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Dos Santos PG, Dos Santos EG, de Carvalho Guimarães I, Cardoso CAL, Lima-Junior SE, Antonialli-Junior WF. Hydrocarbons in Formicidae: influence of chemical footprints on ant behavioral strategies. Naturwissenschaften 2024; 111:24. [PMID: 38634907 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01908-6] [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: 10/02/2023] [Revised: 03/16/2024] [Accepted: 03/19/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024]
Abstract
When an insect walks, it leaves chemical cues that derive from the arolium, a tarsal structure. These cues may contain important information about other species that occur in their community and can then mediate interactions of competition, predation, and information about resources with ants from their own colony. The compounds of these cues are released into the substrate in the form of chemical footprints. There are still few species studied, and little is known about the behavior of ants regarding these signals and how they use them in their interactions. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the behavioral strategy of different ant species when confronted with chemical footprints left by other ants, as well as identify their compounds and their relationship with the cuticular hydrocarbon profile. The experiments were performed using a Y-maze, where in one of the arms, there were chemical footprints of their own species or of other species, and the other Y arm was footprint-free. The chemical compounds of footprints and cuticle were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results show that foragers of all species detect and respond to the presence of chemical cues in the form of footprints left by other ants. Foragers of all species followed footprints of individuals of the same species both nestmates and non-nestmates; however, Neoponera villosa avoided the footprints of Cephalotes borgmeieri, and C. borgmeieri avoided the footprints of the other two species. The chemical compositions of the cuticle and footprints are related to each other and are specific to each species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Poliana Galvão Dos Santos
- Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental, Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso Do Sul, Dourados, Mato Grosso Do Sul, 79804-970, Brazil.
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Entomologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade, Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados, Dourados, Mato Grosso Do Sul, 79804-970, Brazil.
- Centro de Estudos Em Recursos Naturais, Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso Do Sul, Dourados, Mato Grosso Do Sul, 79804-970, Brazil.
| | - Elane Galvão Dos Santos
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Ciência E Tecnologia Ambiental, Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados, Dourados, Mato Grosso Do Sul, 79804-970, Brazil
| | - Ingrid de Carvalho Guimarães
- Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental, Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso Do Sul, Dourados, Mato Grosso Do Sul, 79804-970, Brazil
- Centro de Estudos Em Recursos Naturais, Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso Do Sul, Dourados, Mato Grosso Do Sul, 79804-970, Brazil
| | - Claudia Andrea Lima Cardoso
- Centro de Estudos Em Recursos Naturais, Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso Do Sul, Dourados, Mato Grosso Do Sul, 79804-970, Brazil
| | - Sidnei Eduardo Lima-Junior
- Centro de Estudos Em Recursos Naturais, Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso Do Sul, Dourados, Mato Grosso Do Sul, 79804-970, Brazil
| | - William Fernando Antonialli-Junior
- Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental, Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso Do Sul, Dourados, Mato Grosso Do Sul, 79804-970, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Entomologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade, Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados, Dourados, Mato Grosso Do Sul, 79804-970, Brazil
- Centro de Estudos Em Recursos Naturais, Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso Do Sul, Dourados, Mato Grosso Do Sul, 79804-970, Brazil
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Chebaane S, Pais MP, Engelen AH, Ramalhosa P, Silva R, Gizzi F, Canning-Clode J, Bernal-Ibáñez A, Monteiro JG. Exploring foraging preference of local fish species towards non-indigenous fouling communities near marinas: Insights from Remote Video Foraging System (RVFS) trials. Mar Pollut Bull 2024; 198:115871. [PMID: 38086107 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115871] [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: 10/16/2023] [Revised: 11/25/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
Non-indigenous species (NIS) spread from marinas to natural environments is influenced by niche availability, habitat suitability, and local biotic resistance. This study explores the effect of indigenous fish feeding behaviour on NIS proliferation using fouling communities, pre-grown on settlement plates, as two distinct, representative models: one from NIS-rich marinas and the other from areas outside marinas with fewer NIS. These plates were mounted on a Remote Video Foraging System (RVFS) near three marinas on Madeira Island. After 24-h, NIS abundance was reduced by 3.5 %. Canthigaster capistrata's preference for marinas plates suggests potential biotic resistance. However, Sparisoma cretense showed equal biting frequencies for both plate types. The cryptogenic ascidian Trididemnum cereum was the preferred target for the fish. Our study introduces a global framework using RVFS for in-situ experiments, replicable across divers contexts (e.g., feeding behaviour, biotic resistance), which can be complemented by metabarcoding and isotopic analysis to confirm consumption patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sahar Chebaane
- MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre/ARNET - Aquatic Research Network, Regional Agency for the Development of Research, Technology and Innovation (ARDITI), Funchal, Portugal.
