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Corral-Lopez A, Kotrschal A, Szorkovszky A, Garate-Olaizola M, Herbert-Read J, van der Bijl W, Romenskyy M, Zeng HL, Buechel SD, Fontrodona-Eslava A, Pelckmans K, Mank JE, Kolm N. Evolution of schooling drives changes in neuroanatomy and motion characteristics across predation contexts in guppies. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6027. [PMID: 37758730 PMCID: PMC10533906 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41635-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2022] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
One of the most spectacular displays of social behavior is the synchronized movements that many animal groups perform to travel, forage and escape from predators. However, elucidating the neural mechanisms underlying the evolution of collective behaviors, as well as their fitness effects, remains challenging. Here, we study collective motion patterns with and without predation threat and predator inspection behavior in guppies experimentally selected for divergence in polarization, an important ecological driver of coordinated movement in fish. We find that groups from artificially selected lines remain more polarized than control groups in the presence of a threat. Neuroanatomical measurements of polarization-selected individuals indicate changes in brain regions previously suggested to be important regulators of perception, fear and attention, and motor response. Additional visual acuity and temporal resolution tests performed in polarization-selected and control individuals indicate that observed differences in predator inspection and schooling behavior should not be attributable to changes in visual perception, but rather are more likely the result of the more efficient relay of sensory input in the brain of polarization-selected fish. Our findings highlight that brain morphology may play a fundamental role in the evolution of coordinated movement and anti-predator behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alberto Corral-Lopez
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
- Department of Zoology/Ethology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
- Division of Biosciences, University College London, London, UK.
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Alexander Kotrschal
- Department of Zoology/Ethology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Behavioural Ecology, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Alexander Szorkovszky
- RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Maddi Garate-Olaizola
- Department of Zoology/Ethology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - James Herbert-Read
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Aquatic Ecology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Wouter van der Bijl
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Maksym Romenskyy
- Department of Zoology/Ethology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Hong-Li Zeng
- School of Science, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, China
| | - Severine Denise Buechel
- Department of Zoology/Ethology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Behavioural Ecology, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Ada Fontrodona-Eslava
- Department of Zoology/Ethology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | | | - Judith E Mank
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Niclas Kolm
- Department of Zoology/Ethology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
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Chen C, Shao W, Zhu X, Yang Y, Jiang Y, Liao W. Brain size predicts foraging and escaping abilities in the paddy frogs. Integr Zool 2023; 18:958-961. [PMID: 36519428 DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
The three experiments revealed that successful individuals with spatial learning and escaping had relatively larger brains than unsuccessful ones in three species of the paddy frogs. We first provided experimental evidence for whole-brain size as a predictor of cognitive abilities in the paddy frogs. Our findings support the claim that brain size can reflect an animal's spatial learning and escaping abilities and enhance our understanding of larger brains evolved with better cognitive abilities in frogs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chuan Chen
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan, China
- Key Laboratory of Artificial Propagation and Utilization in Anurans of Nanchong City, China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan, China
| | - Weijie Shao
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan, China
- Key Laboratory of Artificial Propagation and Utilization in Anurans of Nanchong City, China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan, China
| | - Xin Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan, China
- Key Laboratory of Artificial Propagation and Utilization in Anurans of Nanchong City, China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan, China
| | - Yuejun Yang
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan, China
- Key Laboratory of Artificial Propagation and Utilization in Anurans of Nanchong City, China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan, China
| | - Ying Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan, China
- Key Laboratory of Artificial Propagation and Utilization in Anurans of Nanchong City, China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan, China
| | - Wenbo Liao
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan, China
- Key Laboratory of Artificial Propagation and Utilization in Anurans of Nanchong City, China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan, China
