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Beccari E, Capdevila P, Salguero-Gómez R, Carmona CP. Worldwide diversity in mammalian life histories: Environmental realms and evolutionary adaptations. Ecol Lett 2024; 27:e14445. [PMID: 38783648 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14445] [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: 12/11/2023] [Revised: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
Mammalian life history strategies can be characterised by a few axes of variation, conforming a space where species are positioned based on the life history strategies favoured in the environment they exploit. Yet, we still lack global descriptions of the diversity of realised mammalian life history and how this diversity is shaped by the environment. We used six life history traits to build a life history space covering worldwide mammalian adaptation, and we explored how environmental realms (land, air, water) influence mammalian life history strategies. We demonstrate that realms are tightly linked to distinct life history strategies. Aquatic and aerial species predominantly adhere to slower life history strategies, while terrestrial species exhibit faster life histories. Highly encephalised terrestrial species are a notable exception to these patterns. Furthermore, we show that different mode of life may play a significant role in expanding the set of strategies exploitable in the terrestrial realm. Additionally, species transitioning between terrestrial and aquatic realms, such as seals, exhibit intermediate life history strategies. Our results provide compelling evidence of the link between environmental realms and the life history diversity of mammals, highlighting the importance of differences in mode of life to expand life history diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Beccari
- Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - P Capdevila
- Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain
| | - R Salguero-Gómez
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Evolutionary Demography Laboratory, Max Plank Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany
| | - C P Carmona
- Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
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2
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Burton AC, Beirne C, Gaynor KM, Sun C, Granados A, Allen ML, Alston JM, Alvarenga GC, Calderón FSÁ, Amir Z, Anhalt-Depies C, Appel C, Arroyo-Arce S, Balme G, Bar-Massada A, Barcelos D, Barr E, Barthelmess EL, Baruzzi C, Basak SM, Beenaerts N, Belmaker J, Belova O, Bezarević B, Bird T, Bogan DA, Bogdanović N, Boyce A, Boyce M, Brandt L, Brodie JF, Brooke J, Bubnicki JW, Cagnacci F, Carr BS, Carvalho J, Casaer J, Černe R, Chen R, Chow E, Churski M, Cincotta C, Ćirović D, Coates TD, Compton J, Coon C, Cove MV, Crupi AP, Farra SD, Darracq AK, Davis M, Dawe K, De Waele V, Descalzo E, Diserens TA, Drimaj J, Duľa M, Ellis-Felege S, Ellison C, Ertürk A, Fantle-Lepczyk J, Favreau J, Fennell M, Ferreras P, Ferretti F, Fiderer C, Finnegan L, Fisher JT, Fisher-Reid MC, Flaherty EA, Fležar U, Flousek J, Foca JM, Ford A, Franzetti B, Frey S, Fritts S, Frýbová Š, Furnas B, Gerber B, Geyle HM, Giménez DG, Giordano AJ, Gomercic T, Gompper ME, Gräbin DM, Gray M, Green A, Hagen R, Hagen RB, Hammerich S, Hanekom C, Hansen C, Hasstedt S, Hebblewhite M, Heurich M, Hofmeester TR, Hubbard T, Jachowski D, Jansen PA, Jaspers KJ, Jensen A, Jordan M, Kaizer MC, Kelly MJ, Kohl MT, Kramer-Schadt S, Krofel M, Krug A, Kuhn KM, Kuijper DPJ, Kuprewicz EK, Kusak J, Kutal M, Lafferty DJR, LaRose S, Lashley M, Lathrop R, Lee TE, Lepczyk C, Lesmeister DB, Licoppe A, Linnell M, Loch J, Long R, Lonsinger RC, Louvrier J, Luskin MS, MacKay P, Maher S, Manet B, Mann GKH, Marshall AJ, Mason D, McDonald Z, McKay T, McShea WJ, Mechler M, Miaud C, Millspaugh JJ, Monteza-Moreno CM, Moreira-Arce D, Mullen K, Nagy C, Naidoo R, Namir I, Nelson C, O'Neill B, O'Mara MT, Oberosler V, Osorio C, Ossi F, Palencia P, Pearson K, Pedrotti L, Pekins CE, Pendergast M, Pinho FF, Plhal R, Pocasangre-Orellana X, Price M, Procko M, Proctor MD, Ramalho EE, Ranc N, Reljic S, Remine K, Rentz M, Revord R, Reyna-Hurtado R, Risch D, Ritchie EG, Romero A, Rota C, Rovero F, Rowe H, Rutz C, Salvatori M, Sandow D, Schalk CM, Scherger J, Schipper J, Scognamillo DG, Şekercioğlu ÇH, Semenzato P, Sevin J, Shamon H, Shier C, Silva-Rodríguez EA, Sindicic M, Smyth LK, Soyumert A, Sprague T, St Clair CC, Stenglein J, Stephens PA, Stępniak KM, Stevens M, Stevenson C, Ternyik B, Thomson I, Torres RT, Tremblay J, Urrutia T, Vacher JP, Visscher D, Webb SL, Weber J, Weiss KCB, Whipple LS, Whittier CA, Whittington J, Wierzbowska I, Wikelski M, Williamson J, Wilmers CC, Windle T, Wittmer HU, Zharikov Y, Zorn A, Kays R. Mammal responses to global changes in human activity vary by trophic group and landscape. Nat Ecol Evol 2024; 8:924-935. [PMID: 38499871 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-024-02363-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 03/20/2024]
Abstract
Wildlife must adapt to human presence to survive in the Anthropocene, so it is critical to understand species responses to humans in different contexts. We used camera trapping as a lens to view mammal responses to changes in human activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Across 163 species sampled in 102 projects around the world, changes in the amount and timing of animal activity varied widely. Under higher human activity, mammals were less active in undeveloped areas but unexpectedly more active in developed areas while exhibiting greater nocturnality. Carnivores were most sensitive, showing the strongest decreases in activity and greatest increases in nocturnality. Wildlife managers must consider how habituation and uneven sensitivity across species may cause fundamental differences in human-wildlife interactions along gradients of human influence.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Cole Burton
- Department of Forest Resources Management, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
- Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
| | - Christopher Beirne
- Department of Forest Resources Management, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Kaitlyn M Gaynor
- Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Departments of Zoology and Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Catherine Sun
- Department of Forest Resources Management, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Alys Granados
- Department of Forest Resources Management, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Maximilian L Allen
- Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL, USA
| | - Jesse M Alston
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | | | | | - Zachary Amir
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | | | - Cara Appel
- College of Agricultural Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA
| | | | | | - Avi Bar-Massada
- Department of Biology and Environment, University of Haifa at Oranim, Kiryat Tivon, Israel
| | | | - Evan Barr
- Watershed Studies Institute, Murray State University, Murray, KY, USA
| | | | - Carolina Baruzzi
- School of Forest, Fisheries and Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Sayantani M Basak
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
| | - Natalie Beenaerts
- Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium
| | - Jonathan Belmaker
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Olgirda Belova
- Institute of Forestry, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Kėdainių, Lithuania
| | | | | | | | - Neda Bogdanović
- Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Andy Boyce
- Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Mark Boyce
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | | | - Jedediah F Brodie
- Division of Biological Sciences & Wildlife Biology Program, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA
- Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, Malaysia
| | | | - Jakub W Bubnicki
- Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Białowieża, Poland
| | - Francesca Cagnacci
- Animal Ecology Unit, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Trento, Italy
- National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC), Palermo, Italy
| | - Benjamin Scott Carr
- Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - João Carvalho
- Department of Biology and Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Jim Casaer
- Research Institute for Nature and Forest, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Rok Černe
- Slovenia Forest Service, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Ron Chen
- Hamaarag, Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Emily Chow
- British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Marcin Churski
- Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Białowieża, Poland
| | | | - Duško Ćirović
- Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - T D Coates
- Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | | | | | - Michael V Cove
- North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | | | - Simone Dal Farra
- Animal Ecology Unit, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Trento, Italy
| | - Andrea K Darracq
- Watershed Studies Institute, Murray State University, Murray, KY, USA
| | | | - Kimberly Dawe
- Quest University Canada, Squamish, British Columbia, Canada
| | | | - Esther Descalzo
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Tom A Diserens
- Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Białowieża, Poland
- Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Jakub Drimaj
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Duľa
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
- Friends of the Earth Czech Republic, Carnivore Conservation Programme, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | | | | | - Alper Ertürk
- Hunting and Wildlife Program, Kastamonu University, Kastamonu, Turkey
| | - Jean Fantle-Lepczyk
- College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
| | | | - Mitch Fennell
- Department of Forest Resources Management, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Pablo Ferreras
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Francesco Ferretti
- National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC), Palermo, Italy
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Christian Fiderer
- Bavarian Forest National Park, Grafenau, Germany
- University of Freiburg, Breisgau, Germany
| | | | - Jason T Fisher
- University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
| | | | | | - Urša Fležar
- Slovenia Forest Service, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Jiří Flousek
- Krkonoše Mountains National Park, Vrchlabí, Czech Republic
| | - Jennifer M Foca
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Adam Ford
- Department of Biology, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Barbara Franzetti
- Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Rome, Italy
| | - Sandra Frey
- University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
| | | | - Šárka Frýbová
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Brett Furnas
- California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | | | - Hayley M Geyle
- Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
| | - Diego G Giménez
- Society for the Preservation of Endangered Carnivores and their International Ecological Study (S.P.E.C.I.E.S.), Ventura, CA, USA
| | - Anthony J Giordano
- Society for the Preservation of Endangered Carnivores and their International Ecological Study (S.P.E.C.I.E.S.), Ventura, CA, USA
| | - Tomislav Gomercic
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | | | | | | | | | - Robert Hagen
- Agricultural Center for Cattle, Grassland, Dairy, Game and Fisheries of Baden-Württemberg, Aulendorf, Germany
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Mark Hebblewhite
- Division of Biological Sciences & Wildlife Biology Program, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA
| | - Marco Heurich
- Bavarian Forest National Park, Grafenau, Germany
- University of Freiburg, Breisgau, Germany
