{"oa_version":"Published Version","oa":1,"date_created":"2024-01-22T08:14:49Z","user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","publisher":"The Company of Biologists","quality_controlled":"1","title":"Too much information? Males convey parasite levels using more signal modalities than females utilise","status":"public","related_material":{"link":[{"relation":"software","url":"https://github.com/arka-pal/Cnemaspis-SexualSignaling"}]},"type":"journal_article","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","file":[{"date_updated":"2024-01-23T12:08:24Z","file_id":"14877","success":1,"file_size":594128,"date_created":"2024-01-23T12:08:24Z","relation":"main_file","checksum":"136325372f6f45abaa62a71e2d23bfb6","content_type":"application/pdf","file_name":"2024_JourExperimBiology_Pal.pdf","creator":"dernst","access_level":"open_access"}],"day":"10","month":"01","article_processing_charge":"Yes (via OA deal)","pmid":1,"date_updated":"2024-01-23T12:13:08Z","tmp":{"image":"/images/cc_by.png","name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)","short":"CC BY (4.0)","legal_code_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode"},"publication_status":"published","date_published":"2024-01-10T00:00:00Z","issue":"1","department":[{"_id":"NiBa"}],"abstract":[{"lang":"eng","text":"Elaborate sexual signals are thought to have evolved and be maintained to serve as honest indicators of signaller quality. One measure of quality is health, which can be affected by parasite infection. Cnemaspis mysoriensis is a diurnal gecko that is often infested with ectoparasites in the wild, and males of this species express visual (coloured gular patches) and chemical (femoral gland secretions) traits that receivers could assess during social interactions. In this paper, we tested whether ectoparasites affect individual health, and whether signal quality is an indicator of ectoparasite levels. In wild lizards, we found that ectoparasite level was negatively correlated with body condition in both sexes. Moreover, some characteristics of both visual and chemical traits in males were strongly associated with ectoparasite levels. Specifically, males with higher ectoparasite levels had yellow gular patches with lower brightness and chroma, and chemical secretions with a lower proportion of aromatic compounds. We then determined whether ectoparasite levels in males influence female behaviour. Using sequential choice trials, wherein females were provided with either the visual or the chemical signals of wild-caught males that varied in ectoparasite level, we found that only chemical secretions evoked an elevated female response towards less parasitised males. Simultaneous choice trials in which females were exposed to the chemical secretions from males that varied in parasite level further confirmed a preference for males with lower parasites loads. Overall, we find that although health (body condition) or ectoparasite load can be honestly advertised through multiple modalities, the parasite-mediated female response is exclusively driven by chemical signals."}],"intvolume":" 227","volume":227,"year":"2024","keyword":["Insect Science","Molecular Biology","Animal Science and Zoology","Aquatic Science","Physiology","Ecology","Evolution","Behavior and Systematics"],"file_date_updated":"2024-01-23T12:08:24Z","acknowledgement":"We thank Anuradha Batabyal and Shakilur Kabir for scientific discussions, and help with sampling and colour analyses. We thank Muralidhar and the central LCMS facility of the IISc for their technical support with the GCMS.\r\nResearch funding was provided by the Department of Science and Technology Fund for Improvement of S&T Infrastructure (DST-FIST), the Department of Biotechnology-Indian Institute of Science (DBT-IISc) partnership program and a Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) grant to M.T. (EMR/2017/002228). Open Access funding provided by Indian Institute of Science. Deposited in PMC for immediate release.","ddc":["570"],"author":[{"first_name":"Arka","last_name":"Pal","full_name":"Pal, Arka","id":"6AAB2240-CA9A-11E9-9C1A-D9D1E5697425","orcid":"0000-0002-4530-8469"},{"first_name":"Mihir","last_name":"Joshi","full_name":"Joshi, Mihir"},{"last_name":"Thaker","first_name":"Maria","full_name":"Thaker, Maria"}],"publication":"Journal of Experimental Biology","has_accepted_license":"1","doi":"10.1242/jeb.246217","external_id":{"pmid":["38054353"]},"publication_identifier":{"eissn":["0022-0949"],"issn":["1477-9145"]},"article_type":"original","citation":{"mla":"Pal, Arka, et al. “Too Much Information? Males Convey Parasite Levels Using More Signal Modalities than Females Utilise.” Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. 227, no. 1, jeb246217, The Company of Biologists, 2024, doi:10.1242/jeb.246217.","ieee":"A. Pal, M. Joshi, and M. Thaker, “Too much information? Males convey parasite levels using more signal modalities than females utilise,” Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. 227, no. 1. The Company of Biologists, 2024.","ista":"Pal A, Joshi M, Thaker M. 2024. Too much information? Males convey parasite levels using more signal modalities than females utilise. Journal of Experimental Biology. 227(1), jeb246217.","chicago":"Pal, Arka, Mihir Joshi, and Maria Thaker. “Too Much Information? Males Convey Parasite Levels Using More Signal Modalities than Females Utilise.” Journal of Experimental Biology. The Company of Biologists, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.246217.","apa":"Pal, A., Joshi, M., & Thaker, M. (2024). Too much information? Males convey parasite levels using more signal modalities than females utilise. Journal of Experimental Biology. The Company of Biologists. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.246217","ama":"Pal A, Joshi M, Thaker M. Too much information? Males convey parasite levels using more signal modalities than females utilise. Journal of Experimental Biology. 2024;227(1). doi:10.1242/jeb.246217","short":"A. Pal, M. Joshi, M. Thaker, Journal of Experimental Biology 227 (2024)."},"_id":"14850","article_number":"jeb246217","language":[{"iso":"eng"}]}