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Speechley EM, Ashton BJ, Foo YZ, Simmons LW, Ridley AR. Meta-analyses reveal support for the Social Intelligence Hypothesis. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2024. [PMID: 38855980 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2023] [Revised: 05/13/2024] [Accepted: 05/15/2024] [Indexed: 06/11/2024]
Abstract
The Social Intelligence Hypothesis (SIH) is one of the leading explanations for the evolution of cognition. Since its inception a vast body of literature investigating the predictions of the SIH has accumulated, using a variety of methodologies and species. However, the generalisability of the hypothesis remains unclear. To gain an understanding of the robustness of the SIH as an explanation for the evolution of cognition, we systematically searched the literature for studies investigating the predictions of the SIH. Accordingly, we compiled 103 studies with 584 effect sizes from 17 taxonomic orders. We present the results of four meta-analyses which reveal support for the SIH across interspecific, intraspecific and developmental studies. However, effect sizes did not differ significantly between the cognitive or sociality metrics used, taxonomy or testing conditions. Thus, support for the SIH is similar across studies using neuroanatomy and cognitive performance, those using broad categories of sociality, group size and social interactions, across taxonomic groups, and for tests conducted in captivity or the wild. Overall, our meta-analyses support the SIH as an evolutionary and developmental explanation for cognitive variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth M Speechley
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia
| | - Benjamin J Ashton
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, 205b Culloden Road, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia
| | - Yong Zhi Foo
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia
| | - Leigh W Simmons
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia
| | - Amanda R Ridley
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia
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2
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Hirsch BT, Kays R, Alavi S, Caillaud D, Havmoller R, Mares R, Crofoot M. Smarter foragers do not forage smarter: a test of the diet hypothesis for brain expansion. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20240138. [PMID: 38808448 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.0138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2024] [Accepted: 04/24/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024] Open
Abstract
A leading hypothesis for the evolution of large brains in humans and other species is that a feedback loop exists whereby intelligent animals forage more efficiently, which results in increased energy intake that fuels the growth and maintenance of large brains. We test this hypothesis for the first time with high-resolution tracking data from four sympatric, frugivorous rainforest mammal species (42 individuals) and drone-based maps of their predominant feeding trees. We found no evidence that larger-brained primates had more efficient foraging paths than smaller brained procyonids. This refutes a key assumption of the fruit-diet hypothesis for brain evolution, suggesting that other factors such as temporal cognition, extractive foraging or sociality have been more important for brain evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ben T Hirsch
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panamá
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
| | - Roland Kays
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panamá
- North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC, USA
- Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Shauhin Alavi
- Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Damien Caillaud
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Rasmus Havmoller
- Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Kobenhavn, Denmark
| | - Rafael Mares
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panamá
| | - Margaret Crofoot
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panamá
- Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Kobenhavn, Denmark
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
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3
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Cook PF, Reichmuth C. An Ecological and Neural Argument for Developing Pursuit-Based Cognitive Enrichment for Sea Lions in Human Care. Animals (Basel) 2024; 14:797. [PMID: 38473182 DOI: 10.3390/ani14050797] [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: 01/25/2024] [Revised: 02/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
While general enrichment strategies for captive animals attempt to elicit variable and species-typical behaviors, approaches to cognitive enrichment have been disappointingly one-size-fits-all. In this commentary, we address the potential benefit of tailoring cognitive enrichment to the "cognitive niche" of the species, with a particular focus on a reasonably well-studied marine carnivore, the sea lion. Sea lions likely share some cognitive evolutionary pressures with primates, including complex social behavior. Their foraging ecology, however, like that of many terrestrial carnivores, is based on the rapid and behaviorally flexible pursuit of avoidant prey. Unlike terrestrial carnivores, sea lions carry out this pursuit in a truly fluid three-dimensional field, computing and executing sensorimotor transformations from any solid angle to any other. The cognitive demands of flexible prey pursuit are unlikely to be fully elicited by typical stationary puzzle box style foraging enrichment devices or screen-based interactive games. With this species, we recommend exploring more water-based movement activities generally, and complex pursuit challenges specifically.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter F Cook
- Social Sciences Division, New College of Florida, Sarasota, FL 34243, USA
| | - Colleen Reichmuth
- Long Marine Laboratory, Institute for Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
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Montana MM, Kasper CB, Pinheiro FL, Pereira LFS, Abidu-Figueiredo M, de Souza-Junior P. Brain volumetry from CT-scan endocasts of three neotropical carnivores. Anat Histol Embryol 2024; 53:e13000. [PMID: 37994610 DOI: 10.1111/ahe.13000] [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: 01/04/2023] [Revised: 10/03/2023] [Accepted: 11/08/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023]
Abstract
Studies on brain anatomy can clarify specific evolutionary and behavioural aspects of wild animals. The rich diversity in a broad range of habitats makes carnivorans especially eligible for studying the relations between the brain form and behaviour, cognitive, sensorial and motor traits. This study compared the brain's contour and total and segmented brain volumetry in three species of neotropical carnivorans. CT images of 17 skulls of three species were acquired: Conepatus chinga (n = 6), Galictis cuja (n = 6) and Lontra longicaudis (n = 5). Three-dimensional endocasts allowed for estimating the brain's total and segmented volumes (olfactory bulb, rostral cerebrum, caudal cerebrum and cerebellum/brain stem). The average volume percentage of the segments was compared interspecifically and intraspecifically between the sexes. The otter has a notably more complex gyrification, typical for semiaquatic carnivorans. Proportionally, the olfactory bulb was significantly larger in hog-nosed skunks, possibly due to a better sense of smell for capturing insects. The proportional volumes of the rostral cerebrum, caudal cerebrum and cerebellum/brain stem segments did not differ between these species. Social behaviour traits and tactile, motor and balance skills were probably not sufficiently distinct to reflect differences in the brain segments analysed in these three species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marelise Moral Montana
- Laboratory of Animal Anatomy, Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA), Uruguaiana, RS, Brazil
| | - Carlos Benhur Kasper
- Laboratory of Biology of Mammals and Birds, Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA), São Gabriel, RS, Brazil
| | - Felipe Lima Pinheiro
- Laboratory of Paleobiology, Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA), São Gabriel, RS, Brazil