- Inland Norway University, Hamar, Norway
| | - Tim R Hofmeester
- Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Tru Hubbard
- Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI, USA
| | | | - Patrick A Jansen
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panama
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Michel T Kohl
- Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Stephanie Kramer-Schadt
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
- Institute of Ecology, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Miha Krofel
- Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | | | | | - Dries P J Kuijper
- Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Białowieża, Poland
| | | | - Josip Kusak
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Miroslav Kutal
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
- Friends of the Earth Czech Republic, Carnivore Conservation Programme, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | | | | | - Marcus Lashley
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | | | | | - Christopher Lepczyk
- College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
| | - Damon B Lesmeister
- United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Corvallis, OR, USA
| | | | - Marco Linnell
- United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Corvallis, OR, USA
| | - Jan Loch
- Scientific Laboratory of Gorce National Park, Niedźwiedź, Poland
| | | | | | - Julie Louvrier
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Matthew Scott Luskin
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | | | - Sean Maher
- Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, USA
| | | | | | | | - David Mason
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | | | | | - William J McShea
- Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, Washington, DC, USA
| | | | - Claude Miaud
- CEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE-PSL University, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | | | | | - Dario Moreira-Arce
- Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH) and Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB), Santiago, Chile
| | | | | | | | - Itai Namir
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Carrie Nelson
- Effigy Mounds National Monument, Harper's Ferry, WV, USA
| | - Brian O'Neill
- University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Whitewater, WI, USA
| | | | | | | | - Federico Ossi
- Animal Ecology Unit, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Trento, Italy
- National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC), Palermo, Italy
| | - Pablo Palencia
- University of Castilla-La Mancha Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, Ciudad Real, Spain
- Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Kimberly Pearson
- Parks Canada-Waterton Lakes National Park, Waterton Park, Alberta, Canada
| | | | | | | | | | - Radim Plhal
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
| | | | | | - Michael Procko
- Department of Forest Resources Management, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | | | | | - Nathan Ranc
- Animal Ecology Unit, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Trento, Italy
- Université de Toulouse, INRAE, CEFS, Castanet-Tolosan, France
| | - Slaven Reljic
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | | | | | | | | | - Derek Risch
- University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA
| | - Euan G Ritchie
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Andrea Romero
- University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Whitewater, WI, USA
| | | | - Francesco Rovero
- Museo delle Scienze (MUSE), Trento, Italy
- Department of Biology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | - Helen Rowe
- McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, Scottsdale, AZ, USA
- Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | - Christian Rutz
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Marco Salvatori
- Museo delle Scienze (MUSE), Trento, Italy
- Department of Biology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | - Derek Sandow
- Northern and Yorke Landscape Board, Clare, South Australia, Australia
| | - Christopher M Schalk
- United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Nacogdoches, TX, USA
| | - Jenna Scherger
- Department of Biology, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Jan Schipper
- Arizona State University, West, Glendale, AZ, USA
| | | | | | - Paola Semenzato
- Research, Ecology and Environment Dimension (D.R.E.A.M.), Pistoia, Italy
| | | | - Hila Shamon
- Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Catherine Shier
- Planning and Environmental Services, City of Edmonton, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Eduardo A Silva-Rodríguez
- Instituto de Conservación, Biodiversidad y Territorio & Programa Austral Patagonia, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Magda Sindicic
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Lucy K Smyth
- Panthera, New York, NY, USA
- iCWild, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Anil Soyumert
- Hunting and Wildlife Program, Kastamonu University, Kastamonu, Turkey
| | | | | | | | - Philip A Stephens
- Conservation Ecology Group, Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | - Kinga Magdalena Stępniak
- Department of Ecology, Institute of Functional Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | | | - Cassondra Stevenson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Bálint Ternyik
- Conservation Ecology Group, Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Durham, UK
- United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), Cambridge, UK
| | - Ian Thomson
- Coastal Jaguar Conservation, Heredia, Costa Rica
| | - Rita T Torres
- Department of Biology and Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | | | | | - Jean-Pierre Vacher
- CEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE-PSL University, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | | | - Stephen L Webb
- Natural Resources Institute and Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Julian Weber
- Oeko-Log Freilandforschung, Friedrichswalde, Germany
| | | | | | | | | | - Izabela Wierzbowska
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
| | - Martin Wikelski
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | | | - Christopher C Wilmers
- Environmental Studies Department, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Todd Windle
- Parks Canada, Alberni-Clayoquot, British Columbia, Canada
| | | | | | - Adam Zorn
- University of Mount Union, Alliance, OH, USA
| | - Roland Kays
- North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC, USA
- North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
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Yuan R, Hascup E, Hascup K, Bartke A. Relationships among Development, Growth, Body Size, Reproduction, Aging, and Longevity - Trade-Offs and Pace-Of-Life. BIOCHEMISTRY. BIOKHIMIIA 2023; 88:1692-1703. [PMID: 38105191 PMCID: PMC10792675 DOI: 10.1134/s0006297923110020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2023] [Revised: 10/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Relationships of growth, metabolism, reproduction, and body size to the biological process of aging and longevity have been studied for decades and various unifying "theories of aging" have been proposed to account for the observed associations. In general, fast development, early sexual maturation leading to early reproductive effort, as well as production of many offspring, have been linked to shorter lifespans. The relationship of adult body size to longevity includes a remarkable contrast between the positive correlation in comparisons between different species and the negative correlation seen in comparisons of individuals within the same species. We now propose that longevity and presumably also the rate of aging are related to the "pace-of-life." A slow pace-of-life including slow growth, late sexual maturation, and a small number of offspring, predicts slow aging and long life. The fast pace of life (rapid growth, early sexual maturation, and major reproductive effort) is associated with faster aging and shorter life, presumably due to underlying trade-offs. The proposed relationships between the pace-of-life and longevity apply to both inter- and intra-species comparisons as well as to dietary, genetic, and pharmacological interventions that extend life and to evidence for early life programming of the trajectory of aging. Although available evidence suggests the causality of at least some of these associations, much further work will be needed to verify this interpretation and to identify mechanisms that are responsible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rong Yuan
- Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Springfield, IL 19628, USA.
| | - Erin Hascup
- Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Department of Medical, Microbial, Cellular Immunology and Biology, Springfield, IL 19628, USA.
| | - Kevin Hascup
- Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Department of Medical, Microbial, Cellular Immunology and Biology, Springfield, IL 19628, USA.
- Department of Neurology, Dale and Deborah Smith Center for Alzheimer's Research and Treatment, Neuroscience Institute, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois, USA
| | - Andrzej Bartke
- Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Springfield, IL 19628, USA.
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4
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Nengovhela A, Ivy CM, Scott GR, Denys C, Taylor PJ. Counter-gradient variation and the expensive tissue hypothesis explain parallel brain size reductions at high elevation in cricetid and murid rodents. Sci Rep 2023; 13:5617. [PMID: 37024565 PMCID: PMC10079977 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-32498-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2022] [Accepted: 03/28/2023] [Indexed: 04/08/2023] Open
Abstract
To better understand functional morphological adaptations to high elevation (> 3000 m above sea level) life in both North American and African mountain-associated rodents, we used microCT scanning to acquire 3D images and a 3D morphometric approach to calculate endocranial volumes and skull lengths. This was done on 113 crania of low-elevation and high-elevation populations in species of North American cricetid mice (two Peromyscus species, n = 53), and African murid rodents of two tribes, Otomyini (five species, n = 49) and Praomyini (four species, n = 11). We tested two distinct hypotheses for how endocranial volume might vary in high-elevation populations: the expensive tissue hypothesis, which predicts that brain and endocranial volumes will be reduced to lessen the costs of growing and maintaining a large brain; and the brain-swelling hypothesis, which predicts that endocranial volumes will be increased either as a direct phenotypic effect or as an adaptation to accommodate brain swelling and thus minimize pathological symptoms of altitude sickness. After correcting for general allometric variation in cranial size, we found that in both North American Peromyscus mice and African laminate-toothed (Otomys) rats, highland rodents had smaller endocranial volumes than lower-elevation rodents, consistent with the expensive tissue hypothesis. In the former group, Peromyscus mice, crania were obtained not just from wild-caught mice from high and low elevations but also from those bred in common-garden laboratory conditions from parents caught from either high or low elevations. Our results in these mice showed that brain size responses to elevation might have a strong genetic basis, which counters an opposite but weaker environmental effect on brain volume. These results potentially suggest that selection may act to reduce brain volume across small mammals at high elevations but further experiments are needed to assess the generality of this conclusion and the nature of underlying mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aluwani Nengovhela
- Department of Mammalogy, National Museum, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa.
