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Dixit T. A synthesis of coevolution across levels of biological organization. Evolution 2024; 78:211-220. [PMID: 38085659 DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpad082] [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: 10/26/2022] [Revised: 04/16/2023] [Accepted: 04/28/2023] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
In evolutionary ecology, coevolution is typically defined as reciprocal evolution of interacting species. However, outside the context of interacting species, the term "coevolution" is also used at levels of biological organization within species (e.g., between males and females, between cells, and between genes or proteins). Furthermore, although evolution is typically defined as "genetic change over time", coevolution need not involve genetic changes in the interacting parties, since cultures can also evolve. In this review, I propose that coevolution be defined more broadly as "reciprocal adaptive evolution at any level of biological organisation". The classification of reciprocal evolution at all levels of biological organization as coevolution would maintain consistency in terminology. More importantly, the broader definition should facilitate greater integration of coevolution research across disciplines. For example, principles usually discussed only in the context of coevolution between species or coevolution between genes (e.g., tight and diffuse coevolution, and compensatory coevolution, respectively) could be more readily applied to new fields. The application of coevolutionary principles to new contexts could also provide benefits to society, for instance in deducing the dynamics of coevolution between cancer cells and cells of the human immune system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanmay Dixit
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- DST-NRF Centre of Excellence at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa
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Spottiswoode CN, Wood BM. Culturally determined interspecies communication between humans and honeyguides. Science 2023; 382:1155-1158. [PMID: 38060656 DOI: 10.1126/science.adh4129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2023] [Accepted: 10/25/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023]
Abstract
Species interactions that vary across environments can create geographical mosaics of genetic coevolution. However, traits mediating species interactions are sometimes culturally inherited. Here we show that traditions of interspecies communication between people and wild birds vary in a culturally determined geographical mosaic. Honey hunters in different parts of Africa use different calls to communicate with greater honeyguides (Indicator indicator) that lead them to bees' nests. We show experimentally that honeyguides in Tanzania and Mozambique discriminate among honey hunters' calls, responding more readily to local than to foreign calls. This was not explained by variation in sound transmission and instead suggests that honeyguides learn local human signals. We discuss the forces stabilizing and diversifying interspecies communication traditions, and the potential for cultural coevolution between species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire N Spottiswoode
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Brian M Wood
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology, and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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Reeves IM, Totterdell JA, Betty EL, Donnelly DM, George A, Holmes S, Moller L, Stockin KA, Wellard R, White C, Foote AD. Ancestry testing of "Old Tom," a killer whale central to mutualistic interactions with human whalers. J Hered 2023; 114:598-611. [PMID: 37821799 PMCID: PMC10650950 DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esad058] [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: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 09/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Cooperative hunting between humans and killer whales (Orcinus orca) targeting baleen whales was reported in Eden, New South Wales, Australia, for almost a century. By 1928, whaling operations had ceased, and local killer whale sightings became scarce. A killer whale from the group, known as "Old Tom," washed up dead in 1930 and his skeleton was preserved. How these killer whales from Eden relate to other populations globally and whether their genetic descendants persist today remains unknown. We extracted and sequenced DNA from Old Tom using ancient DNA techniques. Genomic sequences were then compared with a global dataset of mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. Old Tom shared a most recent common ancestor with killer whales from Australasia, the North Atlantic, and the North Pacific, having the highest genetic similarity with contemporary New Zealand killer whales. However, much of the variation found in Old Tom's genome was not shared with these widespread populations, suggesting ancestral rather than ongoing gene flow. Our genetic comparisons also failed to find any clear descendants of Tom, raising the possibility of local extinction of this group. We integrated Traditional Custodian knowledge to recapture the events in Eden and recognize that Indigenous Australians initiated the relationship with the killer whales before European colonization and the advent of commercial whaling locally. This study rectifies discrepancies in local records and provides new insight into the origins of the killer whales in Eden and the history of Australasian killer whales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabella M Reeves
- Flinders University, College of Science and Engineering, Bedford Park, Adelaide,South Australia, Australia
- Cetacean Research Centre (CETREC WA), Esperance, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - John A Totterdell
- Cetacean Research Centre (CETREC WA), Esperance, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Emma L Betty
- Cetacean Ecology Research Group, School of Natural Sciences, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - David M Donnelly
- Killer Whales Australia, Mornington, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Angela George
- Eden Killer Whale Museum, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Steven Holmes
- Eden Killer Whale Museum, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Luciana Moller
- Flinders University, College of Science and Engineering, Bedford Park, Adelaide,South Australia, Australia
- Cetacean Ecology, Behaviour and Evolution Laboratory, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- Molecular Ecology Laboratory, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Karen A Stockin
- Cetacean Ecology Research Group, School of Natural Sciences, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
| | | | - Charlie White
- Flinders University, College of Science and Engineering, Bedford Park, Adelaide,South Australia, Australia
- Cetacean Ecology, Behaviour and Evolution Laboratory, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Andrew D Foote
