51
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Yu X, Zhong MJ, Li DY, Jin L, Liao WB, Kotrschal A. Large-brained frogs mature later and live longer. Evolution 2018; 72:1174-1183. [PMID: 29611630 DOI: 10.1111/evo.13478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2018] [Revised: 03/20/2018] [Accepted: 03/24/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Xin Yu
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education); China West Normal University; Nanchong Sichuan 637009 China
- Institute of Eco-Adaptation in Amphibians and Reptiles; China West Normal University; Nanchong Sichuan 637009 China
| | - Mao Jun Zhong
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education); China West Normal University; Nanchong Sichuan 637009 China
- Institute of Eco-Adaptation in Amphibians and Reptiles; China West Normal University; Nanchong Sichuan 637009 China
| | - Da Yong Li
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education); China West Normal University; Nanchong Sichuan 637009 China
- Institute of Eco-Adaptation in Amphibians and Reptiles; China West Normal University; Nanchong Sichuan 637009 China
| | - Long Jin
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education); China West Normal University; Nanchong Sichuan 637009 China
- Institute of Eco-Adaptation in Amphibians and Reptiles; China West Normal University; Nanchong Sichuan 637009 China
| | - Wen Bo Liao
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education); China West Normal University; Nanchong Sichuan 637009 China
- Institute of Eco-Adaptation in Amphibians and Reptiles; China West Normal University; Nanchong Sichuan 637009 China
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52
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Sakai S, Whitt B, Arsznov B, Lundrigan B. Endocranial Development in the Coyote (Canis latrans) and Gray Wolf (Canis lupus): A Computed Tomographic Study. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2018; 91:65-81. [DOI: 10.1159/000487427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2017] [Accepted: 02/02/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the pattern of postnatal brain growth in two wild canid species: the coyote (Canis latrans) and gray wolf (Canis lupus). Adult regional and total brain volume differences were also compared between the two species as well as within each species by sex. Three-dimensional virtual endocasts of endocranial airspace were created from computed tomography scans of 52 coyote skulls (28 female, 24 male; 1 day to 13.4 years) and 46 gray wolf skulls (25 female, 21 male; 1 day to 7.9 years). Age was known in coyotes or estimated from dentition patterns in wolves. The 95% asymptotic growth of the endocranium is completed by 21 weeks in male and 17.5 weeks in female coyotes and by 27 weeks in male and 18.5 weeks in female wolves. These ages are well before age at first reproduction (coyote – 40.4 weeks; wolf – 91.25 weeks). Skull growth as measured by centroid size lags behind endocranial growth but is also completed before sexual maturity. Intra- and interspecific comparisons of brain volumes in the adult wolves and coyotes revealed that relative anterior cerebrum (AC) volume was greater in males than females in both species. Relative brain size was greater in the coyote than in the wolf as was relative cerebrum volume. However, relative AC volume and relative cerebellum and brainstem volume was greater in the wolf than coyote. One explanation for the increased AC volume in males compared to females may be related to the role of social information processing. However, additional data are needed to determine the correspondence between regional volumes and functional differences either between or within these species. Nonetheless, these findings provide important baseline data for further studies on wild canid brain variations and development.
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53
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Minias P, Włodarczyk R, Meissner W. Leukocyte profiles are associated with longevity and survival, but not migratory effort: A comparative analysis of shorebirds. Funct Ecol 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12991] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Piotr Minias
- Department of Biodiversity Studies and BioeducationFaculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Łódź Łódź Poland
| | - Radosław Włodarczyk
- Department of Biodiversity Studies and BioeducationFaculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Łódź Łódź Poland
| | - Włodzimierz Meissner
- Avian Ecophysiology UnitDepartment of Vertebrate Ecology and ZoologyUniversity of Gdańsk Gdańsk Poland
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54
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Coevolution of cultural intelligence, extended life history, sociality, and brain size in primates. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:7908-7914. [PMID: 28739950 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1620734114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Explanations for primate brain expansion and the evolution of human cognition and culture remain contentious despite extensive research. While multiple comparative analyses have investigated variation in brain size across primate species, very few have addressed why primates vary in how much they use social learning. Here, we evaluate the hypothesis that the enhanced reliance on socially transmitted behavior observed in some primates has coevolved with enlarged brains, complex sociality, and extended lifespans. Using recently developed phylogenetic comparative methods we show that, across primate species, a measure of social learning proclivity increases with absolute and relative brain volume, longevity (specifically reproductive lifespan), and social group size, correcting for research effort. We also confirm relationships of absolute and relative brain volume with longevity (both juvenile period and reproductive lifespan) and social group size, although longevity is generally the stronger predictor. Relationships between social learning, brain volume, and longevity remain when controlling for maternal investment and are therefore not simply explained as a by-product of the generally slower life history expected for larger brained species. Our findings suggest that both brain expansion and high reliance on culturally transmitted behavior coevolved with sociality and extended lifespan in primates. This coevolution is consistent with the hypothesis that the evolution of large brains, sociality, and long lifespans has promoted reliance on culture, with reliance on culture in turn driving further increases in brain volume, cognitive abilities, and lifespans in some primate lineages.