- Department of Zoology, School of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, University of Venda, Thohoyandou, South Africa.
| | - Catherine M Ivy
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Graham R Scott
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Christiane Denys
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, CP51, 57 Rue Cuvier, 75005, Paris, France
| | - Peter J Taylor
- Department of Zoology, School of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, University of Venda, Thohoyandou, South Africa
- Afromontane Unit, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Free State, Phuthaditjhaba, South Africa
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5
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Characterization of sinoatrial automaticity in Microcebus murinus to study the effect of aging on cardiac activity and the correlation with longevity. Sci Rep 2023; 13:3054. [PMID: 36810863 PMCID: PMC9944915 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-29723-5] [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: 08/26/2022] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Microcebus murinus, or gray mouse lemur (GML), is one of the smallest primates known, with a size in between mice and rats. The small size, genetic proximity to humans and prolonged senescence, make this lemur an emerging model for neurodegenerative diseases. For the same reasons, it could help understand how aging affects cardiac activity. Here, we provide the first characterization of sinoatrial (SAN) pacemaker activity and of the effect of aging on GML heart rate (HR). According to GML size, its heartbeat and intrinsic pacemaker frequencies lie in between those of mice and rats. To sustain this fast automaticity the GML SAN expresses funny and Ca2+ currents (If, ICa,L and ICa,T) at densities similar to that of small rodents. SAN automaticity was also responsive to β-adrenergic and cholinergic pharmacological stimulation, showing a consequent shift in the localization of the origin of pacemaker activity. We found that aging causes decrease of basal HR and atrial remodeling in GML. We also estimated that, over 12 years of a lifetime, GML generates about 3 billion heartbeats, thus, as many as humans and three times more than rodents of equivalent size. In addition, we estimated that the high number of heartbeats per lifetime is a characteristic that distinguishes primates from rodents or other eutherian mammals, independently from body size. Thus, cardiac endurance could contribute to the exceptional longevity of GML and other primates, suggesting that GML's heart sustains a workload comparable to that of humans in a lifetime. In conclusion, despite the fast HR, GML replicates some of the cardiac deficiencies reported in old people, providing a suitable model to study heart rhythm impairment in aging. Moreover, we estimated that, along with humans and other primates, GML presents a remarkable cardiac longevity, enabling longer life span than other mammals of equivalent size.
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6
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Rigby Dames BA, Kilili H, Charvet CJ, Díaz-Barba K, Proulx MJ, de Sousa AA, Urrutia AO. Evolutionary and genomic perspectives of brain aging and neurodegenerative diseases. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2023; 275:165-215. [PMID: 36841568 PMCID: PMC11191546 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2022.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
This chapter utilizes genomic concepts and evolutionary perspectives to further understand the possible links between typical brain aging and neurodegenerative diseases, focusing on the two most prevalent of these: Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Aging is the major risk factor for these neurodegenerative diseases. Researching the evolutionary and molecular underpinnings of aging helps to reveal elements of the typical aging process that leave individuals more vulnerable to neurodegenerative pathologies. Very little is known about the prevalence and susceptibility of neurodegenerative diseases in nonhuman species, as only a few individuals have been observed with these neuropathologies. However, several studies have investigated the evolution of lifespan, which is closely connected with brain size in mammals, and insights can be drawn from these to enrich our understanding of neurodegeneration. This chapter explores the relationship between the typical aging process and the events in neurodegeneration. First, we examined how age-related processes can increase susceptibility to neurodegenerative diseases. Second, we assessed to what extent neurodegeneration is an accelerated form of aging. We found that while at the phenotypic level both neurodegenerative diseases and the typical aging process share some characteristics, at the molecular level they show some distinctions in their profiles, such as variation in genes and gene expression. Furthermore, neurodegeneration of the brain is associated with an earlier onset of cellular, molecular, and structural age-related changes. In conclusion, a more integrative view of the aging process, both from a molecular and an evolutionary perspective, may increase our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brier A Rigby Dames
- Department of Computer Science, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom; Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom.
| | - Huseyin Kilili
- Milner Centre for Evolution, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
| | - Christine J Charvet
- Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States
| | - Karina Díaz-Barba
- Licenciatura en Ciencias Genómicas, UNAM, CP62210, Cuernavaca, México; Instituto de Ecología, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria, CP04510, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Michael J Proulx
- Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
| | | | - Araxi O Urrutia
- Milner Centre for Evolution, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom; Licenciatura en Ciencias Genómicas, UNAM, CP62210, Cuernavaca, México; Instituto de Ecología, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria, CP04510, Ciudad de México, México.
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7
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Abstract
Large brains provide adaptive cognitive benefits but require unusually high, near-constant energy inputs and become fully functional well after their growth is completed. Consequently, young of most larger-brained endotherms should not be able to independently support the growth and development of their own brains. This paradox is solved if the evolution of extended parental provisioning facilitated brain size evolution. Comparative studies indeed show that extended parental provisioning coevolved with brain size and that it may improve immature survival. The major role of extended parental provisioning supports the idea that the ability to sustain the costs of brains limited brain size evolution.
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8
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Howell KJ, Walsh MR. Transplant experiments demonstrate that larger brains are favoured in high-competition environments in Trinidadian killifish. Ecol Lett 2023; 26:53-62. [PMID: 36262097 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2022] [Revised: 09/19/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
The extent to which the evolution of a larger brain is adaptive remains controversial. Trinidadian killifish (Anablepsoides hartii) are found in sites that differ in predation intensity; fish that experience decreased predation and increased intraspecific competition exhibit larger brains. We evaluated the connection between brain size and fitness (survival and growth) when killifish are found in their native habitats and when fish are transplanted from sites with predators to high-competition sites that lack predators. Selection for a larger brain was absent within locally adapted populations. Conversely, there was a strong positive relationship between brain size and growth in transplanted but not resident fish in high-competition environments. We also observed significantly larger brain sizes in the transplanted fish that were recaptured at the end of the experiment versus those that were not. Our results provide experimental support that larger brains increase fitness and are favoured in high-competition environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaitlyn J Howell
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, USA
| | - Matthew R Walsh
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, USA
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9
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De Meester G, Van Linden L, Torfs J, Pafilis P, Šunje E, Steenssens D, Zulčić T, Sassalos A, Van Damme R. Learning with lacertids: Studying the link between ecology and cognition within a comparative framework. Evolution 2022; 76:2531-2552. [PMID: 36111365 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2022] [Revised: 08/10/2022] [Accepted: 08/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Cognition is an essential tool for animals to deal with environmental challenges. Nonetheless, the ecological forces driving the evolution of cognition throughout the animal kingdom remain enigmatic. Large-scale comparative studies on multiple species and cognitive traits have been advanced as the best way to facilitate our understanding of cognitive evolution, but such studies are rare. Here, we tested 13 species of lacertid lizards (Reptilia: Lacertidae) using a battery of cognitive tests measuring inhibitory control, problem-solving, and spatial and reversal learning. Next, we tested the relationship between species' performance and (a) resource availability (temperature and precipitation), habitat complexity (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), and habitat variability (seasonality) in their natural habitat and (b) their life history (size at hatching and maturity, clutch size, and frequency). Although species differed markedly in their cognitive abilities, such variation was mostly unrelated to their ecology and life history. Yet, species living in more variable environments exhibited lower behavioral flexibility, likely due to energetic constrains in such habitats. Our standardized protocols provide opportunities for collaborative research, allowing increased sample sizes and replication, essential for moving forward in the field of comparative cognition. Follow-up studies could include more detailed measures of habitat structure and look at other potential selective drivers such as predation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gilles De Meester
- Functional Morphology Lab, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, 2610, Belgium.,Section of Zoology and Marine Biology, Department of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, 157 84, Greece
| | - Lisa Van Linden
- Functional Morphology Lab, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, 2610, Belgium
| | - Jonas Torfs
- Functional Morphology Lab, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, 2610, Belgium
| | - Panayiotis Pafilis
- Section of Zoology and Marine Biology, Department of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, 157 84, Greece
| | - Emina Šunje
- Functional Morphology Lab, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, 2610, Belgium.,Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, 71000, Bosnia and Herzegovina.,Herpetological Association in Bosnia and Herzegovina: BHHU: ATRA, Sarajevo, 71000, Bosnia and Herzegovina
| | - Dries Steenssens
- Functional Morphology Lab, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, 2610, Belgium
| | - Tea Zulčić
- Herpetological Association in Bosnia and Herzegovina: BHHU: ATRA, Sarajevo, 71000, Bosnia and Herzegovina
| | - Athanasios Sassalos
- Section of Zoology and Marine Biology, Department of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, 157 84, Greece
| | - Raoul Van Damme
- Functional Morphology Lab, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, 2610, Belgium
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10
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Smeele SQ. Using relative brain size as predictor variable: Serious pitfalls and solutions. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9273. [PMID: 36188504 PMCID: PMC9489487 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2022] [Revised: 08/10/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
There is a long‐standing interest in the effect of relative brain size on other life history variables in a comparative context. Historically, residuals have been used to calculate these effects, but more recently it has been recognized that regression on residuals is not good practice. Instead, absolute brain size and body size are included in a multiple regression, with the idea that this controls for allometry. I use a simple simulation to illustrate how a case in which brain size is a response variable differs from a case in which relative brain size is a predictor variable. I use the simulated data to test which modeling approach can estimate the underlying causal effects for each case. The results show that a multiple regression model with both body size and another variable as predictor variable and brain size as response variable work well. However, if relative brain size is a predictor variable, a multiple regression fails to correctly estimate the effect of body size. I propose the use of structural equation models to simultaneously estimate relative brain size and its effect on the third variable and discuss other potential methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simeon Q. Smeele
- Cognitive & Cultural Ecology Research Group Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Radolfzell Germany
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Leipzig Germany
- Department of Biology University of Konstanz Constance Germany
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11
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Abstract
The platyrrhine family Cebidae (capuchin and squirrel monkeys) exhibit among the largest primate encephalization quotients. Each cebid lineage is also characterized by notable lineage-specific traits, with capuchins showing striking similarities to Hominidae such as high sensorimotor intelligence with tool use, advanced cognitive abilities, and behavioral flexibility. Here, we take a comparative genomics approach, performing genome-wide tests for positive selection across five cebid branches, to gain insight into major periods of cebid adaptive evolution. We uncover candidate targets of selection across cebid evolutionary history that may underlie the emergence of lineage-specific traits. Our analyses highlight shifting and sustained selective pressures on genes related to brain development, longevity, reproduction, and morphology, including evidence for cumulative and diversifying neurobiological adaptations across cebid evolution. In addition to generating a high-quality reference genome assembly for robust capuchins, our results lend to a better understanding of the adaptive diversification of this distinctive primate clade.
