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Thornton A. Bees and chimpanzees learn from others what they cannot learn alone. Nature 2024; 627:491-492. [PMID: 38448527 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-024-00427-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
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2
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Speechley EM, Ashton BJ, Thornton A, Simmons LW, Ridley AR. Heritability of cognitive performance in wild Western Australian magpies. R Soc Open Sci 2024; 11:231399. [PMID: 38481983 PMCID: PMC10933533 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.231399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Revised: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 02/10/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Individual differences in cognitive performance can have genetic, social and environmental components. Most research on the heritability of cognitive traits comes from humans or captive non-human animals, while less attention has been given to wild populations. Western Australian magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen dorsalis, hereafter magpies) show phenotypic variation in cognitive performance, which affects reproductive success. Despite high levels of individual repeatability, we do not know whether cognitive performance is heritable in this species. Here, we quantify the broad-sense heritability of associative learning ability in a wild population of Western Australian magpies. Specifically, we explore whether offspring associative learning performance is predicted by maternal associative learning performance or by the social environment (group size) when tested at three time points during the first year of life. We found little evidence that offspring associative learning performance is heritable, with an estimated broad-sense heritability of just -0.046 ± 0.084 (confidence interval: -0.234/0.140). However, complementing previous findings, we find that at 300 days post-fledging, individuals raised in larger groups passed the test in fewer trials compared with individuals from small groups. Our results highlight the pivotal influence of the social environment on cognitive development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth M. Speechley
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia
| | - Benjamin J. Ashton
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, PenrynTR10 9FE, UK
| | - Leigh W. Simmons
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia
| | - Amanda R. Ridley
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia
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3
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Hooper R, Maher K, Moore K, McIvor G, Hosken D, Thornton A. Ultimate drivers of forced extra-pair copulations in birds lacking a penis: jackdaws as a case-study. R Soc Open Sci 2024; 11:231226. [PMID: 38545615 PMCID: PMC10966391 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.231226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2023] [Revised: 12/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Forced copulation is common, presumably because it can increase male reproductive success. Forced extra-pair copulation (FEPC) occurs in birds, even though most species lack a penis and are widely thought to require female cooperation for fertilization. How FEPC persists, despite a presumed lack of siring success and likely non-negligible costs to the male, is unknown. Using the jackdaw (Corvus monedula) as a case study, we use SNPs to quantify the extra-pair paternity rate through FEPC and evaluate explanations for the persistence of FEPC in species without a penis. We then collate evidence for FEPC across penis-lacking birds. Combining genetic and behavioural analyses, our study suggests that the most likely explanations for the maintenance of FEPC in jackdaws are that it provides a selective advantage to males or it is a relic. Our literature review shows that across birds lacking a penis, FEPC is taxonomically widespread, and yet, little is known about its evolution. A broader implementation of the approach used here, combining both genetic and behavioural data, may shed light on why this widespread sexual behaviour persists. Additional work is necessary to understand whether a penis is needed for paternity through forced copulation and to quantify the costs of FEPC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Hooper
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Kathryn Maher
- NERC Environmental Omics Facility, School of Biosciences, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Karen Moore
- Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Guillam McIvor
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK
| | - David Hosken
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK
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Soravia C, Ashton BJ, Thornton A, Bourne AR, Ridley AR. High temperatures during early development reduce adult cognitive performance and reproductive success in a wild animal population. Sci Total Environ 2024; 912:169111. [PMID: 38070557 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2023] [Revised: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 12/02/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Global warming is rapidly changing the phenology, distribution, behaviour and demography of wild animal populations. Recent studies in wild animals have shown that high temperatures can induce short-term cognitive impairment, and captive studies have demonstrated that heat exposure during early development can lead to long-term cognitive impairment. Given that cognition underpins behavioural flexibility and can be directly linked to fitness, understanding how high temperatures during early life might impact adult cognitive performance in wild animals is a critical next step to predict wildlife responses to climate change. Here, we investigated the relationship between temperatures experienced during development, adult cognitive performance, and reproductive success in wild southern pied babblers (Turdoides bicolor). We found that higher mean daily maximum temperatures during nestling development led to long-term cognitive impairment in associative learning performance, but not reversal learning performance. Additionally, a higher number of hot days (exceeding 35.5 °C, temperature threshold at which foraging efficiency and offspring provisioning decline) during post-fledging care led to reduced reproductive success in adulthood. We did not find evidence that low reproductive success was linked to impaired associative learning performance: associative learning performance was not related to reproductive success. In contrast, reversal learning performance was negatively related to reproductive success in breeding adults. This suggests that reproduction can carry a cost in terms of reduced performance in cognitively demanding tasks, confirming previous evidence in this species. Taken together, these findings indicate that naturally occurring high temperatures during early development have long-term negative effects on cognition and reproductive success in wild animals. Compounding effects of high temperatures on current nestling mortality and on the long-term cognitive and reproductive performance of survivors are highly concerning given ongoing global warming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilla Soravia
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
| | - Benjamin J Ashton
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia; School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia; FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK.
| | - Amanda R Bourne
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; Australian Wildlife Conservancy, 322 Hay Street, Subiaco, WA, Australia.
| | - Amanda R Ridley
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia; FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
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Prentice PM, Thornton A, Kolm N, Wilson AJ. Genetic and context-specific effects on individual inhibitory control performance in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata). J Evol Biol 2023; 36:1796-1810. [PMID: 37916730 PMCID: PMC10947024 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.14241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Revised: 09/12/2023] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023]
Abstract
Among-individual variation in cognitive traits, widely assumed to have evolved under adaptive processes, is increasingly being demonstrated across animal taxa. As variation among individuals is required for natural selection, characterizing individual differences and their heritability is important to understand how cognitive traits evolve. Here, we use a quantitative genetic study of wild-type guppies repeatedly exposed to a 'detour task' to test for genetic variance in the cognitive trait of inhibitory control. We also test for genotype-by-environment interactions (GxE) by testing related fish under alternative experimental treatments (transparent vs. semi-transparent barrier in the detour-task). We find among-individual variation in detour task performance, consistent with differences in inhibitory control. However, analysis of GxE reveals that heritable factors only contribute to performance variation in one treatment. This suggests that the adaptive evolutionary potential of inhibitory control (and/or other latent variables contributing to task performance) may be highly sensitive to environmental conditions. The presence of GxE also implies that the plastic response of detour task performance to treatment environment is genetically variable. Our results are consistent with a scenario where variation in individual inhibitory control stems from complex interactions between heritable and plastic components.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pamela M. Prentice
- Centre for Ecology and ConservationUniversity of ExeterPenrynUK
- SRUC, Easter Bush, Roslin Institute BuildingMidlothianUK
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and ConservationUniversity of ExeterPenrynUK
| | - Niclas Kolm
- Department of ZoologyStockholm UniversityStockholmSweden
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Blackburn G, Ashton BJ, Thornton A, Woodiss-Field S, Ridley AR. Cognition mediates response to anthropogenic noise in wild Western Australian magpies (Gmynorhina tibicen dorsalis). Glob Chang Biol 2023; 29:6912-6930. [PMID: 37846601 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Revised: 09/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/18/2023]
Abstract
Anthropogenic noise is a pollutant of growing concern, with wide-ranging effects on taxa across ecosystems. Until recently, studies investigating the effects of anthropogenic noise on animals focused primarily on population-level consequences, rather than individual-level impacts. Individual variation in response to anthropogenic noise may result from extrinsic or intrinsic factors. One such intrinsic factor, cognitive performance, varies between individuals and is hypothesised to aid behavioural response to novel stressors. Here, we combine cognitive testing, behavioural focals and playback experiments to investigate how anthropogenic noise affects the behaviour and anti-predator response of Western Australian magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen dorsalis), and to determine whether this response is linked to cognitive performance. We found a significant population-level effect of anthropogenic noise on the foraging effort, foraging efficiency, vigilance, vocalisation rate and anti-predator response of magpies, with birds decreasing their foraging, vocalisation behaviours and anti-predator response, and increasing vigilance when loud anthropogenic noise was present. We also found that individuals varied in their response to playbacks depending on their cognitive performance, with individuals that performed better in an associative learning task maintaining their anti-predator response when an alarm call was played in anthropogenic noise. Our results add to the growing body of literature documenting the adverse effects of anthropogenic noise on wildlife and provide the first evidence for an association between individual cognitive performance and behavioural responses to anthropogenic noise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grace Blackburn
- Centre of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Benjamin J Ashton
- Centre of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Sarah Woodiss-Field
- Centre of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Amanda R Ridley
- Centre of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
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Soravia C, Ashton BJ, Thornton A, Ridley AR. High temperatures are associated with reduced cognitive performance in wild southern pied babblers. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20231077. [PMID: 37989242 PMCID: PMC10688443 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 10/20/2023] [Indexed: 11/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Global temperatures are increasing rapidly. While considerable research is accumulating regarding the lethal and sublethal effects of heat on wildlife, its potential impact on animal cognition has received limited attention. Here, we tested wild southern pied babblers (Turdoides bicolor) on three cognitive tasks (associative learning, reversal learning and inhibitory control) under naturally occurring heat stress and non-heat stress conditions. We determined whether cognitive performance was explained by temperature, heat dissipation behaviours, individual and social attributes, or proxies of motivation. We found that temperature, but not heat dissipation behaviours, predicted variation in associative learning performance. Individuals required on average twice as many trials to learn an association when the maximum temperature during testing exceeded 38°C compared with moderate temperatures. Higher temperatures during testing were also associated with reduced inhibitory control performance, but only in females. By contrast, we found no temperature-related decline in performance in the reversal learning task, albeit individuals reached learning criterion in only 14 reversal learning tests. Our findings provide novel evidence of temperature-mediated cognitive impairment in a wild animal and indicate that its occurrence depends on the cognitive trait examined and individual sex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilla Soravia
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia 6009
| | - Benjamin J. Ashton
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia 6009
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2109
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa, 7701
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Amanda R. Ridley
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia 6009
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa, 7701
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Kings M, Arbon JJ, McIvor GE, Whitaker M, Radford AN, Lerner J, Thornton A. Wild jackdaws can selectively adjust their social associations while preserving valuable long-term relationships. Nat Commun 2023; 14:5103. [PMID: 37696804 PMCID: PMC10495349 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40808-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 08/09/2023] [Indexed: 09/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Influential theories of the evolution of cognition and cooperation posit that tracking information about others allows individuals to adjust their social associations strategically, re-shaping social networks to favour connections between compatible partners. Crucially, to our knowledge, this has yet to be tested experimentally in natural populations, where the need to maintain long-term, fitness-enhancing relationships may limit social plasticity. Using a social-network-manipulation experiment, we show that wild jackdaws (Corvus monedula) learned to favour social associations with compatible group members (individuals that provided greater returns from social foraging interactions), but resultant change in network structure was constrained by the preservation of valuable pre-existing relationships. Our findings provide insights into the cognitive basis of social plasticity and the interplay between individual decision-making and social-network structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Kings
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Treliever Road, Penryn, TR10 9FE, UK.
| | - Josh J Arbon
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Treliever Road, Penryn, TR10 9FE, UK.