| | - Miguel Pessanha Pais
- MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre/ARNET - Aquatic Research Network, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal; Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
| | | | - Patrício Ramalhosa
- MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre/ARNET - Aquatic Research Network, Regional Agency for the Development of Research, Technology and Innovation (ARDITI), Funchal, Portugal
| | - Rodrigo Silva
- MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre/ARNET - Aquatic Research Network, Regional Agency for the Development of Research, Technology and Innovation (ARDITI), Funchal, Portugal
| | - Francesca Gizzi
- MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre/ARNET - Aquatic Research Network, Regional Agency for the Development of Research, Technology and Innovation (ARDITI), Funchal, Portugal
| | - João Canning-Clode
- MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre/ARNET - Aquatic Research Network, Regional Agency for the Development of Research, Technology and Innovation (ARDITI), Funchal, Portugal; Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD 21037, USA
| | - Alejandro Bernal-Ibáñez
- MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre/ARNET - Aquatic Research Network, Regional Agency for the Development of Research, Technology and Innovation (ARDITI), Funchal, Portugal
| | - João Gama Monteiro
- MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre/ARNET - Aquatic Research Network, Regional Agency for the Development of Research, Technology and Innovation (ARDITI), Funchal, Portugal; Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Madeira, 9000 Funchal, Portugal
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Buck LT, Menéndez LP, De Groote I, Hassett BR, Matsumura H, Stock JT. Factors influencing cranial variation between prehistoric Japanese forager populations. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2023; 16:3. [PMID: 38098511 PMCID: PMC10716076 DOI: 10.1007/s12520-023-01901-6] [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: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the factors shaping human crania has long been a goal of biological anthropology, and climate, diet, and population history are three of the most well-established influences. The effects of these factors are, however, rarely compared within a single, variable population, limiting interpretations of their relative contribution to craniofacial form. Jomon prehistoric foragers inhabited Japan throughout its climatic and ecological range and developed correspondingly varied modes of subsistence. We have previously demonstrated that a large sample of Jomon crania showed no clear climatic pattern; here, we examine variation in Jomon crania in more detail to determine if dietary factors and/or population history influence human intrapopulation variation at this scale. Based on well-established archaeological differences, we divide the Jomon into dietary groups and use geometric morphometric methods to analyse relationships between cranial shape, diet, and population history. We find evidence for diet-related influences on the shape of the neurocranium, particularly in the temporalis region. These shape differences may be interpreted in the context of regional variation in the biomechanical requirements of different diets. More experimental biomechanical and nutritional evidence is needed, however, to move suggested links between dietary content and cranial shape from plausible to well-supported. In contrast with the global scale of human variation, where neutral processes are the strongest influence on cranial shape, we find no pattern of population history amongst individuals from these Jomon sites. The determinants of cranial morphology are complex and the effect of diet is likely mediated by factors including sex, social factors, and chronology. Our results underline the subtlety of the effects of dietary variation beyond the forager/farmer dichotomy on cranial morphology and contribute to our understanding of the complexity of selective pressures shaping human phenotypes on different geographic scales. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12520-023-01901-6.