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12
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Perry WB. Is having more neural tissue really a no-brainer? JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY 2022; 101:3. [PMID: 35852476 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
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13
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Stark G. Large and expensive brain comes with a short lifespan: The relationship between brain size and longevity among fish taxa. JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY 2022; 101:92-99. [PMID: 35482011 PMCID: PMC9544989 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2021] [Accepted: 04/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Vertebrates show substantial interspecific variation in brain size in relation to body mass. It has long been recognized that the evolution of large brains is associated with both costs and benefits, and it is their net benefit which should be favoured by natural selection. On one hand, the substantial energetic cost imposed by the maintenance of neural tissue is expected to compromise the energetic budget of organisms with large brains and their investment in other critical organs (expensive brain framework, EBF) or important physiological process, such as somatic maintenance and repair, thus accelerating ageing that shortens lifespan, as predicted by the disposable soma theory (DST). However, selection towards larger brain size can provide cognitive benefits (e.g., high behavioural flexibility) that may mitigate extrinsic mortality pressures, and thus may indirectly select for slower ageing that prolongs lifespan, as predicted by the cognitive buffer hypothesis (CBH). The relationship between longevity and brain size has been investigated to date only among terrestrial vertebrates, although the same selective forces acting on those species may also affect vertebrates living in aquatic habitats, such as fish. Thus, whether this evolutionary trade-off for brain size and longevity exists on a large scale among fish clades remains to be addressed. In this study, using a global dataset of 407 fish species, I undertook the first phylogenetic test of the brain size/longevity relationship in aquatic vertebrate species. The study revealed a negative relationship between brain size and longevity among cartilaginous fish confirming EBF and DST. However, no pattern emerged among bony fish species. Among sharks and rays, the high metabolic cost of producing neural tissue transcends the cognitive benefits of evolving a larger brain. Consequently, my findings suggest that the cost of maintaining brain tissue is relatively higher in ectothermic species than in endothermic ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gavin Stark
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life SciencesTel Aviv UniversityTel AvivIsrael
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14
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Fischer S, Jungwirth A. The costs and benefits of larger brains in fishes. J Evol Biol 2022; 35:973-985. [PMID: 35612352 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.14026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2022] [Revised: 04/07/2022] [Accepted: 05/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
The astonishing diversity of brain sizes observed across the animal kingdom is typically explained in the context of trade-offs: the benefits of a larger brain, such as enhanced cognitive ability, are balanced against potential costs, such as increased energetic demands. Several hypotheses have been formulated in this framework, placing different emphasis on ecological, behavioural, or physiological aspects of trade-offs in brain size evolution. Within this body of work, there exists considerable taxonomic bias towards studies of birds and mammals, leaving some uncertainty about the generality of the respective arguments. Here, we test three of the most prominent such hypotheses, the 'expensive tissue', 'social brain' and 'cognitive buffer' hypotheses, in a large dataset of fishes, derived from a publicly available resource (FishBase). In accordance with predictions from the 'expensive tissue' and the 'social brain' hypothesis, larger brains co-occur with reduced fecundity and increased sociality in at least some Classes of fish. Contrary to expectations, however, lifespan is reduced in large-brained fishes, and there is a tendency for species that perform parental care to have smaller brains. As such, it appears that some potential costs (reduced fecundity) and benefits (increased sociality) of large brains are near universal to vertebrates, whereas others have more lineage-specific effects. We discuss our findings in the context of fundamental differences between the classically studied birds and mammals and the fishes we analyse here, namely divergent patterns of growth, parenting and neurogenesis. As such, our work highlights the need for a taxonomically diverse approach to any fundamental question in evolutionary biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Fischer
- Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Arne Jungwirth
- Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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15
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Siciliano-Martina L, Michaud M, Tanis BP, Scicluna EL, Lawing AM. Endocranial volume increases across captive generations in the endangered Mexican wolf. Sci Rep 2022; 12:8147. [PMID: 35581330 PMCID: PMC9114419 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-12371-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 05/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Endangered animals in captivity may display reduced brain sizes due to captive conditions and limited genetic diversity. Captive diets, for example, may differ in nutrition and texture, altering cranial musculature and alleviating constraints on cranial shape development. Changes in brain size are associated with biological fitness, which may limit reintroduction success. Little is known about how changes in brain size progress in highly managed carnivoran populations and whether such traits are retained among reintroduced populations. Here, we measured the endocranial volume of preserved Mexican wolf skulls across captive generations and between captive, wild, and reintroduced populations and assessed endocranial volume dependence on inbreeding and cranial musculature. Endocranial volume increased across captive generations. However, we did not detect a difference among captive, wild, and reintroduced groups, perhaps due to the variability across captive generations. We did not find a relationship between endocranial volume and either inbreeding or cranial musculature, although the captive population displayed an increase in the cross-sectional area of the masseter muscle. We hypothesize that the increase in endocranial volume observed across captive generations may be related to the high-quality nutrition provided in captivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leila Siciliano-Martina
- Department of Biology, Texas State University, 154 Supple Science Building, San Marcos, TX, 78666, USA. .,Interdisciplinary Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Program, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
| | - Margot Michaud
- Department of African Zoology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium
| | - Brian P Tanis
- Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University-Cascades, Bend, OR, USA
| | - Emily L Scicluna
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, School of Life Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - A Michelle Lawing
- Interdisciplinary Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Program, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.,Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
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16
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Small brains predisposed Late Quaternary mammals to extinction. Sci Rep 2022; 12:3453. [PMID: 35361771 PMCID: PMC8971383 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-07327-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Accepted: 02/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The Late Quaternary witnessed a dramatic wave of large mammal extinctions, that are usually attributed to either human hunting or climatic change. We hypothesized that the large mammals that survived the extinctions might have been endowed with larger brain sizes than their relatives, which could have conferred enhanced behavioral plasticity and the ability to cope with the rapidly changing Late Quaternary environmental conditions. We assembled data on brain sizes of 291 extant mammal species plus 50 more that went extinct during the Late Quaternary. Using logistic, and mixed effect models, and controlling for phylogeny and body mass, we found that large brains were associated with higher probability to survive the Late Quaternary extinctions, and that extant species have brains that are, on average, 53% larger when accounting for order as a random effect, and 83% when fitting a single regression line. Moreover, we found that models that used brain size in addition to body size predicted extinction status better than models that used only body size. We propose that possessing a large brain was an important, yet so far neglected characteristic of surviving megafauna species.
