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Holekamp KE, Benson-Amram S. The evolution of intelligence in mammalian carnivores. Interface Focus 2017; 7:20160108. [PMID: 28479979 DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2016.0108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Although intelligence should theoretically evolve to help animals solve specific types of problems posed by the environment, it is unclear which environmental challenges favour enhanced cognition, or how general intelligence evolves along with domain-specific cognitive abilities. The social intelligence hypothesis posits that big brains and great intelligence have evolved to cope with the labile behaviour of group mates. We have exploited the remarkable convergence in social complexity between cercopithecine primates and spotted hyaenas to test predictions of the social intelligence hypothesis in regard to both cognition and brain size. Behavioural data indicate that there has been considerable convergence between primates and hyaenas with respect to their social cognitive abilities. Moreover, compared with other hyaena species, spotted hyaenas have larger brains and expanded frontal cortex, as predicted by the social intelligence hypothesis. However, broader comparative study suggests that domain-general intelligence in carnivores probably did not evolve in response to selection pressures imposed specifically in the social domain. The cognitive buffer hypothesis, which suggests that general intelligence evolves to help animals cope with novel or changing environments, appears to offer a more robust explanation for general intelligence in carnivores than any hypothesis invoking selection pressures imposed strictly by sociality or foraging demands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kay E Holekamp
- Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, 288 Farm Lane, Room 203, East Lansing, MI 48824-1115, USA.,Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior, Michigan State University, 103 Giltner Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
| | - Sarah Benson-Amram
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Ave, Biological Science Building, Laramie, WY 82071, USA.,Program in Ecology, Berry Center, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
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Port M, Schülke O, Ostner J. From Individual to Group Territoriality: Competitive Environments Promote the Evolution of Sociality. Am Nat 2017; 189:E46-E57. [DOI: 10.1086/690218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Carter AJ, Torrents Ticó M, Cowlishaw G. Sequential phenotypic constraints on social information use in wild baboons. eLife 2016; 5:e13125. [PMID: 27067236 PMCID: PMC4829417 DOI: 10.7554/elife.13125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2015] [Accepted: 03/09/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Social information allows the rapid dissemination of novel information among individuals. However, an individual's ability to use information is likely to be dependent on phenotypic constraints operating at three successive steps: acquisition, application, and exploitation. We tested this novel framework by quantifying the sequential process of social information use with experimental food patches in wild baboons (Papio ursinus). We identified phenotypic constraints at each step of the information use sequence: peripheral individuals in the proximity network were less likely to acquire and apply social information, while subordinate females were less likely to exploit it successfully. Social bonds and personality also played a limiting role along the sequence. As a result of these constraints, the average individual only acquired and exploited social information on.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alecia J Carter
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Miquel Torrents Ticó
- Zoological Society of London, Tsaobis Baboon Project, Institute of Zoology, London, United Kingdom
| | - Guy Cowlishaw
- Zoological Society of London, Institute of Zoology, London, United Kingdom
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Abstract
Cooperation between organisms can often be understood, like trade between merchants, as a mutually beneficial exchange of services, resources or other 'commodities'. Mutual benefits alone, however, are not sufficient to explain the evolution of trade-based cooperation. First, organisms may reject a particular trade if another partner offers a better deal. Second, while human trade often entails binding contracts, non-human trade requires unwritten 'terms of contract' that 'self-stabilize' trade and prevent cheating even if all traders strive to maximize fitness. Whenever trading partners can be chosen, market-like situations arise in nature that biologists studying cooperation need to account for. The mere possibility of exerting partner choice stabilizes many forms of otherwise cheatable trade, induces competition, facilitates the evolution of specialization and often leads to intricate forms of cooperation. We discuss selected examples to illustrate these general points and review basic conceptual approaches that are important in the theory of biological trade and markets. Comparing these approaches with theory in economics, it turns out that conventional models-often called 'Walrasian' markets-are of limited relevance to biology. In contrast, early approaches to trade and markets, as found in the works of Ricardo and Cournot, contain elements of thought that have inspired useful models in biology. For example, the concept of comparative advantage has biological applications in trade, signalling and ecological competition. We also see convergence between post-Walrasian economics and biological markets. For example, both economists and biologists are studying 'principal-agent' problems with principals offering jobs to agents without being sure that the agents will do a proper job. Finally, we show that mating markets have many peculiarities not shared with conventional economic markets. Ideas from economics are useful for biologists studying cooperation but need to be taken with caution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Hammerstein
- Institute for Theoretical Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10115, Germany
| | - Ronald Noë
- Faculté Psychologie, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg 67000, France
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Sick C, Carter AJ, Marshall HH, Knapp LA, Dabelsteen T, Cowlishaw G. Evidence for varying social strategies across the day in chacma baboons. Biol Lett 2015; 10:rsbl.2014.0249. [PMID: 25009240 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2014.0249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Strong social bonds can make an important contribution to individual fitness, but we still have only a limited understanding of the temporal period relevant to the adjustment of social relationships. While there is growing recognition of the importance of strong bonds that persist for years, social relationships can also vary over weeks and months, suggesting that social strategies may be optimized over shorter timescales. Using biological market theory as a framework, we explore whether temporal variation in the benefits of social relationships might be sufficient to generate daily adjustments of social strategies in wild baboons. Data on grooming, one measure of social relationships, were collected from 60 chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) across two troops over a six month period. Our analyses suggest that social strategies can show diurnal variation, with subordinates preferentially grooming more dominant individuals earlier in the day compared with later in the day. These findings indicate that group-living animals may optimize certain elements of their social strategies over relatively short time periods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Sick
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, UK
| | - Alecia J Carter