| | | | - Marcelo Abidu-Figueiredo
- Department of Animal and Human Anatomy, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ), Seropédica, RJ, Brazil
| | - Paulo de Souza-Junior
- Laboratory of Animal Anatomy, Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA), Uruguaiana, RS, Brazil
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Schwab JA, Figueirido B, Martín-Serra A, van der Hoek J, Flink T, Kort A, Esteban Núñez JM, Jones KE. Evolutionary ecomorphology for the twenty-first century: examples from mammalian carnivores. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20231400. [PMID: 38018109 PMCID: PMC10685142 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1400] [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: 06/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Carnivores (cats, dogs and kin) are a diverse group of mammals that inhabit a remarkable range of ecological niches. While the relationship between ecology and morphology has long been of interest in carnivorans, the application of quantitative techniques has resulted in a recent explosion of work in the field. Therefore, they provide a case study of how quantitative techniques, such as geometric morphometrics (GMM), have impacted our ability to tease apart complex ecological signals from skeletal anatomy, and the implications for our understanding of the relationships between form, function and ecological specialization. This review provides a synthesis of current research on carnivoran ecomorphology, with the goal of illustrating the complex interaction between ecology and morphology in the skeleton. We explore the ecomorphological diversity across major carnivoran lineages and anatomical systems. We examine cranial elements (skull, sensory systems) and postcranial elements (limbs, vertebral column) to reveal mosaic patterns of adaptation related to feeding and hunting strategies, locomotion and habitat preference. We highlight the crucial role that new approaches have played in advancing our understanding of carnivoran ecomorphology, while addressing challenges that remain in the field, such as ecological classifications, form-function relationships and multi-element analysis, offering new avenues for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia A. Schwab
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, UK
| | - Borja Figueirido
- Departamento de Ecología y Geología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Málaga, Spain
| | - Alberto Martín-Serra
- Departamento de Ecología y Geología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Málaga, Spain
| | - Julien van der Hoek
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, UK
| | - Therese Flink
- Department of Palaeobiology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, PO Box 50007, 10405 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Anne Kort
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Indiana University Bloomington, 1001 E 10th St, Bloomington, IN, USA
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, 1100 N University Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | | | - Katrina E. Jones
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, UK
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6
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Schmill MP, Thompson Z, Lee D, Haddadin L, Mitra S, Ezzat R, Shelton S, Levin P, Behnam S, Huffman KJ, Garland T. Hippocampal, Whole Midbrain, Red Nucleus, and Ventral Tegmental Area Volumes Are Increased by Selective Breeding for High Voluntary Wheel-Running Behavior. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2023; 98:245-263. [PMID: 37604130 DOI: 10.1159/000533524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/23/2023]
Abstract
Uncovering relationships between neuroanatomy, behavior, and evolution are important for understanding the factors that control brain function. Voluntary exercise is one key behavior that both affects, and may be affected by, neuroanatomical variation. Moreover, recent studies suggest an important role for physical activity in brain evolution. We used a unique and ongoing artificial selection model in which mice are bred for high voluntary wheel-running behavior, yielding four replicate lines of high runner (HR) mice that run ∼3-fold more revolutions per day than four replicate nonselected control (C) lines. Previous studies reported that, with body mass as a covariate, HR mice had heavier whole brains, non-cerebellar brains, and larger midbrains than C mice. We sampled mice from generation 66 and used high-resolution microscopy to test the hypothesis that HR mice have greater volumes and/or cell densities in nine key regions from either the midbrain or limbic system. In addition, half of the mice were given 10 weeks of wheel access from weaning, and we predicted that chronic exercise would increase the volumes of the examined brain regions via phenotypic plasticity. We replicated findings that both selective breeding and wheel access increased total brain mass, with no significant interaction between the two factors. In HR compared to C mice, adjusting for body mass, both the red nucleus (RN) of the midbrain and the hippocampus (HPC) were significantly larger, and the whole midbrain tended to be larger, with no effect of wheel access nor any interactions. Linetype and wheel access had an interactive effect on the volume of the periaqueductal gray (PAG), such that wheel access increased PAG volume in C mice but decreased volume in HR mice. Neither linetype nor wheel access affected volumes of the substantia nigra, ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens, ventral pallidum (VP), or basolateral amygdala. We found no main effect of either linetype or wheel access on neuronal densities (numbers of cells per unit area) for any of the regions examined. Taken together, our results suggest that the increased exercise phenotype of HR mice is related to increased RN and hippocampal volumes, but that chronic exercise alone does not produce such phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margaret P Schmill
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Zoe Thompson
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
- Department of Biology, Utah Valley University, Orem, Utah, USA
| | - Daisy Lee
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Laurence Haddadin
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Shaarang Mitra
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Raymond Ezzat
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Samantha Shelton
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Phillip Levin
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Sogol Behnam
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Kelly J Huffman
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Theodore Garland
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
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7
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The current state of carnivore cognition. Anim Cogn 2023; 26:37-58. [PMID: 36333496 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01709-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2022] [Revised: 10/10/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
The field of animal cognition has advanced rapidly in the last 25 years. Through careful and creative studies of animals in captivity and in the wild, we have gained critical insights into the evolution of intelligence, the cognitive capacities of a diverse array of taxa, and the importance of ecological and social environments, as well as individual variation, in the expression of cognitive abilities. The field of animal cognition, however, is still being influenced by some historical tendencies. For example, primates and birds are still the majority of study species in the field of animal cognition. Studies of diverse taxa improve the generalizability of our results, are critical for testing evolutionary hypotheses, and open new paths for understanding cognition in species with vastly different morphologies. In this paper, we review the current state of knowledge of cognition in mammalian carnivores. We discuss the advantages of studying cognition in Carnivorans and the immense progress that has been made across many cognitive domains in both lab and field studies of carnivores. We also discuss the current constraints that are associated with studying carnivores. Finally, we explore new directions for future research in studies of carnivore cognition.
