Relative Size of the Hyperstriatum ventrale Is the Best Predictor of Feeding Innovation Rate in Birds

Timmermans, Sarah; Lefebvre, Louis; Boire, Denis; Basu, Paroma

doi:10.1159/000047204

Cited by 167 publications

(161 citation statements)

References 46 publications

(68 reference statements)

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“…In the case of the core Corvoidea, these might have included, in addition to a morphology compatible with long-distance dispersal: (i) a bill suitable for generalized foraging (i.e., massive and hooked) (33); (ii) increased brain size, enhancing flexibility in food selection, feeding innovation (e.g., food hoarding in crows, shrikes and petroicids) (34), and complex group structure (35,36); and (iii) exploratory behavior, which may be associated with changes in life strategy, including social behavior, increasing the likelihood of successful long-distance dispersal. Innovative behavior and ability to adapt to new environments is associated with enlargement of the hyperstriatum ventrale of the brain, which is exceptionally developed in crow-like birds (37). Few data on relative sizes of various brain parts are available, but it might be worthwhile to compare the endemic taxa (basal oscines and endemic Papuan core corvoids) and the colonizing taxa (core corvoids that dispersed) in this respect.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Major global radiation of corvoid birds originated in the proto-Papuan archipelago

Jønsson

Fabre

Ricklefs

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

168

194

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A central paradigm in island biogeography has been the unidirectional "downstream" colonization of islands from continents (source to sink) based on the idea that less-diverse island communities are easier to invade than biologically more-diverse continental communities. Recently, several cases of "upstream" colonization (from islands to continents) have been documented, challenging the traditional view. However, all these cases have involved individual island species that have colonized mainland regions. Here, using molecular phylogenetic data, divergence time estimates, lineage diversity distributions, and ancestral area analyses, we reconstruct the spread of a species-rich (>700 species) passerine bird radiation (core Corvoidea) from its late Eocene/Oligocene origin in the emerging proto-Papuan archipelago north of Australia, including multiple colonizations from the archipelago to Southeast Asia. Thus, islands apparently provided the setting for the initiation of a major songbird radiation that subsequently invaded all other continents. Morphological and behavioral adaptations of the core Corvoidea as generalist feeders in open habitats, which facilitated dispersal and colonization, apparently evolved in the descendants of sedentary forest birds that invaded the proto-Papuan archipelago. The archipelago evidently provided islands of the right size, number, and proximity to continental areas to support the adaptation and diversification of vagile colonizers that went on to increase avian diversity on a global scale.Indo-Pacific | Passeriformes | community assembly | macroecology | range expansion

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Major global radiation of corvoid birds originated in the proto-Papuan archipelago

Jønsson

Fabre

Ricklefs

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

168

194

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“…Among birds, corvids have exceptionally large hyperstriatum ventrale and neostriatum, areas of the avian brain associated with integrative behaviors (Timmermans et al 2000). When hiding and retrieving their caches, scrub jays not only consider where-whatwhen information (Clayton et al 2001(Clayton et al , 2003, but also take social factors into account by adjusting their behavior to reduce the chances of their caches being taken by other jays (Emery et al 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A socioecological perspective on primate cognition, past and present

Cunningham

Janson

2007

Anim Cogn

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The papers in this special issue examine the relationship between social and ecological cognition in primates. We refer to the intersection of these two domains as socioecological cognition. Examples of socioecological cognition include socially learned predator alarm calls and socially sensitive foraging decisions. In this review we consider how primate cognition may have been shaped by the interaction of social and ecological inXuences in their evolutionary history. The ability to remember distant, out-of-sight locations is an ancient one, shared by many mammals and widespread among primates. It seems some monkeys and apes have evolved the ability to form more complex representations of resources, integrating "what-where-how much" information. This ability allowed anthropoids to live in larger, more cohesive groups by minimizing competition for limited resources between group members. As group size increased, however, competition for resources also increased, selecting for enhanced social skills. Enhanced social skills in turn made a more sophisticated relationship to the environment possible. The interaction of social and ecological inXuences created a spiraling eVect in the evolution of primate intelligence. In contrast, lemurs may not have evolved the ability to form complex representations which would allow them to consider the size and location of resources. This lack in lemur ecological cognition may restrict the size of frugivorous lemur social groups, thereby limiting the complexity of lemur social life. In this special issue, we have brought together two review papers, Wve Weld studies, and one laboratory study to investigate the interaction of social and ecological factors in relation to foraging. Our goal is to stimulate research that considers social and ecological factors acting together on cognitive evolution, rather than in isolation. Cross fertilization of experimental and observational studies from captivity and the Weld is important for increasing our understanding of this relationship.

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“…[31][32][33], and bower-building complexity (34). Notable exceptions are the avian studies of Lefebvre et al (3,[35][36][37][38] mentioned below. To our knowledge, despite ample evidence for links between neural measures and various lifestyles in mammals (8,9,19,22), there is no direct, unequivocal support for a link between brain size and general behavioral flexibility.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

Social intelligence, innovation, and enhanced brain size in primates

Reader

Laland

2002

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

993

827

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Despite considerable current interest in the evolution of intelligence, the intuitively appealing notion that brain volume and ''intelligence'' are linked remains untested. Here, we use ecologically relevant measures of cognitive ability, the reported incidence of behavioral innovation, social learning, and tool use, to show that brain size and cognitive capacity are indeed correlated. A comparative analysis of 533 instances of innovation, 445 observations of social learning, and 607 episodes of tool use established that social learning, innovation, and tool use frequencies are positively correlated with species' relative and absolute ''executive'' brain volumes, after controlling for phylogeny and research effort. Moreover, innovation and social learning frequencies covary across species, in conflict with the view that there is an evolutionary tradeoff between reliance on individual experience and social cues. These findings provide an empirical link between behavioral innovation, social learning capacities, and brain size in mammals. The ability to learn from others, invent new behaviors, and use tools may have played pivotal roles in primate brain evolution.

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Relative Size of the Hyperstriatum ventrale Is the Best Predictor of Feeding Innovation Rate in Birds

Cited by 167 publications

References 46 publications

Major global radiation of corvoid birds originated in the proto-Papuan archipelago

Major global radiation of corvoid birds originated in the proto-Papuan archipelago

A socioecological perspective on primate cognition, past and present

Social intelligence, innovation, and enhanced brain size in primates

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