据7月18日的《科学》(Science)杂志报道说,永远面带怒容、咕咕哝哝地交流、花大力气吸引配偶及保护自己的领地——别以为这是人类的青少年,这是豹蟾鱼。这种吵闹的家伙以及它们的近亲蟾鱼都有与其它许多动物一起发声的能力,这些动物包括从鸟类、蛙类到人类。对这些鱼所做的一项新的研究提示,驱动发声的脑系统非常原始,它们早在4 亿多年前就已经和多骨鱼一同进化了。豹蟾鱼用它们的浮囊以及附着其上的肌肉(它们是脊椎动物中已知的最快速的一种)来发出多种的声音以吸引配偶并保卫其领地。这些鱼有一个由节律性放电神经元组成的脑中回路,该回路支配着它们发声肌肉的收缩率,从而控制它们叫声的音调和时间长短。
研究人员对幼鱼中的这一神经元网络进行了定位并发现,该网络的发育横跨一个包括后脑基底部及脊髓上部的特别区域。这种模式的神经元发育与其它发声的脊椎动物类似,提示驱动发声的脑中回路可能起源于遥远的多骨脊椎动物的进化。发声系统的其它方面,即特别的肌肉和发声器官(如鱼类的浮囊、鸟类的鸣管及哺乳动物/人类的喉部)似乎是从不同的谱系独立进化而成的。一则相关的Perspective 对这些发现进行了讨论。(生物谷Bioon.com)
生物谷推荐原始出处:
Science,Vol. 321. no. 5887, pp. 417 - 421,Andrew H. Bass,Robert Baker
Evolutionary Origins for Social Vocalization in a Vertebrate Hindbrain–Spinal Compartment
Andrew H. Bass,1,4,5* Edwin H. Gilland,2,4 Robert Baker3,4
The macroevolutionary events leading to neural innovations for social communication, such as vocalization, are essentially unexplored. Many fish vocalize during female courtship and territorial defense, as do amphibians, birds, and mammals. Here, we map the neural circuitry for vocalization in larval fish and show that the vocal network develops in a segment-like region across the most caudal hindbrain and rostral spinal cord. Taxonomic analysis demonstrates a highly conserved pattern between fish and all major lineages of vocal tetrapods. We propose that the vocal basis for acoustic communication among vertebrates evolved from an ancestrally shared developmental compartment already present in the early fishes.
1 Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
2 Department of Anatomy, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, DC 20059, USA.
3 Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, New York University Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA.
4 Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
5 Bodega Marine Laboratory, University of California, Bodega Bay, CA 94923, USA.