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK.
| | - Guillam E McIvor
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Treliever Road, Penryn, TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Martin Whitaker
- technologywithin, Chevron Business Park, Limekiln Lane, Holbury, Southampton, SO45 2QL, UK
| | - Andrew N Radford
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Jürgen Lerner
- Department of Computer and Information Science, University of Konstanz, 78457, Konstanz, Germany
- HumTec Institute, RWTH Aachen University, 52062, Aachen, Germany
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Treliever Road, Penryn, TR10 9FE, UK.
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Arbon JJ, Hahn LG, McIvor GE, Thornton A. Competition and generalization impede cultural formation in wild jackdaws. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230705. [PMID: 37554031 PMCID: PMC10410225 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 08/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Animal cultures have now been demonstrated experimentally in diverse taxa from flies to great apes. However, experiments commonly use tasks with unrestricted access to equal pay-offs and innovations seeded by demonstrators who are trained to exhibit strong preferences. Such conditions may not reflect those typically found in nature. For example, the learned preferences of natural innovators may be weaker, while competition for depleting resources can favour switching between strategies and generalizing from past experience. Here we show that in experiments where wild jackdaws (Corvus monedula) can freely discover depleting supplies of novel foods, generalization has a powerful effect on learning, allowing individuals to exploit multiple new opportunities through both social and individual learning. Further, in contrast to studies with trained demonstrators, individuals that were first to innovate showed weak preferences. As a consequence, many individuals ate all available novel foods, displaying no strong preference and no group-level culture emerged. Individuals followed a 'learn from adults' strategy, but other demographic factors played a minimal role in shaping social transmission. These results demonstrate the importance of generalization in allowing animals to exploit new opportunities and highlight how natural competitive dynamics may impede the formation of culture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josh J. Arbon
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall, UK
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, UK
| | - Luca G. Hahn
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall, UK
| | - Guillam E. McIvor
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall, UK
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall, UK
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Thornton A, Mesoudi A. Untenable propositions and alternative avenues.: Comment to "Blind alleys and fruitful pathways in the comparative study of cultural cognition" by Andrew Whiten. Phys Life Rev 2023; 44:51-53. [PMID: 36493629 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2022.11.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alex Thornton
- Human Behaviour and Cultural Evolution Group, Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, TR10 9FE, UK.
| | - Alex Mesoudi
- Human Behaviour and Cultural Evolution Group, Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, TR10 9FE, UK
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Soravia C, Ashton BJ, Thornton A, Ridley AR. General cognitive performance declines with female age and is negatively related to fledging success in a wild bird. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20221748. [PMID: 36541175 PMCID: PMC9768653 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Identifying the causes and fitness consequences of intraspecific variation in cognitive performance is fundamental to understand how cognition evolves. Selection may act on different cognitive traits separately or jointly as part of the general cognitive performance (GCP) of the individual. To date, few studies have examined simultaneously whether individual cognitive performance covaries across different cognitive tasks, the relative importance of individual and social attributes in determining cognitive variation, and its fitness consequences in the wild. Here, we tested 38 wild southern pied babblers (Turdoides bicolor) on a cognitive test battery targeting associative learning, reversal learning and inhibitory control. We found that a single factor explained 59.5% of the variation in individual cognitive performance across tasks, suggestive of a general cognitive factor. GCP varied by age and sex; declining with age in females but not males. Older females also tended to produce a higher average number of fledglings per year compared to younger females. Analysing over 10 years of breeding data, we found that individuals with lower general cognitive performance produced more fledglings per year. Collectively, our findings support the existence of a trade-off between cognitive performance and reproductive success in a wild bird.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilla Soravia
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Benjamin J. Ashton
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia,School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia,FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Amanda R. Ridley
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia,FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
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O'Coin D, Mclvor GE, Thornton A, Ouellette NT, Ling H. Velocity correlations in jackdaw flocks in different ecological contexts. Phys Biol 2022; 20. [PMID: 36541516 DOI: 10.1088/1478-3975/aca862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Velocity correlation is an important feature for animal groups performing collective motions. Previous studies have mostly focused on the velocity correlation in a single ecological context. It is unclear whether correlation characteristics vary in a single species in different contexts. Here, we studied the velocity correlations in jackdaw flocks in two different contexts: transit flocks where birds travel from one location to another, and mobbing flocks where birds respond to an external stimulus. We found that in both contexts, although the interaction rules are different, the velocity correlations remain scale-free, i.e. the correlation length (the distance over which the velocity of two individuals is similar) increases linearly with the group size. Furthermore, we found that the correlation length is independent of the group density for transit flocks, but increases with increasing group density in mobbing flocks. This result confirms a previous observation that birds obey topological interactions in transit flocks, but switch to metric interactions in mobbing flocks. Finally, in both contexts, the impact of group polarization on correlation length is not significant. Our results suggest that wild animals are always able to respond coherently to perturbations regardless of context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel O'Coin
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, North Dartmouth, MA, United States of America
| | - Guillam E Mclvor
- Center for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, United Kingdom
| | - Alex Thornton
- Center for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, United Kingdom
| | - Nicholas T Ouellette
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
| | - Hangjian Ling
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, North Dartmouth, MA, United States of America
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Thornton A, Peterson E, Thomas A, Regouski M, Liu Y, White K, Davies C, Polejaeva I, Rutigliano H. 86 The role of extracellular vesicles in immunomodulation during bovine pregnancy. Reprod Fertil Dev 2022. [DOI: 10.1071/rdv35n2ab86] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
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Driscoll I, Manser M, Thornton A. Function of meerkats' mobbing-like response to secondary predator cues: recruitment not teaching. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.09.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Ashton BJ, Thornton A, Speechley EM, Ridley AR. Does trappability and self-selection influence cognitive performance? R Soc Open Sci 2022; 9:220473. [PMID: 36117861 PMCID: PMC9470268 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2022] [Accepted: 08/26/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Recent research has highlighted how trappability and self-selection-the processes by which individuals with particular traits may be more likely to be caught or to participate in experiments-may be sources of bias in studies of animal behaviour and cognition. It is crucial to determine whether such biases exist, and if they do, what effect they have on results. In this study, we investigated if trappability (quantified through 'ringing status'-whether or not a bird had been trapped for ringing) and self-selection are sources of bias in a series of associative learning experiments spanning 5 years in the Western Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen dorsalis). We found no evidence of self-selection, with no biases in task participation associated with sex, age, group size or ringing status. In addition, we found that there was no effect of trappability on cognitive performance. These findings give us confidence in the results generated in the animal cognition literature and add to a growing body of literature seeking to determine potential sources of bias in studies of animal behaviour, and how they influence the generalizability and reproducibility of findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin J. Ashton
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Treliever Road, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Elizabeth M. Speechley
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia
| | - Amanda R. Ridley
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia
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Vincent C, Allan S, Naylor G, Stephen R, Bray S, Thornton A, Kirk A. Fission chamber data acquisition system for neutron flux measurements on the Mega-Amp Spherical Tokamak Upgrade. Rev Sci Instrum 2022; 93:093509. [PMID: 36182454 DOI: 10.1063/5.0106725] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2022] [Accepted: 08/15/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Neutron flux measurements are important in fusion devices for both safety requirements and physics studies. A new system has been built for the Mega-Amp Spherical Tokamak Upgrade (MAST Upgrade) that provides neutron count, DC, and Campbell mode measurements for a 1 µs period at 1 MHz. The acquisition system uses a Red Pitaya board to sample current from two fission chambers mounted on the side of the MAST-U vessel. The system-on-chip design of the Zynq-7020 on the Red Pitaya also allows a web server implementation using Flask for data retrieval and diagnostic configuration over the MAST Upgrade network.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Vincent
- United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB, United Kingdom
| | - S Allan
- United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB, United Kingdom
| | - G Naylor
- United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB, United Kingdom
| | - R Stephen
- United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB, United Kingdom
| | - S Bray
- United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB, United Kingdom
| | - A Thornton
- United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB, United Kingdom
| | - A Kirk
- United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB, United Kingdom
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17
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Hooper R, Brett B, Thornton A. Problems with using comparative analyses of avian brain size to test hypotheses of cognitive evolution. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0270771. [PMID: 35867640 PMCID: PMC9307164 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0270771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2022] [Accepted: 06/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
There are multiple hypotheses for the evolution of cognition. The most prominent hypotheses are the Social Intelligence Hypothesis (SIH) and the Ecological Intelligence Hypothesis (EIH), which are often pitted against one another. These hypotheses tend to be tested using broad-scale comparative studies of brain size, where brain size is used as a proxy of cognitive ability, and various social and/or ecological variables are included as predictors. Here, we test how robust conclusions drawn from such analyses may be. First, we investigate variation in brain and body size measurements across >1000 bird species. We demonstrate that there is substantial variation in brain and body size estimates across datasets, indicating that conclusions drawn from comparative brain size models are likely to differ depending on the source of the data. Following this, we subset our data to the Corvides infraorder and interrogate how modelling decisions impact results. We show that model results change substantially depending on variable inclusion, source and classification. Indeed, we could have drawn multiple contradictory conclusions about the principal drivers of brain size evolution. These results reflect concerns from a growing number of researchers that conclusions drawn from comparative brain size studies may not be robust. We suggest that to interrogate hypotheses of cognitive evolution, a fruitful way forward is to focus on testing cognitive performance within and between closely related taxa, with an emphasis on understanding the relationship between informational uncertainty and cognitive evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Hooper
- University of Exeter, Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Penryn Campus, Cornwall, United Kingdom
- University of Exeter, Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Streatham Campus, Exeter, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (RH); (AT)
| | - Becky Brett
- University of Exeter, Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Penryn Campus, Cornwall, United Kingdom
| | - Alex Thornton
- University of Exeter, Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Penryn Campus, Cornwall, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (RH); (AT)
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18
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Blackburn G, Broom E, Ashton BJ, Thornton A, Ridley AR. Heat stress inhibits cognitive performance in wild Western Australian magpies, Cracticus tibicen dorsalis. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.03.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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19
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Dibnah AJ, Herbert-Read JE, Boogert NJ, McIvor GE, Jolles JW, Thornton A. Vocally mediated consensus decisions govern mass departures from jackdaw roosts. Curr Biol 2022; 32:R455-R456. [PMID: 35609539 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.04.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
In the early morning, large groups of up to hundreds or even thousands of roosting birds, sometimes comprising the entire roost population, often take off together in sudden mass departures. These departures commonly occur in low-light conditions and structurally complex habitats where access to visual cues is likely to be restricted. Roosting birds are often highly vocal, leading us to hypothesise that vocalisations, which can propagate over large distances, could provide a means of enabling individuals to agree on when to depart - that is to establish a consensus1 - and thus coordinate the timing of mass movements. Investigations of the role of acoustic signals in coordinating collective decisions have been limited to honeybees2 and relatively small vertebrate groups (<50 individuals)3-5 and have rarely included experimental validation2,3. Here, by combining field recordings with a large-scale experimental manipulation, we show that jackdaws (Corvus monedula) use vocalisations to coordinate mass departures from winter roosts. This provides empirical evidence for vocally-mediated consensus decision-making in large vertebrate groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex J Dibnah
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK.
| | - James E Herbert-Read
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Aquatic Ecology, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Neeltje J Boogert
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Guillam E McIvor
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Jolle W Jolles
- Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK.
