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Author (down) Reader, S.M.; Laland, K.N.
Title Social intelligence, innovation, and enhanced brain size in primates Type Journal Article
Year 2002 Publication Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Abbreviated Journal Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.
Volume 99 Issue 7 Pages 4436-4441
Keywords Animals; Brain/*anatomy & histology; Evolution; *Intelligence; Learning; Primates/*anatomy & histology/*psychology; Social Behavior
Abstract Despite considerable current interest in the evolution of intelligence, the intuitively appealing notion that brain volume and “intelligence” are linked remains untested. Here, we use ecologically relevant measures of cognitive ability, the reported incidence of behavioral innovation, social learning, and tool use, to show that brain size and cognitive capacity are indeed correlated. A comparative analysis of 533 instances of innovation, 445 observations of social learning, and 607 episodes of tool use established that social learning, innovation, and tool use frequencies are positively correlated with species' relative and absolute “executive” brain volumes, after controlling for phylogeny and research effort. Moreover, innovation and social learning frequencies covary across species, in conflict with the view that there is an evolutionary tradeoff between reliance on individual experience and social cues. These findings provide an empirical link between behavioral innovation, social learning capacities, and brain size in mammals. The ability to learn from others, invent new behaviors, and use tools may have played pivotal roles in primate brain evolution.
Address Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, High Street, Madingley, Cambridge CB3 8AA, United Kingdom
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ISSN 0027-8424 ISBN Medium
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Notes PMID:11891325 Approved no
Call Number Serial 2149
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Author (down) Pruvost, M.; Bellone, R.; Benecke, N.; Sandoval-Castellanos, E.; Cieslak, M.; Kuznetsova, T.; Morales-Muñiz, A.; O'Connor, T.; Reissmann, M.; Hofreiter, M.; Ludwig, A.
Title Genotypes of predomestic horses match phenotypes painted in Paleolithic works of cave art Type Journal Article
Year 2011 Publication Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Abbreviated Journal
Volume 108 Issue 46 Pages 18626-18630
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Abstract Archaeologists often argue whether Paleolithic works of art, cave paintings in particular, constitute reflections of the natural environment of humans at the time. They also debate the extent to which these paintings actually contain creative artistic expression, reflect the phenotypic variation of the surrounding environment, or focus on rare phenotypes. The famous paintings “The Dappled Horses of Pech-Merle,” depicting spotted horses on the walls of a cave in Pech-Merle, France, date back ~25,000 y, but the coat pattern portrayed in these paintings is remarkably similar to a pattern known as “leopard” in modern horses. We have genotyped nine coat-color loci in 31 predomestic horses from Siberia, Eastern and Western Europe, and the Iberian Peninsula. Eighteen horses had bay coat color, seven were black, and six shared an allele associated with the leopard complex spotting (LP), representing the only spotted phenotype that has been discovered in wild, predomestic horses thus far. LP was detected in four Pleistocene and two Copper Age samples from Western and Eastern Europe, respectively. In contrast, this phenotype was absent from predomestic Siberian horses. Thus, all horse color phenotypes that seem to be distinguishable in cave paintings have now been found to exist in prehistoric horse populations, suggesting that cave paintings of this species represent remarkably realistic depictions of the animals shown. This finding lends support to hypotheses arguing that cave paintings might have contained less of a symbolic or transcendental connotation than often assumed.
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Notes 10.1073/pnas.1108982108 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5700
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Author (down) Proops, L.; McComb, K.; Reby, D.
Title Cross-modal individual recognition in domestic horses (Equus caballus) Type Journal Article
Year 2009 Publication Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Abbreviated Journal Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.
Volume 106 Issue 3 Pages 947-951
Keywords animal cognition vocal communication social behavior playback experiment expectancy violation
Abstract Individual recognition is considered a complex process and, although it is believed to be widespread across animal taxa, the cognitive mechanisms underlying this ability are poorly understood. An essential feature of individual recognition in humans is that it is cross-modal, allowing the matching of current sensory cues to identity with stored information about that specific individual from other modalities. Here, we use a cross-modal expectancy violation paradigm to provide a clear and systematic demonstration of cross-modal individual recognition in a nonhuman animal: the domestic horse. Subjects watched a herd member being led past them before the individual went of view, and a call from that or a different associate was played from a loudspeaker positioned close to the point of disappearance. When horses were shown one associate and then the call of a different associate was played, they responded more quickly and looked significantly longer in the direction of the call than when the call matched the herd member just seen, an indication that the incongruent combination violated their expectations. Thus, horses appear to possess a cross-modal representation of known individuals containing unique auditory and visual/olfactory information. Our paradigm could provide a powerful way to study individual recognition across a wide range of species.
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Notes 10.1073/pnas.0809127105 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4689
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Author (down) Plotnik, J.M.; de Waal, F.B.M.; Reiss, D.
