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Feyten LEA, Crane AL, Ramnarine IW, Brown GE. Predation risk shapes the use of conflicting personal risk and social safety information in guppies. Behav Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Abstract
When faced with uncertainty, animals can benefit from using multiple sources of information in order to make an optimal decision. However, information sources (e.g., social and personal cues) may conflict, while also varying in acquisition cost and reliability. Here, we assessed behavioral decisions of Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata), in situ, when presented with conflicting social and personal information about predation risk. We positioned foraging arenas within high- and low-predation streams, where guppies were exposed to a personal cue in the form of conspecific alarm cues (a known indicator of risk), a novel cue, or a control. At the same time, a conspecific shoal (a social safety cue) was either present or absent. When social safety was absent, guppies in both populations showed typical avoidance responses towards alarm cues, and high-predation guppies showed their typical avoidance of novel cues (i.e., neophobia). However, the presence of social safety cues was persuasive, overriding the neophobia of high-predation guppies and emboldening low-predation guppies to ignore alarm cues. Our experiment is one of the first to empirically assess the use of safety and risk cues in prey and suggests a threshold level of ambient risk which dictates the use of conflicting social and personal information.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Adam L Crane
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, West, Montreal, Québec, Canada
| | - Indar W Ramnarine
- Department of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago
| | - Grant E Brown
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, West, Montreal, Québec, Canada
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2
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Sapage M, Varela SAM, Kokko H. Social learning by mate‐choice copying increases dispersal and reduces local adaptation. Funct Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Sapage
- cE3c—Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes Faculdade de Ciências Universidade de Lisboa Lisboa Portugal
| | - Susana A. M. Varela
- cE3c—Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes Faculdade de Ciências Universidade de Lisboa Lisboa Portugal
- Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência Oeiras Portugal
- ISPA—Instituto Universitário Lisboa Portugal
| | - Hanna Kokko
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies University of Zurich Zurich Switzerland
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Berg EC, Eadie JM. An experimental test of information use by wood ducks (Aix sponsa): external habitat cues, not social visual cues, influence initial nest site selection. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-020-02904-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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4
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Davies AD, Lewis Z, Dougherty LR. A meta-analysis of factors influencing the strength of mate-choice copying in animals. Behav Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/araa064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Mate-choice copying is a form of social learning in which an individual’s choice of mate is influenced by the apparent choices of other individuals of the same sex and has been observed in more than 20 species across a broad taxonomic range. Though fitness benefits of copying have proven difficult to measure, theory suggests that copying should not be beneficial for all species or contexts. However, the factors influencing the evolution and expression of copying have proven difficult to resolve. We systematically searched the literature for studies of mate-choice copying in nonhuman animals and, then, performed a phylogenetically controlled meta-analysis to explore which factors influence the expression of copying across species. Across 58 published studies in 23 species, we find strong evidence that animals copy the mate choice of others. The strength of copying was significantly influenced by taxonomic group; however, sample size limitations mean it is difficult to draw firm conclusions regarding copying in mammals and arthropods. The strength of copying was also influenced by experimental design: copying was stronger when choosers were tested before and after witnessing a conspecific’s mate choice compared to when choosers with social information were compared to choosers without. Importantly, we did not detect any difference in the strength of copying between males and females or in relation to the rate of multiple mating. Our search also highlights that more empirical work is needed to investigate copying in a broader range of species, especially those with differing mating systems and levels of reproductive investment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice D Davies
- Institute of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Biosciences Building, Crown Street, Liverpool, UK
| | - Zenobia Lewis
- School of Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, Biosciences Building, Crown Street, Liverpool, UK
| | - Liam R Dougherty
- Institute of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Biosciences Building, Crown Street, Liverpool, UK
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5
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Jones BC, DuVal EH. Mechanisms of Social Influence: A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Social Information on Female Mate Choice Decisions. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
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6
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Murray RL, Gwynne DT, Bussière LF. The role of functional constraints in nonrandom mating patterns for a dance fly with female ornaments. J Evol Biol 2019; 32:984-993. [DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2019] [Revised: 06/10/2019] [Accepted: 06/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rosalind L. Murray
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Toronto Toronto Ontario Canada
- Biology Department University of Toronto at Mississauga Mississauga Ontario Canada
- Biological and Environmental Sciences University of Stirling Stirling UK
| | - Darryl T. Gwynne
