Sex and boldness explain individual differences in spatial learning in a lizard

Carazo, Pau; Noble, Daniel W. A.; Chandrasoma, Dani; Whiting, Martin J.

doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.3275

Cited by 105 publications

(121 citation statements)

References 55 publications

(97 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

115

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Lizards are adept spatial learners [12,14,15], but to date, few studies have examined whether variation in learning ability affects the fitness of lizards or other wild animals [16], so we know little about the nature of selection on cognitive traits [2]. In this study, we investigated whether incubation temperatures influence the learning ability of hatchling velvet geckos, Amalosia lesueurii, and if so, whether learning ability affects hatchling survival in the wild.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incubation under climate warming affects learning ability and survival in hatchling lizards

Dayananda¹,

Webb²

2017

Biol. Lett.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite compelling evidence for substantial individual differences in cognitive performance, it is unclear whether cognitive ability influences fitness of wild animals. In many animals, environmental stressors experienced in utero can produce substantial variation in the cognitive abilities of offspring. In reptiles, incubation temperatures experienced by embryos can influence hatchling brain function and learning ability. Under climate warming, the eggs of some lizard species may experience higher temperatures, which could affect the cognitive abilities of hatchlings. Whether such changes in cognitive abilities influence the survival of hatchlings is unknown. To determine whether incubation-induced changes in spatial learning ability affect hatchling survival, we incubated velvet gecko, Amalosia lesueurii, eggs using two fluctuating temperature regimes to mimic current (cold) versus future (hot) nest temperatures. We measured the spatial learning ability of hatchlings from each treatment, and released individually marked animals at two field sites in southeastern Australia. Hatchlings from hot-incubated eggs were slower learners than hatchlings from cold-incubated eggs. Survival analyses revealed that hatchlings with higher learning scores had higher survival than hatchlings with poor learning scores. Our results show that incubation temperature affects spatial learning ability in hatchling lizards, and that such changes can influence the survival of hatchlings in the wild.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incubation under climate warming affects learning ability and survival in hatchling lizards

Dayananda¹,

Webb²

2017

Biol. Lett.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Lizards are likely to be good candidates for testing social learning because they show behavioural flexibility and rapid learning [7][8][9]. We tested for age-related social learning in a non-group-living lizard (Eulamprus quoyii) known for relatively rapid spatial learning ability [8,9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age-dependent social learning in a lizard

2014

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Evidence of social learning, whereby the actions of an animal facilitate the acquisition of new information by another, is taxonomically biased towards mammals, especially primates, and birds. However, social learning need not be limited to group-living animals because species with less interaction can still benefit from learning about potential predators, food sources, rivals and mates. We trained male skinks (Eulamprus quoyii), a mostly solitary lizard from eastern Australia, in a two-step foraging task. Lizards belonging to 'young' and 'old' age classes were presented with a novel instrumental task (displacing a lid) and an association task (reward under blue lid). We did not find evidence for age-dependent learning of the instrumental task; however, young males in the presence of a demonstrator learnt the association task faster than young males without a demonstrator, whereas old males in both treatments had similar success rates. We present the first evidence of agedependent social learning in a lizard and suggest that the use of social information for learning may be more widespread than previously believed.

show abstract

“…Although local enhancement does not necessarily result in social transmission, it could cause groups of animals to acquire similar behavioural repertories (Hoppitt and Laland 2013). Lizards can use social information to learn how to enhance their foraging opportunities (Doody et al 2013;Kis et al 2014;Noble et al 2014). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local enhancement and social foraging in a non-social insular lizard

Pérez‐Cembranos

Pérez-Mellado

2014

Anim Cogn

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Even in solitary foragers, conspecifics can provide reliable information about food location. The insular lizard Podarcis lilfordi is a solitary species with high population densities that sometimes aggregate around rich food patches. Its diet includes novel and unpredictable resources, such as carcasses or plants, whose exploitation quickly became widespread among the population. We tested the use of social information by lizards through some field experiments in which they had to choose one of the two pieces of fruit. Probably due to local enhancement, lizards preferred to feed on the piece of fruit where conspecifics or lizard-shaped models were already present. Conspecifics' behaviour, but also their mere presence, seems to be a valuable source of information to decide where to feed. Lizards also showed a strong attraction to conspecifics, even in the absence of food. Maybe the presence of a group is interpreted as an indirect cue for the presence of food. The group size was not important to females, but males had a significantly higher attraction towards groups with three conspecifics. We discuss some characteristics of P. lilfordi at Aire Island that can explain the development of the observed social foraging, as well as their possible consequences.

show abstract

Sex and boldness explain individual differences in spatial learning in a lizard

Cited by 105 publications

References 55 publications

Incubation under climate warming affects learning ability and survival in hatchling lizards

Incubation under climate warming affects learning ability and survival in hatchling lizards

Age-dependent social learning in a lizard

Local enhancement and social foraging in a non-social insular lizard

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About