Feeding innovations and forebrain size in birds

Lefebvre, Louis; Whittle, Patrick Michael; Lascaris, Evan; Finkelstein, Adam

doi:10.1006/anbe.1996.0330

Cited by 500 publications

(511 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

480

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In developing their hypothesis, they emphasized higher cognitive abilities and a greater importance of social learning in mammals and birds than other vertebrates. Research on birds has suggested that variation innovation and cognition (or the development of portions of the brain related to cognition) are associated with particular taxa (Lefebvre e(al, 1997;Sol and Lefebvre, 2000), with groups like corvids and parrots showing the greatest tendency to display innovative behaviours. Finally, some comparative analyses suggest that even among or within closely-related species differences in the frequency of innovation can be found (Sol ef aA, 2002).…”

Section: Social Transmission Of Novelty Responsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Neophobia and Neophilia in the Development of Innovative Behaviour of Birds

Greenberg¹

2003

Animal Innovation

229

254

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ecological innovation is the adoption of behaviours that allow individuals in a population to exploit newly available, previously unused, or familiar resources in a new way. Innovative behaviours have often been considered the stuff of anecdotes and short communications in natural history oriented journals. Still, in recent decades, innovative behaviour has attracted the attention of researchers investigating very different questions aimed at diverse levels of biological organization. Psychologists and ethologists have been fascinated by the origins of innovation and creativity that might result from play behaviours (Bekoff and Byers, 1998); behavioural ecologists have been documenting the way that innovative behaviours might arise and spread within social groups and through populations (Fisher and Hinde, 1949;Kummer and Goodall, 1985; Fragaszy and Visalberghi, 1990); and ecologists have been investigating how different levels of ecological flexibility develop and the implications this has for different life history strategies of related species (Morse, 1980) and their ability to colonize new places (Sol ef ol, 2002). However, innovative behaviours have arguably gained greatest theoretical importance when related to the role they might play in rapid macroevolutionary changes. It has been suggested that behavioural innovations that spread through populations and change the way that animals interact with their environment can eventually lead to new morphological and physiological adaptations (Mayr, 1963).The idea that the development and spread of innovative behaviour may play a critical role in the propensity towards macroevolutionary shifts is an old one. Over 100 years ago, Lloyd Morgan (1886) argued that behavioural plasticity paved the way to major genetically based adaptations to new environments. The importance of ecological innovation in driving morphological evolution gained centre stage upon the publication of a paper by Wyles gf al (1983). Wyles ef af. hypothesized that the rapid morphological evolution of birds and mammals was facilitated by the spread of new behaviours. By this hypothesis, the propensity to engage in new behaviours and the speed at which they are socially .transmitted are key 176 ANIMAL INNOVATION factors leading to morphological change in vertebrates. This line of thinking leads to the concept of innovation-prone taxa. These taxa are bestowed with qualities that either increase the occurrence of innovative behaviour in individuals, lead individuals to replicate these behaviours within their own repertoire, or speed up or render more reliable the transmission of these behaviours between individuals and groups of individuals.How do we study innovation?Although the importance of innovative behaviour has long been recognized, the means to subject innovation to scientinc study has proven elusive. Innovative behaviours have proven to be dimcult to study within the traditional experimental paradigm of comparative psychology. Successful innovations, almost by definition, are rare events that...

show abstract

Section: Social Transmission Of Novelty Responsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Neophobia and Neophilia in the Development of Innovative Behaviour of Birds

Greenberg¹

2003

Animal Innovation

229

254

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Among mammals and birds, relative brain size is known to reflect differences in ecology, life history, diet, parental care, behavioural flexibility, habitat and foraging technique ( Jerison 1973;Clutton-Brock & Harvey 1980;Bennett & Harvey 1985;Lefebvre et al 1997;Barton 1998;Pagel & Harvey 1998;Garamszegi et al 2002;Garamszegi & Eens 2004). These factors are likely to shape the behaviour of males and females similarly, and natural selection should thus affect brain size in the two sexes in a similar fashion (Lande 1980).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sperm competition and sexually size dimorphic brains in birds

Garamszegi

Eens

Erritzøe³

et al. 2005

Proc. R. Soc. B.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Natural selection may favour sexually similar brain size owing to similar selection pressures in males and females, while sexual selection may lead to sexually dimorphic brains. For example, sperm competition involves clear-cut sex differences in behaviour, as males display, mate guard and copulate with females, while females choose among males, and solicit or reject copulations. These behaviours may require fundamentally different neural government in the two sexes leading to sex-dependent brain evolution. Using two phylogenetic approaches in a comparative study, we tested for roles of both natural and sexual-selection pressures on brain size evolution of birds. In accordance with the natural-selection theory, relative brain size of males coevolved with that of females, which may be the result of adaptation to similar environmental constraints such as feeding innovation. However, the mode of brain size evolution differed between the sexes, and factors associated with sperm competition as reflected by extra-pair paternity may give rise to sexually size dimorphic brains. Specifically, species in which females have larger brains than males were found to have a higher degree of extra-pair paternity independently of potentially confounding factors, whereas species in which males have relatively larger brains than females appeared to have lower rates of extra-pair paternity. Hence, the evolution of sperm competition may select for complex behaviours together with the associated neural substrates in the sex that has a higher potential to control extra-pair copulations at the observed levels. Brain function may thus be affected differently in males and females by sexual selection.

show abstract

“…(Hinde & Fisher 1951). Lefebvre et al (1997) described 322 separate cases of feeding innovation in birds. In all such examples, a novel food source was utilized, or exploited more efficiently, as a result of the innovation.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Innovation is regarded as an important component of behavioural plasticity, vital to the survival of individuals in species with generalist or opportunistic lifestyles (Lefebvre et al 1997). However, despite being fundamental to several research programmes, little is known about which individuals form new behaviour patterns and what ecological variables influence innovation (Kummer & Goodall 1985;Lee 1991).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Innovation is phylogenetically widespread, but species differ in innovative tendency (Thorpe 1956;Cousteau 1958;Cambefort 1981;Lefebvre et al 1997), with greatest innovation associated with 'higher organisms' (Lloyd Morgan 1912;McDougall 1936) or animals with larger relative brain size (Wyles et al 1983;Lefebvre et al 1997). Innovation in animals is not often associated with clever or creative individuals, although there are exceptions (Köhler 1925;Wilson 1975).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Foraging innovation in the guppy

1999

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

When novel behaviour patterns spread through animal populations, typically one animal will initiate the diffusion. It is not known whether such 'innovators' are particularly creative individuals, individuals exposed to the appropriate environmental contingencies, or individuals in a particular motivational state. We describe three experiments that investigated the factors influencing foraging innovation in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata. We exposed small laboratory populations of fish to novel foraging tasks, which involved exploration and problem solving to locate a novel food source. Experiments 1 and 2 found that (1) females were more likely to innovate than males, (2) food-deprived fish were more likely to innovate than nonfood-deprived subjects, and (3) smaller fish were more likely to innovate than larger fish. We suggest that the sex difference may reflect parental investment asymmetries in males and females. Experiment 3 found that past innovators were more likely to innovate than past noninnovators. Collectively, the results suggest that differences in foraging innovation in guppies are best accounted for by differences in motivational state, but, in addition, guppies may vary in their predisposition to innovate.

show abstract

Feeding innovations and forebrain size in birds

Cited by 500 publications

References 23 publications

The Role of Neophobia and Neophilia in the Development of Innovative Behaviour of Birds

The Role of Neophobia and Neophilia in the Development of Innovative Behaviour of Birds

Sperm competition and sexually size dimorphic brains in birds

Foraging innovation in the guppy

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About