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20
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Ashton BJ, Thornton A, Cauchoix M, Ridley AR. Long-term repeatability of cognitive performance. R Soc Open Sci 2022; 9:220069. [PMID: 35620015 PMCID: PMC9128854 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2022] [Accepted: 04/29/2022] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Measures of cognitive performance, derived from psychometric tasks, have yielded important insights into the factors governing cognitive variation. However, concerns remain over the robustness of these measures, which may be susceptible to non-cognitive factors such as motivation and persistence. Efforts to quantify short-term repeatability of cognitive performance have gone some way to address this, but crucially the long-term repeatability of cognitive performance has been largely overlooked. Quantifying the long-term repeatability of cognitive performance provides the opportunity to determine the stability of cognitive phenotypes and the potential for selection to act on them. To this end, we quantified long-term repeatability of cognitive performance in wild Australian magpies over a three-year period. Cognitive performance was repeatable in two out of four cognitive tasks-associative learning and reversal-learning performance was repeatable, but spatial memory and inhibitory control performance, although trending toward significance, was not. Measures of general cognitive performance, obtained from principal components analyses carried out on each cognitive test battery, were highly repeatable. Together, these findings provide evidence that at least some cognitive phenotypes are stable, which in turn has important implications for our understanding of cognitive evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin J. Ashton
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Treliever Road, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Maxime Cauchoix
- Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale du CNRS (UMR5321), Moulis, France
| | - Amanda R. Ridley
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia
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21
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Reynolds AM, McIvor GE, Thornton A, Yang P, Ouellette NT. Stochastic modelling of bird flocks: accounting for the cohesiveness of collective motion. J R Soc Interface 2022; 19:20210745. [PMID: 35440203 PMCID: PMC9019524 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2021.0745] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Collective behaviour can be difficult to discern because it is not limited to animal aggregations such as flocks of birds and schools of fish wherein individuals spontaneously move in the same way despite the absence of leadership. Insect swarms are, for example, a form of collective behaviour, albeit one lacking the global order seen in bird flocks and fish schools. Their collective behaviour is evident in their emergent macroscopic properties. These properties are predicted by close relatives of Okubo's 1986 [Adv. Biophys. 22, 1-94. (doi:10.1016/0065-227X(86)90003-1)] stochastic model. Here, we argue that Okubo's stochastic model also encapsulates the cohesiveness mechanism at play in bird flocks, namely the fact that birds within a flock behave on average as if they are trapped in an elastic potential well. That is, each bird effectively behaves as if it is bound to the flock by a force that on average increases linearly as the distance from the flock centre increases. We uncover this key, but until now overlooked, feature of flocking in empirical data. This gives us a means of identifying what makes a given system collective. We show how the model can be extended to account for intrinsic velocity correlations and differentiated social relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Guillam E McIvor
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Patricia Yang
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Nicholas T Ouellette
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
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22
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Diehl S, Kim A, Angelini G, Joo K, Adhikari S, Amaryan M, Arratia M, Atac H, Avakian H, Ayerbe Gayoso C, Baltzell NA, Barion L, Bastami S, Battaglieri M, Bedlinskiy I, Benmokhtar F, Bianconi A, Biselli AS, Bondi M, Bossù F, Boiarinov S, Brinkmann KT, Briscoe WJ, Brooks W, Bulumulla D, Burkert VD, Carman DS, Carvajal JC, Celentano A, Chatagnon P, Chetry T, Ciullo G, Clark L, Clary BA, Cole PL, Contalbrigo M, Costantini G, Crede V, D'Angelo A, Dashyan N, De Vita R, Defurne M, Deur A, Dilks C, Djalali C, Dugger M, Dupre R, Egiyan H, Ehrhart M, El Alaoui A, El Fassi L, Elouadrhiri L, Fegan S, Filippi A, Forest T, Gavalian G, Gilfoyle GP, Girod FX, Glazier DI, Golubenko AA, Gothe RW, Gotra Y, Griffioen KA, Guidal M, Hafidi K, Hakobyan H, Hattawy M, Hauenstein F, Hayward TB, Heddle D, Hicks K, Hobart A, Holtrop M, Hyde CE, Ireland DG, Isupov EL, Jo HS, Johnston R, Joosten S, Keller D, Khachatryan M, Khanal A, Kim W, Kripko A, Kubarovsky V, Kuhn SE, Lanza L, Leali M, Lee S, Lenisa P, Livingston K, Lu Z, MacGregor IJD, Marchand D, Markov N, Marsicano L, Mascagna V, McKinnon B, Meziani ZE, Milner RG, Mineeva T, Mirazita M, Mokeev V, Moran P, Movsisyan A, Munoz Camacho C, Nadel-Turonski P, Naidoo P, Nanda S, Neupane K, Niccolai S, Niculescu G, O'Connell TR, Osipenko M, Paolone M, Pappalardo LL, Paremuzyan R, Pasyuk E, Phelps W, Pogorelko O, Prok Y, Prokudin A, Raue BA, Ripani M, Ritman J, Rizzo A, Roberts CD, Rossi P, Rowley J, Sabatié F, Salgado C, Schmidt A, Segarra EP, Sharabian YG, Shrestha U, Simmerling P, Sokhan D, Soto O, Sparveris N, Stepanyan S, Stoler P, Strakovsky II, Strauch S, Tezgin K, Thornton A, Tyler N, Tyson R, Ungaro M, Venturelli L, Voskanyan H, Vossen A, Voutier E, Watts DP, Wei K, Wei X, Xu SS, Yale B, Zachariou N, Zhang J. Multidimensional, High Precision Measurements of Beam Single Spin Asymmetries in Semi-inclusive π^{+} Electroproduction off Protons in the Valence Region. Phys Rev Lett 2022; 128:062005. [PMID: 35213183 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.128.062005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2021] [Revised: 09/28/2021] [Accepted: 01/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
High precision measurements of the polarized electron beam-spin asymmetry in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering (SIDIS) from the proton have been performed using a 10.6 GeV incident electron beam and the CLAS12 spectrometer at Jefferson Lab. We report here a high precision multidimensional study of single π^{+} SIDIS data over a large kinematic range in Bjorken x, fractional energy, and transverse momentum of the hadron as well as photon virtualities Q^{2} ranging from 1-7 GeV^{2}. In particular, the structure function ratio F_{LU}^{sinϕ}/F_{UU} has been determined, where F_{LU}^{sinϕ} is a twist-3 quantity that can reveal novel aspects of emergent hadron mass and quark-gluon correlations within the nucleon. The data's impact on the evolving understanding of the underlying reaction mechanisms and their kinematic variation is explored using theoretical models for the different contributing transverse momentum dependent parton distribution functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Diehl
- University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
- II. Physikalisches Institut der Universität Gießen, 35392 Gießen, Germany
| | - A Kim
- University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
| | - G Angelini
- The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 20052, USA
| | - K Joo
- University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
| | - S Adhikari
- Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, USA
| | - M Amaryan
- Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, USA
| | - M Arratia
- University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA
| | - H Atac
- Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA
| | - H Avakian
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - C Ayerbe Gayoso
- College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23187-8795, USA
| | - N A Baltzell
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - L Barion
- INFN, Sezione di Ferrara, 44100 Ferrara, Italy
| | - S Bastami
- University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
| | - M Battaglieri
- INFN, Sezione di Genova, 16146 Genova, Italy
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - I Bedlinskiy
- National Research Centre Kurchatov Institute-ITEP, Moscow, 117259, Russia
| | - F Benmokhtar
- Duquesne University, 600 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15282, USA
| | - A Bianconi
- INFN, Sezione di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
- Università degli Studi di Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
| | - A S Biselli
- Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut 06824, USA
| | - M Bondi
- INFN, Sezione di Genova, 16146 Genova, Italy
| | - F Bossù
- IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - S Boiarinov
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - K-T Brinkmann
- II. Physikalisches Institut der Universität Gießen, 35392 Gießen, Germany
| | - W J Briscoe
- The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 20052, USA
| | - W Brooks
- Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Casilla 110-V Valparaíso, Chile
| | - D Bulumulla
- Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, USA
| | - V D Burkert
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - D S Carman
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - J C Carvajal
- Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, USA
| | - A Celentano
- INFN, Sezione di Genova, 16146 Genova, Italy
| | - P Chatagnon
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - T Chetry
- Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762-5167, USA
- Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA
| | - G Ciullo
- Universitá di Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Ferrara, 44100 Ferrara, Italy
| | - L Clark
- University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
| | - B A Clary
- University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
| | - P L Cole
- Lamar University, 4400 MLK Blvd, P.O. Box 10046, Beaumont, Texas 77710, USA
| | | | - G Costantini
- INFN, Sezione di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
- Università degli Studi di Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
| | - V Crede
- Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, USA
| | - A D'Angelo
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
- Università di Roma Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome Italy
| | - N Dashyan
- Yerevan Physics Institute, 375036 Yerevan, Armenia
| | - R De Vita
- INFN, Sezione di Genova, 16146 Genova, Italy
| | - M Defurne
- IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - A Deur
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - C Dilks
- Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708-0305, USA
| | - C Djalali
- Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA
| | - M Dugger
- Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85281, USA
| | - R Dupre
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - H Egiyan
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - M Ehrhart
- Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - A El Alaoui
- Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Casilla 110-V Valparaíso, Chile
| | - L El Fassi
- Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762-5167, USA
| | - L Elouadrhiri
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - S Fegan
- University of York, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
| | - A Filippi
- INFN, Sezione di Torino, 10125 Torino, Italy
| | - T Forest
- Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho 83209, USA
| | - G Gavalian
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - G P Gilfoyle
- University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia 23173, USA
| | - F X Girod
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - D I Glazier
- University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
| | - A A Golubenko
- Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119234 Moscow, Russia
| | - R W Gothe
- University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA
| | - Y Gotra
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - K A Griffioen
- College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23187-8795, USA
| | - M Guidal
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - K Hafidi
- Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
| | - H Hakobyan
- Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Casilla 110-V Valparaíso, Chile
- Yerevan Physics Institute, 375036 Yerevan, Armenia
| | - M Hattawy
- Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, USA
| | - F Hauenstein
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307, USA
- Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, USA
| | - T B Hayward
- College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23187-8795, USA
| | - D Heddle
- Christopher Newport University, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - K Hicks
- Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA
| | - A Hobart
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - M Holtrop
- University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824-3568, USA
| | - C E Hyde
- Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, USA
| | - D G Ireland
- University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
| | - E L Isupov
- Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119234 Moscow, Russia
| | - H S Jo
- Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea
| | - R Johnston
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307, USA
| | - S Joosten
- Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
| | - D Keller
- University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22901, USA
| | - M Khachatryan
- Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, USA
| | - A Khanal
- Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, USA
| | - W Kim
- Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea
| | - A Kripko
- II. Physikalisches Institut der Universität Gießen, 35392 Gießen, Germany
| | - V Kubarovsky
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - S E Kuhn
- Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, USA
| | - L Lanza
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - M Leali
- INFN, Sezione di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
- Università degli Studi di Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
| | - S Lee
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307, USA
| | - P Lenisa
- Universitá di Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Ferrara, 44100 Ferrara, Italy
| | - K Livingston
- University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
| | - Z Lu
- School of Physics, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, Jiangsu, China
| | | | - D Marchand
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - N Markov
- University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - L Marsicano
- INFN, Sezione di Genova, 16146 Genova, Italy
| | - V Mascagna
- INFN, Sezione di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
- Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, 22100 Como, Italy
| | - B McKinnon
- University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
| | - Z E Meziani
- Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
- Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA
| | - R G Milner
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307, USA
| | - T Mineeva
- Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Casilla 110-V Valparaíso, Chile
| | - M Mirazita
- INFN, Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, 00044 Frascati, Italy
| | - V Mokeev
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - P Moran
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307, USA
| | - A Movsisyan
- INFN, Sezione di Ferrara, 44100 Ferrara, Italy
| | - C Munoz Camacho
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - P Nadel-Turonski
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - P Naidoo
- University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
| | - S Nanda
- Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762-5167, USA
| | - K Neupane
- University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA
| | - S Niccolai
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - G Niculescu
- James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807, USA
| | - T R O'Connell
- University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
| | - M Osipenko
- INFN, Sezione di Genova, 16146 Genova, Italy
| | - M Paolone
- New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 30001, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003, USA
- Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA
| | - L L Pappalardo
- Universitá di Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Ferrara, 44100 Ferrara, Italy
| | - R Paremuzyan
- University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824-3568, USA
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - E Pasyuk
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - W Phelps
- Christopher Newport University, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - O Pogorelko
- National Research Centre Kurchatov Institute-ITEP, Moscow, 117259, Russia
| | - Y Prok
- Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, USA
| | - A Prokudin
- Science Division, Penn State University Berks, Reading, Pennsylvania 19610, USA
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - B A Raue
- Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, USA
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - M Ripani
- INFN, Sezione di Genova, 16146 Genova, Italy
| | - J Ritman
- Institute fur Kernphysik (Juelich), Juelich, Germany
| | - A Rizzo
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
- Università di Roma Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome Italy
| | - C D Roberts
- School of Physics and Institute for Nonperturbative Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, Jiangsu, China
| | - P Rossi
- INFN, Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, 00044 Frascati, Italy
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - J Rowley
- Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA
| | - F Sabatié
- IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - C Salgado
- Norfolk State University, Norfolk, Virginia 23504, USA
| | - A Schmidt
- The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 20052, USA
| | - E P Segarra
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307, USA
| | - Y G Sharabian
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - U Shrestha
- Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA
| | - P Simmerling
- University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
| | - D Sokhan
- University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
| | - O Soto
- INFN, Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, 00044 Frascati, Italy
- Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Casilla 110-V Valparaíso, Chile
| | - N Sparveris
- Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA
| | - S Stepanyan
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - P Stoler
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180-3590, USA
| | - I I Strakovsky
- The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 20052, USA
| | - S Strauch
- University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA
| | - K Tezgin
- University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
| | - A Thornton
- University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
| | - N Tyler
- University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA
| | - R Tyson
- University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
| | - M Ungaro
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - L Venturelli
- INFN, Sezione di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
- Università degli Studi di Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
| | - H Voskanyan
- Yerevan Physics Institute, 375036 Yerevan, Armenia
| | - A Vossen
- Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708-0305, USA
| | - E Voutier
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - D P Watts
- University of York, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
| | - K Wei
- University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
| | - X Wei
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - S-S Xu
- School of Science, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu, China
| | - B Yale
- College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23187-8795, USA
| | - N Zachariou
- University of York, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
| | - J Zhang
- University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22901, USA
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23
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Hooper R, Meekins E, McIvor GE, Thornton A. Wild jackdaws respond to their partner's distress, but not with consolation. R Soc Open Sci 2021; 8:210253. [PMID: 34234956 PMCID: PMC8242836 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.210253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2021] [Accepted: 06/07/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Individuals are expected to manage their social relationships to maximize fitness returns. For example, reports of some mammals and birds offering unsolicited affiliation to distressed social partners (commonly termed 'consolation') are argued to illustrate convergent evolution of prosocial traits across divergent taxa. However, most studies cannot discriminate between consolation and alternative explanations such as self-soothing. Crucially, no study that controls for key confounds has examined consolation in the wild, where individuals face more complex and dangerous environments than in captivity. Controlling for common confounds, we find that male jackdaws (Corvus monedula) respond to their mate's stress-states, but not with consolation. Instead, they tended to decrease affiliation and partner visit rate in both experimental and natural contexts. This is striking because jackdaws have long-term monogamous relationships with highly interdependent fitness outcomes, which is precisely where theory predicts consolation should occur. Our findings challenge common conceptions about where consolation should evolve, and chime with concerns that current theory may be influenced by anthropomorphic expectations of how social relationships should be managed. To further our understanding of the evolution of such traits, we highlight the need for our current predictive frameworks to incorporate the behavioural trade-offs inherent to life in the wild.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Hooper
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Ella Meekins
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Guillam E. McIvor
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
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24
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Brakes P, Carroll EL, Dall SRX, Keith SA, McGregor PK, Mesnick SL, Noad MJ, Rendell L, Robbins MM, Rutz C, Thornton A, Whiten A, Whiting MJ, Aplin LM, Bearhop S, Ciucci P, Fishlock V, Ford JKB, Notarbartolo di Sciara G, Simmonds MP, Spina F, Wade PR, Whitehead H, Williams J, Garland EC. A deepening understanding of animal culture suggests lessons for conservation. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20202718. [PMID: 33878919 PMCID: PMC8059593 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2718] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
A key goal of conservation is to protect biodiversity by supporting the long-term persistence of viable, natural populations of wild species. Conservation practice has long been guided by genetic, ecological and demographic indicators of risk. Emerging evidence of animal culture across diverse taxa and its role as a driver of evolutionary diversification, population structure and demographic processes may be essential for augmenting these conventional conservation approaches and decision-making. Animal culture was the focus of a ground-breaking resolution under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), an international treaty operating under the UN Environment Programme. Here, we synthesize existing evidence to demonstrate how social learning and animal culture interact with processes important to conservation management. Specifically, we explore how social learning might influence population viability and be an important resource in response to anthropogenic change, and provide examples of how it can result in phenotypically distinct units with different, socially learnt behavioural strategies. While identifying culture and social learning can be challenging, indirect identification and parsimonious inferences may be informative. Finally, we identify relevant methodologies and provide a framework for viewing behavioural data through a cultural lens which might provide new insights for conservation management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philippa Brakes
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
- Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Brookfield House, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN15 1LJ, UK
| | - Emma L. Carroll
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 8LB, UK
| | - Sasha R. X. Dall
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Sally A. Keith
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK
| | | | - Sarah L. Mesnick
- Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0203, USA
| | - Michael J. Noad
- Cetacean Ecology and Acoustics Laboratory, School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, QLD 4343, Australia
| | - Luke Rendell
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 8LB, UK
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9TH, UK
| | - Martha M. Robbins
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Christian Rutz
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9TH, UK
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Andrew Whiten
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9JP, UK
| | - Martin J. Whiting
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Lucy M. Aplin
- Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell 78315, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78467, Germany
| | - Stuart Bearhop
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Paolo Ciucci
- Department of Biology and Biotechnologies, University of Rome La Sapienza, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Vicki Fishlock
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
- Amboseli Trust for Elephants, Langata 00509, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - John K. B. Ford
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | | | - Mark P. Simmonds
- Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK
- Humane Society International, London N1 7LY, UK
| | - Fernando Spina
- Istituto Superiore Protezione Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), I-40064 Ozzano Emilia (BO), Italy
| | - Paul R. Wade
- Marine Mammal Laboratory, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries, Seattle, WA 98115, USA
- School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Hal Whitehead
- Biology Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H4R2
| | - James Williams
- Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Monkstone House, Peterborough PE1 1JY, UK
| | - Ellen C. Garland
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 8LB, UK
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9TH, UK
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25
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Hayward TB, Dilks C, Vossen A, Avakian H, Adhikari S, Angelini G, Arratia M, Atac H, Ayerbe Gayoso C, Baltzell NA, Barion L, Battaglieri M, Bedlinskiy I, Benmokhtar F, Bianconi A, Biselli AS, Bondì M, Bossù F, Boiarinov S, Briscoe WJ, Brooks WK, Bulumulla D, Burkert VD, Carman DS, Carvajal JC, Celentano A, Chatagnon P, Chetry T, Ciullo G, Clary BA, Cole PL, Contalbrigo M, Costantini G, Crede V, D'Angelo A, Dashyan N, De Vita R, Defurne M, Deur A, Diehl S, Djalali C, Dupre R, Dugger M, Egiyan H, Ehrhart M, El Alaoui A, El Fassi L, Elouadrhiri L, Fegan S, Filippi A, Forest TA, Gavalian G, Gilfoyle GP, Girod FX, Glazier DI, Golubenko AA, Gothe RW, Gotra Y, Griffioen KA, Guidal M, Hafidi K, Hakobyan H, Hattawy M, Hauenstein F, Hicks K, Hobart A, Holtrop M, Ireland DG, Isupov EL, Jo HS, Joo K, Joosten S, Keller D, Khachatryan M, Khanal A, Kim A, Kim W, Kripko A, Kubarovsky V, Kuhn SE, Lanza L, Leali M, Lee S, Lenisa P, Livingston K, MacGregor IJD, Marchand D, Markov N, Marsicano L, Mascagna V, McKinnon B, Meziani ZE, Mirazita M, Mokeev V, Movsisyan A, Munoz Camacho C, Nadel-Turonski P, Naidoo P, Nanda S, Neupane K, Niccolai S, Niculescu G, O'Connell TR, Osipenko M, Paolone M, Pappalardo LL, Paremuzyan R, Pasyuk E, Phelps W, Pogorelko O, Prok Y, Raue BA, Ripani M, Ritman J, Rizzo A, Rossi P, Rowley J, Sabatié F, Salgado C, Schmidt A, Segarra EP, Sharabian YG, Shrestha U, Sokhan D, Soto O, Sparveris N, Stepanyan S, Strakovsky II, Strauch S, Thornton A, Tyler N, Tyson R, Ungaro M, Venturelli L, Voskanyan H, Voutier E, Watts DP, Wei K, Wei X, Wood MH, Yale B, Zachariou N, Zhang J. Observation of Beam Spin Asymmetries in the Process ep→e^{'}π^{+}π^{-}X with CLAS12. Phys Rev Lett 2021; 126:152501. [PMID: 33929247 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.126.152501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2021] [Revised: 02/25/2021] [Accepted: 03/18/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The observation of beam spin asymmetries in two-pion production in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering off an unpolarized proton target is reported. The data presented here were taken in the fall of 2018 with the CLAS12 spectrometer using a 10.6 GeV longitudinally spin-polarized electron beam delivered by CEBAF at JLab. The measured asymmetries provide the first opportunity to extract the parton distribution function e(x), which provides information about the interaction between gluons and quarks, in a collinear framework that offers cleaner access than previous measurements. The asymmetries also constitute the first ever signal sensitive to the helicity-dependent two-pion fragmentation function G_{1}^{⊥}. A clear sign change is observed around the ρ mass that appears in model calculations and is indicative of the dependence of the produced pions on the helicity of the fragmenting quark.