Title Self-recognition in an Asian elephant Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Abbreviated Journal Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.
Volume 103 Issue 45 Pages 17053-17057
Keywords Animals; Asia; *Behavior, Animal; Cognition; Elephants/*psychology; Female; Photic Stimulation
Abstract Considered an indicator of self-awareness, mirror self-recognition (MSR) has long seemed limited to humans and apes. In both phylogeny and human ontogeny, MSR is thought to correlate with higher forms of empathy and altruistic behavior. Apart from humans and apes, dolphins and elephants are also known for such capacities. After the recent discovery of MSR in dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), elephants thus were the next logical candidate species. We exposed three Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) to a large mirror to investigate their responses. Animals that possess MSR typically progress through four stages of behavior when facing a mirror: (i) social responses, (ii) physical inspection (e.g., looking behind the mirror), (iii) repetitive mirror-testing behavior, and (iv) realization of seeing themselves. Visible marks and invisible sham-marks were applied to the elephants' heads to test whether they would pass the litmus “mark test” for MSR in which an individual spontaneously uses a mirror to touch an otherwise imperceptible mark on its own body. Here, we report a successful MSR elephant study and report striking parallels in the progression of responses to mirrors among apes, dolphins, and elephants. These parallels suggest convergent cognitive evolution most likely related to complex sociality and cooperation.
Address Living Links, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, and Department of Psychology, Emory University, 532 North Kligo Circle, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
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ISSN 0027-8424 ISBN Medium
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Notes PMID:17075063 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 408
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Author (down) Noy, L.; Dekel, E.; Alon, U.
Title The mirror game as a paradigm for studying the dynamics of two people improvising motion together Type Journal Article
Year 2011 Publication Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages
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Abstract Joint improvisation is the creative action of two or more people without a script or designated leader. Examples include improvisational theater and music, and day-to-day activities such as conversations. In joint improvisation, novel action is created, emerging from the interaction between people. Although central to creative processes and social interaction, joint improvisation remains largely unexplored due to the lack of experimental paradigms. Here we introduce a paradigm based on a theater practice called the mirror game. We measured the hand motions of two people mirroring each other at high temporal and spatial resolution. We focused on expert actors and musicians skilled in joint improvisation. We found that players can jointly create novel complex motion without a designated leader, synchronized to less than 40 ms. In contrast, we found that designating one player as leader deteriorated performance: The follower showed 2–3 Hz oscillation around the leader's smooth trajectory, decreasing synchrony and reducing the range of velocities reached. A mathematical model suggests a mechanism for these observations based on mutual agreement on future motion in mirrored reactive–predictive controllers. This is a step toward understanding the human ability to create novelty by improvising together.
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Notes 10.1073/pnas.1108155108 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5493
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Author (down) Morand-Ferron, J.; Quinn, J.L.
Title Larger groups of passerines are more efficient problem solvers in the wild Type Journal Article
Year 2011 Publication Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Abbreviated Journal Proc Natl Acad Sci USA
Volume 108 Issue 38 Pages 15898-15903
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Abstract Group living commonly helps organisms face challenging environmental conditions. Although a known phenomenon in humans, recent findings suggest that a benefit of group living in animals generally might be increased innovative problem-solving efficiency. This benefit has never been demonstrated in a natural context, however, and the mechanisms underlying improved efficiency are largely unknown. We examined the problem-solving performance of great and blue tits at automated devices and found that efficiency increased with flock size. This relationship held when restricting the analysis to naive individuals, demonstrating that larger groups increased innovation efficiency. In addition to this effect of naive flock size, the presence of at least one experienced bird increased the frequency of solving, and larger flocks were more likely to contain experienced birds. These findings provide empirical evidence for the “pool of competence” hypothesis in nonhuman animals. The probability of success also differed consistently between individuals, a necessary condition for the pool of competence hypothesis. Solvers had a higher probability of success when foraging with a larger number of companions and when using devices located near rather than further from protective tree cover, suggesting a role for reduced predation risk on problem-solving efficiency. In contrast to traditional group living theory, individuals joining larger flocks benefited from a higher seed intake, suggesting that group living facilitated exploitation of a novel food source through improved problem-solving efficiency. Together our results suggest that both ecological and social factors, through reduced predation risk and increased pool of competence, mediate innovation in natural populations.
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 6539
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Author (down) Mettke-Hofmann, C.; Gwinner, E.
Title Long-term memory for a life on the move Type Journal Article
Year 2003 Publication Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Abbreviated Journal Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.