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8
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The Predictable Complexity of Evolutionary Allometry. Evol Biol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s11692-022-09581-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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9
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The impact of environmental factors on the evolution of brain size in carnivorans. Commun Biol 2022; 5:998. [PMID: 36130990 PMCID: PMC9492690 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03748-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2022] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The reasons why some animals have developed larger brains has long been a subject of debate. Yet, it remains unclear which selective pressures may favour the encephalization and how it may act during evolution at different taxonomic scales. Here we studied the patterns and tempo of brain evolution within the order Carnivora and present large-scale comparative analysis of the effect of ecological, environmental, social, and physiological variables on relative brain size in a sample of 174 extant carnivoran species. We found a complex pattern of brain size change between carnivoran families with differences in both the rate and diversity of encephalization. Our findings suggest that during carnivorans’ evolution, a trade-off have occurred between the cognitive advantages of acquiring a relatively large brain allowing to adapt to specific environments, and the metabolic costs of the brain which may constitute a disadvantage when facing the need to colonize new environments. The brain size of carnivores has evolved to balance a trade-off between increased cognitive function and increased metabolic cost.
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10
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Abstract
The reasons why some animals have developed larger brains has long been a subject of debate. Yet, it remains unclear which selective pressures may favour the encephalization and how it may act during evolution at different taxonomic scales. Here we studied the patterns and tempo of brain evolution within the order Carnivora and present large-scale comparative analysis of the effect of ecological, environmental, social, and physiological variables on relative brain size in a sample of 174 extant carnivoran species. We found a complex pattern of brain size change between carnivoran families with differences in both the rate and diversity of encephalization. Our findings suggest that during carnivorans' evolution, a trade-off have occurred between the cognitive advantages of acquiring a relatively large brain allowing to adapt to specific environments, and the metabolic costs of the brain which may constitute a disadvantage when facing the need to colonize new environments.
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11
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Lynch LM, Allen KL. Relative Brain Volume of Carnivorans Has Evolved in Correlation with Environmental and Dietary Variables Differentially among Clades. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2022; 97:284-297. [PMID: 35235933 DOI: 10.1159/000523787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2021] [Accepted: 02/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Carnivorans possess relatively large brains compared to most other mammalian clades. Factors like environmental complexity (Cognitive Buffer Hypothesis) and diet quality (Expensive-Tissue Hypothesis) have been proposed as mechanisms for encephalization in other large-brained clades. We examine whether the Cognitive Buffer and Expensive-Tissue Hypotheses account for brain size variation within Carnivora. Under these hypotheses, we predict a positive correlation between brain size and environmental complexity or protein consumption. Relative endocranial volume (phylogenetic generalized least-squares residual from species' mean body mass) and 9 environmental and dietary variables were collected from the literature for 148 species of terrestrial and marine carnivorans. We found that the correlation between relative brain volume and environment and diet differed among clades, a trend consistent with other larger brained vertebrates (i.e., Primates, Aves). Mustelidae and Procyonidae demonstrate larger brains in species with higher-quality diets, consistent with the Expensive-Tissue Hypothesis, while in Herpestidae, correlations between relative brain size and environment are consistent with the Cognitive Buffer Hypothesis. Our results indicate that carnivorans may have evolved relatively larger brains under similar selective pressures as primates despite the considerable differences in life history and behavior between these two clades.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leigha M Lynch
- Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.,Midwestern University, Glendale, Arizona, USA
| | - Kari L Allen
- Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
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12
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O'Connor VL, Thomas P, Chodorow M, Borrego N. Exploring innovative problem-solving in African lions (Panthera leo) and snow leopards (Panthera uncia). Behav Processes 2022; 199:104648. [PMID: 35491002 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2021] [Revised: 04/24/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Cognitive ability is likely linked to adaptive ability; animals use cognition to innovate and problem-solve in their physical and social environments. We investigated innovative problem-solving in two species of high conservation importance: African lions (Panthera leo; n = 6) and snow leopards (Panthera uncia; n = 9). We designed a custom multi-access puzzle box (MAB) to present a simple and effective behavioral test for the cats to explore. We measured Repeated Innovation, Persistence, Success, Contact Latency, and the Exploration Diversity of individuals interacting with the MAB. Of the six African lions, three (50%) solved one door to the box, one solved two doors (16.67%), and one solved three doors (16.67%). Of the nine snow leopards, one solved one door (11.11%), three solved two doors (33.33%), and none solved all three doors (0%). Persistence was a significant predictor of Success in African lions and snow leopards; more Persistent individuals were more likely to open a door. We also observed significant individual variation in Persistence for both species, but only snow leopards also exhibited differences in Contact Latency and Exploration Diversity. These results suggest individuals vary in their problem-solving approaches. Our findings support both species as successful, repeated innovators. Carnivores face ecological and social challenges and, presumably, benefit from cognitive abilities facilitating the successful navigation of these challenges in captivity and the wild.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria L O'Connor
- Animal Behavior and Conservation Program, Department of Psychology, Hunter College of the City University of New York, New York, NY, USA; Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester Hills, MI, USA.
| | - Patrick Thomas
- Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx Zoo, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Martin Chodorow
- Department of Psychology, Hunter College of the City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Natalia Borrego
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz and Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany; Lion Research Center, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
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Johnson-Ulrich L, Johnson-Ulrich Z, Holekamp KE. Natural conditions and adaptive functions of problem-solving in the Carnivora. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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14
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Preuss TM, Wise SP. Evolution of prefrontal cortex. Neuropsychopharmacology 2022; 47:3-19. [PMID: 34363014 PMCID: PMC8617185 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-021-01076-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 33.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2021] [Revised: 06/01/2021] [Accepted: 06/15/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Subdivisions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) evolved at different times. Agranular parts of the PFC emerged in early mammals, and rodents, primates, and other modern mammals share them by inheritance. These are limbic areas and include the agranular orbital cortex and agranular medial frontal cortex (areas 24, 32, and 25). Rodent research provides valuable insights into the structure, functions, and development of these shared areas, but it contributes less to parts of the PFC that are specific to primates, namely, the granular, isocortical PFC that dominates the frontal lobe in humans. The first granular PFC areas evolved either in early primates or in the last common ancestor of primates and tree shrews. Additional granular PFC areas emerged in the primate stem lineage, as represented by modern strepsirrhines. Other granular PFC areas evolved in simians, the group that includes apes, humans, and monkeys. In general, PFC accreted new areas along a roughly posterior to anterior trajectory during primate evolution. A major expansion of the granular PFC occurred in humans in concert with other association areas, with modifications of corticocortical connectivity and gene expression, although current evidence does not support the addition of a large number of new, human-specific PFC areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Todd M Preuss
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA.
