How mammals stay healthy in nature: the evolution of behaviours to avoid parasites and pathogens

Hart, Benjamin L.; Hart, Lynette A.

doi:10.1098/rstb.2017.0205

Cited by 89 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…Several strategies have evolved that enable wild mammals to deal with parasites. These include eliminating infectious agents from sleeping/resting areas, having an array of grooming techniques, consuming medicinal plant-based compounds, and others (Hart and Hart 2018). These strategies are speciesspecific and reflect particular environments that animals inhabit.…”

Section: Behavior and Socialitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting the spread of parasites in populations of wild European terrestrial mammals

Kołodziej‐Sobocińska

2019

Mamm Res

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There are many different factors involved in parasitism. The general concept of Bfilters^proposed by Combes includes Bencounter filters^(behavior, biodiversity) and Bcompatibility filters^(resources, defense) to explain mechanisms responsible for the formation of host-parasite coexistence. However, researches explaining the reasons for the spread and dynamics of parasites in populations of wild terrestrial mammals in Europe and the specific factors affecting prevalence and intensity of parasitosis are limited. Many factors, ecological, biological, and anthropogenic, form a complex network of interdependencies that shape this pattern. Here, I summarize the current state of knowledge on the factors affecting parasitic diseases in wild mammals inhabiting the European continent. It indicates the need to further development, not only for academic reasons, but also for the benefit of use in management of wild mammal species and disease control in nature.

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Section: Behavior and Socialitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting the spread of parasites in populations of wild European terrestrial mammals

Kołodziej‐Sobocińska

2019

Mamm Res

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“…Evidence for this pattern is however missing. In addition, individuals may learn to recognize and avoid infected individuals -as in mandrills which can recognize the smell of individuals infected by protozoan parasites, and avoid grooming them (Poirotte et al, 2017; see also reviews on parasite avoidance behaviors: Hart and Hart, 2018;Kavaliers and Choleris, 2018;Sarabian et al, 2018). Hosts can also learn to avoid contact with pathogens -as in the Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans that learns to associate the smell of a pathogenic bacteria with a hazard (Zhang et al, 2005).…”

Section: Mechanism 12: Cognitive Abilities Help To Avoid or Respondmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host Cognition and Parasitism in Birds: A Review of the Main Mechanisms

et al. 2020

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Parasites can have important detrimental effects on host fitness, thereby influencing their ecology and evolution. Hosts can, in turn, exert strong selective pressures on their parasites, affecting eco-evolutionary dynamics. Although the reciprocal pressures that hosts and parasites exert on each other have long been recognized, the mechanisms are insufficiently understood. Here, we discuss the role of host cognition in host-parasite eco-evolutionary dynamics. Theoretical advances have acknowledged the importance of behavior in shaping these dynamics, but how and why host cognition should affect and/or be affected by parasites is less clear. We propose three scenarios that may create causal and non-causal links between cognition and the richness, prevalence and intensity of parasites. First, host cognition may change the probability of exposure to parasites, either increasing (e.g., altering the relationship with the environment via innovative behaviors) or decreasing (e.g., influencing decision-making to avoid infected conspecifics) exposure. Second, parasites may change host cognitive performance, for example, by reducing host condition. Finally, host cognition and parasites can be associated via common causal factors (e.g., shared molecular pathways), energetic constraints generating trade-offs between cognition and immunocompetence, or trait co-evolution with life history, ecological, or social strategies. The existence of such a variety of non-mutually exclusive mechanisms suggests that host cognition has a great potential to affect and be affected by parasites. However, it also implies that progress in understanding these effects will only be possible if we distinguish between causal and non-causal links.

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“…Allogrooming is widespread across the animal kingdom [i.e., primates (Lehmann et al, 2007), birds (Bush and Clayton, 2018), ungulates (Hart and Hart, 2018), and insects (Octavio Lopez-Riquelme and Luisa Fanjul-Moles, 2013)]. This includes removing ectoparasites with hands (Lehmann et al, 2007), bills (Bush and Clayton, 2018), teeth (Hart and Hart, 2018), or mouthparts (Octavio Lopez-Riquelme and Luisa Fanjul-Moles, 2013). Although many species appear to tolerate some ectoparasites (Hart, 2011), they may also be vectors of other diseases (Sadanandane et al, 2018), making their removal beneficial for both the parasitized individual and the wider social group.…”

Section: Groomingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Analyses of grooming patterns have shown that for many species, grooming is a key mechanism for establishing and maintaining relationships with kin, allies, or mates and maintaining group cohesion (Lehmann et al, 2007). However, it also serves important hygienic functions (Hart and Hart, 2018). While most animals can self-groom, social grooming is particularly important for areas of the body which the animal cannot reach (Hart and Hart, 2018).…”

Section: Groomingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why Care: Complex Evolutionary History of Human Healthcare Networks

Kessler

2020

Front. Psychol.

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One of the striking features of human social complexity is that we provide care to sick and contagious individuals, rather than avoiding them. Care-giving is a powerful strategy of disease control in human populations today; however, we are not the only species which provides care for the sick. Widespread reports occurring in distantly related species like cetaceans and insects suggest that the building blocks of care for the sick are older than the human lineage itself. This raises the question of what evolutionary processes drive the evolution of such care in animals, including humans. I synthesize data from the literature to evaluate the diversity of care-giving behaviors and conclude that across the animal kingdom there appear to be two distinct types of care-behaviors, both with separate evolutionary histories: (1) social care behaviors benefitting a sick individual by promoting healing and recovery and (2) community health behaviors that control pathogens in the environment and reduce transmission within the population. By synthesizing literature from psychology, anthropology, and biology, I develop a novel hypothesis (Hominin Pathogen Control Hypothesis) to explain how these two distinct sets of behaviors evolved independently then merged in the human lineage. The hypothesis suggests that social care evolved in association with offspring care systems whereas community health behaviors evolved as a type of niche construction. These two types of behaviors merged in humans to produce complex, multi-level healthcare networks in humans. Moreover, each type of care increases selection for the other, generating feedback loops that selected for increasing healthcare behaviors over time. Interestingly, domestication processes may have contributed to both social care and community health aspects of this process.

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How mammals stay healthy in nature: the evolution of behaviours to avoid parasites and pathogens

Cited by 89 publications

References 73 publications

Factors affecting the spread of parasites in populations of wild European terrestrial mammals

Factors affecting the spread of parasites in populations of wild European terrestrial mammals

Host Cognition and Parasitism in Birds: A Review of the Main Mechanisms

Why Care: Complex Evolutionary History of Human Healthcare Networks

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