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Zipple MN, Kuo DC, Meng X, Reichard TM, Guess K, Vogt CC, Moeller AH, Sheehan MJ. Sex-specific competitive social feedback amplifies the role of early life contingency in male mice. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.19.590322. [PMID: 38659792 PMCID: PMC11042324 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.19.590322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Contingency (or 'luck') in early life plays an important role in shaping individuals' development. When individuals live within larger societies, social experiences may cause the importance of early contingencies to be magnified or dampened. Here we test the hypothesis that competition magnifies the importance of early contingency in a sex-specific manner by comparing the developmental trajectories of genetically identical, free-living mice who either experienced high levels of territorial competition (males) or did not (females). We show that male territoriality results in a competitive feedback loop that magnifies the importance of early contingency and pushes individuals onto divergent, self-reinforcing life trajectories, while the same process appears absent in females. Our results indicate that the strength of sexual selection may be self-limiting, as within-sex competition increases the importance of early life contingency, thereby reducing the ability of selection to lead to evolution. They also demonstrate the potential for contingency to lead to dramatic differences in life outcomes, even in the absence of any underlying differences in ability ('merit').
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2
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Klaassen H, Tissot S, Meliani J, Boutry J, Miltiadous A, Biro PA, Mitchell DJ, Ujvari B, Schultz A, Thomas F, Dujon AM. Behavioural ecology meets oncology: quantifying the recovery of animal behaviour to a transient exposure to a cancer risk factor. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20232666. [PMID: 38351808 PMCID: PMC10865010 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Wildlife is increasingly exposed to sublethal transient cancer risk factors, including mutagenic substances, which activates their anti-cancer defences, promotes tumourigenesis, and may negatively impact populations. Little is known about how exposure to cancer risk factors impacts the behaviour of wildlife. Here, we investigated the effects of a sublethal, short-term exposure to a carcinogen at environmentally relevant concentrations on the activity patterns of wild Girardia tigrina planaria during a two-phase experiment, consisting of a 7-day exposure to cadmium period followed by a 7-day recovery period. To comprehensively explore the effects of the exposure on activity patterns, we employed the double hierarchical generalized linear model framework which explicitly models residual intraindividual variability in addition to the mean and variance of the population. We found that exposed planaria were less active compared to unexposed individuals and were able to recover to pre-exposure activity levels albeit with a reduced variance in activity at the start of the recovery phase. Planaria showing high activity levels were less predictable with larger daily activity variations and higher residual variance. Thus, the shift in behavioural variability induced by an exposure to a cancer risk factor can be quantified using advanced tools from the field of behavioural ecology. This is required to understand how tumourous processes affect the ecology of species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiske Klaassen
- Geelong, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216, Australia
- CREEC/CANECEV (CREES), MIVEGEC, IRD 224–CNRS 5290–Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Sophie Tissot
- CREEC/CANECEV (CREES), MIVEGEC, IRD 224–CNRS 5290–Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Jordan Meliani
- CREEC/CANECEV (CREES), MIVEGEC, IRD 224–CNRS 5290–Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Justine Boutry
- CREEC/CANECEV (CREES), MIVEGEC, IRD 224–CNRS 5290–Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Anna Miltiadous
- Geelong, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216, Australia
| | - Peter A. Biro
- Geelong, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216, Australia
- CREEC/CANECEV (CREES), MIVEGEC, IRD 224–CNRS 5290–Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | | | - Beata Ujvari
- Geelong, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216, Australia
- CREEC/CANECEV (CREES), MIVEGEC, IRD 224–CNRS 5290–Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Aaron Schultz
- Geelong, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216, Australia
- CREEC/CANECEV (CREES), MIVEGEC, IRD 224–CNRS 5290–Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Frédéric Thomas
- Geelong, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216, Australia
- CREEC/CANECEV (CREES), MIVEGEC, IRD 224–CNRS 5290–Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Antoine M. Dujon
- Geelong, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216, Australia
- CREEC/CANECEV (CREES), MIVEGEC, IRD 224–CNRS 5290–Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
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3
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Robinson GE, Bliss R, Hudson ME. The genomic case against genetic determinism. PLoS Biol 2024; 22:e3002510. [PMID: 38412239 PMCID: PMC10898719 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Animal studies reveal that the molecular wiring of the brain can be altered by heredity, the environment, and their interaction. A deeper molecular understanding of these interactions could be a potent antidote to societal concerns of genetic determinism for human behavior, but this requires a paradigm that extends beyond traditional genome-wide association study (GWAS).
