the background. Using 17 Caribbean species, we showed that cut-on wavelength, a measure of dewlap color in a white to red continuum, correlates with habitat light intensity. Pairwise comparisons revealed that red dewlaps are most visible in bright habitats, whereas yellow and white are more visible in darker habitats. We conclude that sensory drive has contributed to the evolution of dewlap color differences through the interactive effects of total habitat light intensity and chromatic contrast perception and may provide a mechanism for speciation among anoles.
摘要动物信号颜色的进化是为了有效地刺激同种的视觉系统。感觉驱动假说提出，栖息地光照条件的物种差异有利于颜色多样性的进化。该假说得到了最强有力的支持来自水生系统，而陆地系统提供的令人信服的例子较少。蜥蜴占据着多样的栖息地，并通过色彩斑斓的喉垂来进行信号交流。喉垂的可见度取决于与背景的感知色觉对比。视觉系统建模表明，在大多数栖息地类型中，红色的喉垂最为显眼。然而，大多数物种的喉垂呈现白色或黄色。在最近的一项行为研究中，我们表明，在低光照条件下，通过改变与背景的色觉对比感知，黄色和白色有时会变得更加显眼。利用 17 种加勒比物种，我们发现，喉垂颜色在白色到红色连续体中的截止波长与栖息地光照强度相关。成对比较显示，红色喉垂在明亮的栖息地最为显眼，而黄色和白色喉垂在较暗的栖息地更为显眼。我们的结论是，感觉驱动通过总栖息地光照强度和色觉对比感知的相互作用，促成了喉垂颜色差异的进化，并可能为变色龙的物种形成提供了一种机制。