- Department of Natural History, NTNU University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
- Department of Biosciences, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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Cram DL, Lloyd-Jones DJ, van der Wal JEM, Lund J, Buanachique IO, Muamedi M, Nanguar CI, Ngovene A, Raveh S, Boner W, Spottiswoode CN. Guides and cheats: producer-scrounger dynamics in the human-honeyguide mutualism. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20232024. [PMID: 37935365 PMCID: PMC10645085 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Foraging animals commonly choose whether to find new food (as 'producers') or scavenge from others (as 'scroungers'), and this decision has ecological and evolutionary consequences. Understanding these tactic decisions is particularly vital for naturally occurring producer-scrounger systems of economic importance, because they determine the system's productivity and resilience. Here, we investigate how individuals' traits predict tactic decisions, and the consistency and pay-offs of these decisions, in the remarkable mutualism between humans (Homo sapiens) and greater honeyguides (Indicator indicator). Honeyguides can either guide people to bees' nests and eat the resulting beeswax (producing), or scavenge beeswax (scrounging). Our results suggest that honeyguides flexibly switched tactics, and that guiding yielded greater access to the beeswax. Birds with longer tarsi scrounged more, perhaps because they are more competitive. The lightest females rarely guided, possibly to avoid aggression, or because genetic matrilines may affect female body mass and behaviour in this species. Overall, aspects of this producer-scrounger system probably increase the productivity and resilience of the associated human-honeyguide mutualism, because the pay-offs incentivize producing, and tactic-switching increases the pool of potential producers. Broadly, our findings suggest that even where tactic-switching is prevalent and producing yields greater pay-offs, certain phenotypes may be predisposed to one tactic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dominic L. Cram
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - David J. Lloyd-Jones
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
| | - Jessica E. M. van der Wal
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
| | - Jess Lund
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB2 3EJ, UK
| | | | | | | | - Antonio Ngovene
- EO Wilson Biodiversity Laboratory, Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique
| | - Shirley Raveh
- School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Graham Kerr Building, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Winnie Boner
- School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Graham Kerr Building, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Claire N. Spottiswoode
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB2 3EJ, UK
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
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Abstract
Interactions between humans and nature have profound consequences, which rarely are mutually beneficial. Further, behavioral and environmental changes can turn human-wildlife cooperative interactions into conflicts, threatening their continued existence. By tracking fine-scale behavioral interactions between artisanal fishers and wild dolphins targeting migratory mullets, we reveal that foraging synchrony is key to benefiting both predators. Dolphins herd mullet schools toward the coast, increasing prey availability within the reach of the net-casting fishers, who gain higher foraging success-but only when matching the casting behavior with the dolphins' foraging cues. In turn, when dolphins approach the fishers' nets closely and cue fishers in, they dive for longer and modify their active foraging echolocation to match the time it takes for nets to sink and close over mullets-but only when fishers respond to their foraging cues appropriately. Using long-term demographic surveys, we show that cooperative foraging generates socioeconomic benefits for net-casting fishers and ca. 13% survival benefits for cooperative dolphins by minimizing spatial overlap with bycatch-prone fisheries. However, recent declines in mullet availability are threatening these short- and long-term benefits by reducing the foraging success of net-casting fishers and increasing the exposure of dolphins to bycatch in the alternative fisheries. Using a numerical model parametrized with our empirical data, we predict that environmental and behavioral changes are pushing this traditional human-dolphin cooperation toward extinction. We propose two possible conservation actions targeting fishers' behavior that could prevent the erosion of this century-old fishery, thereby safeguarding one of the last remaining cases of human-wildlife cooperation.
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Ritter F. Marine mammal conservation in the 21st century: A plea for a paradigm shift towards mindful conservation. ADVANCES IN MARINE BIOLOGY 2022; 93:3-21. [PMID: 36435593 DOI: 10.1016/bs.amb.2022.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Marine mammals are regarded in high esteem by the general public, and are recognized as flagship species for conservation, while at the same time they suffer from anthropogenic impacts on a global scale, and often in extreme ways. It seems there is a huge discrepancy between how we humans think about our fellow creatures in the sea, and how we behave to impact and/or conserve them. Here, I examine why the purely scientific and thus intellectual approach to marine mammal conservation has had limited success over the past decades. While there are some obvious success stories in cetacean conservation, the situation today is, for many species and populations, more dire than it has ever been. The idea of 'we need to know more'-a credo of the scientific community-often is politically misrepresented to postpone necessary conservation decisions. To adapt our path towards more profound and, importantly, more effective marine conservation, as conservationists we need to go deeper and change the narrative of separation, i.e., the concept of humans being set apart from the rest of nature. Instead, there is a need to create a narrative of connectedness, i.e., the consciousness of humans being an integral part of the planetary system. Rather than telling horror stories about the plight of marine mammals, conservationists also need to trigger positive emotions about them in ourselves. More holistic aspects of conservation need to be incorporated in our future efforts, including the fuller integration of traditional knowledge and indigenous wisdom, recognizing ecosystem functions of marine life and protecting the processes they sustain, respecting 'holiness' of nature while focusing on the animals' individuality, personhood and the cultural identity of distinct communities. Effective marine mammal conservation will be possible only on the basis of a profound change of our own values and a fundamental change of the societal system we are living in.
