From fish to fashion: experimental and theoretical insights into the evolution of culture

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed a re-evaluation of the cognitive capabilities of fishes, including with respect to social learning. Indeed, some of the best experimental evidence for animal traditions can be found in fishes. Laboratory experimental studies reveal that many fishes acquire dietary, food site and mating preferences, predator recognition and avoidance behaviour, and learn pathways, through copying 1 other fishes. Concentrating on foraging behaviour, we will present the findings of laboratory experiments that reveal social learning, behavioural innovation, the diffusion of novel behaviour through populations and traditional use of food sites. Further studies reveal surprisingly complex social learning strategies deployed by sticklebacks. We will go on to place these observations of fish in a phylogenetic context, describing in which respects the learning and traditionality of fish are similar to, and differ from, that observed in other animals. We end by drawing on theoretical insights to suggest processes that may have played important roles in the evolution of the human cultural capability.

The evolution of primate general and cultural intelligence

“…Accordingly, we envisage that such behaviour is unlikely to be the sole province of large-brained taxa [34,64,71]. However, our frequency data suggest that brain enlargement may facilitate more varied forms of behavioural flexibility, rather than simply the presence or absence of a broad category of behaviour such as social learning, extractive foraging or innovation.…”

“…If much social learning is the result of general processes, then behaviour patterns acquired by social learning are expected to span multiple domains, a prediction supported by data from individual species such as the chimpanzee and the guppy Poecilia reticulata [71,77]. Where social learning is an adaptive specialization, on the other hand, it might be expected to be restricted to a particular domain, such as learning about certain predators or foods.…”

Social learning in birds and its role in shaping a foraging niche

“…More recently, these methods have been successfully applied to a range of taxa, from fish [65,66] to mammals [67], although the focus has been on song learning and sexual imprinting in birds, as mentioned above. Perhaps, this is because it is relatively easy to cross-foster birds' eggs when compared with the more limited tools for studying vertical transmission in mammals.…”

Culture evolves

“…We have instead invited contributions that emphasize what we see as two major classes of discovery in this area of research: first, that social learning and traditions exist widely across the animal kingdom, and second, that their significance pervades many-indeed arguably mostdimensions of some animals' lives. The first of these points is illustrated by papers reviewing recent findings spanning fish, birds, primates and other mammals [2][3][4][5][6][7], and the second by reference to the extensive range of phenomena incorporated into traditions described here, including foraging techniques, tool use, food types and sites, travel routes, predator recognition, social customs and mate choice.…”

“…The methodological aspirations embodied in this new work integrate it more closely with natural sciences approaches evident in parts 1 and 2, and raise optimism about the prospects for a more unified and broad-based 'science of culture' [19,38 -40]. 2 A second development we highlight is engagement with the parallels between biological and cultural evolution. Such parallels concerning language were recognized long ago by Darwin himself, initially in the Origin [41], and later in the Descent [42] where he remarked that 'We find in distinct languages striking homologies due to community of descent, and analogies due to a similar process of formation.…”