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17
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Smeele SQ, Conde DA, Baudisch A, Bruslund S, Iwaniuk A, Staerk J, Wright TF, Young AM, McElreath MB, Aplin L. Coevolution of relative brain size and life expectancy in parrots. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20212397. [PMID: 35317667 PMCID: PMC8941425 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.2397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have demonstrated a correlation between longevity and brain size in a variety of taxa. Little research has been devoted to understanding this link in parrots; yet parrots are well-known for both their exceptionally long lives and cognitive complexity. We employed a large-scale comparative analysis that investigated the influence of brain size and life-history variables on longevity in parrots. Specifically, we addressed two hypotheses for evolutionary drivers of longevity: the cognitivebuffer hypothesis, which proposes that increased cognitive abilities enable longer lifespans, and the expensive brain hypothesis, which holds that increases in lifespan are caused by prolonged developmental time of, and increased parental investment in, large-brained offspring. We estimated life expectancy from detailed zoo records for 133 818 individuals across 244 parrot species. Using a principled Bayesian approach that addresses data uncertainty and imputation of missing values, we found a consistent correlation between relative brain size and life expectancy in parrots. This correlation was best explained by a direct effect of relative brain size. Notably, we found no effects of developmental time, clutch size or age at first reproduction. Our results suggest that selection for enhanced cognitive abilities in parrots has in turn promoted longer lifespans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simeon Q Smeele
- Cognitive and Cultural Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany.,Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Interdisciplinary Centre on Population Dynamics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Dalia A Conde
- Interdisciplinary Centre on Population Dynamics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.,Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.,Species360 Conservation Science Alliance, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Annette Baudisch
- Interdisciplinary Centre on Population Dynamics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Simon Bruslund
- Vogelpark Marlow gGmbH, Marlow, Germany.,Parrot Taxon Advisory Group, European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Andrew Iwaniuk
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Canada
| | - Johanna Staerk
- Interdisciplinary Centre on Population Dynamics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.,Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.,Species360 Conservation Science Alliance, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Timothy F Wright
- Biology Department, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA
| | - Anna M Young
- The Living Desert Zoo and GardensPalm Desert, Palm Desert, CA, USA
| | - Mary Brooke McElreath
- Cognitive and Cultural Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany.,Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Lucy Aplin
- Cognitive and Cultural Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany.,Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
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18
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The Evolution of Brain Size in Ectothermic Tetrapods: Large Brain Mass Trades-Off with Lifespan in Reptiles. Evol Biol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s11692-022-09562-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
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19
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MacIver MA, Finlay BL. The neuroecology of the water-to-land transition and the evolution of the vertebrate brain. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200523. [PMID: 34957852 PMCID: PMC8710882 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The water-to-land transition in vertebrate evolution offers an unusual opportunity to consider computational affordances of a new ecology for the brain. All sensory modalities are changed, particularly a greatly enlarged visual sensorium owing to air versus water as a medium, and expanded by mobile eyes and neck. The multiplication of limbs, as evolved to exploit aspects of life on land, is a comparable computational challenge. As the total mass of living organisms on land is a hundredfold larger than the mass underwater, computational improvements promise great rewards. In water, the midbrain tectum coordinates approach/avoid decisions, contextualized by water flow and by the animal's body state and learning. On land, the relative motions of sensory surfaces and effectors must be resolved, adding on computational architectures from the dorsal pallium, such as the parietal cortex. For the large-brained and long-living denizens of land, making the right decision when the wrong one means death may be the basis of planning, which allows animals to learn from hypothetical experience before enactment. Integration of value-weighted, memorized panoramas in basal ganglia/frontal cortex circuitry, with allocentric cognitive maps of the hippocampus and its associated cortices becomes a cognitive habit-to-plan transition as substantial as the change in ecology. This article is part of the theme issue 'Systems neuroscience through the lens of evolutionary theory'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malcolm A. MacIver
- Center for Robotics and Biosystems, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Barbara L. Finlay
- Department of Psychology, Behavioral and Evolutionary Neuroscience Group, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
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20
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21
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Chambers HR, Heldstab SA, O’Hara SJ. Why big brains? A comparison of models for both primate and carnivore brain size evolution. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0261185. [PMID: 34932586 PMCID: PMC8691615 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0261185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2021] [Accepted: 11/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite decades of research, much uncertainty remains regarding the selection pressures responsible for brain size variation. Whilst the influential social brain hypothesis once garnered extensive support, more recent studies have failed to find support for a link between brain size and sociality. Instead, it appears there is now substantial evidence suggesting ecology better predicts brain size in both primates and carnivores. Here, different models of brain evolution were tested, and the relative importance of social, ecological, and life-history traits were assessed on both overall encephalisation and specific brain regions. In primates, evidence is found for consistent associations between brain size and ecological factors, particularly diet; however, evidence was also found advocating sociality as a selection pressure driving brain size. In carnivores, evidence suggests ecological variables, most notably home range size, are influencing brain size; whereas, no support is found for the social brain hypothesis, perhaps reflecting the fact sociality appears to be limited to a select few taxa. Life-history associations reveal complex selection mechanisms to be counterbalancing the costs associated with expensive brain tissue through extended developmental periods, reduced fertility, and extended maximum lifespan. Future studies should give careful consideration of the methods chosen for measuring brain size, investigate both whole brain and specific brain regions where possible, and look to integrate multiple variables, thus fully capturing all of the potential factors influencing brain size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen Rebecca Chambers
- School of Science, Engineering & Environment, University of Salford, Salford, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
| | | | - Sean J. O’Hara
- School of Science, Engineering & Environment, University of Salford, Salford, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
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22
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Sowersby W, Eckerström-Liedholm S, Kotrschal A, Näslund J, Rowiński P, Gonzalez-Voyer A, Rogell B. Fast life-histories are associated with larger brain size in killifishes. Evolution 2021; 75:2286-2298. [PMID: 34270088 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2020] [Revised: 06/11/2021] [Accepted: 06/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The high energetic demands associated with the vertebrate brain are proposed to result in a trade-off between the pace of life-history and relative brain size. However, because both life-history and brain size also have a strong relationship with body size, any associations between the pace of life-history and relative brain size may be confounded by coevolution with body size. Studies on systems where contrasts in the pace of life-history occur without concordant contrasts in body size could therefore add to our understanding of the potential coevolution between relative brain size and life-history. Using one such system - 21 species of killifish - we employed a common garden design across two ontogenetic stages to investigate the association between relative brain size and the pace of life-history. Contrary to predictions, we found that relative brain size was larger in adult fast-living killifishes, compared to slow-living species. Although we found no differences in relative brain size between juvenile killifishes. Our results suggest that fast- and slow-living killifishes do not exhibit the predicted trade-off between brain size and life-history. Instead, fast and slow-living killifishes could differ in the ontogenetic timing of somatic versus neural growth or inhabit environments that differ considerably in cognitive demands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Will Sowersby
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Biology, Osaka City University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Simon Eckerström-Liedholm
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.,Wild Animal Initiative, Farmington, Minnesota, USA
| | - Alexander Kotrschal
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Animal Sciences: Behavioural Ecology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Joacim Näslund
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Aquatic Resources, Institute of Freshwater Research, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Drottningholm, Sweden
| | - Piotr Rowiński
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Alejandro Gonzalez-Voyer
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.,Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, Mexico
| | - Björn Rogell
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Aquatic Resources, Institute of Freshwater Research, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Drottningholm, Sweden
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23
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A Review of Effects of Environment on Brain Size in Insects. INSECTS 2021; 12:insects12050461. [PMID: 34067515 PMCID: PMC8156428 DOI: 10.3390/insects12050461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2021] [Revised: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Simple Summary What makes a big brain is fascinating since it is considered as a measure of intelligence. Above all, brain size is associated with body size. If species that have evolved with complex social behaviours possess relatively bigger brains than those deprived of such behaviours, this does not constitute the only factor affecting brain size. Other factors such as individual experience or surrounding environment also play roles in the size of the brain. In this review, I summarize the recent findings about the effects of environment on brain size in insects. I also discuss evidence about how the environment has an impact on sensory systems and influences brain size. Abstract Brain size fascinates society as well as researchers since it is a measure often associated with intelligence and was used to define species with high “intellectual capabilities”. In general, brain size is correlated with body size. However, there are disparities in terms of relative brain size between species that may be explained by several factors such as the complexity of social behaviour, the ‘social brain hypothesis’, or learning and memory capabilities. These disparities are used to classify species according to an ‘encephalization quotient’. However, environment also has an important role on the development and evolution of brain size. In this review, I summarise the recent studies looking at the effects of environment on brain size in insects, and introduce the idea that the role of environment might be mediated through the relationship between olfaction and vision. I also discussed this idea with studies that contradict this way of thinking.
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24
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Analysis of longevity in Chordata identifies species with exceptional longevity among taxa and points to the evolution of longer lifespans. Biogerontology 2021; 22:329-343. [PMID: 33818680 DOI: 10.1007/s10522-021-09919-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Animals have a considerable variation in their longevity. This fundamental life-history trait is shaped by both intrinsic and extrinsic mortality pressures, influenced by multiple parameters including ecological variables and mode-of-life traits. Here, we examined the distribution of maximum age at multiple taxonomic ranks (class, order and family) in Chordata, and identified species with exceptional longevity within various taxa. We used a curated dataset of maximum longevity of animals from AnAge database, containing a total of 2542 chordates following our filtering criteria. We determined shapes of maximum age distributions at class, order and family taxonomic ranks, and calculated skewness values for each distribution, in R programming environment. We identified species with exceptional longevity compared to other species belonging to the same taxa, based on our definition of outliers. We collected data on ecological variables and mode-of-life traits which might possibly contribute, at least in part, to the exceptional lifespans of certain chordates. We found that 23, 12 and 4 species have exceptional longevity when we grouped chordates by their class, order and family, respectively. Almost all distributions of maximum age among taxa were positively skewed (towards increased longevity), possibly showing the emergence of longer lifespans in contrast to shorter lifespans, through the course of evolution. However, potential biases in the collection of data should be taken into account. Most of the identified species in the current study have not been previously studied in the context of animal longevity. Our analyses point that certain chordates may have evolved to have longer lifespans compared to other species belonging to the same taxa, and that among taxa, outliers in terms of maximum age have always longer lifespans, not shorter. Future research is required to understand how and why increased longevity have arose in certain species.
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25
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Vágási CI, Vincze O, Lemaître JF, Pap PL, Ronget V, Gaillard JM. Is degree of sociality associated with reproductive senescence? A comparative analysis across birds and mammals. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20190744. [PMID: 33678026 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Our understanding on how widespread reproductive senescence is in the wild and how the onset and rate of reproductive senescence vary among species in relation to life histories and lifestyles is currently limited. More specifically, whether the species-specific degree of sociality is linked to the occurrence, onset and rate of reproductive senescence remains unknown. Here, we investigate these questions using phylogenetic comparative analyses across 36 bird and 101 mammal species encompassing a wide array of life histories, lifestyles and social traits. We found that female reproductive senescence: (i) is widespread and occurs with similar frequency (about two-thirds) in birds and mammals; (ii) occurs later in life and is slower in birds than in similar-sized mammals; (iii) occurs later in life and is slower with an increasingly slower pace of life in both vertebrate classes; and (iv) is only weakly associated, if any, with the degree of sociality in both classes after accounting for the effect of body size and pace of life. However, when removing the effect of species differences in pace of life, a higher degree of sociality was associated with later and weaker reproductive senescence in females, which suggests that the degree of sociality is either indirectly related to reproductive senescence via the pace of life or simply a direct outcome of the pace of life. This article is part of the theme issue 'Ageing and sociality: why, when and how does sociality change ageing patterns?'
