Abstract
Chemical communication is probably the oldest, most ubiquitous form of information exchange in the natural world, spanning all three domains of life. While excellent sociobiological and behavioral ecological research has been conducted on the form and function of chemical signals in animals, we still know remarkably little on their evolution. Besides, much of our understanding of chemical signal diversity is restricted to insects, since studies on chemical communication in vertebrates are relatively scarce. In this review, I introduce the key concepts of animal communication and expand on the past, present, and future of research in chemical communication. When doing so, I highlight the current gaps in our knowledge on the evolution of the chemical communication system in animals, whilst emphasizing the heavy research bias towards lepidopterans. Here, I detail the benefits of using phylogenetic comparative methods to identify the motors and brakes that guide the evolution of chemical signals and chemical sensory systems. Moreover, I point out that focusing on non-model species in chemical ecology, specifically lizards, can provide valuable insights into how vertebrate chemical signals evolve, and how biological systems responsible for sending and receiving signals co-evolve with signal design. Lastly, I present a case study on lacertid lizards, demonstrating the possibilities of the phylogenetic comparative approach and the use of non-model species to study the evolution of animal chemical communication systems.
Highlights
From the time of Darwin (1859, 1871), through the classic work of Tinbergen (1953) and von Frisch (1967), to the extant greats such as Wilson (1965), animal communication has been a subject of profound interest to biologists
I detail the benefits of using phylogenetic comparative methods to identify the motors and brakes that guide the evolution of chemical signals and chemical sensory systems
I point out that focusing on non-model species in chemical ecology, lizards, can provide valuable insights into how vertebrate chemical signals evolve, and how biological systems responsible for sending and receiving signals co-evolve with signal design
Summary
From the time of Darwin (1859, 1871), through the classic work of Tinbergen (1953) and von Frisch (1967), to the extant greats such as Wilson (1965), animal communication has been a subject of profound interest to biologists. Whilst the study of animal signals began in earnest with Darwin’s publication entitled The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (Darwin 1872), the phenomenon of animal communication has not gone unnoticed by early naturalists such as Aristotle and Pliny the Elder (reviewed by Fögen 2014). Despite decades of excellent and thorough research, genuine mystery still surrounds the evolution of animal signals and the origins of signal diversity
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