DOI: 10.5061/dryad.ttdz08m9p
title: Data from: Partner cues and individual variation underlie sex-reversed parental care in poison frogs

description: Flexible parental care strategies are widespread in nature and factor into
 conflict between the sexes and the realization of sex roles. While
 adaptive explanations abound, the mechanisms underlying flexible
 ‘sex-reversal’ of care are less clear. We enlist a biparental frog
 (Ranitomeya imitator) with flexible parental care to investigate the
 extrinsic and intrinsic mechanisms underpinning parental decisions. Using
 mate removal experiments in the laboratory, we show that members of the
 primary caregiving sex (males) show less variation than the flexible sex
 (females) in their propensity to provide care, and that care propensity in
 females is affected by extrinsic partner cues as well as individual
 variability. Indeed, individual repeatability in parental effort is high
 in both typically caregiving and flexible parents. To investigate the
 underpinnings of differences in care propensity, we sequenced RNA from
 whole brains of caregiving and non-caregiving frogs of both sexes. While
 actively caregiving females showed minimal differential gene expression
 compared to actively caregiving males, females that failed to provide care
 showed distinct patterns of gene expression. Our findings offer an initial
 glimpse into the environmental and genetic regulation of individual
 variation in sex-reversed parental care.
description: # Data from: Partner cues and individual variation underlie sex-reversed
 parental care in poison frogs Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.ttdz08m9p](10.5061/dryad.ttdz08m9p) ## Description of the
 data and file structure # Partner cues and individual variation underlie
 sex-reversed parental care in poison frogs --- This dataset contains all
 raw video/audio scoring tabulations, gene count and annotation data, and
 relevant trial and sampling information used in the characterization of
 parental behaviors and associated gene expression profiles of *Ranitomeya
 imitator*, contextualized in experimental procedures and results. Nine
 files (described in detail in Files/Variables) collectively serve as
 inputs for three scripts, Behavioral\_Analysis\_Moss\_et\_al\_PROC\_B.R,
 Hormone\_Analysis\_Moss\_et\_al\_PROC\_B.R, and
 Gene\_Expression\_Analysis\_Moss\_et\_al\_PROC\_B.R, which include all
 data visualizations and statistical analyses presented in the manuscript.
 ### Files and variables #### File: Male_Call_Rates.csv
 **Description:** contains all blind scoring data and relevant trial
 information pertaining to the quantification of male call rates over three
 time periods for a subset of behavioral trials recorded in the presence
 (N=10 trials) and absence (N=10 trials) of females. ##### Variables *
 Trial Number: A numeric designation given to the trial for the purposes of
 blind scoring, with trial types and time periods numbered in a random
 order. * Focal Tank: An alphanumeric designation given to the tank in
 which the trial was conducted. * Trial Type: One of two possible trial
 types described in the Methods of the manuscript, wherein males were
 present in the tank: Control = behavioral baseline, wherein the female
 partner was present. Female Removal = the female was removed to observe
 the behavior of single males. * Stage: One of three possible time periods
 within a trial, described in the Methods of the manuscript: Pre-Hatching =
 the last full (12-hr) day before hatch day. Pre-Transport = the day of
 hatching up to the moment of tadpole pickup as identified from the video
 analysis. Transport = the time that the tadpole was in transit (i.e.,
 pick-up to drop-off) as identified from the video analysis. * Call Rate
 (Calls/Hour): Male call rate during the time period, quantified by
 dividing the total number of calls tallied by the duration of the trimmed
 and filtered track (in hours).     #### File: Scoring_Info.csv
 **Description:** contains all video scoring data and trial information
 pertaining to the 71 behavioral trials conducted between October 2021 and
 June 2023 using established pairs of *R. imitator*. ##### Variables * Male
 ID: ID of the male subject (“Ri.####”)     * Female ID: ID of the female
 subject (“Ri.####”) * Pair: Compound variable representing the unique
 combination of Male and Female ID. * Trial Type: One of six possible trial
 types described in the Methods of the manuscript: Control = behavioral
 baseline, wherein male and female behavior was observed in the absence of
 any manipulation. Male Removal = the male was removed to observe the
 behavior of single females. Female Removal = the female was removed to
 observe the behavior of single males. Visual = males were removed, and
 females were presented with a 3D-printed male dummy painted to match their
 mate’s coloration and pattern. Playback = males were removed, and females
 were presented with playback of their mate’s advertisement calls. Playback
 + Visual = males were removed, and females were presented with both a 3D
 dummy and playback. * Oviposition Date: Date on which focal clutch for the
 trial was discovered (Day 0), recorded during daily checks. * Egg
 Position: Compound variable representing the number of eggs in the clutch
 and its location in the tank (L = left egg canister, R = right egg
 canister). * Hatch Date: First date on which an egg(s) in the focal clutch
 was discovered hatched (Day 8), recorded during daily checks. * Days
 Before Hatching: Hatch Date minus Oviposition Date, in days, if both are
 known. If one or the other is not known, this field is reported as a
 range. * Video to Score (last full day before hatch): The date used to
 score pre-hatching behavior, if video was available. If the day before
 Hatch Date fell outside the recording window (