| | - Steven P Wise
- Olschefskie Institute for the Neurobiology of Knowledge, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA
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15
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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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16
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Mccurry MR, Marx FG, Evans AR, Park T, Pyenson ND, Kohno N, Castiglione S, Fitzgerald EMG. Brain size evolution in whales and dolphins: new data from fossil mysticetes. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blab054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Cetaceans (whales and dolphins) have some of the largest and most complex brains in the animal kingdom. When and why this trait evolved remains controversial, with proposed drivers ranging from echolocation to foraging complexity and high-level sociality. This uncertainty partially reflects a lack of data on extinct baleen whales (mysticetes), which has obscured deep-time patterns of brain size evolution in non-echolocating cetaceans. Building on new measurements from mysticete fossils, we show that the evolution of large brains preceded that of echolocation, and subsequently followed a complex trajectory involving several independent increases (e.g. in rorquals and oceanic dolphins) and decreases (e.g. in right whales and ‘river dolphins’). Echolocating whales show a greater tendency towards large brain size, thus reaffirming cognitive demands associated with sound processing as a plausible driver of cetacean encephalization. Nevertheless, our results suggest that other factors such as sociality were also important.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew R Mccurry
- Australian Museum Research Institute, 1 William Street, Sydney, New South Wales 2010, Australia
- Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales 2052, Australia
- Paleobiology, NMNH, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Felix G Marx
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand
- Department of Geology, University of Otago, Dunedin, 3054, New Zealand
| | - Alistair R Evans
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
- Geosciences, Museums Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Travis Park
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, UK
| | - Nicholas D Pyenson
- Paleobiology, NMNH, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
- Department of Paleontology and Geology, Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Naoki Kohno
- Department of Geology and Palaeontology, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba, Japan
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Silvia Castiglione
- Department of Earth Sciences, Environment and Resources, University of Naples Federico II, 80138 Napoli,Italy
| | - Erich M G Fitzgerald
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
- Geosciences, Museums Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, UK
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17
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Johnson-Ulrich L, Yirga G, Strong RL, Holekamp KE. The effect of urbanization on innovation in spotted hyenas. Anim Cogn 2021; 24:1027-1038. [PMID: 33687598 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-021-01494-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2020] [Revised: 02/12/2021] [Accepted: 02/16/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Urbanization represents a dramatic form of evolutionary novelty in the landscapes inhabited by many extant animals. The Cognitive Buffer Hypothesis suggests that innovation, the process by which animals solve novel problems or use novel behaviors, may be key for many animals when adapting to novel environments. If innovation is especially beneficial in urban environments, then we would expect urban animals to be more innovative than their non-urban counterparts. However, studies comparing innovative problem-solving between urban and rural habitats have produced mixed results. Here, we hypothesized that these findings result from comparing only two levels of urbanization when related research suggests that the stage of invasion of urban habitats likely has a strong effect on demand for innovation, with demand being highest during early establishment in a novel environment. To test this hypothesis, we assessed innovation in three locations where spotted hyenas experienced varying degrees of urbanization. Spotted hyenas are relatively innovative compared to other carnivores and, although many large carnivores in Africa are endangered, spotted hyenas remain abundant both inside and outside protected areas. We measured innovation with a multi-access puzzle box with four different doors through which hyenas could obtain a food reward. We predicted that hyenas in a transitional, rapidly urbanizing habitat would be more innovative, measured by the number of unique doors opened, than those in rural or fully urban habitats. Contrary to our predictions, hyenas in the rural habitat were the most innovative. These results challenge the idea that the evolutionary novelty associated with urbanization favors greater innovativeness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lily Johnson-Ulrich
- Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, 288 Farm Lane, Rm 203, Natural Sciences Bldg, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA. .,Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, & Behavior Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA. .,Mara Hyena Project, Michigan State University, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Talek, Kenya.
| | - Gidey Yirga
- Department of Biology, Mekelle University, P.O. Box 231, Mek'ele, Ethiopia.,Theoretical and Applied Biodiversity Research, Ruhr Universität Bochum, 44780, Bochum, Germany
| | - Robyn L Strong
- Mara Hyena Project, Michigan State University, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Talek, Kenya
| | - Kay E Holekamp
- Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, 288 Farm Lane, Rm 203, Natural Sciences Bldg, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA.,Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, & Behavior Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.,Mara Hyena Project, Michigan State University, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Talek, Kenya
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18
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Snell‐Rood EC, Swanson EM, Espeset A, Jaumann S, Philips K, Walker C, Semke B, Mori AS, Boenisch G, Kattge J, Seabloom EW, Borer ET. Nutritional constraints on brain evolution: Sodium and nitrogen limit brain size. Evolution 2020; 74:2304-2319. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.14072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2019] [Revised: 07/07/2020] [Accepted: 07/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Emilie C. Snell‐Rood
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota 55455
| | - Eli M. Swanson
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota 55455
| | - Anne Espeset
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota 55455
- Department of Biology University of Nevada‐Reno Reno Nevada 89557
| | - Sarah Jaumann
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota 55455
- Department of Biological Sciences George Washington University Washington District of Columbia 20052
| | - Kinsey Philips
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota 55455
| | - Courtney Walker
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota 55455
| | - Brandon Semke
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota 55455
| | - Akira S. Mori
- Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences Yokohama National University Yokohama Japan
| | | | - Jens Kattge
- Max‐Planck‐Institute for Biogeochemistry Jena Germany
| | - Eric W. Seabloom
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota 55455
| | - Elizabeth T. Borer
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota 55455
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19
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Hancock MH, Klein D, Cowie NR. Guild‐level responses by mammalian predators to afforestation and subsequent restoration in a formerly treeless peatland landscape. Restor Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/rec.13167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mark H. Hancock
- Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Centre for Conservation Science (CfCS) Inverness U.K
| | - Daniela Klein
- Forsinard Flows National Nature Reserve Forsinard Sutherland U.K
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20
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Macdonald DW, Campbell LAD, Kamler JF, Marino J, Werhahn G, Sillero-Zubiri C. Monogamy: Cause, Consequence, or Corollary of Success in Wild Canids? Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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21