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Affiliation(s)
- T B Hayward
- College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23187-8795, USA
| | - C Dilks
- Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708-0305, USA
| | - A Vossen
- Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708-0305, USA
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - H Avakian
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - S Adhikari
- Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, USA
| | - G Angelini
- The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 20052, USA
| | - M Arratia
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
- University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California 92521, USA
| | - H Atac
- Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA
| | - C Ayerbe Gayoso
- College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23187-8795, USA
| | - N A Baltzell
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - L Barion
- INFN, Sezione di Ferrara, 44100 Ferrara, Italy
| | - M Battaglieri
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
- INFN, Sezione di Genova, 16146 Genova, Italy
| | - I Bedlinskiy
- National Research Centre Kurchatov Institute-ITEP, Moscow 117259, Russia
| | - F Benmokhtar
- Duquesne University, 600 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15282, USA
| | - A Bianconi
- Università degli Studi di Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - A S Biselli
- Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut 06824, USA
| | - M Bondì
- INFN, Sezione di Genova, 16146 Genova, Italy
| | - F Bossù
- IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - S Boiarinov
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - W J Briscoe
- The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 20052, USA
| | - W K Brooks
- Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Casilla 110-V Valparaíso, Chile
| | - D Bulumulla
- Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, USA
| | - V D Burkert
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - D S Carman
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - J C Carvajal
- Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, USA
| | - A Celentano
- INFN, Sezione di Genova, 16146 Genova, Italy
| | - P Chatagnon
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - T Chetry
- Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762-5167, USA
- Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA
| | - G Ciullo
- INFN, Sezione di Ferrara, 44100 Ferrara, Italy
- Università di Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - B A Clary
- University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
| | - P L Cole
- Lamar University, 4400 MLK Boulevard, P.O. Box 10046, Beaumont, Texas 77710, USA
| | | | - G Costantini
- Università degli Studi di Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - V Crede
- Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, USA
| | - A D'Angelo
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
- Università di Roma Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - N Dashyan
- Yerevan Physics Institute, 375036 Yerevan, Armenia
| | - R De Vita
- INFN, Sezione di Genova, 16146 Genova, Italy
| | - M Defurne
- IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - A Deur
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - S Diehl
- University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
- II. Physikalisches Institut der Universität Gießen, 35392 Gießen, Germany
| | - C Djalali
- Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA
| | - R Dupre
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - M Dugger
- Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA
| | - H Egiyan
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - M Ehrhart
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405 Orsay, France
- Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
| | - A El Alaoui
- Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Casilla 110-V Valparaíso, Chile
| | - L El Fassi
- Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762-5167, USA
| | - L Elouadrhiri
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - S Fegan
- University of York, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
| | - A Filippi
- INFN, Sezione di Torino, 10125 Torino, Italy
| | - T A Forest
- Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho 83209, USA
| | - G Gavalian
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - G P Gilfoyle
- University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia 23173, USA
| | - F X Girod
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - D I Glazier
- University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
| | - A A Golubenko
- Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119234 Moscow, Russia
| | - R W Gothe
- University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA
| | - Y Gotra
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - K A Griffioen
- College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23187-8795, USA
| | - M Guidal
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - K Hafidi
- Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
| | - H Hakobyan
- Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Casilla 110-V Valparaíso, Chile
- Yerevan Physics Institute, 375036 Yerevan, Armenia
| | - M Hattawy
- Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, USA
| | - F Hauenstein
- Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, USA
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307, USA
| | - K Hicks
- Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA
| | - A Hobart
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - M Holtrop
- University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824-3568, USA
| | - D G Ireland
- University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
| | - E L Isupov
- Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119234 Moscow, Russia
| | - H S Jo
- Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea
| | - K Joo
- University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
| | - S Joosten
- Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
| | - D Keller
- University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22901, USA
| | - M Khachatryan
- Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, USA
| | - A Khanal
- Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, USA
| | - A Kim
- University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
| | - W Kim
- Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea
| | - A Kripko
- II. Physikalisches Institut der Universität Gießen, 35392 Gießen, Germany
| | - V Kubarovsky
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - S E Kuhn
- Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, USA
| | - L Lanza
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - M Leali
- Università degli Studi di Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - S Lee
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307, USA
| | - P Lenisa
- INFN, Sezione di Ferrara, 44100 Ferrara, Italy
- Università di Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - K Livingston
- University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
| | | | - D Marchand
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - N Markov
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
- University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
| | - L Marsicano
- INFN, Sezione di Genova, 16146 Genova, Italy
| | - V Mascagna
- INFN, Sezione di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
- Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, 22100 Como, Italy
| | - B McKinnon
- University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
| | - Z E Meziani
- Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA
- Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
| | - M Mirazita
- INFN, Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, 00044 Frascati, Italy
| | - V Mokeev
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - A Movsisyan
- INFN, Sezione di Ferrara, 44100 Ferrara, Italy
| | - C Munoz Camacho
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - P Nadel-Turonski
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - P Naidoo
- University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
| | - S Nanda
- Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762-5167, USA
| | - K Neupane
- University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA
| | - S Niccolai
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - G Niculescu
- James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807, USA
| | - T R O'Connell
- University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
| | - M Osipenko
- INFN, Sezione di Genova, 16146 Genova, Italy
| | - M Paolone
- Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA
- New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 30001, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003, USA
| | - L L Pappalardo
- INFN, Sezione di Ferrara, 44100 Ferrara, Italy
- Università di Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - R Paremuzyan
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
- University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824-3568, USA
| | - E Pasyuk
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - W Phelps
- Christopher Newport University, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - O Pogorelko
- National Research Centre Kurchatov Institute-ITEP, Moscow 117259, Russia
| | - Y Prok
- Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, USA
| | - B A Raue
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
- Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, USA
| | - M Ripani
- INFN, Sezione di Genova, 16146 Genova, Italy
| | - J Ritman
- Institute fur Kernphysik (Juelich), Juelich 52428, Germany
| | - A Rizzo
- INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
- Università di Roma Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - P Rossi
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
- INFN, Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, 00044 Frascati, Italy
| | - J Rowley
- Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA
| | - F Sabatié
- IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - C Salgado
- Norfolk State University, Norfolk, Virginia 23504, USA
| | - A Schmidt
- The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 20052, USA
| | - E P Segarra
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307, USA
| | - Y G Sharabian
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - U Shrestha
- Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA
| | - D Sokhan
- University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
| | - O Soto
- Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Casilla 110-V Valparaíso, Chile
- INFN, Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, 00044 Frascati, Italy
| | - N Sparveris
- Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA
| | - S Stepanyan
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - I I Strakovsky
- The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 20052, USA
| | - S Strauch
- University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA
| | - A Thornton
- University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
| | - N Tyler
- University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA
| | - R Tyson
- University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
| | - M Ungaro
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - L Venturelli
- Università degli Studi di Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
- INFN, Sezione di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - H Voskanyan
- Yerevan Physics Institute, 375036 Yerevan, Armenia
| | - E Voutier
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - D P Watts
- University of York, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
| | - K Wei
- University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
| | - X Wei
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA
| | - M H Wood
- Canisius College, Buffalo, New York 14208-1098, USA
| | - B Yale
- College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23187-8795, USA
| | - N Zachariou
- University of York, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
| | - J Zhang
- University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22901, USA
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Abstract
Explaining how animals respond to an increasingly urbanised world is a major challenge for evolutionary biologists. Urban environments often present animals with novel problems that differ from those encountered in their evolutionary past. To navigate these rapidly changing habitats successfully, animals may need to adjust their behaviour flexibly over relatively short timescales. These behavioural changes, in turn, may be facilitated by an ability to acquire, store and process information from the environment. The question of how cognitive abilities allow animals to avoid threats and exploit resources (or constrain their ability to do so) is attracting increasing research interest, with a growing number of studies investigating cognitive and behavioural differences between urban-dwelling animals and their non-urban counterparts. In this review we consider why such differences might arise, focusing on the informational challenges faced by animals living in urban environments, and how different cognitive abilities can assist in overcoming these challenges. We focus largely on birds, as avian taxa have been the subject of most research to date, but discuss work in other species where relevant. We also address the potential consequences of cognitive variation at the individual and species level. For instance, do urban environments select for, or influence the development of, particular cognitive abilities? Are individuals or species with particular cognitive phenotypes more likely to become established in urban habitats? How do other factors, such as social behaviour and individual personality, interact with cognition to influence behaviour in urban environments? The aim of this review is to synthesise current knowledge and identify key avenues for future research, in order to improve our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary consequences of urbanisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria E Lee
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK
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Lucas AJ, Kings M, Whittle D, Davey E, Happé F, Caldwell CA, Thornton A. The value of teaching increases with tool complexity in cumulative cultural evolution. Proc Biol Sci 2020. [PMID: 33203332 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1885rspb20201885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Human cumulative cultural evolution (CCE) is recognized as a powerful ecological and evolutionary force, but its origins are poorly understood. The long-standing view that CCE requires specialized social learning processes such as teaching has recently come under question, and cannot explain why such processes evolved in the first place. An alternative, but largely untested, hypothesis is that these processes gradually coevolved with an increasing reliance on complex tools. To address this, we used large-scale transmission chain experiments (624 participants), to examine the role of different learning processes in generating cumulative improvements in two tool types of differing complexity. Both tool types increased in efficacy across experimental generations, but teaching only provided an advantage for the more complex tools. Moreover, while the simple tools tended to converge on a common design, the more complex tools maintained a diversity of designs. These findings indicate that the emergence of cumulative culture is not strictly dependent on, but may generate selection for, teaching. As reliance on increasingly complex tools grew, so too would selection for teaching, facilitating the increasingly open-ended evolution of cultural artefacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda J Lucas
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Michael Kings
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Devi Whittle
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Emma Davey
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Francesca Happé
- Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK
| | | | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus TR10 9FE, UK
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28
