CES IHS 2020
Talks, Posters, Short documentaries, Panel discussion, Science and Creativity stalls

Intense competition among individuals of the same sex and species can result in striking, elaborate and costly traits. Such intrasexual competition has been widely studied among males; but it is only in the last few years that intrasexual competition among females has received attention. Recent reviews suggest that competition between females may be widespread; females may compete over a variety of resources including mates, food, nesting sites and safety; and such competition can have important behavioural and evolutionary consequences. However, systematic studies of intrasexual competition among females are scarce. Consequently, our understanding of the form that competition takes in females and the traits that evolve under such competition is limited. Owing to differences in life histories, the patterns and processes acting in female-female competition are expected to be different from those in males. In my thesis, I have focused on studying traits and strategies in intrasexual competition in females in a polygynous species, the tropical rock agama (Psammophilus dorsalis), through observations and experiments in the wild.
The social system plays an important role in establishing the contexts in which various behaviours are played out. Establishing the social system of a population is essential for investigating the ecology and evolution of behavioural and life history traits. Thus, first, I studied the nature of between- and within- sex interactions across the lifetime of individuals in Peninsular rock agama using space use patterns. Individually tagged wild males and females were closely monitored and their home ranges estimated. Male home ranges overlapped multiple female home ranges, but females defended exclusive home ranges, suggesting strong competition.
I then examined signalling traits, which, observations on males suggest, play a key role in conveying information both in direct contest competition and in indirect competition to attract mates. I observed wild individuals every month across their lifetime to study the extent of female signalling and to understand the contexts in which the different signals are used. I also examined whether signalling rates are correlated with proxies of female fitness. I report that females, too, have a complex signalling repertoire. My findings suggest that females may signal both in direct competition in sexual and non-sexual context and to attract mates.
Finally, I examined strategies of female-female competition. Because of their investment in young, the costs of overt competition, such as conspicuous signalling and physical aggression, are expected to be comparatively high for females. Therefore, females should normally signal using relatively inconspicuous traits. They should be sensitive to the perceived threat, more so than males, and escalate to costly signalling and aggression only when the threat is high. I tested this hypothesis using field experiments and by simulating intruder threat on territories of wild female P. dorsalis. I report that in the normal signalling context, females signal using less conspicuous signals, less conspicuous than in males. I also show that females strikingly increase response in the form of signalling and aggression with increasing level of intruder threat. To summarize, I find substantial intrasexual competition in females of a polygynous species. Traits and strategies can be complex and different from that of males. Finally, owing to the cryptic nature of competition, an experimental approach might be key in studying competition between females.

Animal groups exhibit many emergent properties that are a consequence of local interactions. Linking individual-level behaviour to group-level dynamics has been a question of fundamental interest from both biological and mathematical perspectives. However, most empirical studies have focused on average behaviours ignoring stochasticity at the level of individuals. On the other hand, conclusions from theoretical models are often derived in the limit of infinite systems, in turn neglecting stochastic effects due to finite group sizes. In our study, we use a stochastic framework that accounts for intrinsic-noise in collective dynamics arising due to (a) inherently probabilistic interactions and (b) a finite number of group members. We derive equations of group dynamics starting from individual-level probabilistic rules as well as from real data to understand the effects of such intrinsic noise and the mechanisms underlying collective behaviour.

First, using the chemical Langevin method, we analytically derive models (stochastic differential equations) for group dynamics for a variable m that describes the order/consensus within a group. We assume that organisms stochastically interact and choose between two/four directions. We find that simple pairwise interactions between individuals lead to intrinsic-noise that depends on the current state of the system (i.e. a multiplicative or state-dependent noise). Surprisingly, this noise creates a new ordered state that is absent in the deterministic analogue.

Next, focusing on small-to-intermediate sized groups (10-100), we empirically demonstrate intrinsic-noise induced schooling (polarized or highly coherent motion) in fish groups. The fewer the fish, the greater the intrinsic-noise and therefore the likelihood of alignment. Such empirical evidence is rare, and tightly constrains the possible underlying interactions between fish. Our model simulations indicate that fish align with each other one at a time, ruling out other complex higher-order interactions.

Further, we analyze the method to derive the group-level dynamical equation using simulated data from two different models of collective behaviour. In doing so we resolve important time-scale related issues with deriving the deterministic and stochastic components of the mesoscopic description from the data.

Broadly, our results demonstrate that rather than simply obscuring otherwise deterministic dynamics, intrinsic-noise is fundamental to the characterisation of emergent collective behaviours, suggesting a need to re-appraise aspects of both collective motion and behavioural inference.

The evolution of flamboyant traits in animals is typically attributed to the selective force of sexual selection. However, natural selection can constrain the degree of elaboration of such traits. Therefore, animal signals reflect a balance between natural and sexual selection. I examined the role of these forces in the maintenance of a complex visual signal: dynamic colour change. Males of the Indian rock agama (Psammophilus dorsalis) exhibit rapid dynamic colour changes on their dorsal and lateral body regions during social interactions. The costs, benefits and adaptive significance of this relatively rare signal type is yet unknown.

Using a combination of visual modelling and field experiments, I first examined the predation risk on social colours and found that the courtship signal of males is costlier than the aggression signal. I then tested whether male colours expressed during aggression convey information about individual physiology and performance measures. Apart from a negative association between testosterone levels and the yellow colour expressed during aggression, body size and bite force were correlated, suggesting that body size could be an honest predictor of fighting ability. In the third chapter, I examined differences in health parameters of males and females that occupy dramatically different habitats as a consequence of urbanization. My results suggest that lizards in urban areas appear to have shifted their innate physiology in order to cope with urban stressors. Finally, I examined the response of receivers to different components of the male colour signals by assessing attention paid by conspecific receivers to each signal component independently and together. Both males and females responded equally to all male social colours although females showed difference in response to achromatic signals. Overall, I conclude that dynamic colour change may have evolved in this species to actively balance the costs of predation risk with the benefits of social signalling.

A one day symposium on Animal Signals: Functions and Evolution to be held on Thursday, 12th December, at CES, IISc. Prof. Marlene Zuk from University of Minnesota will be delivering the opening talk.

The evolution of flamboyant traits in animals is typically attributed to the selective force of sexual selection. However, natural selection can constrain the degree of elaboration of such traits. Therefore, animal signals reflect a balance between natural and sexual selection. I examined the role of these forces in the maintenance of a complex visual signal: dynamic colour change. Males of the Indian rock agama (*Psammophilus dorsalis*) exhibit rapid dynamic colour changes on their dorsal and lateral body regions during social interactions. The costs, benefits and adaptive significance of this relatively rare signal type is yet unknown.

Using a combination of visual modelling and field experiments, I first examined the predation risk on social colours and found that the courtship signal of males is costlier than the aggression signal. I then tested whether male colours expressed during aggression convey information about individual physiology and performance measures. Apart from a negative association between testosterone levels and the yellow colour expressed during aggression, body size and bite force were correlated, suggesting that body size could be an honest predictor of fighting ability. In the third chapter, I examined differences in health parameters of males and females that occupy dramatically different habitats as a consequence of urbanization. Our results suggest that lizards in urban areas appear to have shifted their innate physiology in order to cope with urban stressors. Finally, I examined the response of receivers to different components of the male colour signals by assessing attention paid by conspecific receivers to each signal component independently and together. Both males and females responded equally to all male social colours although females showed difference in response to achromatic signals. Overall, we conclude that dynamic colour change may have evolved in this species to actively balance the costs of predation risk with the benefits of social signalling.