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Affiliation(s)
- Gene E. Robinson
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, United States of America
- Department of Entomology, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, United States of America
- Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Rina Bliss
- Department of Sociology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States of America
| | - Matthew E. Hudson
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, United States of America
- Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, United States of America
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4
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Scherer U, Ehlman SM, Bierbach D, Krause J, Wolf M. Reproductive individuality of clonal fish raised in near-identical environments and its link to early-life behavioral individuality. Nat Commun 2023; 14:7652. [PMID: 38001119 PMCID: PMC10673926 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43069-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2023] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent studies have documented among-individual phenotypic variation that emerges in the absence of apparent genetic and environmental differences, but it remains an open question whether such seemingly stochastic variation has fitness consequences. We perform a life-history experiment with naturally clonal fish, separated directly after birth into near-identical (i.e., highly standardized) environments, quantifying 2522 offspring from 152 broods over 280 days. We find that (i) individuals differ consistently in the size of offspring and broods produced over consecutive broods, (ii) these differences are observed even when controlling for trade-offs between brood size, offspring size and reproductive onset, indicating individual differences in life-history productivity and (iii) early-life behavioral individuality in activity and feeding patterns, with among-individual differences in feeding being predictive of growth, and consequently offspring size. Thus, our study provides experimental evidence that even when minimizing genetic and environmental differences, systematic individual differences in life-history measures and ultimately fitness can emerge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ulrike Scherer
- SCIoI Excellence Cluster, Technische Universität Berlin, 10587, Berlin, Germany.
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117, Berlin, Germany.
- Department of Fish Biology, Fisheries, and Aquaculture, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, 12587, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Sean M Ehlman
- SCIoI Excellence Cluster, Technische Universität Berlin, 10587, Berlin, Germany
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Fish Biology, Fisheries, and Aquaculture, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, 12587, Berlin, Germany
| | - David Bierbach
- SCIoI Excellence Cluster, Technische Universität Berlin, 10587, Berlin, Germany
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Fish Biology, Fisheries, and Aquaculture, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, 12587, Berlin, Germany
| | - Jens Krause
- SCIoI Excellence Cluster, Technische Universität Berlin, 10587, Berlin, Germany
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Fish Biology, Fisheries, and Aquaculture, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, 12587, Berlin, Germany
| | - Max Wolf
- SCIoI Excellence Cluster, Technische Universität Berlin, 10587, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Fish Biology, Fisheries, and Aquaculture, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, 12587, Berlin, Germany
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5
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Stamps JA, Biro PA. Time-specific convergence and divergence in individual differences in behavior: Theory, protocols and analyzes. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10615. [PMID: 38034332 PMCID: PMC10682899 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2023] [Revised: 09/23/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Over the years, theoreticians and empiricists working in a wide range of disciplines, including physiology, ethology, psychology, and behavioral ecology, have suggested a variety of reasons why individual differences in behavior might change over time, such that different individuals become more similar (convergence) or less similar (divergence) to one another. Virtually none of these investigators have suggested that convergence or divergence will continue forever, instead proposing that these patterns will be restricted to particular periods over the course of a longer study. However, to date, few empiricists have documented time-specific convergence or divergence, in part because the experimental designs and statistical methods suitable for describing these patterns are not widely known. Here, we begin by reviewing an array of influential hypotheses that predict convergence or divergence in individual differences over timescales ranging from minutes to years, and that suggest how and why such patterns are likely to change over time (e.g., divergence followed by maintenance). Then, we describe experimental designs and statistical methods that can be used to determine if (and when) individual differences converged, diverged, or were maintained at the same level at specific periods during a longitudinal study. Finally, we describe why the concepts described herein help explain the discrepancy between what theoreticians and empiricists mean when they describe the "emergence" of individual differences or personality, how they might be used to study situations in which convergence and divergence patterns alternate over time, and how they might be used to study time-specific changes in other attributes of behavior, including individual differences in intraindividual variability (predictability), or genotypic differences in behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judy A. Stamps
- Department of Evolution and EcologyUniversity of California, DavisDavisCaliforniaUSA
| | - Peter A. Biro
- School of Life and Environmental SciencesDeakin UniversityGeelongVictoriaAustralia
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6
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Kenkel W. Automated behavioral scoring: Do we even need humans? Ann N Y Acad Sci 2023; 1527:25-29. [PMID: 37497814 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.15041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
The development of automated behavior scoring technology has been a tremendous boon to the study of social behavior. However, completely outsourcing behavioral analysis to a computer runs the risk of overlooking important nuances, and researchers risk distancing themselves from their very object of study. Here, I make the case that while automating analysis has been valuable, and overautomating analysis is risky, more effort should be spent automating the collection of behavioral data. Continuous automated behavioral observations conducted in situ have the promise to reduce confounding elements of social behavior research, such as handling stress, novel environments, one-time "snapshot" measures, and experimenter presence. Now that we have the capability to automatically process behavioral observations thanks to machine vision and machine learning, we would do well to leverage the same open-source ethos to increase the throughput of behavioral observation and collection. Fortunately, several such platforms have recently been developed. Repeated testing in the home environment will produce higher qualities and quantities of data, bringing us closer to realizing the ethological goals of studying animal behavior in a naturalistic context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Will Kenkel