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Affiliation(s)
- L. T. Buck
- Research Centre for Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF UK
| | - L. P. Menéndez
- Department of Anthropology of the Americas, University of Bonn, Oxfordstrasse 15, 53111 Bonn, Germany
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - I. De Groote
- Department of Archaeology, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - B. R. Hassett
- University of Central Lancashire, Fylde Rd, Preston, PR1 2HE Lancashire UK
- Natural History Museum London, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD UK
| | - H. Matsumura
- School of Health Sciences, Sapporo Medical University, S1W17, Sapporo, 0608556 Japan
| | - J. T. Stock
- Department of Anthropology, Western University, London, ON N6A 3K7 Canada
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Kandza VH, Jang H, Ntamboudila FK, Lew-Levy S, Boyette AH. Intergroup Cooperation in Shotgun Hunting Among BaYaka Foragers and Yambe Farmers from the Republic of the Congo. Hum Nat 2023:10.1007/s12110-023-09448-0. [PMID: 37099116 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-023-09448-0] [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] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/03/2023] [Indexed: 04/27/2023]
Abstract
Whereas many evolutionary models emphasize within-group cooperation or between-group competition in explaining human large-scale cooperation, recent work highlights a critical role for intergroup cooperation in human adaptation. Here we investigate intergroup cooperation in the domain of shotgun hunting in northern Republic of the Congo. In the Congo Basin broadly, forest foragers maintain relationships with neighboring farmers based on systems of exchange regulated by norms and institutions such as fictive kinship. In this study, we examine how relationships between Yambe farmers and BaYaka foragers support stable intergroup cooperation in the domain of shotgun hunting. In the study village, shotgun hunting is based on a specialization-based exchange wherein Yambe farmers contribute shotguns and access to markets to buy cartridges and sell meat while BaYaka foragers contribute their specialized forest knowledge and skill. To understand how costs and benefits are distributed, we conducted structured interviews with 77 BaYaka hunters and 15 Yambe gun owners and accompanied hunters on nine hunting trips. We found that hunts are organized in a conventional manner within a fictive kinship structure, consistent with the presence of intercultural mechanisms to stabilize cooperation. However, because bushmeat demand is high, gun owners can gain significant cash profit, while compensating hunters only with cigarettes, alcohol, and a traditional hunter's portion of meat. To level payoffs, hunters strategically hide kills or cartridges from gun owners to feed their own families. Our results illustrate how each group prioritizes different currencies (e.g., cash, meat, family, intergroup relations) and provide insights into how intergroup cooperation is stabilized in this setting. The example of this long-standing intergroup cooperative system is discussed in terms of its contemporary entwinement with logging, the bushmeat trade, and growing market intersection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vidrige H Kandza
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Haneul Jang
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Francy Kiabiya Ntamboudila
- Faculté des Lettres, Arts, et Sciences Humaines, Marien Ngouabi University, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo
| | | | - Adam H Boyette
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
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Davis HE, Gurven M, Cashdan E. Navigational Experience and the Preservation of Spatial Abilities into Old Age Among a Tropical Forager-Farmer Population. Top Cogn Sci 2023; 15:187-212. [PMID: 35170860 PMCID: PMC10078734 DOI: 10.1111/tops.12602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2021] [Revised: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/19/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Navigational performance responds to navigational challenges, and both decline with age in Western populations as older people become less mobile. But mobility does not decline everywhere; Tsimané forager-farmers in Bolivia remain highly mobile throughout adulthood, traveling frequently by foot and dugout canoe for subsistence and social visitation. We, therefore, measured both natural mobility and navigational performance in 305 Tsimané adults, to assess differences with age and to test whether greater mobility was related to better navigational performance across the lifespan. Daily mobility was measured by GPS tracking, regional mobility through interview, navigational performance through pointing accuracy and perspective taking in environmental space, and mental rotation by a computerized task. Although mental rotation and spatial perspective taking declined with age, mobility and pointing accuracy remained high from mid-life through old age. Greater regional mobility was associated with greater accuracy at pointing and perspective taking, suggesting that spatial experience at environmental scales may help maintain navigational performance in later adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen E Davis
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University
| | - Michael Gurven
- Department of Anthropology, University of California-Santa Barbara
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Glowacki L, Lew-Levy S. How small-scale societies achieve large-scale cooperation. Curr Opin Psychol 2021; 44:44-8. [PMID: 34562700 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.08.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Revised: 08/13/2021] [Accepted: 08/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
For most of our species' history, humans have lived in relatively small subsistence communities, often called small-scale societies. While these groups lack centralized institutions, they can and often do maintain large-scale cooperation. Here, we explore several mechanisms promoting cooperation in small-scale societies, including (a) the development of social norms that encourage prosocial behavior, (b) reciprocal exchange relationships, (c) reputation that facilitates high-cost cooperation, (d) relational wealth, and (e) risk buffering institutions. We illustrate these with ethnographic and psychological evidence from contemporary small-scale societies. We argue that these mechanisms for cooperation helped past and present small-scale communities adapt to diverse ecological and social niches.