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Ioannou CC, Laskowski KL. A multi-scale review of the dynamics of collective behaviour: from rapid responses to ontogeny and evolution. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20220059. [PMID: 36802782 PMCID: PMC9939272 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0059] [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: 01/25/2023] [Accepted: 01/26/2023] [Indexed: 02/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Collective behaviours, such as flocking in birds or decision making by bee colonies, are some of the most intriguing behavioural phenomena in the animal kingdom. The study of collective behaviour focuses on the interactions between individuals within groups, which typically occur over close ranges and short timescales, and how these interactions drive larger scale properties such as group size, information transfer within groups and group-level decision making. To date, however, most studies have focused on snapshots, typically studying collective behaviour over short timescales up to minutes or hours. However, being a biological trait, much longer timescales are important in animal collective behaviour, particularly how individuals change over their lifetime (the domain of developmental biology) and how individuals change from one generation to the next (the domain of evolutionary biology). Here, we give an overview of collective behaviour across timescales from the short to the long, illustrating how a full understanding of this behaviour in animals requires much more research attention on its developmental and evolutionary biology. Our review forms the prologue of this special issue, which addresses and pushes forward understanding the development and evolution of collective behaviour, encouraging a new direction for collective behaviour research. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Collective behaviour through time'.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kate L. Laskowski
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
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Collet J, Morford J, Lewin P, Bonnet-Lebrun AS, Sasaki T, Biro D. Mechanisms of collective learning: how can animal groups improve collective performance when repeating a task? Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20220060. [PMID: 36802785 PMCID: PMC9939276 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Learning is ubiquitous in animals: individuals can use their experience to fine-tune behaviour and thus to better adapt to the environment during their lifetime. Observations have accumulated that, at the collective level, groups can also use their experience to improve collective performance. Yet, despite apparent simplicity, the links between individual learning capacities and a collective's performance can be extremely complex. Here we propose a centralized and broadly applicable framework to begin classifying this complexity. Focusing principally on groups with stable composition, we first identify three distinct ways through which groups can improve their collective performance when repeating a task: each member learning to better solve the task on its own, members learning about each other to better respond to one another and members learning to improve their complementarity. We show through selected empirical examples, simulations and theoretical treatments that these three categories identify distinct mechanisms with distinct consequences and predictions. These mechanisms extend well beyond current social learning and collective decision-making theories in explaining collective learning. Finally, our approach, definitions and categories help generate new empirical and theoretical research avenues, including charting the expected distribution of collective learning capacities across taxa and its links to social stability and evolution. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Collective behaviour through time'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julien Collet
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK,Department of Zoology, Marine Apex Predator Research Unit, Institute for Coastal and Marine Research, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth-Gqeberha 6031, South Africa,Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372 CNRS – La Rochelle Université, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
| | - Joe Morford
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK
| | - Patrick Lewin
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK
| | - Anne-Sophie Bonnet-Lebrun
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372 CNRS – La Rochelle Université, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
| | - Takao Sasaki
- Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Dora Biro
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK,Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA
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Long J, Fu S. Spatial Learning of Individual Cichlid Fish and Its Effect on Group Decision Making. Animals (Basel) 2022; 12:1318. [PMID: 35625164 PMCID: PMC9137809 DOI: 10.3390/ani12101318] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2022] [Revised: 05/15/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Learning and memory abilities and their roles in group decision-making have important ecological relevance in routine activities such as foraging and anti-predator behaviors in fish species. The aims of the present study were to explore individual spatial learning abilities of juvenile cichlids (Chindongo demasoni) in a foraging context, and to explore the influence of heterogeneity of memory information among group members on group performance in a six-arm radiation maze. In the context of an association between landmarks and food, learning ability was evaluated by the speed and accuracy of reaching the arm with food during seven days of reinforcement, and memory retention was tested at intervals of 2, 5, 8 and 11 days of detraining. Then, the speed and accuracy of an eight-member group with different proportions of memory-trained fish were measured. Both speed and accuracy of individual fish improved significantly and linearly in the first five days of training and leveled off between five and seven days, with values 60% shorter (in speed) and 50% higher (in accuracy) compared to those of the first day. Neither speed nor accuracy showed any decrease after 11 days of detraining, suggesting memory retention of the spatial task. When measured in a group, the speed and accuracy of the majority of the group (more than half) in reaching the arm with food changed linearly with an increasing ratio of trained members. This shows that cichlids can acquire associative learning information through a training process, and group behavior of cichlids seems not likely be determined by a minority of group members under a foraging context.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Shijian Fu
- Chongqing Key Laboratory of Animal Biology, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 401331, China;
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