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55
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Minias P, Podlaszczuk P. Longevity is associated with relative brain size in birds. Ecol Evol 2017; 7:3558-3566. [PMID: 28515891 PMCID: PMC5433984 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2017] [Revised: 02/28/2017] [Accepted: 03/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Brain size of vertebrates has long been recognized to evolve in close association with basic life-history traits, including lifespan. According to the cognitive buffer hypothesis, large brains facilitate the construction of behavioral responses against novel socioecological challenges through general cognitive processes, which should reduce mortality and increase lifespan. While the occurrence of brain size-lifespan correlation has been well documented in mammals, much less evidence exists for a robust link between brain size and longevity in birds. The aim of this study was to use phylogenetically controlled comparative approach to test for the relationship between brain size and longevity among 384 avian species from 23 orders. We used maximum lifespan and maximum reproductive lifespan as the measures of longevity and accounted for a set of possible confounding effects, such as allometry, sampling effort, geographic patterns, and life-history components (clutch size, incubation length, and mode of development). We found that both measures of longevity positively correlated with relative (residual) brain size. We also showed that major diversification of brain size preceded diversification of longevity in avian evolution. In contrast to previous findings, the effect of brain size on longevity was consistent across lineages with different development patterns, although the relatively low strength of this correlation could likely be attributed to the ubiquity of allomaternal care associated with the altricial mode of development. Our study indicates that the positive relationship between brain size and longevity in birds may be more general than previously thought.
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Affiliation(s)
- Piotr Minias
- Department of Biodiversity Studies and BioeducationFaculty of Biology and Environmental ProtectionUniversity of ŁódźŁódźPoland
| | - Patrycja Podlaszczuk
- Department of Biodiversity Studies and BioeducationFaculty of Biology and Environmental ProtectionUniversity of ŁódźŁódźPoland
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56
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Abstract
In 1803, the French anatomist Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire decided that the newly described echidna and platypus should be placed in a separate order, the monotremes, intermediate between reptiles and mammals. The first physiological observations showed monotremes had low body temperatures and metabolic rates, and the consensus was that they were at a stage of physiological development intermediate between "higher mammals" and "lower vertebrates." Subsequent studies demonstrated that platypuses and echidnas are capable of close thermoregulation in the cold although less so under hot conditions. Because the short-beaked echidna Tachyglossus aculeatus, may show very large daily variations in body temperature, as well as seasonal hibernation, it has been suggested that it may provide a useful model of protoendotherm physiology. Such analysis is complicated by the very significant differences in thermal relations between echidnas from different climates. In all areas female echidnas regulate Tb within 1°C during egg incubation. The lactation period is considered to be the most energetically expensive time for most female mammals but lactating echidnas showed no measurable difference in field metabolic rate from non-lactating females, while the lactation period is more than 200 days for Kangaroo Island echidnas but only 150 days in Tasmania. In areas with mild winters echidnas show reduced activity and shallow torpor in autumn and early winter, but in areas with cold winters echidnas enter true hibernation with Tb falling as low as 4.5°C. Monotremes do not possess brown adipose tissue and maximum rates of rewarming from hibernation in echidnas were only half those of marmots of the same mass. Although echidnas show very large seasonal variations in fat stores associated with hibernation there is no relationship between plasma leptin and adiposity. Leptin levels are lowest during post-reproductive fattening, supporting suggestions that in evolutionary terms the anorectic effects of leptin preceded the adiposity signal. BMR of platypuses is twice that of echidnas although maximum metabolism is similar. High levels of thyroid hormones in platypuses may be driving metabolism limited by low body temperature. Monotremes show a mosaic of plesiomorphic and derived features but can still inform our understanding of the evolution of endothermy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stewart C. Nicol
- Biological Sciences, University of TasmaniaHobart, TAS, Australia
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57
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Allen WL, Street SE, Capellini I. Fast life history traits promote invasion success in amphibians and reptiles. Ecol Lett 2017; 20:222-230. [PMID: 28052550 PMCID: PMC6849728 DOI: 10.1111/ele.12728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2016] [Accepted: 12/02/2016] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Competing theoretical models make different predictions on which life history strategies facilitate growth of small populations. While ‘fast’ strategies allow for rapid increase in population size and limit vulnerability to stochastic events, ‘slow’ strategies and bet‐hedging may reduce variance in vital rates in response to stochasticity. We test these predictions using biological invasions since founder alien populations start small, compiling the largest dataset yet of global herpetological introductions and life history traits. Using state‐of‐the‐art phylogenetic comparative methods, we show that successful invaders have fast traits, such as large and frequent clutches, at both establishment and spread stages. These results, together with recent findings in mammals and plants, support ‘fast advantage’ models and the importance of high potential population growth rate. Conversely, successful alien birds are bet‐hedgers. We propose that transient population dynamics and differences in longevity and behavioural flexibility can help reconcile apparently contrasting results across terrestrial vertebrate classes.