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Lucas AJ, Kings M, Whittle D, Davey E, Happé F, Caldwell CA, Thornton A. The value of teaching increases with tool complexity in cumulative cultural evolution. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20201885. [PMID: 33203332 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Human cumulative cultural evolution (CCE) is recognized as a powerful ecological and evolutionary force, but its origins are poorly understood. The long-standing view that CCE requires specialized social learning processes such as teaching has recently come under question, and cannot explain why such processes evolved in the first place. An alternative, but largely untested, hypothesis is that these processes gradually coevolved with an increasing reliance on complex tools. To address this, we used large-scale transmission chain experiments (624 participants), to examine the role of different learning processes in generating cumulative improvements in two tool types of differing complexity. Both tool types increased in efficacy across experimental generations, but teaching only provided an advantage for the more complex tools. Moreover, while the simple tools tended to converge on a common design, the more complex tools maintained a diversity of designs. These findings indicate that the emergence of cumulative culture is not strictly dependent on, but may generate selection for, teaching. As reliance on increasingly complex tools grew, so too would selection for teaching, facilitating the increasingly open-ended evolution of cultural artefacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda J Lucas
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Michael Kings
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Devi Whittle
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Emma Davey
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Francesca Happé
- Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK
| | | | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus TR10 9FE, UK
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Goumas M, Lee VE, Boogert NJ, Kelley LA, Thornton A. The Role of Animal Cognition in Human-Wildlife Interactions. Front Psychol 2020; 11:589978. [PMID: 33250826 PMCID: PMC7672032 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.589978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2020] [Accepted: 10/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans have a profound effect on the planet's ecosystems, and unprecedented rates of human population growth and urbanization have brought wild animals into increasing contact with people. For many species, appropriate responses toward humans are likely to be critical to survival and reproductive success. Although numerous studies have investigated the impacts of human activity on biodiversity and species distributions, relatively few have examined the effects of humans on the behavioral responses of animals during human-wildlife encounters, and the cognitive processes underpinning those responses. Furthermore, while humans often present a significant threat to animals, the presence or behavior of people may be also associated with benefits, such as food rewards. In scenarios where humans vary in their behavior, wild animals would be expected to benefit from the ability to discriminate between dangerous, neutral and rewarding people. Additionally, individual differences in cognitive and behavioral phenotypes and past experiences with humans may affect animals' ability to exploit human-dominated environments and respond appropriately to human cues. In this review, we examine the cues that wild animals use to modulate their behavioral responses toward humans, such as human facial features and gaze direction. We discuss when wild animals are expected to attend to certain cues, how information is used, and the cognitive mechanisms involved. We consider how the cognitive abilities of wild animals are likely to be under selection by humans and therefore influence population and community composition. We conclude by highlighting the need for long-term studies on free-living, wild animals to fully understand the causes and ecological consequences of variation in responses to human cues. The effects of humans on wildlife behavior are likely to be substantial, and a detailed understanding of these effects is key to implementing effective conservation strategies and managing human-wildlife conflict.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeleine Goumas
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall, United Kingdom
| | - Victoria E. Lee
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall, United Kingdom
- Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Midlothian, United Kingdom
| | - Neeltje J. Boogert
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall, United Kingdom
| | - Laura A. Kelley
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall, United Kingdom
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall, United Kingdom
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30
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Thornton A, Maijer R, Ewert C. Multidisciplinary care for obstructive sleep apnea in the age of “personalized” sleep medicine. Sleep Med 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2019.11.1069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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31
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Coomes JR, McIvor GE, Thornton A. Correction to 'Evidence for individual discrimination and numerical assessment in collective antipredator behaviour in wild jackdaws ( Corvus monedula)'. Biol Lett 2019; 15:20190740. [PMID: 31690210 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2019.0740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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32
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Ling H, Mclvor GE, Westley J, van der Vaart K, Yin J, Vaughan RT, Thornton A, Ouellette NT. Collective turns in jackdaw flocks: kinematics and information transfer. J R Soc Interface 2019; 16:20190450. [PMID: 31640502 PMCID: PMC6833319 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2019.0450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2019] [Accepted: 10/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The rapid, cohesive turns of bird flocks are one of the most vivid examples of collective behaviour in nature, and have attracted much research. Three-dimensional imaging techniques now allow us to characterize the kinematics of turning and their group-level consequences in precise detail. We measured the kinematics of flocks of wild jackdaws executing collective turns in two contexts: during transit to roosts and anti-predator mobbing. All flocks reduced their speed during turns, probably because of constraints on individual flight capability. Turn rates increased with the angle of the turn so that the time to complete turns remained constant. We also find that context may alter where turns are initiated in the flocks: for transit flocks in the absence of predators, initiators were located throughout the flocks, but for mobbing flocks with a fixed ground-based predator, they were always located at the front. Moreover, in some transit flocks, initiators were far apart from each other, potentially because of the existence of subgroups and variation in individual interaction ranges. Finally, we find that as the group size increased the information transfer speed initially increased, but rapidly saturated to a constant value. Our results highlight previously unrecognized complexity in turning kinematics and information transfer in social animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hangjian Ling
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, North Dartmouth, MA, USA
| | - Guillam E. Mclvor
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Joseph Westley
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Kasper van der Vaart
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Jennifer Yin
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Richard T. Vaughan
- School of Computing Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Nicholas T. Ouellette
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
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33
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Coomes JR, McIvor GE, Thornton A. Evidence for individual discrimination and numerical assessment in collective antipredator behaviour in wild jackdaws ( Corvus monedula). Biol Lett 2019; 15:20190380. [PMID: 31573430 PMCID: PMC6832194 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2019.0380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Collective responses to threats occur throughout the animal kingdom but little is known about the cognitive processes underpinning them. Antipredator mobbing is one such response. Approaching a predator may be highly risky, but the individual risk declines and the likelihood of repelling the predator increases in larger mobbing groups. The ability to appraise the number of conspecifics involved in a mobbing event could therefore facilitate strategic decisions about whether to join. Mobs are commonly initiated by recruitment calls, which may provide valuable information to guide decision-making. We tested whether the number of wild jackdaws responding to recruitment calls was influenced by the number of callers. As predicted, playbacks simulating three or five callers tended to recruit more individuals than playbacks of one caller. Recruitment also substantially increased if recruits themselves produced calls. These results suggest that jackdaws use individual vocal discrimination to assess the number of conspecifics involved in initiating mobbing events, and use this information to guide their responses. Our results show support for the use of numerical assessment in antipredator mobbing responses and highlight the need for a greater understanding of the cognitive processes involved in collective behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenny R Coomes
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK.,School of BEES, University College Cork, North Mall, Cork T23 N73K, Republic of Ireland
| | - Guillam E McIvor
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
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34
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Lee VE, Régli N, McIvor GE, Thornton A. Social learning about dangerous people by wild jackdaws. R Soc Open Sci 2019; 6:191031. [PMID: 31598321 PMCID: PMC6774944 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.191031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2019] [Accepted: 08/12/2019] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
For animals that live alongside humans, people can present both an opportunity and a threat. Previous studies have shown that several species can learn to discriminate between individual people and assess risk based on prior experience. To avoid potentially costly encounters, it may also pay individuals to learn about dangerous people based on information from others. Social learning about anthropogenic threats is likely to be beneficial in habitats dominated by human activity, but experimental evidence is limited. Here, we tested whether wild jackdaws (Corvus monedula) use social learning to recognize dangerous people. Using a within-subjects design, we presented breeding jackdaws with an unfamiliar person near their nest, combined with conspecific alarm calls. Subjects that heard alarm calls showed a heightened fear response in subsequent encounters with the person compared to a control group, reducing their latency to return to the nest. This study provides important evidence that animals use social learning to assess the level of risk posed by individual humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria E. Lee
- College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Noémie Régli
- Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université Jean Monnet, 23 Rue du Dr Paul Michelon, 42100 Saint-Étienne, France
| | - Guillam E. McIvor
- College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Alex Thornton
- College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
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35
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Boogert NJ, Madden JR, Morand-Ferron J, Thornton A. Measuring and understanding individual differences in cognition. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 373:rstb.2017.0280. [PMID: 30104425 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 108] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals vary in their cognitive performance. While this variation forms the foundation of the study of human psychometrics, its broader importance is only recently being recognized. Explicitly acknowledging this individual variation found in both humans and non-human animals provides a novel opportunity to understand the mechanisms, development and evolution of cognition. The papers in this special issue highlight the growing emphasis on individual cognitive differences from fields as diverse as neurobiology, experimental psychology and evolutionary biology. Here, we synthesize this body of work. We consider the distinct challenges in quantifying individual differences in cognition and provide concrete methodological recommendations. In particular, future studies would benefit from using multiple task variants to ensure they target specific, clearly defined cognitive traits and from conducting repeated testing to assess individual consistency. We then consider how neural, genetic, developmental and behavioural factors may generate individual differences in cognition. Finally, we discuss the potential fitness consequences of individual cognitive variation and place these into an evolutionary framework with testable hypotheses. We intend for this special issue to stimulate researchers to position individual variation at the centre of the cognitive sciences.This article is part of the theme issue 'Causes and consequences of individual differences in cognitive abilities'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neeltje J Boogert
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Daphne du Maurier Building, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Joah R Madden
- Department of Psychology, Washington Singer Labs, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QG, UK
| | - Julie Morand-Ferron
- Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, 30 Marie Curie, Ottawa, Canada, K1N 6N5
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Daphne du Maurier Building, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK
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36
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Ling H, Mclvor GE, van der Vaart K, Vaughan RT, Thornton A, Ouellette NT. Local interactions and their group-level consequences in flocking jackdaws. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20190865. [PMID: 31266425 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.0865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
As one of nature's most striking examples of collective behaviour, bird flocks have attracted extensive research. However, we still lack an understanding of the attractive and repulsive forces that govern interactions between individuals within flocks and how these forces influence neighbours' relative positions and ultimately determine the shape of flocks. We address these issues by analysing the three-dimensional movements of wild jackdaws ( Corvus monedula) in flocks containing 2-338 individuals. We quantify the social interaction forces in large, airborne flocks and find that these forces are highly anisotropic. The long-range attraction in the direction perpendicular to the movement direction is stronger than that along it, and the short-range repulsion is generated mainly by turning rather than changing speed. We explain this phenomenon by considering wingbeat frequency and the change in kinetic and gravitational potential energy during flight, and find that changing the direction of movement is less energetically costly than adjusting speed for birds. Furthermore, our data show that collision avoidance by turning can alter local neighbour distributions and ultimately change the group shape. Our results illustrate the macroscopic consequences of anisotropic interaction forces in bird flocks, and help to draw links between group structure, local interactions and the biophysics of animal locomotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hangjian Ling
- 1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University , Stanford, CA , USA
| | - Guillam E Mclvor
- 2 Center for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter , Penryn , UK
| | - Kasper van der Vaart
- 1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University , Stanford, CA , USA
| | - Richard T Vaughan
- 3 School of Computing Science, Simon Fraser University , Burnaby , Canada
| | - Alex Thornton
- 2 Center for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter , Penryn , UK
| | - Nicholas T Ouellette
- 1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University , Stanford, CA , USA
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37
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Abstract
How cognitive abilities evolve through natural selection is poorly understood. Two new studies show that a good spatial memory helps birds that hide their food to survive and produce more offspring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, TR10 9FE, UK.