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Powell LE, Isler K, Barton RA. Re-evaluating the link between brain size and behavioural ecology in primates. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 284:rspb.2017.1765. [PMID: 29046380 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1765] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2017] [Accepted: 09/25/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Comparative studies have identified a wide range of behavioural and ecological correlates of relative brain size, with results differing between taxonomic groups, and even within them. In primates for example, recent studies contradict one another over whether social or ecological factors are critical. A basic assumption of such studies is that with sufficiently large samples and appropriate analysis, robust correlations indicative of selection pressures on cognition will emerge. We carried out a comprehensive re-examination of correlates of primate brain size using two large comparative datasets and phylogenetic comparative methods. We found evidence in both datasets for associations between brain size and ecological variables (home range size, diet and activity period), but little evidence for an effect of social group size, a correlation which has previously formed the empirical basis of the Social Brain Hypothesis. However, reflecting divergent results in the literature, our results exhibited instability across datasets, even when they were matched for species composition and predictor variables. We identify several potential empirical and theoretical difficulties underlying this instability and suggest that these issues raise doubts about inferring cognitive selection pressures from behavioural correlates of brain size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren E Powell
- Evolutionary Anthropology Research Group, Department of Anthropology, University of Durham, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
| | - Karin Isler
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zürich-Irchel, Winterthurerstr. 190, Zürich 8057, Switzerland
| | - Robert A Barton
- Evolutionary Anthropology Research Group, Department of Anthropology, University of Durham, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
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22
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Duckworth RA, Potticary AL, Badyaev AV. On the Origins of Adaptive Behavioral Complexity: Developmental Channeling of Structural Trade-offs. ADVANCES IN THE STUDY OF BEHAVIOR 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.asb.2017.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
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23
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24
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Carlisle A, Selwood L, Hinds LA, Saunders N, Habgood M, Mardon K, Weisbecker V. Testing hypotheses of developmental constraints on mammalian brain partition evolution, using marsupials. Sci Rep 2017; 7:4241. [PMID: 28652619 PMCID: PMC5484667 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-02726-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2017] [Accepted: 04/04/2017] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
There is considerable debate about whether the partition volumes of the mammalian brain (e.g. cerebrum, cerebellum) evolve according to functional selection, or whether developmental constraints of conserved neurogenetic scheduling cause predictable partition scaling with brain size. Here we provide the first investigation of developmental constraints on partition volume growth, derived from contrast-enhanced micro-computed tomography of hydrogel-stabilized brains from three marsupial species. ANCOVAs of partition vs. brain volume scaling, as well as growth curve comparisons, do not support several hypotheses consistent with developmental constraints: brain partition growth significantly differs between species, or between developing vs. adult marsupials. Partition growth appears independent of adult brain volume, with no discernable growth spurts/lags relatable to internal structural change. Rather, adult proportion differences appear to arise through growth rate/duration heterochrony. Substantial phylogenetic signal in adult brain partitions scaling with brain volume also counters expectations of development-mediated partition scaling conservatism. However, the scaling of olfactory bulb growth is markedly irregular, consistent with suggestions that it is less constrained. The very regular partition growth curves suggest intraspecific developmental rigidity. We speculate that a rigid, possibly neuromer-model-like early molecular program might be responsible both for regular growth curves within species and impressions of a link between neurogenesis and partition evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison Carlisle
- The University of Queensland, School of Biological Sciences, St. Lucia, 4072 QLD, Australia
| | - Lynne Selwood
- The University of Melbourne, School of BioSciences, Parkville, 3010, VIC, Australia
| | - Lyn A Hinds
- CSIRO Health and Biosecurity Flagship, Canberra, 2601, ACT, Australia
| | - Norman Saunders
- The University of Melbourne, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Parkville, 3010, VIC, Australia
| | - Mark Habgood
- The University of Melbourne, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Parkville, 3010, VIC, Australia
| | - Karine Mardon
- The University of Queensland, Centre of Advanced Imaging, St. Lucia, 4072, QLD, Australia
| | - Vera Weisbecker
- The University of Queensland, School of Biological Sciences, St. Lucia, 4072 QLD, Australia.
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25
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Holekamp KE, Benson-Amram S. The evolution of intelligence in mammalian carnivores. Interface Focus 2017; 7:20160108. [PMID: 28479979 DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2016.0108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Although intelligence should theoretically evolve to help animals solve specific types of problems posed by the environment, it is unclear which environmental challenges favour enhanced cognition, or how general intelligence evolves along with domain-specific cognitive abilities. The social intelligence hypothesis posits that big brains and great intelligence have evolved to cope with the labile behaviour of group mates. We have exploited the remarkable convergence in social complexity between cercopithecine primates and spotted hyaenas to test predictions of the social intelligence hypothesis in regard to both cognition and brain size. Behavioural data indicate that there has been considerable convergence between primates and hyaenas with respect to their social cognitive abilities. Moreover, compared with other hyaena species, spotted hyaenas have larger brains and expanded frontal cortex, as predicted by the social intelligence hypothesis. However, broader comparative study suggests that domain-general intelligence in carnivores probably did not evolve in response to selection pressures imposed specifically in the social domain. The cognitive buffer hypothesis, which suggests that general intelligence evolves to help animals cope with novel or changing environments, appears to offer a more robust explanation for general intelligence in carnivores than any hypothesis invoking selection pressures imposed strictly by sociality or foraging demands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kay E Holekamp
- Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, 288 Farm Lane, Room 203, East Lansing, MI 48824-1115, USA.,Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior, Michigan State University, 103 Giltner Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
| | - Sarah Benson-Amram
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Ave, Biological Science Building, Laramie, WY 82071, USA.,Program in Ecology, Berry Center, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
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26
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Sakai ST, Arsznov BM, Hristova AE, Yoon EJ, Lundrigan BL. Big Cat Coalitions: A Comparative Analysis of Regional Brain Volumes in Felidae. Front Neuroanat 2016; 10:99. [PMID: 27812324 PMCID: PMC5071314 DOI: 10.3389/fnana.2016.00099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2016] [Accepted: 09/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Broad-based species comparisons across mammalian orders suggest a number of factors that might influence the evolution of large brains. However, the relationship between these factors and total and regional brain size remains unclear. This study investigated the relationship between relative brain size and regional brain volumes and sociality in 13 felid species in hopes of revealing relationships that are not detected in more inclusive comparative studies. In addition, a more detailed analysis was conducted of four focal species: lions (Panthera leo), leopards (Panthera pardus), cougars (Puma concolor), and cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus). These species differ markedly in sociality and behavioral flexibility, factors hypothesized to contribute to increased relative brain size and/or frontal cortex size. Lions are the only truly social species, living in prides. Although cheetahs are largely solitary, males often form small groups. Both leopards and cougars are solitary. Of the four species, leopards exhibit the most behavioral flexibility, readily adapting to changing circumstances. Regional brain volumes were analyzed using computed tomography. Skulls (n = 75) were scanned to create three-dimensional virtual endocasts, and regional brain volumes were measured using either sulcal or bony landmarks obtained from the endocasts or skulls. Phylogenetic least squares regression analyses found that sociality does not correspond with larger relative brain size in these species. However, the sociality/solitary variable significantly predicted anterior cerebrum (AC) volume, a region that includes frontal cortex. This latter finding is despite the fact that the two social species in our sample, lions and cheetahs, possess the largest and smallest relative AC volumes, respectively. Additionally, an ANOVA comparing regional brain volumes in four focal species revealed that lions and leopards, while not significantly different from one another, have relatively larger AC volumes than are found in cheetahs or cougars. Further, female lions possess a significantly larger AC volume than conspecific males; female lion values were also larger than those of the other three species (regardless of sex). These results may reflect greater complexity in a female lion’s social world, but additional studies are necessary. These data suggest that within family comparisons may reveal variations not easily detected by broad comparative analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sharleen T Sakai