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Affiliation(s)
- Csongor I Vágási
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Orsolya Vincze
- Department of Tisza Research, MTA Centre for Ecological Research-DRI, Debrecen, Hungary.,CREEC, UMR IRD 224-CNRS 5290-Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France.,CREES Centre for Research on the Ecology and Evolution of Disease, Montpellier, France
| | - Jean-François Lemaître
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Évolutive, CNRS, Université Lyon, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Péter L Pap
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Victor Ronget
- Unité Eco-anthropologie (EA), Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Paris, France
| | - Jean-Michel Gaillard
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Évolutive, CNRS, Université Lyon, Villeurbanne, France
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26
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Colby AE, Kimock CM, Higham JP. Endocranial volume is variable and heritable, but not related to fitness, in a free-ranging primate. Sci Rep 2021; 11:4235. [PMID: 33608572 PMCID: PMC7895985 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-81265-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2020] [Accepted: 12/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Large relative brain size is a defining characteristic of the order Primates. Arguably, this can be attributed to selection for behavioral aptitudes linked to a larger brain size. In order for selection of a trait to occur, the trait must vary, that variation must be heritable, and enhance fitness. In this study, we use a quantitative genetic approach to investigate the production and maintenance of variation in endocranial volume in a population of free-ranging rhesus macaques. We measured the endocranial volume and body mass proxies of 542 rhesus macaques from Cayo Santiago. We investigated variation in endocranial volume within and between sexes. Using a genetic pedigree, we estimated heritability of absolute and relative endocranial volume, and selection gradients of both traits as well as estimated body mass in the sample. Within this population, both absolute and relative endocranial volume display variation and sexual dimorphism. Both absolute and relative endocranial volume are highly heritable, but we found no evidence of selection on absolute or relative endocranial volume. These findings suggest that endocranial volume is not undergoing selection, or that we did not detect it because selection is neither linear nor quadratic, or that we lacked sufficient sample sizes to detect it.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abigail E Colby
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA
| | - Clare M Kimock
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA
| | - James P Higham
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
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27
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Howell KJ, Beston SM, Stearns S, Walsh MR. Coordinated evolution of brain size, structure, and eye size in Trinidadian killifish. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:365-375. [PMID: 33437435 PMCID: PMC7790632 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2020] [Revised: 10/29/2020] [Accepted: 11/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Brain size, brain architecture, and eye size vary extensively in vertebrates. However, the extent to which the evolution of these components is intricately connected remains unclear. Trinidadian killifish, Anablepsoides hartii, are found in sites that differ in the presence and absence of large predatory fish. Decreased rates of predation are associated with evolutionary shifts in brain size; males from sites without predators have evolved a relatively larger brain and eye size than males from sites with predators. Here, we evaluated the extent to which the evolution of brain size, brain structure, and eye size covary in male killifish. We utilized wild-caught and common garden-reared specimens to determine whether specific components of the brain have evolved in response to differences in predation and to determine if there is covariation between the evolution of brain size, brain structure, and eye size. We observed consistent shifts in brain architecture in second generation common garden reared, but not wild caught preserved fish. Male killifish from sites that lack predators exhibited a significantly larger telencephalon, optic tectum, cerebellum, and dorsal medulla when compared with fish from sites with predators. We also found positive connections between the evolution of brain structure and eye size but not between overall brain size and eye size. These results provide evidence for evolutionary covariation between the components of the brain and eye size. Such results suggest that selection, directly or indirectly, acts upon specific regions of the brain, rather than overall brain size, to enhance visual capabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Sara Stearns
- Department of BiologyUniversity of Texas at ArlingtonArlingtonTXUSA
| | - Matthew R. Walsh
- Department of BiologyUniversity of Texas at ArlingtonArlingtonTXUSA
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28
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Boussard A, Amcoff M, Buechel SD, Kotrschal A, Kolm N. The link between relative brain size and cognitive ageing in female guppies (Poecilia reticulata) artificially selected for variation in brain size. Exp Gerontol 2020; 146:111218. [PMID: 33373711 DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2020.111218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2020] [Revised: 12/10/2020] [Accepted: 12/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Cognitive ageing is the general process when certain mental skills gradually deteriorate with age. Across species, there is a pattern of a slower brain structure degradation rate in large-brained species. Hence, having a larger brain might buffer the impact of cognitive ageing and positively affect survival at older age. However, few studies have investigated the link between relative brain size and cognitive ageing at the intraspecific level. In particular, experimental data on how brain size affects brain function also into higher age is largely missing. We used 288 female guppies (Poecilia reticulata), artificially selected for large and small relative brain size, to investigate variation in colour discrimination and behavioural flexibility, at 4-6, 12 and 24 months of age. These ages are particularly interesting since they cover the life span from sexual maturation until maximal life length under natural conditions. We found no evidence for a slower cognitive ageing rate in large-brained females in neither initial colour discrimination nor reversal learning. Behavioural flexibility was predicted by large relative brain size in the youngest group, but the effect of brain size disappeared with increasing age. This result suggests that cognitive ageing rate is faster in large-brained female guppies, potentially due to the faster ageing and shorter lifespan in the large-brained selection lines. It also means that cognition levels align across different brain sizes with older age. We conclude that there are cognitive consequences of ageing that vary with relative brain size in advanced learning abilities, whereas fundamental aspects of learning can be maintained throughout the ecologically relevant life span.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annika Boussard
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 18B, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Mirjam Amcoff
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 18B, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Severine D Buechel
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 18B, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Animal Sciences: Behavioural Ecology, Wageningen University & Research, 6708 WD Wageningen, Netherlands.
| | - Alexander Kotrschal
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 18B, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Animal Sciences: Behavioural Ecology, Wageningen University & Research, 6708 WD Wageningen, Netherlands.
| | - Niclas Kolm
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 18B, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
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29
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Kaplan G. Play behaviour, not tool using, relates to brain mass in a sample of birds. Sci Rep 2020; 10:20437. [PMID: 33235248 PMCID: PMC7687885 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-76572-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Play behaviour and tool using in birds, two well-delineated and amply researched behaviours, have generally been associated with cognitive abilities. In this study, these behaviours were related to relative brain mass in a sample of Australian native birds. Despite suggestive research results so far between cognition and tool using, this study found no significant difference in relative brain mass or in lifespan between tool-using birds and non-tool users. By contrast, in play behaviour, subdivided into social players and non-social players, the results showed statistically very clear differences in relative brain mass between social, non-social and non-players. Social play was associated with both the largest brain mass to body mass ratios and with the longest lifespans. The results show that play behaviour is a crucial variable associated with brain enlargement, not tool using. Since many of the tool using species tested so far also play, this study suggests that false conclusions can be drawn about the connection between tool using and cognitive ability when the silent variable (play behaviour) is not taken into account.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gisela Kaplan
- School of Science and Technology, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, 2351, Australia.
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30
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31
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Silva WTAF. Digest: A synergistic approach explains the evolutionary connection between brain size and longevity . Evolution 2020; 74:2743-2745. [PMID: 33128386 PMCID: PMC8370098 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2020] [Accepted: 10/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
Abstract
The cognitive buffer hypothesis poses that brain size evolves to buffer individuals from environmental changes, increasing survival. Jiménez‐Ortega et al. (2020) explored this hypothesis using a phylogenetic path analysis and showed that there is a direct causal link between brain size and longevity in birds, even when allometric effects are taken into account. Furthermore, a synergistic model was better supported than models that included independent effects of brain size and body size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Willian T A F Silva
- Centre for Environmental and Climate Research, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
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32
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Nolvi S, Rasmussen JM, Graham AM, Gilmore JH, Styner M, Fair DA, Entringer S, Wadhwa PD, Buss C. Neonatal brain volume as a marker of differential susceptibility to parenting quality and its association with neurodevelopment across early childhood. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2020; 45:100826. [PMID: 32807730 PMCID: PMC7393458 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2020] [Revised: 06/17/2020] [Accepted: 07/08/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Parenting quality is associated with child cognitive and executive functions (EF), which are important predictors of social and academic development. However, children vary in their susceptibility to parenting behaviors, and the neurobiological underpinnings of this susceptibility are poorly understood. In a prospective longitudinal study, we examined whether neonatal total brain volume (TBV) and subregions of interest (i.e., hippocampus (HC) and anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG)) moderate the association between maternal sensitivity and cognitive/EF development across early childhood. Neonates underwent a brain magnetic resonance imaging scan. Their cognitive performance and EF was characterized at 2.0 ± 0.1 years (N = 53) and at 4.9 ± 0.8 years (N = 36) of age. Maternal sensitivity was coded based on observation of a standardized play situation at 6-mo postpartum. Neonatal TBV moderated the association between maternal sensitivity and 2-year working memory as well as all 5-year cognitive outcomes, suggesting that the positive association between maternal sensitivity and child cognition was observed only among children with large or average but not small TBV as neonates. Similar patterns were observed for TBV-corrected HC and ACG volumes. The findings suggest that larger neonatal TBV, HC and ACG may underlie susceptibility to the environment and affect the degree to which parenting quality shapes long-term cognitive development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saara Nolvi
- Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Medical Psychology
| | - Jerod M Rasmussen
- Development, Health, and Disease Research Program, Departments of Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Epidemiology, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Alice M Graham
- The Department of Behavioral Neuroscience and the Advanced Imaging Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - John H Gilmore
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Martin Styner
- Departments of Psychiatry and Computer Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Damien A Fair
- The Department of Behavioral Neuroscience and the Advanced Imaging Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - Sonja Entringer
- Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Medical Psychology; Development, Health, and Disease Research Program, Departments of Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Epidemiology, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Pathik D Wadhwa
- Development, Health, and Disease Research Program, Departments of Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Epidemiology, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Claudia Buss
- Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Medical Psychology; Development, Health, and Disease Research Program, Departments of Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Epidemiology, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, CA, USA.
