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Author 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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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0027-8424 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:11891325 Approved no
Call Number Serial 2149
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Author Real, L.A.
Title Animal choice behavior and the evolution of cognitive architecture Type Journal Article
Year 1991 Publication Science (New York, N.Y.) Abbreviated Journal Science
Volume 253 Issue 5023 Pages 980-986
Keywords Animals; Bees/genetics/*physiology; Biomechanics; *Choice Behavior; *Cognition; *Evolution; Mathematics; Models, Genetic; Probability
Abstract Animals process sensory information according to specific computational rules and, subsequently, form representations of their environments that form the basis for decisions and choices. The specific computational rules used by organisms will often be evolutionarily adaptive by generating higher probabilities of survival, reproduction, and resource acquisition. Experiments with enclosed colonies of bumblebees constrained to foraging on artificial flowers suggest that the bumblebee's cognitive architecture is designed to efficiently exploit floral resources from spatially structured environments given limits on memory and the neuronal processing of information. A non-linear relationship between the biomechanics of nectar extraction and rates of net energetic gain by individual bees may account for sensitivities to both the arithmetic mean and variance in reward distributions in flowers. Heuristic rules that lead to efficient resource exploitation may also lead to subjective misperception of likelihoods. Subjective probability formation may then be viewed as a problem in pattern recognition subject to specific sampling schemes and memory constraints.
Address Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599-3280
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0036-8075 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:1887231 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2846
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Author Reluga, T.C.; Viscido, S.
Title Simulated evolution of selfish herd behavior Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Journal of Theoretical Biology Abbreviated Journal J. Theor. Biol.
Volume 234 Issue 2 Pages 213-225
Keywords Selfish herd; Behavior; Evolution; Predation risk
Abstract Single species aggregations are a commonly observed phenomenon. One potential explanation for these aggregations is provided by the selfish herd hypothesis, which states that aggregations result from individual efforts to reduce personnel predation risk at the expense of group-mates. Not all movement rules based on the selfish herd hypothesis are consistent with observed animal behavior. Previous work has shown that herd-like aggregations are not generated by movement rules limited to local interactions between nearest neighbors. Instead, rules generating realistic herds appear to require delocalized interactions. To date, it has been an open question whether or not the necessary delocalization can emerge from local interactions under natural selection. To address this question, we study an individual-based model with a single quantitative genetic trait that controls the influence of neighbors as a function of distance. The results indicate that predation-based selection can increase the influence of distant neighbors relative to near neighbors. Our results lend support for the idea that selfish herd behavior can arise from localized movement rules under natural selection.
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Notes Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 553
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Author Rogers, A.R.
Title Does Biology Constrain Culture? Type Journal Article
Year 1988 Publication American Anthropologist Abbreviated Journal Am Anthropol
Volume 90 Issue 4 Pages 819-831
Keywords models, learning, evolution, culture, fitness, adaptive, environment, human, natural selection, behavior
Abstract Most social scientists would agree that the capacity for human culture was probably fashioned by natural selection, but they disagree about the implications of this supposition. Some believe that natural selection imposes important constraints on the ways in which culture can vary, while others believe that any such constraints must be negligible. This article employs a “thought experiment” to demonstrate that neither of these positions can be justified by appeal to general properties of culture or of evolution. Natural selection can produce mechanisms of cultural transmission that are neither adaptive nor consistent with the predictions of acultural evolutionary models (those ignoring cultural evolution). On the other hand, natural selection can also produce mechanisms of cultural transmission that are highly consistent with acultural models. Thus, neither side of the sociobiology debate is justified in dismissing the arguments of the other. Natural selection may impose significant constraints on some human behaviors, but negligible constraints on others. Models of simultaneous genetic/cultural evolution will be useful in identifying domains in which acultural evolutionary models are, and are not, likely to be useful.
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ citeulike:907484 Serial 4199
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Author Rogers, L.J.
Title Evolution of hemispheric specialization: advantages and disadvantages Type Journal Article
Year 2000 Publication Brain and Language Abbreviated Journal Brain Lang
Volume 73 Issue 2 Pages 236-253
Keywords Aggression/psychology; Animals; Behavior, Animal/physiology; Brain/*physiology; Chickens/physiology; *Evolution; Feeding Behavior/physiology; Functional Laterality/*physiology; Visual Fields/physiology; Visual Perception/physiology
Abstract Lateralization of the brain appeared early in evolution and many of its features appear to have been retained, possibly even in humans. We now have a considerable amount of information on the different forms of lateralization in a number of species, and the commonalities of these are discussed, but there has been relatively little investigation of the advantages of being lateralized. This article reports new findings on the differences between lateralized and nonlateralized chicks. The lateralized chicks were exposed to light for 24 h on day 19 of incubation, a treatment known to lead to lateralization of a number of visually guided responses, and the nonlateralized chicks were incubated in the dark. When they were feeding, the lateralized chicks were found to detect a stimulus resembling a raptor with shorter latency than nonlateralized chicks. This difference was not a nonspecific effect caused by the light-exposed chicks being more distressed by the stimulus. Instead, it appears to be a genuine advantage conferred by having a lateralized brain. It is suggested that having a lateralized brain allows dual attention to the tasks of feeding (right eye and left hemisphere) and vigilance for predators (left eye and right hemisphere). Nonlateralized chicks appear to perform these dual tasks less efficiently than lateralized ones. Reference is made to other species in discussing these results.
Address Division of Zoology, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. lrogers@metz.une.edu.au
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0093-934X ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:10856176 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4621
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Author Rumiantsev, S.N.