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Affiliation(s)
- William L Allen
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK.,Department of Biosciences, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP, Wales, UK
| | - Sally E Street
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK
| | - Isabella Capellini
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK
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58
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Logan CJ, Kruuk LEB, Stanley R, Thompson AM, Clutton-Brock TH. Endocranial volume is heritable and is associated with longevity and fitness in a wild mammal. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2016; 3:160622. [PMID: 28083105 PMCID: PMC5210687 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2016] [Accepted: 11/17/2016] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Research on relative brain size in mammals suggests that increases in brain size may generate benefits to survival and costs to fecundity: comparative studies of mammals have shown that interspecific differences in relative brain size are positively correlated with longevity and negatively with fecundity. However, as yet, no studies of mammals have investigated whether similar relationships exist within species, nor whether individual differences in brain size within a wild population are heritable. Here we show that, in a wild population of red deer (Cervus elaphus), relative endocranial volume was heritable (h2 = 63%; 95% credible intervals (CI) = 50-76%). In females, it was positively correlated with longevity and lifetime reproductive success, though there was no evidence that it was associated with fecundity. In males, endocranial volume was not related to longevity, lifetime breeding success or fecundity.
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Affiliation(s)
- C. J. Logan
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Author for correspondence: C. J. Logan e-mail:
| | - L. E. B. Kruuk
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- Division of Evolution, Ecology and Genetics, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - R. Stanley
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - A. M. Thompson
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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59
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Castillo-Morales A, Monzón-Sandoval J, de Sousa AA, Urrutia AO, Gutierrez H. Neocortex expansion is linked to size variations in gene families with chemotaxis, cell-cell signalling and immune response functions in mammals. Open Biol 2016; 6:160132. [PMID: 27707894 PMCID: PMC5090057 DOI: 10.1098/rsob.160132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2016] [Accepted: 09/08/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Increased brain size is thought to have played an important role in the evolution of mammals and is a highly variable trait across lineages. Variations in brain size are closely linked to corresponding variations in the size of the neocortex, a distinct mammalian evolutionary innovation. The genomic features that explain and/or accompany variations in the relative size of the neocortex remain unknown. By comparing the genomes of 28 mammalian species, we show that neocortical expansion relative to the rest of the brain is associated with variations in gene family size (GFS) of gene families that are significantly enriched in biological functions associated with chemotaxis, cell-cell signalling and immune response. Importantly, we find that previously reported GFS variations associated with increased brain size are largely accounted for by the stronger link between neocortex expansion and variations in the size of gene families. Moreover, genes within these families are more prominently expressed in the human neocortex during early compared with adult development. These results suggest that changes in GFS underlie morphological adaptations during brain evolution in mammalian lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Atahualpa Castillo-Morales
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln LN6 7TS, UK Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7YA, UK
| | - Jimena Monzón-Sandoval
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln LN6 7TS, UK Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7YA, UK
| | | | - Araxi O Urrutia
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7YA, UK
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60
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Vágási CI, Vincze O, Pătraş L, Osváth G, Marton A, Bărbos L, Sol D, Pap PL. Large-brained birds suffer less oxidative damage. J Evol Biol 2016; 29:1968-1976. [DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2016] [Revised: 06/10/2016] [Accepted: 06/13/2016] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- C. I. Vágási
- MTA-DE “Lendület” Behavioural Ecology Research Group; Department of Evolutionary Zoology; University of Debrecen; Debrecen Hungary
- Evolutionary Ecology Group; Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology; Babeş-Bolyai University; Cluj Napoca Romania
| | - O. Vincze
- MTA-DE “Lendület” Behavioural Ecology Research Group; Department of Evolutionary Zoology; University of Debrecen; Debrecen Hungary
- Evolutionary Ecology Group; Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology; Babeş-Bolyai University; Cluj Napoca Romania
| | - L. Pătraş
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology; Babeş-Bolyai University; Cluj Napoca Romania
| | - G. Osváth
- Museum of Zoology; Babeş-Bolyai University; Cluj Napoca Romania
| | - A. Marton
- Evolutionary Ecology Group; Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology; Babeş-Bolyai University; Cluj Napoca Romania
- ’Milvus Group’ Bird and Nature Protection Association; Tîrgu Mureș Romania
| | - L. Bărbos
- Evolutionary Ecology Group; Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology; Babeş-Bolyai University; Cluj Napoca Romania
- ’Milvus Group’ Bird and Nature Protection Association; Tîrgu Mureș Romania