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East LansingMI, USA; Neuroscience Program, Michigan State University, East LansingMI, USA
| | - Bradley M Arsznov
- Department of Psychology, Minnesota State University, Mankato, Mankato MN, USA
| | - Ani E Hristova
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing MI, USA
| | - Elise J Yoon
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing MI, USA
| | - Barbara L Lundrigan
- Department of Integrative Biology and Michigan State University Museum, Michigan State University, East Lansing MI, USA
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27
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Swanson EM, Espeset A, Mikati I, Bolduc I, Kulhanek R, White WA, Kenzie S, Snell-Rood EC. Nutrition shapes life-history evolution across species. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 283:20152764. [PMID: 27412282 PMCID: PMC4947880 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.2764] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2015] [Accepted: 06/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Nutrition is a key component of life-history theory, yet we know little about how diet quality shapes life-history evolution across species. Here, we test whether quantitative measures of nutrition are linked to life-history evolution across 96 species of butterflies representing over 50 independent diet shifts. We find that butterflies feeding on high nitrogen host plants as larvae are more fecund, but their eggs are smaller relative to their body size. Nitrogen and sodium content of host plants are also both positively related to eye size. Some of these relationships show pronounced lineage-specific effects. Testis size is not related to nutrition. Additionally, the evolutionary timing of diet shifts is not important, suggesting that nutrition affects life histories regardless of the length of time a species has been adapting to its diet. Our results suggest that, at least for some lineages, species with higher nutrient diets can invest in a range of fitness-related traits like fecundity and eye size while allocating less to each egg as offspring have access to a richer diet. These results have important implications for the evolution of life histories in the face of anthropogenic changes in nutrient availability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eli M Swanson
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Anne Espeset
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St Paul, MN 55108, USA Department of Biology, University of Nevada-Reno, Reno, NV 89509, USA
| | - Ihab Mikati
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Isaac Bolduc
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Robert Kulhanek
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - William A White
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Susan Kenzie
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Emilie C Snell-Rood
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
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28
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Kroshko J, Clubb R, Harper L, Mellor E, Moehrenschlager A, Mason G. Stereotypic route tracing in captive Carnivora is predicted by species-typical home range sizes and hunting styles. Anim Behav 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
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29
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Day LB, Lindsay WR. Associations between Manakin Display Complexity and Both Body and Brain Size Challenge Assumptions of Allometric Correction: A Response to Gutierrez-Ibanez et al. (2016). BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2016; 87:227-31. [DOI: 10.1159/000446341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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30
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Gutierrez-Ibanez C, Iwaniuk AN, Wylie DR. Relative Brain Size Is Not Correlated with Display Complexity in Manakins: A Reanalysis of Lindsay et al. (2015). BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2016; 87:223-6. [PMID: 27256814 DOI: 10.1159/000446312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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31
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Abstract
We present evidence that pressures for early childcare may have been one of the driving factors of human evolution. We show through an evolutionary model that runaway selection for high intelligence may occur when (i) altricial neonates require intelligent parents, (ii) intelligent parents must have large brains, and (iii) large brains necessitate having even more altricial offspring. We test a prediction of this account by showing across primate genera that the helplessness of infants is a particularly strong predictor of the adults' intelligence. We discuss related implications, including this account's ability to explain why human-level intelligence evolved specifically in mammals. This theory complements prior hypotheses that link human intelligence to social reasoning and reproductive pressures and explains how human intelligence may have become so distinctive compared with our closest evolutionary relatives.
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32
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Schuppli C, Graber SM, Isler K, van Schaik CP. Life history, cognition and the evolution of complex foraging niches. J Hum Evol 2016; 92:91-100. [PMID: 26989019 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2014] [Revised: 11/11/2015] [Accepted: 11/12/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Animal species that live in complex foraging niches have, in general, improved access to energy-rich and seasonally stable food sources. Because human food procurement is uniquely complex, we ask here which conditions may have allowed species to evolve into such complex foraging niches, and also how niche complexity is related to relative brain size. To do so, we divided niche complexity into a knowledge-learning and a motor-learning dimension. Using a sample of 78 primate and 65 carnivoran species, we found that two life-history features are consistently correlated with complex niches: slow, conservative development or provisioning of offspring over extended periods of time. Both act to buffer low energy yields during periods of learning, and may thus act as limiting factors for the evolution of complex niches. Our results further showed that the knowledge and motor dimensions of niche complexity were correlated with pace of development in primates only, and with the length of provisioning in only carnivorans. Accordingly, in primates, but not carnivorans, living in a complex foraging niche requires enhanced cognitive abilities, i.e., a large brain. The patterns in these two groups of mammals show that selection favors evolution into complex niches (in either the knowledge or motor dimension) in species that either develop more slowly or provision their young for an extended period of time. These findings help to explain how humans constructed by far the most complex niche: our ancestors managed to combine slow development (as in other primates) with systematic provisioning of immatures and even adults (as in carnivorans). This study also provides strong support for the importance of ecological factors in brain size evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Schuppli
- Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Sereina M Graber
- Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Karin Isler
- Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Carel P van Schaik
- Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
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33
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Abstract
Despite considerable interest in the forces shaping the relationship between brain size and cognitive abilities, it remains controversial whether larger-brained animals are, indeed, better problem-solvers. Recently, several comparative studies have revealed correlations between brain size and traits thought to require advanced cognitive abilities, such as innovation, behavioral flexibility, invasion success, and self-control. However, the general assumption that animals with larger brains have superior cognitive abilities has been heavily criticized, primarily because of the lack of experimental support for it. Here, we designed an experiment to inquire whether specific neuroanatomical or socioecological measures predict success at solving a novel technical problem among species in the mammalian order Carnivora. We presented puzzle boxes, baited with food and scaled to accommodate body size, to members of 39 carnivore species from nine families housed in multiple North American zoos. We found that species with larger brains relative to their body mass were more successful at opening the boxes. In a subset of species, we also used virtual brain endocasts to measure volumes of four gross brain regions and show that some of these regions improve model prediction of success at opening the boxes when included with total brain size and body mass. Socioecological variables, including measures of social complexity and manual dexterity, failed to predict success at opening the boxes. Our results, thus, fail to support the social brain hypothesis but provide important empirical support for the relationship between relative brain size and the ability to solve this novel technical problem.