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Spottiswoode CN, Lund J, Lloyd-Jones DJ. Honeyguides. Curr Biol 2022; 32:R1072-R1074. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.08.076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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Cram DL, van der Wal JEM, Uomini N, Cantor M, Afan AI, Attwood MC, Amphaeris J, Balasani F, Blair CJ, Bronstein JL, Buanachique IO, Cuthill RRT, Das J, Daura‐Jorge FG, Deb A, Dixit T, Dlamini GS, Dounias E, Gedi II, Gruber M, Hoffmann LS, Holzlehner T, Isack HA, Laltaika EA, Lloyd‐Jones DJ, Lund J, Machado AMS, Mahadevan L, Moreno IB, Nwaogu CJ, Pierotti R, Rucunua SA, dos Santos WF, Serpa N, Smith BD, Sridhar H, Tolkova I, Tun T, Valle‐Pereira JVS, Wood BM, Wrangham RW, Spottiswoode CN. The ecology and evolution of human‐wildlife cooperation. PEOPLE AND NATURE 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/pan3.10369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - Jessica E. M. van der Wal
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology Department of Science and Innovation‐National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town Cape Town South Africa
| | - Natalie Uomini
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Leipzig Germany
| | - Mauricio Cantor
- Department of Ecology and Zoology Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Florianópolis Brazil
- Department of Fisheries Wildlife and Conservation Sciences, Marine Mammal Institute, Oregon State University Newport Oregon USA
- Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Radolfzell Germany
- Centre of Marine Studies Universidade Federal do Paraná Pontal do Paraná Brazil
| | - Anap I. Afan
- A.P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute University of Jos Jos Nigeria
| | | | - Jenny Amphaeris
- School of Arts Culture and Language, Bangor University Bangor UK
| | | | - Cameron J. Blair
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology Department of Science and Innovation‐National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town Cape Town South Africa
| | - Judith L. Bronstein
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology University of Arizona Tucson Arizona USA
| | | | - Rion R. T. Cuthill
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology Department of Science and Innovation‐National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town Cape Town South Africa
| | - Jewel Das
- Institute of Marine Sciences University of Chittagong Chittagong Bangladesh
| | - Fábio G. Daura‐Jorge
- Department of Ecology and Zoology Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Florianópolis Brazil
| | - Apurba Deb
- Department of Environment, Climate and Parks Government of Manitoba Manitoba Canada
| | - Tanmay Dixit
- Department of Zoology University of Cambridge Cambridge UK
| | | | - Edmond Dounias
- CEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD Montpellier France
| | | | - Martin Gruber
- Department of Anthropology and Cultural Research University of Bremen Bremen Germany
| | - Lilian S. Hoffmann
- Cytogenetics and Evolution Lab Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Porto Alegre Brazil
| | - Tobias Holzlehner
- Seminar für Ethnologie Martin‐Luther‐University Halle‐Wittenberg Halle Germany
| | | | - Eliupendo A. Laltaika
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology Department of Science and Innovation‐National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town Cape Town South Africa
- Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority Ngorongoro Tanzania
| | - David J. Lloyd‐Jones
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology Department of Science and Innovation‐National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town Cape Town South Africa
| | - Jess Lund
- Department of Zoology University of Cambridge Cambridge UK
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology Department of Science and Innovation‐National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town Cape Town South Africa
| | - Alexandre M. S. Machado
- Department of Ecology and Zoology Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Florianópolis Brazil
| | - L. Mahadevan
- Department of Physics Harvard University Cambridge Massachusetts USA
- School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Harvard University Cambridge Massachusetts USA
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Harvard University Cambridge Massachusetts USA
| | - Ignacio B. Moreno
- Centro de Estudos Costeiros Limnológicos e Marinhos, Campus Litoral Norte, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Imbé Brazil
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Biologia Animal Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Porto Alegre Brazil
| | - Chima J. Nwaogu
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology Department of Science and Innovation‐National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town Cape Town South Africa
| | - Raymond Pierotti
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology University of Kansas Lawrence Kansas USA
| | | | | | - Nathalia Serpa
- Centro de Estudos Costeiros Limnológicos e Marinhos, Campus Litoral Norte, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Imbé Brazil
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Biologia Animal Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Porto Alegre Brazil
| | | | - Hari Sridhar
- Independent Researcher Bengaluru Karnataka India
| | - Irina Tolkova
- School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Harvard University Cambridge Massachusetts USA
| | | | | | - Brian M. Wood
- Department of Anthropology University of California Los Angeles USA
- Department of Human Behavior Ecology, and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Leipzig Germany
| | - Richard W. Wrangham
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology Harvard University Cambridge Massachusetts USA
| | - Claire N. Spottiswoode
- Department of Zoology University of Cambridge Cambridge UK
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology Department of Science and Innovation‐National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town Cape Town South Africa
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