| | - D. Sol
- CREAF; Cerdanyola del Vallès Spain
- CSIC; Cerdanyola del Vallès Spain
| | - P. L. Pap
- MTA-DE “Lendület” Behavioural Ecology Research Group; Department of Evolutionary Zoology; University of Debrecen; Debrecen Hungary
- Evolutionary Ecology Group; Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology; Babeş-Bolyai University; Cluj Napoca Romania
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61
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Gonzalez-Voyer A, González-Suárez M, Vilà C, Revilla E. Larger brain size indirectly increases vulnerability to extinction in mammals. Evolution 2016; 70:1364-75. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.12943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2015] [Accepted: 04/18/2016] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Gonzalez-Voyer
- Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics Group, Department of Integrative Ecology; Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC); c/Américo Vespucio s/n 41092 Sevilla Spain
- Department of Zoology/Ethology; Stockholm University; Svante Arrheniusväg 18 B SE-10691 Stockholm Sweden
- Laboratorio de Conducta Animal, Instituto de Ecología, Circuito Exterior S/N; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; México D. F. 04510 México
| | - Manuela González-Suárez
- Department of Conservation Biology; Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC); c/Américo Vespucio s/n 41092 Sevilla Spain
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences; University of Reading; Whiteknights Reading RG6 6AS United Kingdom
| | - Carles Vilà
- Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics Group, Department of Integrative Ecology; Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC); c/Américo Vespucio s/n 41092 Sevilla Spain
| | - Eloy Revilla
- Department of Conservation Biology; Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC); c/Américo Vespucio s/n 41092 Sevilla Spain
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62
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Schuppli C, Graber SM, Isler K, van Schaik CP. Life history, cognition and the evolution of complex foraging niches. J Hum Evol 2016; 92:91-100. [PMID: 26989019 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2014] [Revised: 11/11/2015] [Accepted: 11/12/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Animal species that live in complex foraging niches have, in general, improved access to energy-rich and seasonally stable food sources. Because human food procurement is uniquely complex, we ask here which conditions may have allowed species to evolve into such complex foraging niches, and also how niche complexity is related to relative brain size. To do so, we divided niche complexity into a knowledge-learning and a motor-learning dimension. Using a sample of 78 primate and 65 carnivoran species, we found that two life-history features are consistently correlated with complex niches: slow, conservative development or provisioning of offspring over extended periods of time. Both act to buffer low energy yields during periods of learning, and may thus act as limiting factors for the evolution of complex niches. Our results further showed that the knowledge and motor dimensions of niche complexity were correlated with pace of development in primates only, and with the length of provisioning in only carnivorans. Accordingly, in primates, but not carnivorans, living in a complex foraging niche requires enhanced cognitive abilities, i.e., a large brain. The patterns in these two groups of mammals show that selection favors evolution into complex niches (in either the knowledge or motor dimension) in species that either develop more slowly or provision their young for an extended period of time. These findings help to explain how humans constructed by far the most complex niche: our ancestors managed to combine slow development (as in other primates) with systematic provisioning of immatures and even adults (as in carnivorans). This study also provides strong support for the importance of ecological factors in brain size evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Schuppli
- Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Sereina M Graber
- Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Karin Isler
- Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Carel P van Schaik
- Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
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63
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Abelson ES. Brain size is correlated with endangerment status in mammals. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 283:20152772. [PMID: 26888034 PMCID: PMC4810832 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.2772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2015] [Accepted: 01/26/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Increases in relative encephalization (RE), brain size after controlling for body size, comes at a great metabolic cost and is correlated with a host of cognitive traits, from the ability to count objects to higher rates of innovation. Despite many studies examining the implications and trade-offs accompanying increased RE, the relationship between mammalian extinction risk and RE is unknown. I examine whether mammals with larger levels of RE are more or less likely to be at risk of endangerment than less-encephalized species. I find that extant species with large levels of encephalization are at greater risk of endangerment, with this effect being strongest in species with small body sizes. These results suggest that RE could be a valuable asset in estimating extinction vulnerability. Additionally, these findings suggest that the cost-benefit trade-off of RE is different in large-bodied species when compared with small-bodied species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric S Abelson
- Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
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64