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33
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Jiménez-Ortega D, Kolm N, Immler S, Maklakov AA, Gonzalez-Voyer A. Long life evolves in large-brained bird lineages. Evolution 2020; 74:2617-2628. [PMID: 32840865 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2020] [Revised: 08/15/2020] [Accepted: 08/18/2020] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
The brain is an energetically costly organ that consumes a disproportionate amount of resources. Species with larger brains relative to their body size have slower life histories, with reduced output per reproductive event and delayed development times that can be offset by increasing behavioral flexibility. The "cognitive buffer" hypothesis maintains that large brain size decreases extrinsic mortality due to greater behavioral flexibility, leading to a longer lifespan. Alternatively, slow life histories, and long lifespan can be a pre-adaptation for the evolution of larger brains. Here, we use phylogenetic path analysis to contrast different evolutionary scenarios and disentangle direct and indirect relationships between brain size, body size, life history, and longevity across 339 altricial and precocial bird species. Our results support both a direct causal link between brain size and lifespan, and an indirect effect via other life history traits. These results indicate that large brain size engenders longer life, as proposed by the "cognitive buffer" hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dante Jiménez-Ortega
- Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, 04510, México.,Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, 04510, México
| | - Niclas Kolm
- Zoology Department, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Simone Immler
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom
| | - Alexei A Maklakov
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom
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34
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Hawkes K. The Centrality of Ancestral Grandmothering in Human Evolution. Integr Comp Biol 2020; 60:765-781. [PMID: 32386309 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icaa029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
When Fisher, Williams, and Hamilton laid the foundations of evolutionary life history theory, they recognized elements of what became a grandmother hypothesis to explain the evolution of human postmenopausal longevity. Subsequent study of modern hunter-gatherers, great apes, and the wider mammalian radiation has revealed strong regularities in development and behavior that show additional unexpected consequences that ancestral grandmothering likely had on human evolution, challenging the hypothesis that ancestral males propelled the evolution of our radiation by hunting to provision mates and offspring. Ancestral grandmothering has become a serious contender to explain not only the large fraction of post-fertile years women live and children's prolonged maturation yet early weaning; it also promises to help account for the pair bonding that distinguishes humans from our closest living evolutionary cousins, the great apes (and most other mammals), the evolution of our big human brains, and our distinctive preoccupation with reputations, shared intentionality and persistent cultural learning that begins in infancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristen Hawkes
- Anthropology, University of Utah, 260 South Central Campus Drive, Gardener Commons Suite 4625, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
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35
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Morcillo DO, Steiner UK, Grayson KL, Ruiz-Lambides AV, Hernández-Pacheco R. Hurricane-induced demographic changes in a non-human primate population. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2020; 7:200173. [PMID: 32968507 PMCID: PMC7481679 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.200173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2020] [Accepted: 07/17/2020] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Major disturbance events can have large impacts on the demography and dynamics of animal populations. Hurricanes are one example of an extreme climatic event, predicted to increase in frequency due to climate change, and thus expected to be a considerable threat to population viability. However, little is understood about the underlying demographic mechanisms shaping population response following these extreme disturbances. Here, we analyse 45 years of the most comprehensive free-ranging non-human primate demographic dataset to determine the effects of major hurricanes on the variability and maintenance of long-term population fitness. For this, we use individual-level data to build matrix population models and perform perturbation analyses. Despite reductions in population growth rate mediated through reduced fertility, our study reveals a demographic buffering during hurricane years. As long as survival does not decrease, our study shows that hurricanes do not result in detrimental effects at the population level, demonstrating the unbalanced contribution of survival and fertility to population fitness in long-lived animal populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dana O. Morcillo
- Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA, USA
| | | | | | - Angelina V. Ruiz-Lambides
- Caribbean Primate Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
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36
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Ducatez S, Lefebvre L, Sayol F, Audet JN, Sol D. Host Cognition and Parasitism in Birds: A Review of the Main Mechanisms. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.00102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
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37
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Anile S, Devillard S, Nielsen CK, Lo Valvo M. Record of a 10-year old European Wildcat Felis silvestris silvestris Schreber, 1777 (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) from Mt. Etna, Sicily, Italy. JOURNAL OF THREATENED TAXA 2020. [DOI: 10.11609/jott.5484.12.2.15272-15275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Longevity data for wild felids are lacking in the literature. Here we report a camera trap recapture of a European Wildcat Felis silvestris at Mt. Etna in Sicily, Italy after nine years. This individual was clearly identifiable as its tail ended with a white ring rather than the typical black ring and had a unique shape of the dorsal stripe. At first capture on 26 May 2009, this cat was assessed as an adult, so that the likely minimum age of this individual at the time of recapture on 10 June 2018 must have been be at least 10 years. This finding represents the oldest known European Wildcat in the wild and provides insight into age structure in wildcat populations.
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Hart EE, Fennessy J, Chari S, Ciuti S. Habitat heterogeneity and social factors drive behavioral plasticity in giraffe herd-size dynamics. J Mammal 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyz191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
AbstractBehavioral plasticity, or the mechanism by which an organism can adjust its behavior in response to exogenous change, has been highlighted as a potential buffer against extinction risk. Giraffes (Giraffa spp.) are gregarious, long-lived, highly mobile megaherbivores with a large brain size, characteristics that have been associated with high levels of behavioral plasticity. However, while there has been a recent focus on genotypic variability and morphological differences among giraffe populations, there has been relatively little discussion centered on behavioral flexibility within giraffe populations. In large wild herbivores, one measure of behavioral plasticity is the ability to adjust herd size in line with local environmental conditions. Here, we examine whether a genetically isolated population of Angolan giraffes (G. g. angolensis) in a heterogeneous environment adjust their herd sizes in line with spatiotemporal variation in habitat. Our results suggest that ecological factors play a role in driving herd size, but that social factors also shape and stabilize herd-size dynamics. Specifically, we found that 1) mixed-sex herds were larger than single-sex herds, suggesting that sexual composition of herds played a role in driving herd size; 2) the presence of young did not influence herd size, suggesting that giraffes did not make use of the dilution effect to safeguard their young from predation; and 3) there was a strong relationship between herd size and spatial, but not seasonal, variation in food biomass availability, suggesting stability in herd sizes over time, but temporary variation in line with resource availability. These findings indicate that giraffes adjust herd size in line with local exogenous factors, signaling high behavioral plasticity, but also suggest that this mechanism operates within the constraints of the social determinants of giraffe herd size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma E Hart
- Laboratory of Wildlife Ecology and Behaviour, School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
- Giraffe Conservation Foundation, Windhoek, Namibia
| | | | - Srivats Chari
- Laboratory of Wildlife Ecology and Behaviour, School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Simone Ciuti
- Laboratory of Wildlife Ecology and Behaviour, School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
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Abelson ES. Big brains reduce extinction risk in Carnivora. Oecologia 2019; 191:721-729. [PMID: 31650235 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-019-04527-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2018] [Accepted: 10/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Why are some mammals more vulnerable to extinction than others? Past studies have explored many life history traits as correlates of extinction, but have not been successful at developing a unified understanding of why some species become extinct while other species persist despite living at the same time, under similar conditions, and facing equivalent challenges. I propose that the lens of wildlife behavior may bring into focus a more comprehensive view of why some species have gone extinct while others persist. The fossil record has recorded extinction events over carnivoran history; unfortunately, behavior is not well recorded in the fossil record. As a proxy for behavior, I examine relative encephalization (RE), brain size after controlling for body mass and phylogeny, as it has been found to be biologically relevant in understanding a wide variety of animal behavioral traits. I focus on the data-rich order Carnivora for which there are comprehensive data on brain size and extinction between 40 and 0.012 million years ago. I use Cox proportional-hazards models to assess the role that RE and body size have played on extinction risk for 224 species in the order Carnivora that existed between 40 and 0.012 million years ago. I show generally that carnivoran species with reduced RE had higher relative risks of extinction. Additionally, I find an interaction between RE and body size such that RE had the largest effects on relative extinction risk in the smallest-bodied species. These results suggest that RE is important for understanding extinction risk in Carnivora over geologic time frames.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric S Abelson
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, USA. .,USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Albany, USA.
