QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online January 31, 2007
Journal of Experimental Biology 210, 614-619 (2007)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2007
doi: 10.1242/jeb.001362

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JEB Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Warkentin, K. M. Articles by McDaniel, J. G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Warkentin, K. M. Articles by McDaniel, J. G. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Flexible information sampling in vibrational assessment of predation risk by red-eyed treefrog embryos

Karen M. Warkentin^1,2,*, Michael S. Caldwell¹, Timothy D. Siok¹, Alison T. D'Amato¹ and J. Gregory McDaniel³

¹ Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
² Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 2072, Balboa, Panama
³ Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: kwarken{at}bu.edu)

Accepted 5 December 2006

Prey assessing risk may miss cues and fail to defend themselves, or respond unnecessarily to false alarms. Error rates can be ameliorated with more information, but sampling predator cues entails risk. Red-eyed treefrogs have arboreal eggs and aquatic tadpoles. The embryos use vibrations in snake attacks to cue behaviorally mediated premature hatching, and escape, but vibrations from benign sources rarely induce hatching. Missed cues and false alarms are costly; embryos that fail to hatch are eaten and hatching prematurely increases predation by aquatic predators. Embryos use vibration duration and spacing to inform their hatching decision. This information accrues with cycles of vibration, while risk accrues over time as snakes feed. We used vibration playback experiments to test if embryos adjust sampling of information based on its cost, and measured latency to initiate hatching in videotaped snake attacks. Embryos did not initiate hatching immediately in attacks or playbacks, and the delay varied with the rate at which information accrued. Embryos started hatching sooner in response to stimuli with shorter cycles but sampled fewer cycles (less information) of longer-cycle stimuli before hatching. This flexible sampling is consistent with embryos balancing a trade-off between the value and cost of information.

Key words: hatching, predator detection, playback, prey uncertainty, seismic, vibration, Leptophis ahaetulla, Leptodeira annulata, Agalychnis callidryas

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

Related articles in JEB:

DECISIONS, DECISIONS

Laura Blackburn
JEB 2007 210: iii. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. S. Caldwell, J. G. McDaniel, and K. M. Warkentin Frequency information in the vibration-cued escape hatching of red-eyed treefrogs J. Exp. Biol., February 15, 2009; 212(4): 566 - 575. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. R. Rogge and K. M. Warkentin External gills and adaptive embryo behavior facilitate synchronous development and hatching plasticity under respiratory constraint J. Exp. Biol., November 15, 2008; 211(22): 3627 - 3635. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Blackburn DECISIONS, DECISIONS J. Exp. Biol., February 15, 2007; 210(4): iii - iii. [Full Text] [PDF]