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Abstract
Biodemographic analysis would be essential to understand population ecology and aging of tyrannosaurs. Here we address a methodology that quantifies tyrannosaur survival and mortality curves by utilizing modified stretched exponential survival functions. Our analysis clearly shows that mortality patterns for tyrannosaurs are seemingly analogous to those for 18th-century humans. This result suggests that tyrannosaurs would live long to undergo aging before maximum lifespans, while their longevity strategy is more alike to big birds rather than 18th-century humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Byung Mook Weon
- Soft Matter Physics Laboratory, School of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering, SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746, Korea
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65
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The Evolution of Brains and Cognitive Abilities. Evol Biol 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-41324-2_5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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66
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Blumstein DT, Buckner J, Shah S, Patel S, Alfaro ME, Natterson-Horowitz B. The evolution of capture myopathy in hooved mammals: a model for human stress cardiomyopathy? EVOLUTION MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2015. [PMID: 26198189 PMCID: PMC4538952 DOI: 10.1093/emph/eov015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Background and objectives: Capture myopathy (CM) syndromes in wildlife may be a model for human stress cardiomyopathy, including Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Emotional stress or grief may trigger heart attack-like symptoms, and occasionally, sudden death in some humans. Similarly, wildlife exposed to predatory stresses, chase, or capture occasionally results in sudden death. To better understand the nature of vulnerability to stress-induced sudden death, we studied cases of CM in hooved mammals—ungulates—and hypothesized that CM would be associated with a syndrome of longevity-related traits. Methodology: We reconstructed the evolution of CM in ungulates then determined how a set of life history traits explained variation in the likelihood that CM was reported. Results: CM is broadly reported, but not in all genera, and phylogenetic analyses suggest that it is an evolutionarily labile trait. We found that the following traits were significantly associated with reports of CM: greater brain mass, faster maximum running speed, greater minimum group size and greater maximum longevity. Conclusions and implications: CM may be an unavoidable consequence of adaptations to reduce predation risk that include increased running speed, sociality and having larger brains. Moreover, longer-lived species seem to be more likely to be susceptible to CM. Exploring variable susceptibility to CM highlights the evolutionary origins of the disorder, potential basic mechanisms that underlie vulnerability to the phenomenon, and the potential for reduction of risk through modification of life history trajectory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel T Blumstein
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA;
| | - Janet Buckner
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
| | - Sajan Shah
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
| | - Shane Patel
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
| | - Michael E Alfaro
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
| | - Barbara Natterson-Horowitz
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA; David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Division of Cardiology, 650 Charles E. Young Drive South, A2-237, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
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67
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68
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Weisbecker V, Blomberg S, Goldizen AW, Brown M, Fisher D. The evolution of relative brain size in marsupials is energetically constrained but not driven by behavioral complexity. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2015; 85:125-35. [PMID: 25966967 DOI: 10.1159/000377666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2014] [Accepted: 02/02/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Evolutionary increases in mammalian brain size relative to body size are energetically costly but are also thought to confer selective advantages by permitting the evolution of cognitively complex behaviors. However, many suggested associations between brain size and specific behaviors - particularly related to social complexity - are possibly confounded by the reproductive diversity of placental mammals, whose brain size evolution is the most frequently studied. Based on a phylogenetic generalized least squares analysis of a data set on the reproductively homogenous clade of marsupials, we provide the first quantitative comparison of two hypotheses based on energetic constraints (maternal investment and seasonality) with two hypotheses that posit behavioral selection on relative brain size (social complexity and environmental interactions). We show that the two behavioral hypotheses have far less support than the constraint hypotheses. The only unambiguous associates of brain size are the constraint variables of litter size and seasonality. We also found no association between brain size and specific behavioral complexity categories within kangaroos, dasyurids, and possums. The largest-brained marsupials after phylogenetic correction are from low-seasonality New Guinea, supporting the notion that low seasonality represents greater nutrition safety for brain maintenance. Alternatively, low seasonality might improve the maternal support of offspring brain growth. The lack of behavioral brain size associates, found here and elsewhere, supports the general 'cognitive buffer hypothesis' as the best explanatory framework of mammalian brain size evolution. However, it is possible that brain size alone simply does not provide sufficient resolution on the question of how brain morphology and cognitive capacities coevolve.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vera Weisbecker
