
@article {78109,
	title = {Evolutionary constraints on flicker fusion frequency in Lepidoptera.},
	journal = {J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol},
	year = {2020},
	month = {2020 Jun 11},
	abstract = {<p>Flying insects occupy both diurnal and nocturnal niches, and their visual systems encounter distinct challenges in both conditions. Visual adaptations, such as superposition eyes of moths, enhance sensitivity to low light levels but trade off with spatial and temporal resolution. Conversely, apposition eyes of butterflies enable high spatial resolution but are poorly sensitive in dim light. Although diel activity patterns of insects influence visual processing, their role in evolution of visual systems is relatively unexplored. Lepidopteran insects present an excellent system to study how diel activity patterns and phylogenetic position influence the visual transduction system. We addressed this question by comparing electroretinography measurements of temporal response profiles of diverse Lepidoptera to light stimuli that were flickering at different frequencies. Our data show that the eyes of diurnal butterflies are sensitive to visual stimuli of higher temporal frequencies than nocturnal moths. Hesperiid skippers, which are typically diurnal or crepuscular, exhibit intermediate phenotypes with peak sensitivity across broader frequency range. Across all groups, species within families exhibited similar phenotypes irrespective of diel activity. Thus, Lepidopteran photoreceptors may have diversified under phylogenetic constraints, and shifts in their sensitivity to higher temporal frequencies occurred concomitantly with the evolution of diurnal lifestyles.</p>
},
	issn = {1432-1351},
	doi = {10.1007/s00359-020-01429-3},
	author = {Chatterjee, Payel and Mohan, Umesh and Krishnan, Anand and Sane, Sanjay P}
}
@article {11601,
	title = {Divergent morphological and acoustic traits in sympatric communities of Asian barbets.},
	journal = {R Soc Open Sci},
	volume = {3},
	year = {2016},
	month = {2016 Aug},
	pages = {160117},
	abstract = {<p>The opposing effects of environmental filtering and competitive interactions may influence community assembly and coexistence of related species. Competition, both in the domain of ecological resources, and in the sensory domain (for example, acoustic interference) may also result in sympatric species evolving divergent traits and niches. Delineating these scenarios within communities requires understanding trait distributions and phylogenetic structure within the community, as well as patterns of trait evolution. We report that sympatric assemblages of Asian barbets (frugivorous canopy birds) consist of a random phylogenetic sample of species, but are divergent in both morphological and acoustic traits. Additionally, we find that morphology is more divergent than expected under Brownian evolution, whereas vocal frequency evolution is close to the pattern expected under Brownian motion (i.e. a random walk). Together, these patterns are consistent with a role for competition or competitive exclusion in driving community assembly. Phylogenetic patterns of morphological divergence between related species suggest that these traits are key in species coexistence. Because vocal frequency and size are correlated in barbets, we therefore hypothesize that frequency differences between sympatric barbets are a by-product of their divergent morphologies.</p>
},
	doi = {10.1098/rsos.160117},
	author = {Krishnan, Anand and Tamma, Krishnapriya}
}