- Biology Department University of Toronto at Mississauga Mississauga Ontario Canada
| | - Luc F. Bussière
- Biological and Environmental Sciences University of Stirling Stirling UK
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7
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Swierk L, Langkilde T. Fitness costs of mating with preferred females in a scramble mating system. Behav Ecol 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arz001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Little is known about the operation of male mate choice in systems with perceived high costs to male choosiness. Scramble mating systems are one type of system in which male choice is often considered too costly to be selected. However, in many scramble mating systems, there are also potentially high rewards of male choosiness, as females vary dramatically in reproductive output and males typically mate once per season and/or per lifetime. Using scramble mating wood frogs (Rana sylvatica), we tested whether males gain fitness benefits by mating with preferred females. We conducted choice trials (1 male presented simultaneously with 2 females) and permitted males to mate with their preferred or nonpreferred female. Offspring of preferred and nonpreferred females were reared in the laboratory and field, and we quantified various fitness-relevant parameters, including survivorship and growth rates. Across multiple parameters measured, matings with preferred females produced fewer and lower-quality offspring than did those with nonpreferred females. Our results are inconsistent with the idea that mate choice confers benefits on the choosing sex. We instead propose that, in scramble systems, males will be more likely to amplex females that are easier to capture, which may correlate with lower quality but increases male likelihood of successfully mating. Such male choice may not favor increased fitness when the operational sex ratio is less biased toward males in scramble mating systems but is, instead, a bet-hedging tactic benefitting males when available females are limited.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsey Swierk
- Department of Biology, Intercollege Graduate Program in Ecology, and Center for Brain, Behavior and Cognition, The Pennsylvania State University, PA, USA
| | - Tracy Langkilde
- Department of Biology, Intercollege Graduate Program in Ecology, and Center for Brain, Behavior and Cognition, The Pennsylvania State University, PA, USA
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Dion E, Monteiro A, Nieberding CM. The Role of Learning on Insect and Spider Sexual Behaviors, Sexual Trait Evolution, and Speciation. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2018.00225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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9
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Hara M, Lee JH, Iwasa Y. Cultural evolution of hinoeuma superstition controlling human mate choice: The role of half-believer. J Theor Biol 2015; 385:40-9. [PMID: 26334475 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2015.08.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2015] [Revised: 08/19/2015] [Accepted: 08/20/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
In this study, we used a cultural dynamic model to explain the persistence of the hinoeuma superstition in traditional Japan. Men with this superstition avoid marrying women born in a hinoeuma year (or hinoeuma-women). Parents avoided childbirth during the last hinoeuma year out of the concern that their daughter would have trouble finding a husband in the future, and this resulted in a large drop in the number of babies born in 1966. A previous theoretical analysis of the hinoeuma superstition considered two alternative cultural factors: believers and nonbelievers. In the present study, we considered a third cultural factor, the half-believer. A man that is a half-believer accepts a hinoeuma-woman as his wife, but parents that are half-believers avoid childbirth during hinoeuma years. With these three cultural factors, there are two possible outcomes for the population. In the first outcome, [1] non-believers become extinct, with the population consisting of believers and half-believers; some men refuse hinoeuma-women as their mate choice, and most parents attempt to avoid childbirth during hinoeuma years. In the second outcome, [2] believers become extinct, and the remaining population consists of non-believers and half-believers; no man refuses hinoeuma-women, and some parents avoid childbirth in hinoeuma years to prevent potential harm to their daughters. If birth control fails at a steady rate, believers will become extinct eventually. The superstition is more likely to be maintained if the mother has a stronger influence on the beliefs of her children than the father.
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Affiliation(s)
- Makoto Hara
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan
| | - Joung-Hun Lee
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan; Center for Decision Sciences, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan
| | - Yoh Iwasa
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
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Kniel N, Dürler C, Hecht I, Heinbach V, Zimmermann L, Witte K. Novel mate preference through mate-choice copying in zebra finches: sexes differ. Behav Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/aru241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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11
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Affiliation(s)
- Bradford C. Lister
- Dept of Biological Sciences; Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst.; Troy NY 12180 USA
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12
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Tanaka CM, Iwasa Y. Cultural evolution of a belief controlling human mate choice: Dynamic modeling of the hinoeuma superstition in Japan. J Theor Biol 2012; 309:20-8. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2012.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2012] [Accepted: 06/01/2012] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Rosa P, Nguyen V, Dubois F. Individual differences in sampling behaviour predict social information use in zebra finches. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2012. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-012-1379-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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