In many vertebrates, courtship occurs through the performance of elaborate behavioral
displays that are as spectacular as they are complex. The question of how sexual selection …

Organismal behavior, with its tremendous complexity and diversity, is generated by
numerous physiological systems acting in coordination. Understanding how these systems …

Zhao et al. recently reported results which, they claim, suggest that sexual selection
produces the multimodal displays seen in little torrent frogs (Amolops torrentis) by co-opting …

Like Darwin's tangled bank of biodiversity, the endocrine mechanisms that give rise to
phenotypic diversity also exhibit nearly endless forms. This tangled bank of mechanistic …

Elaborate and skilled movements of the body have been selected in a variety of species as
courtship and rivalry signals. One roadblock in studying these behaviors has been a lack of …

When selection favors a new relationship between a cue and a hormonally mediated
response, adaptation can proceed by altering the hormonal signal that is produced or by …

Hormones mediate sexual dimorphism by regulating sex-specific patterns of gene
expression, but it is unclear how much of this regulation involves sex-specific hormone …

To humans, the diverse array of display behaviors that animals use for communication can
easily seem peculiar or bizarre. While ample research delves into the evolutionary principles …

Many animals use forms of gesture and dance to communicate with conspecifics in the
breeding season, though the mechanisms of this behavior are rarely studied. Here, we …

Highlights•Physiology influences how courtship behaviour evolves.•Innovations in steroid
signalling mechanisms can enhance courtship evolution.•Similarly, innovations in muscle …