| | - Neeltje J Boogert
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, TR10 9FE, UK
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38
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Ling H, Mclvor GE, van der Vaart K, Vaughan RT, Thornton A, Ouellette NT. Costs and benefits of social relationships in the collective motion of bird flocks. Nat Ecol Evol 2019; 3:943-948. [DOI: 10.1038/s41559-019-0891-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2018] [Accepted: 03/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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39
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Abstract
According to the social intelligence hypothesis, understanding the challenges faced by social animals is key to understanding the evolution of cognition. In structured social groups, recognising the relationships of others is often important for predicting the outcomes of interactions. Third-party relationship recognition has been widely investigated in primates, but studies of other species are limited. Furthermore, few studies test for third-party relationship recognition in the wild, where cognitive abilities are deployed in response to natural socio-ecological pressures. Here, we used playback experiments to investigate whether wild jackdaws (Corvus monedula) track changes in their own relationships and the relationships of others. Females were presented with 'infidelity simulations': playbacks of their male partner copulating with a neighbouring female, and their male neighbour copulating with another female, against a congruent control. Our results showed substantial inter-individual variation in responses, but females did not respond more strongly to infidelity playbacks, indicating that jackdaws may not attend and/or respond to relationship information in this experimental context. Our results highlight the need for further study of relationship recognition and other cognitive traits that facilitate group-living in the wild, particularly in non-primates and in a wider range of social systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria E Lee
- College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK.
| | - Guillam E McIvor
- College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Alex Thornton
- College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK
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40
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Abstract
In recent years, the phenomenon of cumulative cultural evolution (CCE) has become the focus of major research interest in biology, psychology and anthropology. Some researchers argue that CCE is unique to humans and underlies our extraordinary evolutionary success as a species. Others claim to have found CCE in non-human species. Yet others remain sceptical that CCE is even important for explaining human behavioural diversity and complexity. These debates are hampered by multiple and often ambiguous definitions of CCE. Here, we review how researchers define, use and test CCE. We identify a core set of criteria for CCE which are both necessary and sufficient, and may be found in non-human species. We also identify a set of extended criteria that are observed in human CCE but not, to date, in other species. Different socio-cognitive mechanisms may underlie these different criteria. We reinterpret previous theoretical models and observational and experimental studies of both human and non-human species in light of these more fine-grained criteria. Finally, we discuss key issues surrounding information, fitness and cognition. We recommend that researchers are more explicit about what components of CCE they are testing and claiming to demonstrate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Mesoudi
- Human Behaviour and Cultural Evolution Group, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Alex Thornton
- Human Behaviour and Cultural Evolution Group, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
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41
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Brakes P, Dall SRX, Aplin LM, Bearhop S, Carroll EL, Ciucci P, Fishlock V, Ford JKB, Garland EC, Keith SA, McGregor PK, Mesnick SL, Noad MJ, di Sciara GN, Robbins MM, Simmonds MP, Spina F, Thornton A, Wade PR, Whiting MJ, Williams J, Rendell L, Whitehead H, Whiten A, Rutz C. Animal cultures matter for conservation. Science 2019; 363:1032-1034. [PMID: 30808816 DOI: 10.1126/science.aaw3557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Philippa Brakes
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials.
| | - Sasha R X Dall
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials
| | - Lucy M Aplin
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials
| | - Stuart Bearhop
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials
| | - Emma L Carroll
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials
| | - Paolo Ciucci
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials
| | - Vicki Fishlock
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials
| | - John K B Ford
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials
| | - Ellen C Garland
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials
| | - Sally A Keith
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials
| | | | - Sarah L Mesnick
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials
| | - Michael J Noad
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials
| | | | | | - Mark P Simmonds
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials
| | - Fernando Spina
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials
| | - Alex Thornton
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials
| | - Paul R Wade
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials
| | | | - James Williams
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials
| | - Luke Rendell
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials
| | - Hal Whitehead
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials
| | - Andrew Whiten
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials
| | - Christian Rutz
- Author affiliations are listed in the supplementary materials.
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42
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Parry-Ford F, Thornton A, Pebody R, Dunning J, Dabrera G. Results of the public health follow-up of persons exposed to wild birds infected with avian influenza A(H5N6) in England, January – May 2018. Int J Infect Dis 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2018.11.176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
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Dubash SR, Merchant S, Heinzmann K, Mauri F, Lavdas I, Inglese M, Kozlowski K, Rama N, Masrour N, Steel JF, Thornton A, Lim AK, Lewanski C, Cleator S, Coombes RC, Kenny L, Aboagye EO. Clinical translation of [ 18F]ICMT-11 for measuring chemotherapy-induced caspase 3/7 activation in breast and lung cancer. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2018; 45:2285-2299. [PMID: 30259091 PMCID: PMC6208806 DOI: 10.1007/s00259-018-4098-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2018] [Accepted: 07/17/2018] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Effective anticancer therapy is thought to involve induction of tumour cell death through apoptosis and/or necrosis. [18F]ICMT-11, an isatin sulfonamide caspase-3/7-specific radiotracer, has been developed for PET imaging and shown to have favourable dosimetry, safety, and biodistribution. We report the translation of [18F]ICMT-11 PET to measure chemotherapy-induced caspase-3/7 activation in breast and lung cancer patients receiving first-line therapy. RESULTS Breast tumour SUVmax of [18F]ICMT-11 was low at baseline and unchanged following therapy. Measurement of M30/M60 cytokeratin-18 cleavage products showed that therapy was predominantly not apoptosis in nature. While increases in caspase-3 staining on breast histology were seen, post-treatment caspase-3 positivity values were only approximately 1%; this low level of caspase-3 could have limited sensitive detection by [18F]ICMT-11-PET. Fourteen out of 15 breast cancer patients responded to first-line chemotherapy (complete or partial response); one patient had stable disease. Four patients showed increases in regions of high tumour [18F]ICMT-11 intensity on voxel-wise analysis of tumour data (classed as PADS); response was not exclusive to patients with this phenotype. In patients with lung cancer, multi-parametric [18F]ICMT-11 PET and MRI (diffusion-weighted- and dynamic contrast enhanced-MRI) showed that PET changes were concordant with cell death in the absence of significant perfusion changes. CONCLUSION This study highlights the potential use of [18F]ICMT-11 PET as a promising candidate for non-invasive imaging of caspase3/7 activation, and the difficulties encountered in assessing early-treatment responses. We summarize that tumour response could occur in the absence of predominant chemotherapy-induced caspase-3/7 activation measured non-invasively across entire tumour lesions in patients with breast and lung cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- S R Dubash
- Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Rd, London, W120NN, UK
| | - S Merchant
- Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Rd, London, W120NN, UK
| | - K Heinzmann
- Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Rd, London, W120NN, UK
| | - F Mauri
- Department of Radiology, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK
| | - I Lavdas
- Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Rd, London, W120NN, UK
| | - M Inglese
- Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Rd, London, W120NN, UK
- Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering Antonio Ruberti, University of Rome, La Sapienza, Italy
| | - K Kozlowski
- Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Rd, London, W120NN, UK
| | - N Rama
- Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Rd, London, W120NN, UK
| | - N Masrour
- Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Rd, London, W120NN, UK
| | - J F Steel
- Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Rd, London, W120NN, UK
| | - A Thornton
- Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Rd, London, W120NN, UK
| | - A K Lim
- Department of Radiology, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK
| | - C Lewanski
- Department of Oncology, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK
| | - S Cleator
- Department of Oncology, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK
| | - R C Coombes
- Department of Oncology, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK
| | - Laura Kenny
- Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Rd, London, W120NN, UK.
