Further information on publisher's website:https://doi.org/10. 1098/rspb.2017.1765 Publisher's copyright statement: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-pro t purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details.
Providing cognitive challenges to zoo-housed animals may provide enriching effects and subsequently enhance their welfare. Primates may benefit most from such challenges as they often face complex problems in their natural environment and can be observed to seek problem solving opportunities in captivity. However, the extent to which welfare benefits can be achieved through programmes developed primarily for cognitive research is unknown. We tested the impact of voluntary participation cognitive testing on the welfare of a socially housed group of crested macaques (Macaca nigra) at the Macaque Study Centre (Marwell Zoo). First, we compared the rate of self-directed and social behaviours on testing and non-testing days, and between conditions within testing days. Minimal differences in behaviour were found when comparing testing and non-testing days, suggesting that there was no negative impact on welfare as a result of cognitive testing. Lipsmacking behaviours were found to increase and aggressive interaction was found to decrease in the group as a result of testing. Second, social network analysis was used to assess the effect of testing on associations and interactions between individuals. The social networks showed that testing subjects increased their association with others during testing days. One interpretation of this finding could be that providing socially housed primates with an opportunity for individuals to separate from the group for short periods could help mimic natural patterns of sub-group formation and reunion in captivity. The findings suggest, therefore, that the welfare of captive primates can be improved through the use of cognitive testing in zoo environments.
This is the accepted version of the following article: Borries, C., Sandel, A. A., Koenig, A., Fernandez-Duque, E., Kamilar, J. M., Amoroso, C. R., Barton, R. A., Bray, J., Di Fiore, A., Gilby, I. C., Gordon, A. D., Mundry, R., Port, M., Powell, L. E., Pusey, A. E., Spriggs, A. and Nunn, C. L. (2016), Transparency, usability, and reproducibility: Guiding principles for improving comparative databases using primates as examples. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 25(5): 232-238, which has been published in nal form at https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.21502. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.Additional information: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-pro t purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. From the beginning of evolutionary biology, the comparative method has been a major analytical tool, 1-3 allowing for the examination of patterns and processes of evolutionary change. 4 Some of the main obstacles to overcome in comparative analyses have been statistical in nature:How should we control for confounding variables? What criteria should we use to assess whether patterns are statistically significant and biologically meaningful? How should we control for the non-independence of comparative data that stems from phylogenetic relatedness? Much progress has been made with respect to these issues, especially in the development and use of 3 phylogenetic comparative methods. 3,5,6 For example, building on initial descriptions of phylogenetically independent contrasts, 7 methods can now incorporate phylogenetic uncertainty, 8,9 intraspecific variation, 10-12 and different models of phenotypic evolution. 13,14 Although phylogenetic and statistical methods are rapidly advancing, an increasing number of researchers argue that the data to which these methods are applied are 'stuck in the dark ages'. [15][16][17] It is imperative that, before the specific methods employed in a comparative study are considered, the suitability of the data be thoroughly evaluated. The time has come to bring our comparative databases into the modern age, and to represent uncertainty in the data in the same way we might represent uncertainty in a statistical model or in a phylogeny. 18 It is also important that we be able to evaluate which sources of uncertainty -in the data, the phylogeny, and the statistical methods -have the greatest influence on comparative results.To approach these issues, the authors met on May 28, 2014 at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent, Durham, NC,...
Life history is a robust correlate of relative brain size: larger-brained mammals and birds have slower life histories and longer lifespans than smaller-brained species. The cognitive buffer hypothesis (CBH) proposes an adaptive explanation for this relationship: large brains may permit greater behavioural flexibility and thereby buffer the animal from unpredictable environmental challenges, allowing for reduced mortality and increased lifespan. By contrast, the developmental costs hypothesis (DCH) suggests that life-history correlates of brain size reflect the extension of maturational processes needed to accommodate the evolution of large brains, predicting correlations with pre-adult life-history phases. Here, we test novel predictions of the hypotheses in primates applied to the neocortex and cerebellum, two major brain structures with distinct developmental trajectories. While neocortical growth is allocated primarily to pre-natal development, the cerebellum exhibits relatively substantial post-natal growth. Consistent with the DCH, neocortical expansion is related primarily to extended gestation while cerebellar expansion to extended post-natal development, particularly the juvenile period. Contrary to the CBH, adult lifespan explains relatively little variance in the whole brain or neocortex volume once pre-adult life-history phases are accounted for. Only the cerebellum shows a relationship with lifespan after accounting for developmental periods. Our results substantiate and elaborate on the role of maternal investment and offspring development in brain evolution, suggest that brain components can evolve partly independently through modifications of distinct developmental phases, and imply that environmental input during post-natal maturation may be particularly crucial for the development of cerebellar function. They also suggest that relatively extended post-natal maturation times provide a developmental mechanism for the marked expansion of the cerebellum in the apes.
Life history is a robust correlate of relative brain size: large-brained mammals and birds have slower life histories and longer lifespans than smaller-brained species. One influential adaptive hypothesis to account for this finding is the Cognitive Buffer Hypothesis (CBH). The CBH proposes that large brains permit greater behavioural flexibility and thereby buffer the animal from unpredictable environmental challenges, allowing reduced mortality and increased lifespan. In contrast, the Developmental Costs Hypothesis (DCH) suggests that life-history correlates of brain size reflect the extension of maturational processes needed to accommodate the evolution of large brains. The hypotheses are not mutually exclusive, but do make different predictions. Here we test novel predictions of the hypotheses in primates: examining how the volume of brain components with different developmental trajectories correlate with relevant phases of maternal investment, juvenile period and post-maturational lifespan. Consistent with the DCH, structures with different allocations of growth to pre-natal versus post-natal development exhibit predictably divergent correlations with the associated periods of maternal investment and pre-maturational lifespan. Contrary to the CBH, adult lifespan is uncorrelated with either whole brain size or the size of individual brain components once duration of maternal investment is accounted for. Our results substantiate and elaborate on the role of maternal investment and offspring development in brain evolution, suggest that brain components can evolve partly independently through modifications of distinct developmental mechanisms, and imply that postnatal maturational processes involving interaction with the environment may be particularly crucial for the development of cerebellar function. They also provide an explanation for why apes have relatively extended maturation times, which relate to the relative expansion of the cerebellum in this clade.
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