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Davis HE, Crittenden AN, Scalise Sugiyama M. Ecological and Developmental Perspectives on Social Learning : Introduction to the Special Issue. Hum Nat 2021; 32:1-15. [PMID: 33876400 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-021-09394-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
In this special issue of Human Nature we explore the possible adaptive links between teaching and learning during childhood, and we aim to expand the dialogue on the ways in which the social sciences, and in particular current anthropological research, may better inform our shifting understanding of how these processes vary in different social and ecological environments. Despite the cross-disciplinary trend toward incorporating more behavioral and cognitive data outside of postindustrial state societies, much of the published cross-cultural data is presented as stand-alone population-level studies, making it challenging to extrapolate trends or incorporate both ecological and developmental perspectives. Here, contributors explore how human life history, ecological experience, cumulative culture, and ethnolinguistics impact social learning and child development in foraging and transitioning societies around the world. Using historical ethnographic data and qualitative and quantitative data from studies with contemporary populations, authors interrogate the array of factors that likely interact with cognitive development and learning. They provide contributions that explore the unique environmental, social, and cultural conditions that characterize such populations, offering key insights into processes of social learning, adaptive learning responses, and culture change. This series of articles demonstrates that children are taught culturally and environmentally salient skills in myriad ways, ranging from institutionalized instruction to brief, nuanced, and indirect instruction. Our hope is that this collection stimulates more research on the evolutionary and developmental implications associated with teaching and learning among humans.
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Lew-Levy S, Ringen EJ, Crittenden AN, Mabulla IA, Broesch T, Kline MA. The Life History of Learning Subsistence Skills among Hadza and BaYaka Foragers from Tanzania and the Republic of Congo. Hum Nat 2021; 32:16-47. [PMID: 33982236 PMCID: PMC8208923 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-021-09386-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [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] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Aspects of human life history and cognition, such as our long childhoods and extensive use of teaching, theoretically evolved to facilitate the acquisition of complex tasks. The present paper empirically examines the relationship between subsistence task difficulty and age of acquisition, rates of teaching, and rates of oblique transmission among Hadza and BaYaka foragers from Tanzania and the Republic of Congo. We further examine cross-cultural variation in how and from whom learning occurred. Learning patterns and community perceptions of task difficulty were assessed through interviews. We found no relationship between task difficulty, age of acquisition, and oblique transmission, and a weak but positive relationship between task difficulty and rates of teaching. While same-sex transmission was normative in both societies, tasks ranked as more difficult were more likely to be transmitted by men among the BaYaka, but not among the Hadza, potentially reflecting cross-cultural differences in the sexual division of subsistence and teaching labor. Further, the BaYaka were more likely to report learning via teaching, and less likely to report learning via observation, than the Hadza, possibly owing to differences in socialization practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheina Lew-Levy
- Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Erik J Ringen
- Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Alyssa N Crittenden
- Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA
| | - Ibrahim A Mabulla
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Tanya Broesch
- Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
| | - Michelle A Kline
- Department of Life Sciences, Centre for Culture and Evolution, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, UK.