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, UK Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
| | - Harry H Marshall
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, UK Division of Ecology and Evolution, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Ascot, UK
| | - Leslie A Knapp
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0060, USA
| | - Torben Dabelsteen
- Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Guy Cowlishaw
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, UK
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Carter AJ, Lee AEG, Marshall HH, Ticó MT, Cowlishaw G. Phenotypic assortment in wild primate networks: implications for the dissemination of information. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2015; 2:140444. [PMID: 26064652 PMCID: PMC4453262 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.140444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2014] [Accepted: 04/15/2015] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Individuals' access to social information can depend on their social network. Homophily-a preference to associate with similar phenotypes-may cause assortment within social networks that could preclude information transfer from individuals who generate information to those who would benefit from acquiring it. Thus, understanding phenotypic assortment may lead to a greater understanding of the factors that could limit the transfer of information between individuals. We tested whether there was assortment in wild baboon (Papio ursinus) networks, using data collected from two troops over 6 years for six phenotypic traits-boldness, age, dominance rank, sex and the propensity to generate/exploit information-using two methods for defining a connection between individuals-time spent in proximity and grooming. Our analysis indicated that assortment was more common in grooming than proximity networks. In general, there was homophily for boldness, age, rank and the propensity to both generate and exploit information, but heterophily for sex. However, there was considerable variability both between troops and years. The patterns of homophily we observed for these phenotypes may impede information transfer between them. However, the inconsistency in the strength of assortment between troops and years suggests that the limitations to information flow may be quite variable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alecia J. Carter
- Large Animal Research Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Author for correspondence: Alecia J. Carter e-mail:
| | - Alexander E. G. Lee
- The Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, UK
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Berkshire, UK
| | - Harry H. Marshall
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Miquel Torrents Ticó
- The Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, UK
| | - Guy Cowlishaw
- The Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, UK
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Holekamp KE, Dantzer B, Stricker G, Shaw Yoshida KC, Benson-Amram S. Brains, brawn and sociality: a hyaena's tale. Anim Behav 2015; 103:237-248. [PMID: 26160980 PMCID: PMC4493912 DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.01.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Theoretically intelligence should evolve to help animals solve specific types of problems posed by the environment, but it remains unclear how environmental complexity or novelty facilitates the evolutionary enhancement of cognitive abilities, or whether domain-general intelligence can evolve in response to domain-specific selection pressures. The social complexity hypothesis, which posits that intelligence evolved to cope with the labile behaviour of conspecific group-mates, has been strongly supported by work on the sociocognitive abilities of primates and other animals. Here we review the remarkable convergence in social complexity between cercopithecine primates and spotted hyaenas, and describe our tests of predictions of the social complexity hypothesis in regard to both cognition and brain size in hyaenas. Behavioural data indicate that there has been remarkable convergence between primates and hyaenas with respect to their abilities in the domain of social cognition. Furthermore, within the family Hyaenidae, our data suggest that social complexity might have contributed to enlargement of the frontal cortex. However, social complexity failed to predict either brain volume or frontal cortex volume in a larger array of mammalian carnivores. To address the question of whether or not social complexity might be able to explain the evolution of domain-general intelligence as well as social cognition in particular, we presented simple puzzle boxes, baited with food and scaled to accommodate body size, to members of 39 carnivore species housed in zoos and found that species with larger brains relative to their body mass were more innovative and more successful at opening the boxes. However, social complexity failed to predict success in solving this problem. Overall our work suggests that, although social complexity enhances social cognition, there are no unambiguous causal links between social complexity and either brain size or performance in problem-solving tasks outside the social domain in mammalian carnivores.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kay E. Holekamp
- Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, U.S.A
- BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, U.S.A
| | - Ben Dantzer
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, U.S.A
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, U.S.A
| | - Gregory Stricker
- Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, U.S.A
| | | | - Sarah Benson-Amram
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, U.S.A
- Program in Ecology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, U.S.A
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Trading or coercion? Variation in male mating strategies between two communities of East African chimpanzees. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2015; 69:1039-1052. [PMID: 26279605 DOI: 10.1007/s00265-015-1917-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Across taxa, males employ a variety of mating strategies, including sexual coercion and the provision, or trading, of resources. Biological market theory (BMT) predicts that trading of commodities for mating opportunities should exist only when males cannot monopolize access to females and/or obtain mating by force, in situations where power differentials between males are low; both coercion and trading have been reported for chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Here, we investigate whether the choice of strategy depends on the variation in male power differentials, using data from two wild communities of East African chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii): the structurally despotic Sonso community (Budongo, Uganda) and the structurally egalitarian M-group (Mahale, Tanzania). We found evidence of sexual coercion by male Sonso chimpanzees, and of trading-of grooming for mating-by M-group males; females traded sex for neither meat nor protection from male aggression. Our results suggest that the despotism-egalitarian axis influences strategy choice: male chimpanzees appear to pursue sexual coercion when power differentials are large and trading when power differentials are small and coercion consequently ineffective. Our findings demonstrate that trading and coercive strategies are not restricted to particular chimpanzee subspecies; instead, their occurrence is consistent with BMT predictions. Our study raises interesting, and as yet unanswered, questions regarding female chimpanzees' willingness to trade sex for grooming, if doing so represents a compromise to their fundamentally promiscuous mating strategy. It highlights the importance of within-species cross-group comparisons and the need for further study of the relationship between mating strategy and dominance steepness.
