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Rowell MK, Rymer TL. Memory enhances problem solving in the fawn-footed mosaic-tailed rat Melomys cervinipes. Anim Cogn 2021; 25:347-358. [PMID: 34453668 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-021-01556-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2021] [Revised: 08/23/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Problem solving is important for survival, allowing animals to access novel food resources or escape from predators. It was originally thought to rely on an animal's intelligence; however, studies examining the relationship between individual cognitive ability and problem solving performance show mixed results, and studies are often restricted to only one cognitive and one problem solving task. We investigated the relationship between general cognitive ability and problem solving across multiple tasks in the fawn-footed mosaic-tailed rat Melomys cervinipes. We measured general cognitive ability across different domains (memory in an odour learning association task, recognition in a novel object recognition task, size discrimination using different sized pieces of food, and learning across multiple presentations of a food-baited activity board). We also measured problem solving across different contexts (food-baited puzzle boxes in home cage, obstruction task, and food-baited activity board in a novel arena). Mosaic-tailed rats showed a general cognitive ability, with average problem solving latency, memory ability, and learning in the tile task being correlated. As such, individuals that were able to remember an association and learned to solve the tile task solved the problems faster than individuals that could not remember or learn. Our results suggest that problem solving in mosaic-tailed rats likely relies on some forms of simple cognition, particularly memory, but could also depend on other traits, such as an individual's persistence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Misha K Rowell
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, P. O. Box 6811, Cairns, QLD, 4870, Australia. .,Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Sciences, James Cook University, P. O. Box 6811, Cairns, QLD, 4870, Australia.
| | - Tasmin L Rymer
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, P. O. Box 6811, Cairns, QLD, 4870, Australia.,Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Sciences, James Cook University, P. O. Box 6811, Cairns, QLD, 4870, Australia
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Sung JY, Harris OK, Hensley NM, Chemero AP, Morehouse NI. Beyond cognitive templates: re-examining template metaphors used for animal recognition and navigation. Integr Comp Biol 2021; 61:825-841. [PMID: 33970266 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icab040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
The term 'cognitive template' originated from work in human-based cognitive science to describe a literal, stored, neural representation used in recognition tasks. As the study of cognition has expanded to non-human animals, the term has diffused to describe a wider range of animal cognitive tools and strategies that guide action through the recognition of and discrimination between external states. One potential reason for this non-standardized meaning and variable employment is that researchers interested in the broad range of animal recognition tasks enjoy the simplicity of the cognitive template concept and have allowed it to become shorthand for many dissimilar or unknown neural processes without deep scrutiny of how this metaphor might comport with underlying neurophysiology. We review the functional evidence for cognitive templates in fields such as perception, navigation, communication, and learning, highlighting any neural correlates identified by these studies. We find that the concept of cognitive templates has facilitated valuable exploration at the interface between animal behavior and cognition, but the quest for a literal template has failed to attain mechanistic support at the level of neurophysiology. This may be the result of a misled search for a single physical locus for the 'template' itself. We argue that recognition and discrimination processes are best treated as emergent and, as such, may not be physically localized within single structures of the brain. Rather, current evidence suggests that such tasks are accomplished through synergies between multiple distributed processes in animal nervous systems. We thus advocate for researchers to move towards a more ecological, process-oriented conception, especially when discussing the neural underpinnings of recognition-based cognitive tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenny Y Sung
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati
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Drury JP, Anderson CN, Cabezas Castillo MB, Fisher J, McEachin S, Grether GF. A General Explanation for the Persistence of Reproductive Interference. Am Nat 2019; 194:268-275. [DOI: 10.1086/704102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
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Caro T, Allen WL. Interspecific visual signalling in animals and plants: a functional classification. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 372:rstb.2016.0344. [PMID: 28533461 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/29/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Organisms frequently gain advantages when they engage in signalling with individuals of other species. Here, we provide a functionally structured framework of the great variety of interspecific visual signals seen in nature, and then describe the different signalling mechanisms that have evolved in response to each of these functional requirements. We propose that interspecific visual signalling can be divided into six major functional categories: anti-predator, food acquisition, anti-parasite, host acquisition, reproductive and agonistic signalling, with each function enabled by several distinct mechanisms. We support our classification by reviewing the ecological and behavioural drivers of interspecific signalling in animals and plants, principally focusing on comparative studies that address large-scale patterns of diversity. Collating diverse examples of interspecific signalling into an organized set of functional and mechanistic categories places anachronistic behavioural and morphological labels in fresh context, clarifies terminology and redirects research effort towards understanding environmental influences driving interspecific signalling in nature.This article is part of the themed issue 'Animal coloration: production, perception, function and application'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim Caro
- Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology and Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - William L Allen
- Department of Biosciences, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, Wales, UK