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Abstract
Infant and maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the world in low and middle-income countries where postpartum depression impacts at least one in five women. Currently, there is a dearth of data on maternal mood and infant health outcomes in small-scale non-industrial populations from such countries, particularly during the postnatal period. Here, we present the first investigation of postpartum maternal mood among a foraging population, the Hadza of Tanzania. We administered the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) to twenty-three women, all with infants under the age of 12 months. Semi-structured interviews on happiness and unhappiness during the post-partum period served as a validity cross-check for the EPDS. The combined results of the EPDS surveys and the interview responses suggest that a high proportion of Hadza women experience significant mood disturbances following birth and that postpartum unhappiness is associated with self-reports of pain, anxiety, and disturbed sleep patterns. These findings suggest that many of the mothers in our sample are experiencing post-partum unhappiness at levels similar to or higher than those reported for low to middle income countries in general, including Tanzania. These data are critical for improving our understanding of the etiologies of postpartum mood disturbances cross-culturally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristen N Herlosky
- Nutrition and Reproduction Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, USA
| | - Daniel C Benyshek
- Nutrition and Reproduction Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, USA
| | | | - Trevor R Pollom
- Nutrition and Reproduction Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, USA
| | - Alyssa N Crittenden
- Nutrition and Reproduction Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, USA.
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Muller MN, Blurton Jones NG, Colchero F, Thompson ME, Enigk DK, Feldblum JT, Hahn BH, Langergraber KE, Scully EJ, Vigilant L, Walker KK, Wrangham RW, Wroblewski EE, Pusey AE. Sexual dimorphism in chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) and human age-specific fertility. J Hum Evol 2020; 144:102795. [PMID: 32454364 PMCID: PMC7337577 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [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: 11/02/2018] [Revised: 03/27/2020] [Accepted: 03/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Across vertebrates, species with intense male mating competition and high levels of sexual dimorphism in body size generally exhibit dimorphism in age-specific fertility. Compared with females, males show later ages at first reproduction and earlier reproductive senescence because they take longer to attain adult body size and musculature, and maintain peak condition for a limited time. This normally yields a shorter male duration of effective breeding, but this reduction might be attenuated in species that frequently use coalitionary aggression. Here, we present comparative genetic and demographic data on chimpanzees from three long-term study communities (Kanyawara: Kibale National Park, Uganda; Mitumba and Kasekela: Gombe National Park, Tanzania), comprising 581 male risk years and 112 infants, to characterize male age-specific fertility. For comparison, we update estimates from female chimpanzees in the same sites and append a sample of human foragers (the Tanzanian Hadza). Consistent with the idea that aggressive mating competition favors youth, chimpanzee males attained a higher maximum fertility than females, followed by a steeper decline with age. Males did not show a delay in reproduction compared with females, however, as adolescents in both sites successfully reproduced by targeting young, subfecund females, who were less attractive to adults. Gombe males showed earlier reproductive senescence and a shorter duration of effective breeding than Gombe females. By contrast, older males in Kanyawara generally continued to reproduce, apparently by forming coalitions with the alpha. Hadza foragers showed a distinct pattern of sexual dimorphism in age-specific fertility as, compared with women, men gained conceptions later but continued reproducing longer. In sum, both humans and chimpanzees showed sexual dimorphism in age-specific fertility that deviated from predictions drawn from primates with more extreme body size dimorphism, suggesting altered dynamics of male-male competition in the two lineages. In both species, coalitions appear important for extending male reproductive careers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin N Muller
- Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, MSC 01-1040, Albuquerque, NM, 87111, USA.