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Qld., Australia
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Abstract
Many animals regulate their activity over a 24-h sleep-wake cycle, concentrating their peak periods of activity to coincide with the hours of daylight, darkness, or twilight, or using different periods of light and darkness in more complex ways. These behavioral differences, which are in themselves functional traits, are associated with suites of physiological and morphological adaptations with implications for the ecological roles of species. The biogeography of diel time partitioning is, however, poorly understood. Here, we document basic biogeographic patterns of time partitioning by mammals and ecologically relevant large-scale patterns of natural variation in "illuminated activity time" constrained by temperature, and we determine how well the first of these are predicted by the second. Although the majority of mammals are nocturnal, the distributions of diurnal and crepuscular species richness are strongly associated with the availability of biologically useful daylight and twilight, respectively. Cathemerality is associated with relatively long hours of daylight and twilight in the northern Holarctic region, whereas the proportion of nocturnal species is highest in arid regions and lowest at extreme high altitudes. Although thermal constraints on activity have been identified as key to the distributions of organisms, constraints due to functional adaptation to the light environment are less well studied. Global patterns in diversity are constrained by the availability of the temporal niche; disruption of these constraints by the spread of artificial lighting and anthropogenic climate change, and the potential effects on time partitioning, are likely to be critical influences on species' future distributions.
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Castillo-Morales A, Monzón-Sandoval J, Urrutia AO, Gutiérrez H. Increased brain size in mammals is associated with size variations in gene families with cell signalling, chemotaxis and immune-related functions. Proc Biol Sci 2013; 281:20132428. [PMID: 24285197 PMCID: PMC3866400 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.2428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Genomic determinants underlying increased encephalization across mammalian lineages are unknown. Whole genome comparisons have revealed large and frequent changes in the size of gene families, and it has been proposed that these variations could play a major role in shaping morphological and physiological differences among species. Using a genome-wide comparative approach, we examined changes in gene family size (GFS) and degree of encephalization in 39 fully sequenced mammalian species and found a significant over-representation of GFS variations in line with increased encephalization in mammals. We found that this relationship is not accounted for by known correlates of brain size such as maximum lifespan or body size and is not explained by phylogenetic relatedness. Genes involved in chemotaxis, immune regulation and cell signalling-related functions are significantly over-represented among those gene families most highly correlated with encephalization. Genes within these families are prominently expressed in the human brain, particularly the cortex, and organized in co-expression modules that display distinct temporal patterns of expression in the developing cortex. Our results suggest that changes in GFS associated with encephalization represent an evolutionary response to the specific functional requirements underlying increased brain size in mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Araxi O. Urrutia
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
- e-mail:
| | - Humberto Gutiérrez
- School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln LN6 7TS, UK
- e-mail:
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Onyango PO, Gesquiere LR, Altmann J, Alberts SC. Puberty and dispersal in a wild primate population. Horm Behav 2013; 64:240-9. [PMID: 23998668 PMCID: PMC3764504 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2013.02.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2012] [Revised: 12/31/2012] [Accepted: 02/16/2013] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
This article is part of a Special Issue "Puberty and Adolescence". The onset of reproduction is preceded by a host of organismal adjustments and transformations, involving morphological, physiological, and behavioral changes. In highly social mammals, including humans and most nonhuman primates, the timing and nature of maturational processes are affected by the animal's social milieu as well as its ecology. Here, we review a diverse set of findings on how maturation unfolds in wild baboons in the Amboseli basin of southern Kenya, and we place these findings in the context of other reports of maturational processes in primates and other mammals. First, we describe the series of events and processes that signal maturation in female and male baboons. Sex differences in age at both sexual maturity and first reproduction documented for this species are consistent with expectations of life history theory; males mature later than females and exhibit an adolescent growth spurt that is absent or minimal in females. Second, we summarize what we know about sources of variance in the timing of maturational processes including natal dispersal. In Amboseli, individuals in a food-enhanced group mature earlier than their wild-feeding counterparts, and offspring of high-ranking females mature earlier than offspring of low-ranking females. We also report on how genetic admixture, which occurs in Amboseli between two closely related baboon taxa, affects individual maturation schedules.