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Buzzard PJ, Xu D, Li H. Sexual/aggressive behavior of wild yak (Bos mutus Prejevalsky 1883) during the rut: influence of female choice. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/s11434-014-0247-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Werner GDA, Strassmann JE, Ivens ABF, Engelmoer DJP, Verbruggen E, Queller DC, Noë R, Johnson NC, Hammerstein P, Kiers ET. Evolution of microbial markets. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014; 111:1237-44. [PMID: 24474743 PMCID: PMC3910570 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1315980111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 121] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Biological market theory has been used successfully to explain cooperative behavior in many animal species. Microbes also engage in cooperative behaviors, both with hosts and other microbes, that can be described in economic terms. However, a market approach is not traditionally used to analyze these interactions. Here, we extend the biological market framework to ask whether this theory is of use to evolutionary biologists studying microbes. We consider six economic strategies used by microbes to optimize their success in markets. We argue that an economic market framework is a useful tool to generate specific and interesting predictions about microbial interactions, including the evolution of partner discrimination, hoarding strategies, specialized versus diversified mutualistic services, and the role of spatial structures, such as flocks and consortia. There is untapped potential for studying the evolutionary dynamics of microbial systems. Market theory can help structure this potential by characterizing strategic investment of microbes across a diversity of conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gijsbert D. A. Werner
- Department of Ecological Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Joan E. Strassmann
- Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130
| | - Aniek B. F. Ivens
- Theoretical Biology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, 9700 CC, Groningen, The Netherlands
- Laboratory of Insect Social Evolution, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065
| | - Daniel J. P. Engelmoer
- Department of Ecological Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Erik Verbruggen
- Institut für Biologie, Plant Ecology, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - David C. Queller
- Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130
| | - Ronald Noë
- Faculté de Psychologie, Université de Strasbourg et Ethologie Evolutive, Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 67087 Strasbourg Cedex, France
- Netherlands Institute of Advanced Studies, 2242 PR, Wassenaar, The Netherlands
| | - Nancy Collins Johnson
- School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability and Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5694; and
| | - Peter Hammerstein
- Institute for Theoretical Biology, Humboldt University, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - E. Toby Kiers
- Department of Ecological Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Supply and demand predict male grooming of swollen females in captive chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes. Anim Behav 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.09.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Clarke PMR, Henzi SP, Barrett L. Estrous synchrony in a nonseasonal breeder: adaptive strategy or population process? Behav Ecol 2012. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arr230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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McFarland R, Majolo B. Exploring the components, asymmetry and distribution of relationship quality in wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus). PLoS One 2011; 6:e28826. [PMID: 22194923 PMCID: PMC3237547 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0028826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2011] [Accepted: 11/15/2011] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Social relationships between group members are a key feature of many animal societies. The quality of social relationships has been described by three main components: value, compatibility and security, based on the benefits, tenure and stability of social exchanges. We aimed to analyse whether this three component structure could be used to describe the quality of social relationships in wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus). Moreover, we examined whether relationship quality was affected by the sex, age and rank differences between social partners, and investigated the asymmetric nature of social relationships. We collected over 1,900 hours of focal data on seven behavioural variables measuring relationship quality, and used principal component analysis to investigate how these variables clustered together. We found that relationship quality in wild Barbary macaques can be described by a three component structure that represents the value, compatibility and security of a relationship. Female-female dyads had more valuable relationships and same-age dyads more compatible relationships than any other dyad. Rank difference had no effect on the quality of a social relationship. Finally, we found a high degree of asymmetry in how members of a dyad exchange social behaviour. We argue that the asymmetry of social relationships should be taken into account when exploring the pattern and function of social behaviour in animal societies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard McFarland
- School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, United Kingdom.
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