Volume 100 Issue 10 Pages 5863-5866
Keywords Animals; Germany; Israel; Memory/*physiology; Models, Biological; Periodicity; Songbirds/*physiology
Abstract Evidence is accumulating that cognitive abilities are shaped by the specific ecological conditions to which animals are exposed. Long-distance migratory birds may provide a striking example of this. Field observations have shown that, at least in some species, a substantial proportion of individuals return to the same breeding, wintering, and stopover sites in successive years. This observation suggests that migrants have evolved special cognitive abilities that enable them to accomplish these feats. Here we show that memory of a particular feeding site persisted for at least 12 months in a long-distance migrant, whereas a closely related nonmigrant could remember such a site for only 2 weeks. Thus, it seems that the migratory lifestyle has influenced the learning and memorizing capacities of migratory birds. These results build a bridge between field observations suggesting special memorization feats of migratory birds and previous neuroanatomical results from the same two species indicating an increase in relative hippocampal size from the first to the second year of life in the migrant but not in the nonmigrant.
Address Max Planck Research Centre for Ornithology, Department of Biological Rhythms and Behaviour, Von-der-Tann-Strasse 7, 82346 Andechs, Germany. mettke-hofmann@erl.ornithol.mpg.de
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Notes PMID:12719527 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 511
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Author (down) Liker, A.; Bókony, V.
Title Larger groups are more successful in innovative problem solving in house sparrows Type Journal Article
Year 2009 Publication Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Abbreviated Journal Proc Natl Acad Sci USA
Volume 106 Issue 19 Pages 7893-7898
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Abstract Group living offers well-known benefits to animals, such as better predator avoidance and increased foraging success. An important additional, but so far neglected, advantage is that groups may cope more effectively with unfamiliar situations through faster innovations of new solutions by some group members. We tested this hypothesis experimentally by presenting a new foraging task of opening a familiar feeder in an unfamiliar way to house sparrows in small and large groups (2 versus 6 birds). Group size had strong effects on problem solving: sparrows performed 4 times more and 11 times faster openings in large than in small groups, and all members of large groups profited by getting food sooner (7 times on average). Independently from group size, urban groups were more successful than rural groups. The disproportionately higher success in large groups was not a mere consequence of higher number of attempts, but was also related to a higher effectiveness of problem solving (3 times higher proportion of successful birds). The analyses of the birds' behavior suggest that the latter was not explained by either reduced investment in antipredator vigilance or reduced neophobia in large groups. Instead, larger groups may contain more diverse individuals with different skills and experiences, which may increase the chance of solving the task by some group members. Increased success in problem solving may promote group living in animals and may help them to adapt quickly to new situations in rapidly-changing environments.
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 6538
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Author (down) Lergetporer, P.; Angerer, S.; Glätzle-Rützler, D.; Sutter, M.
Title Third-party punishment increases cooperation in children through (misaligned) expectations and conditional cooperation Type Journal Article
Year 2014 Publication Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Abbreviated Journal Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.
Volume 111 Issue 19 Pages 6916-6921
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Abstract The human ability to establish cooperation, even in large groups of genetically unrelated strangers, depends upon the enforcement of cooperation norms. Third-party punishment is one important factor to explain high levels of cooperation among humans, although it is still somewhat disputed whether other animal species also use this mechanism for promoting cooperation. We study the effectiveness of third-party punishment to increase children’s cooperative behavior in a large-scale cooperation game. Based on an experiment with 1,120 children, aged 7 to 11 y, we find that the threat of third-party punishment more than doubles cooperation rates, despite the fact that children are rarely willing to execute costly punishment. We can show that the higher cooperation levels with third-party punishment are driven by two components. First, cooperation is a rational (expected payoff-maximizing) response to incorrect beliefs about the punishment behavior of third parties. Second, cooperation is a conditionally cooperative reaction to correct beliefs that third party punishment will increase a partner’s level of cooperation.
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5805
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Author (down) Lee, R.D.
Title Rethinking the evolutionary theory of aging: transfers, not births, shape senescence in social species Type Journal Article
Year 2003 Publication Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Abbreviated Journal Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
Volume 100 Issue 16 Pages 9637-9642
Keywords Adaptation, Physiological; *Aging; Animals; *Biological Evolution; Demography; Economics; Environment; Fertility; Humans; Life Expectancy; Longevity; Models, Theoretical; Parturition; Population Dynamics; Population Growth; Reproduction
Abstract The classic evolutionary theory of aging explains why mortality rises with age: as individuals grow older, less lifetime fertility remains, so continued survival contributes less to reproductive fitness. However, successful reproduction often involves intergenerational transfers as well as fertility. In the formal theory offered here, age-specific selective pressure on mortality depends on a weighted average of remaining fertility (the classic effect) and remaining intergenerational transfers to be made to others. For species at the optimal quantity-investment tradeoff for offspring, only the transfer effect shapes mortality, explaining postreproductive survival and why juvenile mortality declines with age. It also explains the evolution of lower fertility, longer life, and increased investments in offspring.
Address Department of Demography, University of California, 2232 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94720-2120, USA. rlee@demog.berkeley.edu
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ISSN 0027-8424 ISBN Medium
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Notes PMID:12878733 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5465
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