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Damasceno EM, Hingst-Zaher E, Astúa D. Bite force and encephalization in the Canidae (Mammalia: Carnivora). J Zool (1987) 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- E. M. Damasceno
- Department of Zoology; Universidade Federal de Pernambuco; Recife Brazil
- Faculty of Life Sciences; University of Manchester; Manchester UK
| | | | - D. Astúa
- Department of Zoology; Universidade Federal de Pernambuco; Recife Brazil
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van Schaik CP, Isler K, Burkart JM. Explaining brain size variation: from social to cultural brain. Trends Cogn Sci 2012; 16:277-84. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2012.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 129] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2012] [Revised: 04/03/2012] [Accepted: 04/05/2012] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Fitzpatrick JL, Almbro M, Gonzalez-Voyer A, Hamada S, Pennington C, Scanlan J, Kolm N. Sexual selection uncouples the evolution of brain and body size in pinnipeds. J Evol Biol 2012; 25:1321-30. [PMID: 22530668 DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2012.02520.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The size of the vertebrate brain is shaped by a variety of selective forces. Although larger brains (correcting for body size) are thought to confer fitness advantages, energetic limitations of this costly organ may lead to trade-offs, for example as recently suggested between sexual traits and neural tissue. Here, we examine the patterns of selection on male and female brain size in pinnipeds, a group where the strength of sexual selection differs markedly among species and between the sexes. Relative brain size was negatively associated with the intensity of sexual selection in males but not females. However, analyses of the rates of body and brain size evolution showed that this apparent trade-off between sexual selection and brain mass is driven by selection for increasing body mass rather than by an actual reduction in male brain size. Our results suggest that sexual selection has important effects on the allometric relationships of neural development.
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Affiliation(s)
- J L Fitzpatrick
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, WA, Australia.
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Rutz C, St Clair JJ. The evolutionary origins and ecological context of tool use in New Caledonian crows. Behav Processes 2012; 89:153-65. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2011.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2011] [Revised: 11/30/2011] [Accepted: 11/30/2011] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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Charvet CJ, Finlay BL. Embracing covariation in brain evolution: large brains, extended development, and flexible primate social systems. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2012; 195:71-87. [PMID: 22230623 PMCID: PMC3327164 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-444-53860-4.00004-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
Brain size, body size, developmental length, life span, costs of raising offspring, behavioral complexity, and social structures are correlated in mammals due to intrinsic life-history requirements. Dissecting variation and direction of causation in this web of relationships often draw attention away from the factors that correlate with basic life parameters. We consider the "social brain hypothesis," which postulates that overall brain and the isocortex are selectively enlarged to confer social abilities in primates, as an example of this enterprise and pitfalls. We consider patterns of brain scaling, modularity, flexibility of brain organization, the "leverage," and direction of selection on proposed dimensions. We conclude that the evidence supporting selective changes in isocortex or brain size for the isolated ability to manage social relationships is poor. Strong covariation in size and developmental duration coupled with flexible brains allow organisms to adapt in variable social and ecological environments across the life span and in evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine J Charvet
- Behavioral and Evolutionary Neuroscience Group, Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca NY, USA.
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Protein amino acid composition: a genomic signature of encephalization in mammals. PLoS One 2011; 6:e27261. [PMID: 22132093 PMCID: PMC3223171 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0027261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2011] [Accepted: 10/12/2011] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Large brains relative to body size represent an evolutionarily costly adaptation as they are metabolically expensive and demand substantial amounts of time to reach structural and functional maturity thereby exacerbating offspring mortality while delaying reproductive age. In spite of its cost and adaptive impact, no genomic features linked to brain evolution have been found. By conducting a genome-wide analysis in all 37 fully sequenced mammalian genomes, we show that encephalization is significantly correlated with overall protein amino acid composition. This correlation is not a by-product of changes in nucleotide content, lifespan, body size, absolute brain size or genome size; is independent of phylogenetic effects; and is not restricted to brain expressed genes. This is the first report of a relationship between this fundamental and complex trait and changes in protein AA usage, possibly reflecting the high selective demands imposed by the process of encephalization across mammalian lineages.
