Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate genetic variances and covariances among features of the male Japanese quail advertisement call. Duration of the first, second and third syllable, the length of interval 1 (between the first and the second syllable), interval 2 (between the second and the third syllable) and damping (extension of the third syllable) were measured as temporal properties of the call. Spectral properties were peak frequencies of each syllable and the damping component. In this study, 1730 calls were recorded from 488 male Japanese quail. The restricted maximum likelihood procedure for repeated measurements was applied to estimate (co)variance components and genetic parameters for the examined traits. Heritability estimates of call parameters of the male Japanese quail ranged from low to high values (0.04-0.65) and they were generally higher for temporal properties than for spectral properties. Among the temporal properties of the call, the highest genetic correlation was between the first and the second syllable (0.96±0.251) while the lowest genetic correlation was between the first and the third syllable (0.03±0.231). Significant genetic correlations were generally high and positive among peak frequencies of the syllables. Despite the lack of apparent pattern, interval lengths tended to have positive correlation with spectral properties of the call, but the correlation of syllable lengths with spectral properties of the call was negative.
Highlights
Secondary sexual characters have an important role in species recognition, communication within and between sexes, and reproduction of both domestic and wild animals
Heritability estimates of call parameters of the male Japanese quail ranged from low to high values (0.04-0.65) and they were generally higher for temporal properties than for spectral properties
The effect of generation might be caused by the genetic structure of the parents used in each generation
Summary
Secondary sexual characters have an important role in species recognition, communication within and between sexes, and reproduction of both domestic and wild animals. Differences in communication signals among closely related species may lead to pre-mating isolation mechanism preventing hybridisation in nature 142 142/146. (Anderson, 1994; Price, 1998). Genetic basis of various sexual behaviours including acoustic signals that are involved in sexual selection have been demonstrated for a wide range of species (Butlin, 1995; Bakker, 1999; Neff and Pitcher, 2005; Welch et al, 2014). Heritability predicts the response of a phenotype to selection.
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