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Grether GF, Peiman KS, Tobias JA, Robinson BW. Causes and Consequences of Behavioral Interference between Species. Trends Ecol Evol 2017; 32:760-772. [PMID: 28797610 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2017.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2017] [Revised: 07/10/2017] [Accepted: 07/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Behavioral interference between species, such as territorial aggression, courtship, and mating, is widespread in animals. While aggressive and reproductive forms of interspecific interference have generally been studied separately, their many parallels and connections warrant a unified conceptual approach. Substantial evidence exists that aggressive and reproductive interference have pervasive effects on species coexistence, range limits, and evolutionary processes, including divergent and convergent forms of character displacement. Alien species invasions and climate change-induced range shifts result in novel interspecific interactions, heightening the importance of predicting the consequences of species interactions, and behavioral interference is a fundamental but neglected part of the equation. Here, we outline priorities for further theoretical and empirical research on the ecological and evolutionary consequences of behavioral interference.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory F Grether
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
| | - Kathryn S Peiman
- Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ONT, K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - Joseph A Tobias
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, SL5 7PY, UK
| | - Beren W Robinson
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, ONT, N1G 2W1, Canada
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Molecular heterogeneity in major urinary proteins of Mus musculus subspecies: potential candidates involved in speciation. Sci Rep 2017; 7:44992. [PMID: 28337988 PMCID: PMC5364487 DOI: 10.1038/srep44992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2016] [Accepted: 02/20/2017] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
When hybridisation carries a cost, natural selection is predicted to favour evolution of traits that allow assortative mating (reinforcement). Incipient speciation between the two European house mouse subspecies, Mus musculus domesticus and M.m.musculus, sharing a hybrid zone, provides an opportunity to understand evolution of assortative mating at a molecular level. Mouse urine odours allow subspecific mate discrimination, with assortative preferences evident in the hybrid zone but not in allopatry. Here we assess the potential of MUPs (major urinary proteins) as candidates for signal divergence by comparing MUP expression in urine samples from the Danish hybrid zone border (contact) and from allopatric populations. Mass spectrometric characterisation identified novel MUPs in both subspecies involving mostly new combinations of amino acid changes previously observed in M.m.domesticus. The subspecies expressed distinct MUP signatures, with most MUPs expressed by only one subspecies. Expression of at least eight MUPs showed significant subspecies divergence both in allopatry and contact zone. Another seven MUPs showed divergence in expression between the subspecies only in the contact zone, consistent with divergence by reinforcement. These proteins are candidates for the semiochemical barrier to hybridisation, providing an opportunity to characterise the nature and evolution of a putative species recognition signal.
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Drury JP, Anderson CN, Grether GF. Seasonal polyphenism in wing coloration affects species recognition in rubyspot damselflies (Hetaerina
spp.). J Evol Biol 2015; 28:1439-52. [PMID: 26033550 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2015] [Revised: 05/21/2015] [Accepted: 05/25/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- J. P. Drury
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; University of California; Los Angeles CA USA
| | | | - G. F. Grether
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; University of California; Los Angeles CA USA
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Igic B, Nunez V, Voss HU, Croston R, Aidala Z, López AV, Van Tatenhove A, Holford ME, Shawkey MD, Hauber ME. Using 3D printed eggs to examine the egg-rejection behaviour of wild birds. PeerJ 2015; 3:e965. [PMID: 26038720 PMCID: PMC4451021 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2015] [Accepted: 04/29/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The coevolutionary relationships between brood parasites and their hosts are often studied by examining the egg rejection behaviour of host species using artificial eggs. However, the traditional methods for producing artificial eggs out of plasticine, plastic, wood, or plaster-of-Paris are laborious, imprecise, and prone to human error. As an alternative, 3D printing may reduce human error, enable more precise manipulation of egg size and shape, and provide a more accurate and replicable protocol for generating artificial stimuli than traditional methods. However, the usefulness of 3D printing technology for egg rejection research remains to be tested. Here, we applied 3D printing technology to the extensively studied egg rejection behaviour of American robins, Turdus migratorius. Eggs of the robin’s brood parasites, brown-headed cowbirds, Molothrus ater, vary greatly in size and shape, but it is unknown whether host egg rejection decisions differ across this gradient of natural variation. We printed artificial eggs that encompass the natural range of shapes and sizes of cowbird eggs, painted them to resemble either robin or cowbird egg colour, and used them to artificially parasitize nests of breeding wild robins. In line with previous studies, we show that robins accept mimetically coloured and reject non-mimetically coloured artificial eggs. Although we found no evidence that subtle differences in parasitic egg size or shape affect robins’ rejection decisions, 3D printing will provide an opportunity for more extensive experimentation on the potential biological or evolutionary significance of size and shape variation of foreign eggs in rejection decisions. We provide a detailed protocol for generating 3D printed eggs using either personal 3D printers or commercial printing services, and highlight additional potential future applications for this technology in the study of egg rejection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Branislav Igic
- Department of Biology, University of Akron , Akron, OH , USA
| | - Valerie Nunez
- Department of Psychology, Hunter College, and The Graduate Center of the City University of New York , NY , USA
| | - Henning U Voss
- Citigroup Biomedical Imaging Center, Weill Cornell Medical College , New York, NY , USA
| | - Rebecca Croston
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada-Reno , Reno, NV , USA ; Department of Biology, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York , NY , USA
| | - Zachary Aidala
- Department of Psychology, Hunter College, and The Graduate Center of the City University of New York , NY , USA ; Social and Behavioral Sciences Division, Bloomfield College , Bloomfield, NJ , USA
| | - Analía V López
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires , Buenos Aires , Argentina
| | - Aimee Van Tatenhove
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University , Ithaca, NY , USA
| | - Mandë E Holford
- Department of Chemistry, Hunter College, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and The American Museum of Natural History , NY , USA
| | | | - Mark E Hauber
- Department of Psychology, Hunter College, and The Graduate Center of the City University of New York , NY , USA
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