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Wensink MJ, van Heemst D, Rozing MP, Westendorp RGJ. The maintenance gap: a new theoretical perspective on the evolution of aging. Biogerontology 2011; 13:197-201. [PMID: 22042254 PMCID: PMC3322326 DOI: 10.1007/s10522-011-9362-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2011] [Accepted: 10/14/2011] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
One of the prevailing theories of aging, the disposable soma theory, views aging as the result of the accumulation of damage through imperfect maintenance. Aging, then, is explained from an evolutionary perspective by asserting that this lack of maintenance exists because the required resources are better invested in reproduction. However, the amount of maintenance necessary to prevent aging, ‘maintenance requirement’ has so far been largely neglected and has certainly not been considered from an evolutionary perspective. To our knowledge we are the first to do so, and arrive at the conclusion that all maintenance requirement needs an evolutionary explanation. Increases in maintenance requirement can only be selected for if these are linked with either higher fecundity or better capabilities to cope with environmental challenges to the integrity of the organism. Several observations are suggestive of the latter kind of trade-off, the existence of which leads to the inevitable conclusion that the level of maintenance requirement is in principle unbound. Even the allocation of all available resources to maintenance could be unable to stop aging in some organisms. This has major implications for our understanding of the aging process on both the evolutionary and the mechanistic level. It means that the expected effect of measures to reallocate resources to maintenance from reproduction may be small in some species. We need to have an idea of how much maintenance is necessary in the first place. Our explorations of how natural selection is expected to act on the maintenance requirement provides the first step in understanding this.
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Maternal investment, life histories, and the costs of brain growth in mammals. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2011; 108:6169-74. [PMID: 21444808 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1019140108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 125] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Brain size variation in mammals correlates with life histories: larger-brained species have longer gestations, mature later, and have increased lifespans. These patterns have been explained in terms of developmental costs (larger brains take longer to grow) and cognitive benefits (large brains enhance survival and increase lifespan). In support of the developmental cost hypothesis, we show that evolutionary changes in pre- and postnatal brain growth correlate specifically with duration of the relevant phases of maternal investment (gestation and lactation, respectively). We also find support for the hypothesis that the rate of fetal brain growth is related to the energy turnover of the mother. In contrast, we find no support for hypotheses proposing that costs are accommodated through direct tradeoffs between brain and body growth, or between brain growth and litter size. When the duration of maternal investment is taken into account, adult brain size is uncorrelated with other life history traits such as lifespan. Hence, the general pattern of slower life histories in large-brained species appears to be a direct consequence of developmental costs.
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Abstract
Variation in learning and memory abilities among closely related species, or even among populations of the same species, has opened research into the relationship between cognition, ecological context and the fitness costs, and benefits of learning and memory. Such research programmes have long been dominated by vertebrate studies and by the assumption of a relationship between cognitive abilities, brain size and metabolic costs. Research on these 'large brained' organisms has provided important insights into the understanding of cognitive functions and their adaptive value. In the present review, we discuss some aspects of the fitness costs of learning and memory by focusing on 'mini-brain' studies. Research on learning and memory in insects has challenged some traditional positions and is pushing the boundaries of our understanding of the evolution of learning and memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- James G Burns
- Department of Biology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
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Sex, ecology and the brain: evolutionary correlates of brain structure volumes in Tanganyikan cichlids. PLoS One 2010; 5:e14355. [PMID: 21179407 PMCID: PMC3003682 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0014355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2010] [Accepted: 11/24/2010] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Analyses of the macroevolutionary correlates of brain structure volumes allow pinpointing of selective pressures influencing specific structures. Here we use a multiple regression framework, including phylogenetic information, to analyze brain structure evolution in 43 Tanganyikan cichlid species. We analyzed the effect of ecological and sexually selected traits for species averages, the effect of ecological traits for each sex separately and the influence of sexual selection on structure dimorphism. Our results indicate that both ecological and sexually selected traits have influenced brain structure evolution. The patterns observed in males and females generally followed those observed at the species level. Interestingly, our results suggest that strong sexual selection is associated with reduced structure volumes, since all correlations between sexually selected traits and structure volumes were negative and the only statistically significant association between sexual selection and structure dimorphism was also negative. Finally, we previously found that monoparental female care was associated with increased brain size. However, here cerebellum and hypothalamus volumes, after controlling for brain size, associated negatively with female-only care. Thus, in accord with the mosaic model of brain evolution, brain structure volumes may not respond proportionately to changes in brain size. Indeed selection favoring larger brains can simultaneously lead to a reduction in relative structure volumes.
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