Selective and Evolutionary Aspects of Animal Play

Fagen, Robert

doi:10.1086/282960

Cited by 105 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…A new, consensual theory describes “intelligence” as a behavioral flexibility [95] manifested in quick problem-solving task or number of innovations [94]. Fagen [98] assumed that the number of innovations and play has close or causal relationship. In mammals, the large-brained taxa are more likely to contain species that play more often [99], and playful and active animals are more attractive to zoo visitors (e.g., Felidae: [100]).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mammalian Collection on Noah's Ark: The Effects of Beauty, Brain and Body Size

Frynta

Šimková²,

Lišková³

et al. 2013

PLoS ONE

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The importance of today's zoological gardens as the so-called “Noah's Ark” grows as the natural habitat of many species quickly diminishes. Their potential to shelter a large amount of individuals from many species gives us the opportunity to reintroduce a species that disappeared in nature. However, the selection of animals to be kept in zoos worldwide is highly selective and depends on human decisions driven by both ecological criteria such as population size or vulnerability and audience-driven criteria such as aesthetic preferences. Thus we focused our study on the most commonly kept and bred animal class, the mammals, and we asked which factors affect various aspects of the mammalian collection of zoos. We analyzed the presence/absence, population size, and frequency per species of each of the 123 mammalian families kept in the worldwide zoo collection. Our aim was to explain these data using the human-perceived attractiveness of mammalian families, their body weight, relative brain size and species richness of the family. In agreement with various previous studies, we found that the body size and the attractiveness of mammals significantly affect all studied components of the mammalian collection of zoos. There is a higher probability of the large and attractive families to be kept. Once kept, these animals are presented in larger numbers in more zoos. On the contrary, the relative mean brain size only affects the primary selection whether to keep the family or not. It does not affect the zoo population size or the number of zoos that keep the family.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mammalian Collection on Noah's Ark: The Effects of Beauty, Brain and Body Size

Frynta

Šimková²,

Lišková³

et al. 2013

PLoS ONE

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“…A leading hypothesis for the adaptive value of play is that it allows animals to learn or perfect skills that are necessary later in life (Fagen 1974;Graham and Burghardt 2010;Burghardt 2014). Importantly, neonate reptiles must successfully thermoregulate behaviorally as soon as they hatch, and incubation conditions can affect thermoregulatory decisions by hatchlings (Deeming 2004).…”

Section: Function Of Embryo Movement In Reptiles E23mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, the mechanisms required to sense and respond to the thermal environment develop prior to hatching so that they are in place at hatching (Gottlieb 1973;Deeming 2004). Thermal taxis in the egg might enhance development of behavioral thermoregulation (akin to practice ;Gottlieb 1973;Fagen 1974;Graham and Burghardt 2010). If so, we might expect species that tightly thermoregulate as adults to display greater thermal taxis behavior as embryos.…”

Section: Function Of Embryo Movement In Reptiles E23mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reptile Embryos Lack the Opportunity to Thermoregulate by Moving within the Egg

Telemeco

Gangloff

Cordero

et al. 2016

The American Naturalist

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Historically, egg-bound reptile embryos were thought to passively thermoconform to the nest environment. However, recent observations of thermal taxis by embryos of multiple reptile species have led to the widely discussed hypothesis that embryos behaviorally thermoregulate. Because temperature affects development, such thermoregulation could allow embryos to control their fate far more than historically assumed. We assessed the opportunity for embryos to behaviorally thermoregulate in nature by examining thermal gradients within natural nests and eggs of the common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina; which displays embryonic thermal taxis) and by simulating thermal gradients within nests across a range of nest depths, egg sizes, and soil types. We observed little spatial thermal variation within nests, and thermal gradients were poorly transferred to eggs. Furthermore, thermal gradients sufficiently large and constant for behavioral thermoregulation were not predicted to occur in our simulations. Gradients of biologically relevant magnitude have limited global occurrence and reverse direction twice daily when they do exist, which is substantially faster than embryos can shift position within the egg. Our results imply that reptile embryos will rarely, if ever, have the opportunity to behaviorally thermoregulate by moving within the egg. We suggest that embryonic thermal taxis instead represents a play behavior, which may be adaptive or selectively neutral, and results from the mechanisms for behavioral thermoregulation in free-living stages coming online prior to hatching. KeywordsChelydra serpentina, microclim, nest, play, soil, snapping turtle, temperature Disciplines Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | Evolution | Population Biology CommentsThis article is from The American Naturalist 188 (2016) abstract: Historically, egg-bound reptile embryos were thought to passively thermoconform to the nest environment. However, recent observations of thermal taxis by embryos of multiple reptile species have led to the widely discussed hypothesis that embryos behaviorally thermoregulate. Because temperature affects development, such thermoregulation could allow embryos to control their fate far more than historically assumed. We assessed the opportunity for embryos to behaviorally thermoregulate in nature by examining thermal gradients within natural nests and eggs of the common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina; which displays embryonic thermal taxis) and by simulating thermal gradients within nests across a range of nest depths, egg sizes, and soil types. We observed little spatial thermal variation within nests, and thermal gradients were poorly transferred to eggs. Furthermore, thermal gradients sufficiently large and constant for behavioral thermoregulation were not predicted to occur in our simulations. Gradients of biologically relevant magnitude have limited global occurrence and reverse direction twice daily when they do exist, which is substantially faster than embryos can shift position within the...

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“…This function of play has been recognized by a number of theorists. Fagen (1974) and Kroeber (1948) have suggested that play is a force behind cultural inventions, and Huizinga (1949) has hypothesized that nearly the entire social order can be traced to the influence of play.…”

Section: Play: Assimilative or Divergent?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Play: Dormant Issues and New Perspectives

Vandenberg

1981

Human Development

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The role of play in development is discussed from cultural-evolutionary and ontogenetic-historical perspectives. The Piaget/Sutton-Smith debate serves as a point of departure for identifying important questions concerning the role of play in development. Parallels are drawn between genetic mutation and DNA in biological evolution, and play and imitation in cultural evolution. Vygotsky’s model of language development is used to provide an understanding of the ontogenetic history of play. These perspectives illuminate how play and imitation are important for the developing individual emerging and influencing a changing cultural environment.

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Selective and Evolutionary Aspects of Animal Play

Cited by 105 publications

References 27 publications

Mammalian Collection on Noah's Ark: The Effects of Beauty, Brain and Body Size

Mammalian Collection on Noah's Ark: The Effects of Beauty, Brain and Body Size

Reptile Embryos Lack the Opportunity to Thermoregulate by Moving within the Egg

Play: Dormant Issues and New Perspectives

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