| | | | - Fernando Colchero
- Interdisciplinary Center on Population Dynamics, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
| | - Melissa Emery Thompson
- Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, MSC 01-1040, Albuquerque, NM, 87111, USA
| | - Drew K Enigk
- Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, MSC 01-1040, Albuquerque, NM, 87111, USA
| | - Joseph T Feldblum
- Department of Anthropology, Michigan Society of Fellows, University of Michigan, USA
| | - Beatrice H Hahn
- Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Kevin E Langergraber
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, and Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, USA
| | - Erik J Scully
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, USA
| | - Linda Vigilant
- Primatology Department, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany
| | - Kara K Walker
- College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, USA
| | | | | | - Anne E Pusey
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, USA
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11
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Abstract
The ratio of index- and ring-finger lengths (2D:4D ratio) is thought to be related to prenatal androgen exposure, and in many, though not all, populations, men have a lower average digit ratio than do women. In many studies an inverse relationship has been observed, among both men and women, between 2D:4D ratio and measures of athletic ability. It has been further suggested that, in hunter-gatherer populations, 2D:4D ratio might also be negatively correlated with hunting ability, itself assumed to be contingent on athleticism. This hypothesis has been tested using endurance running performance among runners from a Western, educated, and industrialized population as a proximate measure of hunting ability. However, it has not previously been tested among actual hunter-gatherers using more ecologically valid measures of hunting ability and success. The current study addresses this question among Tanzanian Hadza hunter-gatherers. I employ a novel method of assessing hunting reputation that, unlike previous methods, allows granular distinctions to be made between hunters at all levels of perceived ability. I find no statistically significant relationship between digit ratio and either hunting reputation or two important hunting skills. I confirm that Hadza men have higher mean 2D:4D ratios than men in many Western populations. I discuss the notion that 2D:4D ratio may be the consequence of an allometric scaling relationship between relative and absolute finger lengths. Although it is difficult to draw clear conclusions from these results, the current study provides no support for the theorized relationship between 2D:4D ratio and hunting skill.
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Liu F, Shi T, Qi L, Su X, Wang D, Dong J, Huang ZY. lncRNA profile of Apis mellifera and its possible role in behavioural transition from nurses to foragers. BMC Genomics 2019; 20:393. [PMID: 31113365 PMCID: PMC6528240 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-019-5664-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [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: 10/30/2018] [Accepted: 04/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The behavioural transition from nurses to foragers in honey bees is known to be affected by intrinsic and extrinsic factors, including colony demography, hormone levels, brain chemistry and structure, and gene expression in the brain. However, the molecular mechanism underlying this behavioural transition of honey bees is still obscure. RESULTS Through RNA sequencing, we performed a comprehensive analysis of lncRNAs and mRNAs in honey bee nurses and foragers. Nurses and foragers from both typical colonies and single-cohort colonies were used to prepare six libraries to generate 49 to 100 million clear reads per sample. We obtained 6863 novel lncRNAs, 1480 differentially expressed lncRNAs between nurses and foragers, and 9308 mRNAs. Consistent with previous studies, lncRNAs showed features distinct from mRNAs, such as shorter lengths, lower exon numbers, and lower expression levels compared to mRNAs. Bioinformatic analysis showed that differentially expressed genes were mostly involved in the regulation of sensory-related events, such as olfactory receptor activity and odorant binding, and enriched Wnt and FoxO signaling pathways. Moreover, we found that lncRNAs TCONS_00356023, TCONS_00357367, TCONS_00159909 and mRNAs dop1, Kr-h1 and HR38 may play important roles in behavioural transition in honey bees. CONCLUSION This study characterized the expression profile of lncRNAs in nurses and foragers and provided a framework for further study of the role of lncRNAs in honey bee behavioural transition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fang Liu
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230000 Anhui China
| | - Tengfei Shi
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230000 Anhui China
| | - Lei Qi
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230000 Anhui China
| | - Xin Su
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230000 Anhui China
| | - Deqian Wang
- Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhejiang, 310021 Hangzhou China
| | - Jie Dong
- Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhejiang, 310021 Hangzhou China
| | - Zachary Y. Huang
- Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 USA
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13
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Abstract
Human behavior and physiology evolved under conditions vastly different from those which most humans inhabit today. This paper summarizes long-term dietary studies conducted on contemporary hunter-gatherer populations (sometimes referred to as foragers). Selected studies for the most part that use evolutionary theoretical perspectives and data collection methods derived from the academic field of human behavioral ecology, which derives relatively recently from the fields of evolutionary biology, ethology, population biology and ecological anthropology. I demonstrate how this body of research illuminates ancestral patterns of food production, consumption and sharing, infant feeding, and juvenile subsistence contributions in hunter-gatherer economies. Insights from hunter-gatherer studies are then briefly discussed within the context of better-studied human populations that are Westernized, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD).
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda Veile
- Department of Anthropology, Purdue University, USA; Center on Aging and the Life Course, Purdue University, USA.