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34
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Duckworth RA. Neuroendocrine mechanisms underlying behavioral stability: implications for the evolutionary origin of personality. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2015; 1360:54-74. [DOI: 10.1111/nyas.12797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Renée A. Duckworth
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; University of Arizona; Tucson Arizona
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35
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Weisbecker V, Blomberg S, Goldizen AW, Brown M, Fisher D. The evolution of relative brain size in marsupials is energetically constrained but not driven by behavioral complexity. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2015; 85:125-35. [PMID: 25966967 DOI: 10.1159/000377666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2014] [Accepted: 02/02/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Evolutionary increases in mammalian brain size relative to body size are energetically costly but are also thought to confer selective advantages by permitting the evolution of cognitively complex behaviors. However, many suggested associations between brain size and specific behaviors - particularly related to social complexity - are possibly confounded by the reproductive diversity of placental mammals, whose brain size evolution is the most frequently studied. Based on a phylogenetic generalized least squares analysis of a data set on the reproductively homogenous clade of marsupials, we provide the first quantitative comparison of two hypotheses based on energetic constraints (maternal investment and seasonality) with two hypotheses that posit behavioral selection on relative brain size (social complexity and environmental interactions). We show that the two behavioral hypotheses have far less support than the constraint hypotheses. The only unambiguous associates of brain size are the constraint variables of litter size and seasonality. We also found no association between brain size and specific behavioral complexity categories within kangaroos, dasyurids, and possums. The largest-brained marsupials after phylogenetic correction are from low-seasonality New Guinea, supporting the notion that low seasonality represents greater nutrition safety for brain maintenance. Alternatively, low seasonality might improve the maternal support of offspring brain growth. The lack of behavioral brain size associates, found here and elsewhere, supports the general 'cognitive buffer hypothesis' as the best explanatory framework of mammalian brain size evolution. However, it is possible that brain size alone simply does not provide sufficient resolution on the question of how brain morphology and cognitive capacities coevolve.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vera Weisbecker
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Qld., Australia
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Holekamp KE, Dantzer B, Stricker G, Shaw Yoshida KC, Benson-Amram S. Brains, brawn and sociality: a hyaena's tale. Anim Behav 2015; 103:237-248. [PMID: 26160980 PMCID: PMC4493912 DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.01.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Theoretically intelligence should evolve to help animals solve specific types of problems posed by the environment, but it remains unclear how environmental complexity or novelty facilitates the evolutionary enhancement of cognitive abilities, or whether domain-general intelligence can evolve in response to domain-specific selection pressures. The social complexity hypothesis, which posits that intelligence evolved to cope with the labile behaviour of conspecific group-mates, has been strongly supported by work on the sociocognitive abilities of primates and other animals. Here we review the remarkable convergence in social complexity between cercopithecine primates and spotted hyaenas, and describe our tests of predictions of the social complexity hypothesis in regard to both cognition and brain size in hyaenas. Behavioural data indicate that there has been remarkable convergence between primates and hyaenas with respect to their abilities in the domain of social cognition. Furthermore, within the family Hyaenidae, our data suggest that social complexity might have contributed to enlargement of the frontal cortex. However, social complexity failed to predict either brain volume or frontal cortex volume in a larger array of mammalian carnivores. To address the question of whether or not social complexity might be able to explain the evolution of domain-general intelligence as well as social cognition in particular, we presented simple puzzle boxes, baited with food and scaled to accommodate body size, to members of 39 carnivore species housed in zoos and found that species with larger brains relative to their body mass were more innovative and more successful at opening the boxes. However, social complexity failed to predict success in solving this problem. Overall our work suggests that, although social complexity enhances social cognition, there are no unambiguous causal links between social complexity and either brain size or performance in problem-solving tasks outside the social domain in mammalian carnivores.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kay E. Holekamp
- Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, U.S.A
- BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, U.S.A
| | - Ben Dantzer
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, U.S.A
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, U.S.A
| | - Gregory Stricker
- Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, U.S.A
| | | | - Sarah Benson-Amram
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, U.S.A
- Program in Ecology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, U.S.A
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The Endocranial Morphology of the Plio-Pleistocene Bone-Cracking Hyena Pliocrocuta perrieri: Behavioral Implications. J MAMM EVOL 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s10914-015-9287-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Ilieş I, Muscedere ML, Traniello JF. Neuroanatomical and Morphological Trait Clusters in the Ant Genus Pheidole: Evidence for Modularity and Integration in Brain Structure. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2015; 85:63-76. [DOI: 10.1159/000370100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2014] [Accepted: 08/28/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
A central question in brain evolution concerns how selection has structured neuromorphological variation to generate adaptive behavior. In social insects, brain structures differ between reproductive and sterile castes, and worker behavioral specializations related to morphology, age, and ecology are associated with intra- and interspecific variation in investment in functionally different brain compartments. Workers in the hyperdiverse ant genus Pheidole are morphologically and behaviorally differentiated into minor and major subcastes that exhibit distinct species-typical patterns of brain compartment size variation. We examined integration and modularity in brain organization and its developmental patterning in three ecotypical Pheidole species by analyzing intra- and interspecific morphological and neuroanatomical covariation. Our results identified two trait clusters, the first involving olfaction and social information processing and the second composed of brain regions regulating nonolfactory sensorimotor functions. Patterns of size covariation between brain compartments within subcastes were consistent with levels of behavioral differentiation between minor and major workers. Globally, brains of mature workers were more heterogeneous than brains of newly eclosed workers, suggesting diversified developmental trajectories underscore species- and subcaste-typical brain organization. Variation in brain structure associated with the striking worker polyphenism in our sample of Pheidole appears to originate from initially differentiated brain templates that further diverge through species- and subcaste-specific processes of maturation and behavioral development.
