{"id":{"repo_id":"mo-state","oai_identifier":"oai:bearworks.missouristate.edu:theses-2330"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mo-state/oai:bearworks.missouristate.edu:theses-2330","repository":{"repo_id":"mo-state","name":"Missouri State University","base_url":"https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Honest Signaling in Aggressive Contests Between Ozark Zigzag Salamanders (Plethodon Angusticlavius)","abstract":"Communication of information concerning the sender's quality or intentions is essential for maintaining territories, courtship, and mating. For signals to be favored by natural selection, they must benefit both the sender and the receiver. A dishonest signal that provides misleading information about quality or intent should therefore be selected against. Honest signals prevent cheating because they are constrained by factors such as the energetic costs of the signal. I tested the hypothesis that \"All Trunk Raised” (ATR), a behavior that occurs in territorial contests in terrestrial salamanders, is an honest indicator of aggressive intent. In staged contests between pairs of Ozark zigzag salamanders (Plethodon angusticlavius), individuals that performed bites spent more time exhibiting ATR prior to biting than individuals that did not bite. In addition, I examined whether ATR is an energetically costly behavior. In trials where the diet of the intruder was manipulated, high-quality intruders tended to perform more ATR than low-quality intruders. In metabolic rate trials, individuals that performed more ATR produced more CO2. These results support the hypothesis that ATR is an honest indicator of aggressive intent in this species.","abstract_html":"Communication of information concerning the sender's quality or intentions is essential for maintaining territories, courtship, and mating. For signals to be favored by natural selection, they must benefit both the sender and the receiver. A dishonest signal that provides misleading information about quality or intent should therefore be selected against. Honest signals prevent cheating because they are constrained by factors such as the energetic costs of the signal. I tested the hypothesis that "All Trunk Raised” (ATR), a behavior that occurs in territorial contests in terrestrial salamanders, is an honest indicator of aggressive intent. In staged contests between pairs of Ozark zigzag salamanders (Plethodon angusticlavius), individuals that performed bites spent more time exhibiting ATR prior to biting than individuals that did not bite. In addition, I examined whether ATR is an energetically costly behavior. In trials where the diet of the intruder was manipulated, high-quality intruders tended to perform more ATR than low-quality intruders. In metabolic rate trials, individuals that performed more ATR produced more CO2. These results support the hypothesis that ATR is an honest indicator of aggressive intent in this species.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bortosky, Rachel Claire"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Biology","degree_level":"Masters","degree_discipline":"Biology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Alicia Mathis"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-07-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-07-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:16:23Z","subjects":["honest signals","diet","behavior","metabolism","carbon dioxide production","aggression","Plethodon","Biology"],"languages":[],"rights":["© Rachel Claire Bortosky"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/1329","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Alicia Mathis"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Bortosky, Rachel Claire"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Biology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Biology"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["honest signals","diet","behavior","metabolism","carbon dioxide production","aggression","Plethodon","Biology"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["© Rachel Claire Bortosky"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/1329"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Communication of information concerning the sender's quality or intentions is essential for maintaining territories, courtship, and mating. For signals to be favored by natural selection, they must benefit both the sender and the receiver. A dishonest signal that provides misleading information about quality or intent should therefore be selected against. Honest signals prevent cheating because they are constrained by factors such as the energetic costs of the signal. I tested the hypothesis that \"All Trunk Raised” (ATR), a behavior that occurs in territorial contests in terrestrial salamanders, is an honest indicator of aggressive intent. In staged contests between pairs of Ozark zigzag salamanders (Plethodon angusticlavius), individuals that performed bites spent more time exhibiting ATR prior to biting than individuals that did not bite. In addition, I examined whether ATR is an energetically costly behavior. In trials where the diet of the intruder was manipulated, high-quality intruders tended to perform more ATR than low-quality intruders. In metabolic rate trials, individuals that performed more ATR produced more CO2. These results support the hypothesis that ATR is an honest indicator of aggressive intent in this species."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Honest Signaling in Aggressive Contests Between Ozark Zigzag Salamanders (Plethodon Angusticlavius)"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Alicia Mathis"],"dc:creator":["Bortosky, Rachel Claire"],"dc:description.abstract":["Communication of information concerning the sender's quality or intentions is essential for maintaining territories, courtship, and mating. For signals to be favored by natural selection, they must benefit both the sender and the receiver. A dishonest signal that provides misleading information about quality or intent should therefore be selected against. Honest signals prevent cheating because they are constrained by factors such as the energetic costs of the signal. I tested the hypothesis that \"All Trunk Raised” (ATR), a behavior that occurs in territorial contests in terrestrial salamanders, is an honest indicator of aggressive intent. In staged contests between pairs of Ozark zigzag salamanders (Plethodon angusticlavius), individuals that performed bites spent more time exhibiting ATR prior to biting than individuals that did not bite. In addition, I examined whether ATR is an energetically costly behavior. In trials where the diet of the intruder was manipulated, high-quality intruders tended to perform more ATR than low-quality intruders. In metabolic rate trials, individuals that performed more ATR produced more CO2. These results support the hypothesis that ATR is an honest indicator of aggressive intent in this species."],"dc:identifier":["https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/1329"],"dc:rights":["© Rachel Claire Bortosky"],"dc:subject":["honest signals","diet","behavior","metabolism","carbon dioxide production","aggression","Plethodon","Biology"],"dc:title":["Honest Signaling in Aggressive Contests Between Ozark Zigzag Salamanders (Plethodon Angusticlavius)"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Biology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Biology"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:16:23Z"}