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14
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Abstract
The significance of teaching to the evolution of human culture is under debate. We contribute to the discussion by using a quantitative, cross-cultural comparative approach to investigate the role of teaching in the lives of children in two small-scale societies: Aka foragers and Ngandu farmers of the Central African Republic. Focal follows with behavior coding were used to record social learning experiences of children aged 4 to 16 during daily life. "Teaching" was coded based on a functional definition from evolutionary biology. Frequencies, contexts, and subtypes of teaching as well as the identity of teachers were analyzed. Teaching was rare compared to observational learning, although both forms of social learning were negatively correlated with age. Children received teaching from a variety of individuals, and they also engaged in teaching. Several teaching types were observed, including instruction, negative feedback, and commands. Statistical differences in the distribution of teaching types and the identity of teachers corresponded with contrasting forager vs. farmer foundational cultural schema. For example, Aka children received less instruction, which empirically limits autonomous learning, and were as likely to receive instruction and negative feedback from other children as they were from adults. Commands, however, exhibited a different pattern suggesting a more complex role for this teaching type. Although consistent with claims that teaching is relatively rare in small-scale societies, this evidence supports the conclusion that teaching is a universal, early emerging cognitive ability in humans. However, culture (e.g., values for autonomy and egalitarianism) structures the nature of teaching.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Barry S Hewlett
- Washington State University, 14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue, Vancouver, WA, 98686, USA
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15
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Berbesque JC, Hoover KC. Frequency and developmental timing of linear enamel hypoplasia defects in Early Archaic Texan hunter-gatherers. PeerJ 2018; 6:e4367. [PMID: 29456891 PMCID: PMC5815329 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [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] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2017] [Accepted: 01/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Digital photographs taken under controlled conditions were used to examine the incidence of linear enamel hypoplasia defects (LEHs) in burials from the Buckeye Knoll archaeological site (41VT98 Victoria county, Texas), which spans the Early to Late Archaic Period (ca. 2,500-6,500 BP uncorrected radiocarbon). The majority (68 of 74 burials) date to the Texas Early Archaic, including one extremely early burial dated to 8,500 BP. The photogrammetric data collection method also results in an archive for Buckeye Knoll, a significant rare Archaic period collection that has been repatriated and reinterred. We analyzed the incidence and developmental timing of LEHs in permanent canines. Fifty-nine percent of permanent canines (n = 54) had at least one defect. There were no significant differences in LEH frequency between the maxillary and mandibular canines (U = 640.5, n1 = 37, n2 = 43, p = .110). The sample studied (n = 92 permanent canines) had an overall mean of 0.93 LEH defect per tooth, with a median of one defect, and a mode of zero defects. Average age at first insult was 3.92 (median = 4.00, range = 2.5-5.4) and the mean age of all insults per individual was 4.18 years old (range = 2.5-5.67). Age at first insult is consistent with onset of weaning stress-the weaning age range for hunter-gatherer societies is 1-4.5. Having an earlier age of first insult was associated with having more LEHs (n = 54, rho = -0.381, p = 0.005).
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Affiliation(s)
- J Colette Berbesque
- Centre for Research in Evolutionary, Social and Inter-Disciplinary Anthropology, University of Roehampton, London, United Kingdom
| | - Kara C Hoover
- Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, United States of America
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16
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Beer K, Steffan-Dewenter I, Härtel S, Helfrich-Förster C. A new device for monitoring individual activity rhythms of honey bees reveals critical effects of the social environment on behavior. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2016; 202:555-65. [PMID: 27380473 PMCID: PMC4956715 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-016-1103-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [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: 05/06/2016] [Revised: 06/10/2016] [Accepted: 06/12/2016] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Chronobiological studies of individual activity rhythms in social insects can be constrained by the artificial isolation of individuals from their social context. We present a new experimental set-up that simultaneously measures the temperature rhythm in a queen-less but brood raising mini colony and the walking activity rhythms of singly kept honey bees that have indirect social contact with it. Our approach enables monitoring of individual bees in the social context of a mini colony under controlled laboratory conditions. In a pilot experiment, we show that social contact with the mini colony improves the survival of monitored young individuals and affects locomotor activity patterns of young and old bees. When exposed to conflicting Zeitgebers consisting of a light–dark (LD) cycle that is phase-delayed with respect to the mini colony rhythm, rhythms of young and old bees are socially synchronized with the mini colony rhythm, whereas isolated bees synchronize to the LD cycle. We conclude that the social environment is a stronger Zeitgeber than the LD cycle and that our new experimental set-up is well suited for studying the mechanisms of social entrainment in honey bees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina Beer
- Neurobiology and Genetics, Theodor-Boveri Institute, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Theodor-Boveri Institute, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Stephan Härtel
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Theodor-Boveri Institute, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Charlotte Helfrich-Förster
- Neurobiology and Genetics, Theodor-Boveri Institute, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany.