- Department of Oncology, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK.
| | - Eric O Aboagye
- Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Rd, London, W120NN, UK.
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Ling H, Mclvor GE, Nagy G, MohaimenianPour S, Vaughan RT, Thornton A, Ouellette NT. Simultaneous measurements of three-dimensional trajectories and wingbeat frequencies of birds in the field. J R Soc Interface 2018; 15:rsif.2018.0653. [PMID: 30355809 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2018.0653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2018] [Accepted: 09/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Tracking the movements of birds in three dimensions is integral to a wide range of problems in animal ecology, behaviour and cognition. Multi-camera stereo-imaging has been used to track the three-dimensional (3D) motion of birds in dense flocks, but precise localization of birds remains a challenge due to imaging resolution in the depth direction and optical occlusion. This paper introduces a portable stereo-imaging system with improved accuracy and a simple stereo-matching algorithm that can resolve optical occlusion. This system allows us to decouple body and wing motion, and thus measure not only velocities and accelerations but also wingbeat frequencies along the 3D trajectories of birds. We demonstrate these new methods by analysing six flocking events consisting of 50 to 360 jackdaws (Corvus monedula) and rooks (Corvus frugilegus) as well as 32 jackdaws and 6 rooks flying in isolated pairs or alone. Our method allows us to (i) measure flight speed and wingbeat frequency in different flying modes; (ii) characterize the U-shaped flight performance curve of birds in the wild, showing that wingbeat frequency reaches its minimum at moderate flight speeds; (iii) examine group effects on individual flight performance, showing that birds have a higher wingbeat frequency when flying in a group than when flying alone and when flying in dense regions than when flying in sparse regions; and (iv) provide a potential avenue for automated discrimination of bird species. We argue that the experimental method developed in this paper opens new opportunities for understanding flight kinematics and collective behaviour in natural environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hangjian Ling
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Guillam E Mclvor
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Geoff Nagy
- School of Computing Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
| | | | - Richard T Vaughan
- School of Computing Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Nicholas T Ouellette
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
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Greggor AL, McIvor GE, Clayton NS, Thornton A. Wild jackdaws are wary of objects that violate expectations of animacy. R Soc Open Sci 2018; 5:181070. [PMID: 30473852 PMCID: PMC6227974 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.181070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2018] [Accepted: 09/24/2018] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Nature is composed of self-propelled, animate agents and inanimate objects. Laboratory studies have shown that human infants and a few species discriminate between animate and inanimate objects. This ability is assumed to have evolved to support social cognition and filial imprinting, but its ecological role for wild animals has never been examined. An alternative, functional explanation is that discriminating stimuli based on their potential for animacy helps animals distinguish between harmless and threatening stimuli. Using remote-controlled experimental stimulus presentations, we tested if wild jackdaws (Corvus monedula) respond fearfully to stimuli that violate expectations for movement. Breeding pairs (N = 27) were presented at their nests with moving and non-moving models of ecologically relevant stimuli (birds, snakes and sticks) that differed in threat level and propensity for independent motion. Jackdaws were startled by movement regardless of stimulus type and produced more alarm calls when faced with animate objects. However, they delayed longest in entering their nest-box after encountering a stimulus that should not move independently, suggesting they recognized the movement as unexpected. How jackdaws develop expectations about object movement is not clear, but our results suggest that discriminating between animate and inanimate stimuli may trigger information gathering about potential threats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison L. Greggor
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
- Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global, Escondido, CA 92027, USA
- Author for correspondence: Alison L. Greggor e-mail:
| | - Guillam E. McIvor
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Nicola S. Clayton
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK
- Author for correspondence: Alex Thornton e-mail:
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Abstract
The prevailing hypotheses for the evolution of cognition focus on either the demands associated with group living (the social intelligence hypothesis (SIH)) or ecological challenges such as finding food. Comparative studies testing these hypotheses have generated highly conflicting results; consequently, our understanding of the drivers of cognitive evolution remains limited. To understand how selection shapes cognition, research must incorporate an intraspecific approach, focusing on the causes and consequences of individual variation in cognition. Here, we review the findings of recent intraspecific cognitive research to investigate the predictions of the SIH. Extensive evidence from our own research on Australian magpies (Cracticus tibicen dorsalis), and a number of other taxa, suggests that individuals in larger social groups exhibit elevated cognitive performance and, in some cases, elevated reproductive fitness. Not only do these findings demonstrate how the social environment has the potential to shape cognitive evolution, but crucially, they demonstrate the importance of considering both genetic and developmental factors when attempting to explain the causes of cognitive variation.This article is part of the theme issue 'Causes and consequences of individual differences in cognitive abilities'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin J Ashton
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, University of Western Australia, Western Australia 6009, Australia
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Exeter TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Amanda R Ridley
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, University of Western Australia, Western Australia 6009, Australia
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Woods RD, Kings M, McIvor GE, Thornton A. Caller characteristics influence recruitment to collective anti-predator events in jackdaws. Sci Rep 2018; 8:7343. [PMID: 29743545 PMCID: PMC5943305 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-25793-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2018] [Accepted: 04/25/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Across the animal kingdom, examples abound of individuals coming together to repel external threats. When such collective actions are initiated by recruitment signals, individuals may benefit from being selective in whom they join, so the identity of the initiator may determine the magnitude of the group response. However, the role of signaller discrimination in coordinating group-level responses has yet to be tested. Here we show that in wild jackdaws, a colonial corvid species, collective responses to anti-predator recruitment calls are mediated by caller characteristics. In playbacks next to nestboxes, the calls of nestbox residents attracted most recruits, followed in turn by other colony members, non-colony members and rooks (a sympatric corvid). Playbacks in fields outside nestbox colonies, where the immediate threat to broods was lower, showed similar results, with highest recruitment to nearby colony members’ calls. Responses were further influenced by caller sex: calls from non-colony member females were less likely to elicit responsive scolding by recruits than other calls, potentially reflecting social rank associated with sex and colony membership. These results show that vocal discrimination mediates jackdaws’ collective responses and highlight the need for further research into the cognitive basis of collective actions in animal groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard D Woods
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK
| | - Michael Kings
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK
| | - Guillam E McIvor
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK.
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Street SE, Morgan TJH, Thornton A, Brown GR, Laland KN, Cross CP. Human mate-choice copying is domain-general social learning. Sci Rep 2018; 8:1715. [PMID: 29379046 PMCID: PMC5788917 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-19770-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2017] [Accepted: 01/09/2018] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Women appear to copy other women’s preferences for men’s faces. This ‘mate-choice copying’ is often taken as evidence of psychological adaptations for processing social information related to mate choice, for which facial information is assumed to be particularly salient. No experiment, however, has directly investigated whether women preferentially copy each other’s face preferences more than other preferences. Further, because prior experimental studies used artificial social information, the effect of real social information on attractiveness preferences is unknown. We collected attractiveness ratings of pictures of men’s faces, men’s hands, and abstract art given by heterosexual women, before and after they saw genuine social information gathered in real time from their peers. Ratings of faces were influenced by social information, but no more or less than were images of hands and abstract art. Our results suggest that evidence for domain-specific social learning mechanisms in humans is weaker than previously suggested.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sally E Street
- School of Biology, Sir Harold Mitchell Building, University of St Andrews, Greenside Place, St Andrews, KY16 9TJ, Fife, UK.,Department of Anthropology, Durham University, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, Country Durham, UK
| | - Thomas J H Morgan
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, South Cady Mall, Tempe, 85281, Arizona, USA
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, TR10 9FE, Cornwall, UK
| | - Gillian R Brown
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, Westburn Lane, St Andrews, KY16 9JP, Fife, UK
| | - Kevin N Laland
- School of Biology, Sir Harold Mitchell Building, University of St Andrews, Greenside Place, St Andrews, KY16 9TJ, Fife, UK
| | - Catharine P Cross
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, Westburn Lane, St Andrews, KY16 9JP, Fife, UK.
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McIvor GE, Lee VE, Thornton A. Testing social learning of anti-predator responses in juvenile jackdaws: the importance of accounting for levels of agitation. R Soc Open Sci 2018; 5:171571. [PMID: 29410861 PMCID: PMC5792938 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.171571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2017] [Accepted: 12/11/2017] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Social learning is often assumed to help young animals respond appropriately to potential threats in the environment. We brought wild, juvenile jackdaws briefly into captivity to test whether short exposures to conspecific vocalizations are sufficient to promote anti-predator learning. Individuals were presented with one of two models-a stuffed fox representing a genuine threat, or a toy elephant simulating a novel predator. Following an initial baseline presentation, juveniles were trained by pairing models with either adult mobbing calls, indicating danger, or contact calls suggesting no danger. In a final test phase with no playbacks, birds appeared to have habituated to the elephant, regardless of training, but responses to the fox remained high throughout, suggesting juveniles already recognized it as a predator before the experiment began. Training with mobbing calls did seem to generate elevated escape responses, but this was likely to be a carry-over effect of the playback in the previous trial. Overall, we found little evidence for social learning. Instead, individuals' responses were mainly driven by their level of agitation immediately preceding each presentation. These results highlight the importance of accounting for agitation in studies of anti-predator learning, and whenever animals are held in captivity for short periods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillam E. McIvor
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | | | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
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Davidson GL, Thornton A, Clayton NS. Evolution of iris colour in relation to cavity nesting and parental care in passerine birds. Biol Lett 2017; 13:rsbl.2016.0783. [PMID: 28077686 PMCID: PMC5310583 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2016] [Accepted: 12/08/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Strong selection pressures are known to act on animal coloration. Although many animals vary in eye colour, virtually no research has investigated the functional significance of these colour traits. Passeriformes have a range of iris colours, making them an ideal system to investigate how and why iris colour has evolved. Using phylogenetic comparative methods, we tested the hypothesis that conspicuous iris colour in passerine birds evolved in response to (a) coordination of offspring care and (b) cavity nesting, two traits thought to be involved in intra-specific gaze sensitivity. We found that iris colour and cooperative offspring care by two or more individuals evolved independently, suggesting that bright eyes are not important for coordinating parental care through eye gaze. Furthermore, we found that evolution between iris colour and nesting behaviour did occur in a dependent manner, but contrary to predictions, transitions to coloured eyes were not more frequent in cavity nesters than non-cavity nesters. Instead, our results indicate that selection away from having bright eyes was much stronger in non-cavity nesters than cavity nesters, perhaps because conspicuous eye coloration in species not concealed within a cavity would be more visible to predators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabrielle L Davidson
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK .,School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Nicola S Clayton
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
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