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Swanson EM, Snell-Rood EC. A Molecular Signaling Approach to Linking Intraspecific Variation and Macro-evolutionary Patterns. Integr Comp Biol 2014; 54:805-21. [DOI: 10.1093/icb/icu057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
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Swanson EM, Dantzer B. Insulin-like growth factor-1 is associated with life-history variation across Mammalia. Proc Biol Sci 2014; 281:20132458. [PMID: 24619435 PMCID: PMC3973252 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.2458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2013] [Accepted: 02/13/2014] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite the diversity of mammalian life histories, persistent patterns of covariation have been identified, such as the 'fast-slow' axis of life-history covariation. Smaller species generally exhibit 'faster' life histories, developing and reproducing rapidly, but dying young. Hormonal mechanisms with pleiotropic effects may mediate such broad patterns of life-history variation. Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) is one such mechanism because heightened IGF-1 activity is related to traits associated with faster life histories, such as increased growth and reproduction, but decreased lifespan. Using comparative methods, we show that among 41 mammalian species, increased plasma IGF-1 concentrations are associated with fast life histories and altricial reproductive patterns. Interspecific path analyses show that the effects of IGF-1 on these broad patterns of life-history variation are through its direct effects on some individual life-history traits (adult body size, growth rate, basal metabolic rate) and through its indirect effects on the remaining life-history traits. Our results suggest that the role of IGF-1 as a mechanism mediating life-history variation is conserved over the evolutionary time period defining mammalian diversification, that hormone-trait linkages can evolve as a unit, and that suites of life-history traits could be adjusted in response to selection through changes in plasma IGF-1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eli M. Swanson
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Ben Dantzer
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
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Isler K, Van Schaik CP. How humans evolved large brains: Comparative evidence. Evol Anthropol 2014; 23:65-75. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.21403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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42
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Arsznov BM, Sakai ST. The procyonid social club: comparison of brain volumes in the coatimundi (Nasua nasua, N. narica), kinkajou (Potos flavus), and raccoon (Procyon lotor). BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2013; 82:129-45. [PMID: 24107681 DOI: 10.1159/000354639] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2013] [Accepted: 07/22/2013] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The present study investigated whether increased relative brain size, including regional brain volumes, is related to differing behavioral specializations exhibited by three member species of the family Procyonidae. Procyonid species exhibit continuums of behaviors related to social and physical environmental complexities: the mostly solitary, semiarboreal and highly dexterous raccoons (Procyon lotor); the exclusively arboreal kinkajous (Potos flavus), which live either alone or in small polyandrous family groups, and the social, terrestrial coatimundi (Nasua nasua, N. narica). Computed tomographic (CT) scans of 45 adult skulls including 17 coatimundis (9 male, 8 female), 14 raccoons (7 male, 7 female), and 14 kinkajous (7 male, 7 female) were used to create three-dimensional virtual endocasts. Endocranial volume was positively correlated with two separate measures of body size: skull basal length (r = 0.78, p < 0.01) and basicranial axis length (r = 0.45, p = 0.002). However, relative brain size (total endocranial volume as a function of body size) varied by species depending on which body size measurement (skull basal length or basicranial axis length) was used. Comparisons of relative regional brain volumes revealed that the anterior cerebrum volume consisting mainly of frontal cortex and surface area was significantly larger in the social coatimundi compared to kinkajous and raccoons. The dexterous raccoon had the largest relative posterior cerebrum volume, which includes the somatosensory cortex, in comparison to the other procyonid species studied. The exclusively arboreal kinkajou had the largest relative cerebellum and brain stem volume in comparison to the semi arboreal raccoon and the terrestrial coatimundi. Finally, intraspecific comparisons failed to reveal any sex differences, except in the social coatimundi. Female coatimundis possessed a larger relative frontal cortical volume than males. Social life histories differ in male and female coatimundis but not in either kinkajous or raccoons. This difference may reflect the differing social life histories experienced by females who reside in their natal bands, and forage and engage in antipredator behavior as a group, while males disperse upon reaching adulthood and are usually solitary thereafter. This analysis in the three procyonid species supports the comparative neurology principle that behavioral specializations correspond to an expansion of neural tissue involved in that function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bradley M Arsznov
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich., USA
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Holekamp KE, Swanson EM, Van Meter PE. Developmental constraints on behavioural flexibility. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2013; 368:20120350. [PMID: 23569298 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
We suggest that variation in mammalian behavioural flexibility not accounted for by current socioecological models may be explained in part by developmental constraints. From our own work, we provide examples of constraints affecting variation in behavioural flexibility, not only among individuals, but also among species and higher taxonomic units. We first implicate organizational maternal effects of androgens in shaping individual differences in aggressive behaviour emitted by female spotted hyaenas throughout the lifespan. We then compare carnivores and primates with respect to their locomotor and craniofacial adaptations. We inquire whether antagonistic selection pressures on the skull might impose differential functional constraints on evolvability of skulls and brains in these two orders, thus ultimately affecting behavioural flexibility in each group. We suggest that, even when carnivores and primates would theoretically benefit from the same adaptations with respect to behavioural flexibility, carnivores may nevertheless exhibit less behavioural flexibility than primates because of constraints imposed by past adaptations in the morphology of the limbs and skull. Phylogenetic analysis consistent with this idea suggests greater evolutionary lability in relative brain size within families of primates than carnivores. Thus, consideration of developmental constraints may help elucidate variation in mammalian behavioural flexibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kay E Holekamp
- Department of Zoology, Michigan State University, 203 Natural Sciences, MI 48824, USA.
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Logan CJ, Clutton-Brock TH. Validating methods for estimating endocranial volume in individual red deer (Cervus elaphus). Behav Processes 2013; 92:143-6. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2012.10.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2012] [Revised: 10/25/2012] [Accepted: 10/26/2012] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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