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17
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Marlowe FW, Berbesque JC, Wood B, Crittenden A, Porter C, Mabulla A. Honey, Hadza, hunter-gatherers, and human evolution. J Hum Evol 2014; 71:119-28. [PMID: 24746602 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2012] [Revised: 03/17/2014] [Accepted: 03/17/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Honey is the most energy dense food in nature. It is therefore not surprising that, where it exists, honey is an important food for almost all hunter-gatherers. Here we describe and analyze widespread honey collecting among foragers and show that where it is absent, in arctic and subarctic habitats, honey bees are also rare to absent. Second, we focus on one hunter-gatherer society, the Hadza of Tanzania. Hadza men and women both rank honey as their favorite food. Hadza acquire seven types of honey. Hadza women usually acquire honey that is close to the ground while men often climb tall baobab trees to raid the largest bee hives with stinging bees. Honey accounts for a substantial proportion of the kilocalories in the Hadza diet, especially that of Hadza men. Cross-cultural forager data reveal that in most hunter-gatherers, men acquire more honey than women but often, as with the Hadza, women do acquire some. Virtually all warm-climate foragers consume honey. Our closest living relatives, the great apes, take honey when they can. We suggest that honey has been part of the diet of our ancestors dating back to at least the earliest hominins. The earliest hominins, however, would have surely been less capable of acquiring as much honey as more recent, fully modern human hunter-gatherers. We discuss reasons for thinking our early ancestors would have acquired less honey than foragers ethnographically described, yet still significantly more than our great ape relatives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank W Marlowe
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Rm. 2.3, Henry Wellcome Building, Cambridge CB2 1QH, UK.
| | - J Colette Berbesque
- Centre for Research in Evolutionary and Environmental Anthropology, University of Roehampton, London, UK
| | - Brian Wood
- Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Alyssa Crittenden
- Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA
| | - Claire Porter
- Polar Geospatial Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Audax Mabulla
- Department of Archaeology, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
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18
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Abstract
Demographic data from wild chimpanzees are of considerable interest for understanding the evolution of the human life history. Published mortality data, however, come primarily from chimpanzee populations that have recently suffered dramatic, human-induced declines, and exhibit rates of reproduction well below replacement. Here we present a life table for chimpanzees living in the Kanyawara community of Kibale National Park, comprising 1129 individual risk years and 56 deaths. This community has shown modest growth over the past 25 years, avoiding some of the worst impacts of human contact. Sex differences in mortality at Kanyawara appeared similar to those reported from other sites. However, overall mortality rates were significantly lower than those reported from the long-term study sites of Gombe, Taï and Mahale. Kanyawara chimpanzees in this sample had a life expectancy at birth of 19 years, and individuals living to age 14 could expect to live for another 24 years. Life table data from Kanyawara indicate a mean mortality rate of 3.9% per year over the ages of 10-35, substantially less than the equivalent figure of 6.8% from a sample of other long-term chimpanzee study sites. The comparable adult mortality rate from a range of human foraging societies is ∼2%. The Kanyawara data thus suggest an important downward revision in adult mortality rates for wild chimpanzees, but they do not challenge the existence of an important difference in adult mortality between humans and chimpanzees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin N Muller
- Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, MSC01-1040, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
| | - Richard W Wrangham
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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