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA
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7
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Patricelli GL. Behavioral ecology: New technology enables a more holistic view of complex animal behavior. PLoS Biol 2023; 21:e3002264. [PMID: 37619242 PMCID: PMC10449220 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/26/2023] Open
Abstract
As any animal observer will tell you, behavior is complex. A more holistic view of this complexity is emerging as technological advances enable the study of spatiotemporal variability and expand the focus from single components to behavioral systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gail L. Patricelli
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, California, United States of America
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8
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Ogino M, Strauss ED, Farine DR. Challenges of mismatching timescales in longitudinal studies of collective behaviour. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20220064. [PMID: 36802775 PMCID: PMC9939264 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 11/11/2022] [Indexed: 02/21/2023] Open
Abstract
How individuals' prior experience and population evolutionary history shape emergent patterns in animal collectives remains a major gap in the study of collective behaviour. One reason for this is that the processes that can shape individual contributions to collective actions can happen over very different timescales from each other and from the collective actions themselves, resulting in mismatched timescales. For example, a preference to move towards a specific patch might arise from phenotype, memory or physiological state. Although providing critical context to collective actions, bridging different timescales remains conceptually and methodologically challenging. Here, we briefly outline some of these challenges, and discuss existing approaches that have already generated insights into the factors shaping individual contributions in animal collectives. We then explore a case study of mismatching timescales-defining relevant group membership-by combining fine-scaled GPS tracking data and daily field census data from a wild population of vulturine guineafowl (Acryllium vulturinum). We show that applying different temporal definitions can produce different assignments of individuals into groups. These assignments can then have consequences when determining individuals' social history, and thus the conclusions we might draw on the impacts of the social environment on collective actions. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Collective behaviour through time'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mina Ogino
- Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
| | - Eli D. Strauss
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Universitatsstrasse 10, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, 104 Natural Science Building, East Lansing, MI 48824-1115, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
| | - Damien R. Farine
- Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, 46 Sullivans Creek Road, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
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9
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Furrer R, Carmi S, Lencz T, Lázaro-Muñoz G. Nurtured Genetics: Prenatal Testing and the Anchoring of Genetic Expectancies. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOETHICS : AJOB 2023; 23:42-44. [PMID: 36919544 PMCID: PMC10472275 DOI: 10.1080/15265161.2023.2169397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Rémy Furrer
- Harvard Medical School, Center for Bioethics
| | | | - Todd Lencz
- Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine
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10
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Ehlman SM, Scherer U, Bierbach D, Francisco FA, Laskowski KL, Krause J, Wolf M. Leveraging big data to uncover the eco-evolutionary factors shaping behavioural development. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20222115. [PMID: 36722081 PMCID: PMC9890127 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.2115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Mapping the eco-evolutionary factors shaping the development of animals' behavioural phenotypes remains a great challenge. Recent advances in 'big behavioural data' research-the high-resolution tracking of individuals and the harnessing of that data with powerful analytical tools-have vastly improved our ability to measure and model developing behavioural phenotypes. Applied to the study of behavioural ontogeny, the unfolding of whole behavioural repertoires can be mapped in unprecedented detail with relative ease. This overcomes long-standing experimental bottlenecks and heralds a surge of studies that more finely define and explore behavioural-experiential trajectories across development. In this review, we first provide a brief guide to state-of-the-art approaches that allow the collection and analysis of high-resolution behavioural data across development. We then outline how such approaches can be used to address key issues regarding the ecological and evolutionary factors shaping behavioural development: developmental feedbacks between behaviour and underlying states, early life effects and behavioural transitions, and information integration across development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean M. Ehlman
- SCIoI Excellence Cluster, 10587 Berlin, Germany,Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt University, 10117 Berlin, Germany,Department of Fish Biology, Fisheries, and Aquaculture, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, 12587 Berlin, Germany
| | - Ulrike Scherer
- SCIoI Excellence Cluster, 10587 Berlin, Germany,Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt University, 10117 Berlin, Germany,Department of Fish Biology, Fisheries, and Aquaculture, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, 12587 Berlin, Germany
| | - David Bierbach
- SCIoI Excellence Cluster, 10587 Berlin, Germany,Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt University, 10117 Berlin, Germany,Department of Fish Biology, Fisheries, and Aquaculture, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, 12587 Berlin, Germany
| | - Fritz A. Francisco
- SCIoI Excellence Cluster, 10587 Berlin, Germany,Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt University, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Kate L. Laskowski
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California – Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Jens Krause
- SCIoI Excellence Cluster, 10587 Berlin, Germany,Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt University, 10117 Berlin, Germany,Department of Fish Biology, Fisheries, and Aquaculture, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, 12587 Berlin, Germany
| | - Max Wolf
- SCIoI Excellence Cluster, 10587 Berlin, Germany,Department of Fish Biology, Fisheries, and Aquaculture, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, 12587 Berlin, Germany
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