Title [Biological function of Clostridium tetani toxin (ecological and evolutionary aspects)] Type Journal Article
Year 1973 Publication Zhurnal Evoliutsionnoi Biokhimii i Fiziologii Abbreviated Journal Zh Evol Biokhim Fiziol
Volume 9 Issue 5 Pages 474-480
Keywords Animals; Cats; Chickens; Dogs; Ecology; Evolution; Goats; Guinea Pigs; Haplorhini; Horses; Insectivora; Mice; Perissodactyla; Rabbits; Rats; Sheep; *Tetanus Toxin
Abstract
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Russian Summary Language Original Title K voprosu biologicheskoi funktsii toksina Clostridium tetani (ekologicheskie i evolutsionnye aspekty
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0044-4529 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:4203684 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2713
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Author Scheffer, M.; van Nes, E.H.
Title Self-organized similarity, the evolutionary emergence of groups of similar species 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 16 Pages 6230-6235
Keywords Animals; *Competitive Behavior; *Ecosystem; *Evolution; *Models, Biological
Abstract Ecologists have long been puzzled by the fact that there are so many similar species in nature. Here we show that self-organized clusters of look-a-likes may emerge spontaneously from coevolution of competitors. The explanation is that there are two alternative ways to survive together: being sufficiently different or being sufficiently similar. Using a model based on classical competition theory, we demonstrate a tendency for evolutionary emergence of regularly spaced lumps of similar species along a niche axis. Indeed, such lumpy patterns are commonly observed in size distributions of organisms ranging from algae, zooplankton, and beetles to birds and mammals, and could not be well explained by earlier theory. Our results suggest that these patterns may represent self-constructed niches emerging from competitive interactions. A corollary of our findings is that, whereas in species-poor communities sympatric speciation and invasion of open niches is possible, species-saturated communities may be characterized by convergent evolution and invasion by look-a-likes.
Address Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 8080, 6700 DD, Wageningen, The Netherlands. marten.scheffer@wur.nl
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0027-8424 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16585519 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 510
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Author Sebastiani, F.; Meiswinkel, R.; Gomulski, L.M.; Guglielmino, C.R.; Mellor, P.S.; Malacrida, A.R.; Gasperi, G.
Title Molecular differentiation of the Old World Culicoides imicola species complex (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae), inferred using random amplified polymorphic DNA markers Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Molecular Ecology Abbreviated Journal Mol Ecol
Volume 10 Issue 7 Pages 1773-1786
Keywords Africa; Animals; Ceratopogonidae/*classification/*genetics; Ecology; Evolution, Molecular; Female; *Genetic Markers; Madagascar; Phylogeny; *Polymorphism, Genetic; *Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; Variation (Genetics)
Abstract Samples of seven of the 10 morphological species of midges of the Culicoides imicola complex were considered. The importance of this species complex is connected to its vectorial capacity for African horse sickness virus (AHSV) and bluetongue virus (BTV). Consequently, the risk of transmission may vary dramatically, depending upon the particular cryptic species present in a given area. The species complex is confined to the Old World and our samples were collected in Southern Africa, Madagascar and the Ivory Coast. Genomic DNA of 350 randomly sampled individual midges from 19 populations was amplified using four 20-mer primers by the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique. One hundred and ninety-six interpretable polymorphic bands were obtained. Species-specific RAPD profiles were defined and for five species diagnostic RAPD fragments were identified. A high degree of polymorphism was detected in the species complex, most of which was observed within populations (from 64 to 76%). Principal coordinate analysis (PCO) and cluster analysis provided an estimate of the degree of variation between and within populations and species. There was substantial concordance between the taxonomies derived from morphological and molecular data. The amount and the different distributions of genetic (RAPD) variation among the taxa can be associated to their life histories, i.e. the abundance and distribution of the larval breeding sites and their seasonality.
Address Department of Animal Biology, Laboratory of Zoology, University of Pavia, Piazza Botta 9, I-27100 Pavia, Italy
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0962-1083 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:11472544 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2647
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Author Seyfarth, R.M.; Cheney, D.L.
Title Cognitive strategies and the representation of social relations by monkeys Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation Abbreviated Journal Nebr Symp Motiv
Volume 47 Issue Pages 145-177
Keywords Adaptation, Biological; Animals; *Evolution; Family; Female; Haplorhini; Male; Memory; Primates; *Selection (Genetics); *Social Behavior; Social Dominance; *Social Perception
Abstract
Address University of Pennsylvania, USA
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0146-7875 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:11759347 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 345
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Author Seyfarth, R.M.; Cheney, D.L.
Title Social cognition Type Journal Article
Year 2015 Publication Animal Behaviour Abbreviated Journal
Volume 103 Issue Pages 191-202
Keywords evolution; fitness; future research; personality; selective pressure; skill; social cognition
Abstract The social intelligence hypothesis argues that competition and cooperation among individuals have shaped the evolution of cognition in animals. What do we mean by social cognition? Here we suggest that the building blocks of social cognition are a suite of skills, ordered roughly according to the cognitive demands they place upon individuals. These skills allow an animal to recognize others by various means; to recognize and remember other animals' relationships; and, perhaps, to attribute mental states to them. Some skills are elementary and virtually ubiquitous in the animal kingdom; others are more limited in their taxonomic distribution. We treat these skills as the targets of selection, and assume that more complex levels of social cognition evolve only when simpler methods are inadequate. As a result, more complex levels of social cognition indicate greater selective pressures in the past. The presence of each skill can be tested directly through field observations and experiments. In addition, the same methods that have been used to compare social cognition across species can also be used to measure individual differences within species and to test the hypothesis that individual differences in social cognition are linked to differences in reproductive success.
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Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0003-3472 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 6025
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