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40
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Need for speed: Short lifespan selects for increased learning ability. Sci Rep 2019; 9:15197. [PMID: 31645590 PMCID: PMC6811680 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-51652-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2019] [Accepted: 10/04/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
It is generally assumed that an investment into cognitive abilities and their associated cost is particularly beneficial for long-lived species, as a prolonged lifespan allows to recoup the initial investment. However, ephemeral organisms possess astonishing cognitive abilities too. Invertebrates, for example, are capable of simple associative learning, reversal learning, and planning. How can this discrepancy between theory and evidence be explained? Using a simulation, we show that short lives can actually select for an increase in learning abilities. The rationale behind this is that when learning is needed to exploit otherwise inaccessible resources, one needs to learn fast in order to utilize the resources when constrained by short lifespans. And thus, increased cognitive abilities may evolve, not despite short lifespan, but because of it.
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Powell LE, Barton RA, Street SE. Maternal investment, life histories and the evolution of brain structure in primates. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20191608. [PMID: 31530145 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.1608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Life history is a robust correlate of relative brain size: larger-brained mammals and birds have slower life histories and longer lifespans than smaller-brained species. The cognitive buffer hypothesis (CBH) proposes an adaptive explanation for this relationship: large brains may permit greater behavioural flexibility and thereby buffer the animal from unpredictable environmental challenges, allowing for reduced mortality and increased lifespan. By contrast, the developmental costs hypothesis (DCH) suggests that life-history correlates of brain size reflect the extension of maturational processes needed to accommodate the evolution of large brains, predicting correlations with pre-adult life-history phases. Here, we test novel predictions of the hypotheses in primates applied to the neocortex and cerebellum, two major brain structures with distinct developmental trajectories. While neocortical growth is allocated primarily to pre-natal development, the cerebellum exhibits relatively substantial post-natal growth. Consistent with the DCH, neocortical expansion is related primarily to extended gestation while cerebellar expansion to extended post-natal development, particularly the juvenile period. Contrary to the CBH, adult lifespan explains relatively little variance in the whole brain or neocortex volume once pre-adult life-history phases are accounted for. Only the cerebellum shows a relationship with lifespan after accounting for developmental periods. Our results substantiate and elaborate on the role of maternal investment and offspring development in brain evolution, suggest that brain components can evolve partly independently through modifications of distinct developmental phases, and imply that environmental input during post-natal maturation may be particularly crucial for the development of cerebellar function. They also suggest that relatively extended post-natal maturation times provide a developmental mechanism for the marked expansion of the cerebellum in the apes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren E Powell
- Evolutionary Anthropology Research Group, Department of Anthropology, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
| | - Robert A Barton
- Evolutionary Anthropology Research Group, Department of Anthropology, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
| | - Sally E Street
- Evolutionary Anthropology Research Group, Department of Anthropology, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
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Herculano-Houzel S. Life history changes accompany increased numbers of cortical neurons: A new framework for understanding human brain evolution. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2019; 250:179-216. [PMID: 31703901 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2019.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Narratives of human evolution have focused on cortical expansion and increases in brain size relative to body size, but considered that changes in life history, such as in age at sexual maturity and thus the extent of childhood and maternal dependence, or maximal longevity, are evolved features that appeared as consequences of selection for increased brain size, or increased cognitive abilities that decrease mortality rates, or due to selection for grandmotherly contribution to feeding the young. Here I build on my recent finding that slower life histories universally accompany increased numbers of cortical neurons across warm-blooded species to propose a simpler framework for human evolution: that slower development to sexual maturity and increased post-maturity longevity are features that do not require selection, but rather inevitably and immediately accompany evolutionary increases in numbers of cortical neurons, thus fostering human social interactions and cultural and technological evolution as generational overlap increases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzana Herculano-Houzel
- Department of Psychology, Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States.
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43
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Whatever you want: Inconsistent results are the rule, not the exception, in the study of primate brain evolution. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0218655. [PMID: 31329603 PMCID: PMC6645455 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0218655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2018] [Accepted: 06/06/2019] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Primate brains differ in size and architecture. Hypotheses to explain this variation are numerous and many tests have been carried out. However, after body size has been accounted for there is little left to explain. The proposed explanatory variables for the residual variation are many and covary, both with each other and with body size. Further, the data sets used in analyses have been small, especially in light of the many proposed predictors. Here we report the complete list of models that results from exhaustively combining six commonly used predictors of brain and neocortex size. This provides an overview of how the output from standard statistical analyses changes when the inclusion of different predictors is altered. By using both the most commonly tested brain data set and the inclusion of new data we show that the choice of included variables fundamentally changes the conclusions as to what drives primate brain evolution. Our analyses thus reveal why studies have had troubles replicating earlier results and instead have come to such different conclusions. Although our results are somewhat disheartening, they highlight the importance of scientific rigor when trying to answer difficult questions. It is our position that there is currently no empirical justification to highlight any particular hypotheses, of those adaptive hypotheses we have examined here, as the main determinant of primate brain evolution.
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Fuss T, Witte K. (Under)water love-linking mate choice and cognition in fish and frogs. Curr Zool 2019; 65:279-284. [PMID: 31263486 PMCID: PMC6595417 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoz030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Theodora Fuss
- Research Group of Ecology and Behavioral Biology, Institute of Biology, Department of Chemistry and Biology, University of Siegen, Adolf-Reichwein-Str. 2, Siegen, Germany
| | - Klaudia Witte
- Research Group of Ecology and Behavioral Biology, Institute of Biology, Department of Chemistry and Biology, University of Siegen, Adolf-Reichwein-Str. 2, Siegen, Germany
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45
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Robert Burger
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | | | - Claire Leadbetter
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Farhin Shaikh
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
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46
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Abstract
Reversible phenotypic plasticity, the ability to change one's phenotype repeatedly throughout life, can be selected for in environments that do not stay constant throughout an individual's lifetime. It might also mitigate senescence, as the mismatch between the environment and a non-plastic individual's traits is likely to increase as time passes. To understand why reversible plasticity may covary with lifespan, studies tend to assume unidirectional causality: plasticity evolves under suitable rates of environmental variation with respect to life history. Here we show that if lifespan also evolves in response to plasticity, then long life is not merely a context that sets the stage for lifelong plasticity. Instead, the causality is bidirectional because plasticity itself can select for longevity. Highly autocorrelated environmental fluctuations predict low investment in reversible plasticity and a phenotype that is poorly matched to the environment at older ages. Such environments select for high reproductive effort and short lifespans.
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47
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Miller IF, Barton RA, Nunn CL. Quantitative uniqueness of human brain evolution revealed through phylogenetic comparative analysis. eLife 2019; 8:e41250. [PMID: 30702428 PMCID: PMC6379089 DOI: 10.7554/elife.41250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2018] [Accepted: 01/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
While the human brain is clearly large relative to body size, less is known about the timing of brain and brain component expansion within primates and the relative magnitude of volumetric increases. Using Bayesian phylogenetic comparative methods and data for both extant and fossil species, we identified that a distinct shift in brain-body scaling occurred as hominins diverged from other primates, and again as humans and Neanderthals diverged from other hominins. Within hominins, we detected a pattern of directional and accelerating evolution towards larger brains, consistent with a positive feedback process in the evolution of the human brain. Contrary to widespread assumptions, we found that the human neocortex is not exceptionally large relative to other brain structures. Instead, our analyses revealed a single increase in relative neocortex volume at the origin of haplorrhines, and an increase in relative cerebellar volume in apes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian F Miller
- Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyPrinceton UniversityPrincetonUnited States
- Department of Evolutionary AnthropologyDuke UniversityDurhamUnited States
| | - Robert A Barton
- Evolutionary Anthropology Research Group, Department of AnthropologyUniversity of DurhamDurhamUnited Kingdom
| | - Charles L Nunn
- Department of Evolutionary AnthropologyDuke UniversityDurhamUnited States
- Duke Global Health InstituteDuke UniversityDurhamUnited States
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48
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Affiliation(s)
- Georg F Striedter
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
| | - Nancy T Burley
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
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49
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Amodio P, Boeckle M, Schnell AK, Ostojíc L, Fiorito G, Clayton NS. Grow Smart and Die Young: Why Did Cephalopods Evolve Intelligence? Trends Ecol Evol 2018; 34:45-56. [PMID: 30446408 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2018.10.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2018] [Revised: 10/16/2018] [Accepted: 10/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Intelligence in large-brained vertebrates might have evolved through independent, yet similar processes based on comparable socioecological pressures and slow life histories. This convergent evolutionary route, however, cannot explain why cephalopods developed large brains and flexible behavioural repertoires: cephalopods have fast life histories and live in simple social environments. Here, we suggest that the loss of the external shell in cephalopods (i) caused a dramatic increase in predatory pressure, which in turn prevented the emergence of slow life histories, and (ii) allowed the exploitation of novel challenging niches, thus favouring the emergence of intelligence. By highlighting convergent and divergent aspects between cephalopods and large-brained vertebrates we illustrate how the evolution of intelligence might not be constrained to a single evolutionary route.
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Affiliation(s)
- Piero Amodio
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Markus Boeckle
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | | | - Ljerka Ostojíc
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Graziano Fiorito
- Department of Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Napoli, Italy
| | - Nicola S Clayton
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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50
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Hawkes K, Finlay BL. Mammalian brain development and our grandmothering life history. Physiol Behav 2018; 193:55-68. [DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2017] [Revised: 01/15/2018] [Accepted: 01/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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