Similarities in spatial cognition in sister species of the striped mouse Rhabdomys originating from different ecological contexts

Mackay, Megan K; Pillay, Neville

doi:10.1163/1568539x-00003474

Cited by 7 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Moreover, omnivorous bank voles and herbivorous common voles (M. arvalis) were similar in their efficiency of exploiting stable habitats, but the omnivorous bank voles were more efficient in exploiting habitats with temporally changing food locations (Haupt et al 2010). However, striped mice (Rhabdomys pumilio, R. bechuanae, R. dilectus) occurring in habitats of different complexity did not differ in spatial learning abilities, possibly due to phylogenetic constraints (Mackay and Pillay 2018). Finally, adapting to and persisting in urban landscapes have been suggested to be associated with behavioural flexibility in several species (Sih 2013;Sol et al 2013;Ducatez et al 2020b).…”

Section: Habitat Exploration While Searching and Finding Foodmentioning

confidence: 96%

Linking ecology and cognition: does ecological specialisation predict cognitive test performance?

Malsburg

Kappeler

Fichtel

2020

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Variation in cognitive abilities is thought to be linked to variation in brain size, which varies across species with either social factors (Social Intelligence Hypothesis) or ecological challenges (Ecological Intelligence Hypothesis). However, the nature of the ecological processes invoked by the Ecological Intelligence Hypothesis, like adaptations to certain habitat characteristics or dietary requirements, remains relatively poorly known. Here, we review comparative studies that experimentally investigated interspecific variation in cognitive performance in relation to a species’ degree of ecological specialisation. Overall, the relevant literature was biased towards studies of mammals and birds as well as studies focusing on ecological challenges related to diet. We separated ecological challenges into those related to searching for food, accessing a food item and memorising food locations. We found interspecific variation in cognitive performance that can be explained by adaptations to different foraging styles. Species-specific adaptations to certain ecological conditions, like food patch distribution, characteristics of food items or seasonality also broadly predicted variation in cognitive abilities. A species’ innovative problem-solving and spatial processing ability, for example, could be explained by its use of specific foraging techniques or search strategies, respectively. Further, habitat generalists were more likely to outperform habitat specialists. Hence, we found evidence that ecological adaptations and cognitive performance are linked and that the classification concept of ecological specialisation can explain variation in cognitive performance only with regard to habitat, but not dietary specialisation.

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Section: Habitat Exploration While Searching and Finding Foodmentioning

confidence: 96%

Linking ecology and cognition: does ecological specialisation predict cognitive test performance?

Malsburg

Kappeler

Fichtel

2020

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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“…There is conflicting evidence for differences in spatial cognition in the genus Rhabdomys (Mackay & Pillay, 2017;Neves & Pillay, 2022a). Mackay and Pillay (2017) found no differences in spatial cognition between R. pumilio and R. d.…”

Section: Environmental Complexitymentioning

confidence: 98%

“…In addition, the sexes do not differ in spatial navigation ability although males tended to travel further than females regardless of taxon (Mackay & Pillay, 2017). Rhabdomys pumilio has larger hippocampus and amygdala volumes than R. d. chakae and R. d. dilectus, both of which are correlated with amicability suggesting an influence of sociality on regional brain size (Neves & Pillay, 2022a).…”

mentioning

confidence: 92%

Variation in brain volume in nine populations and three taxa of the African striped mouse Rhabdomys

Neves

Pillay

2022

Journal of Morphology

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Brain size can vary between populations in different environments because of different selection pressures on behaviours, such as learning and memory, related to spatial, social and environmental differences. We investigated the variation in total and broad‐scale regional brain size in the murid rodent genus Rhabdomys from different environments. We assessed taxon‐, population‐ and sex‐level differences in total and regional brain volume in three populations each of three taxa (arid‐occurring Rhabdomys pumilio and mesic‐occurring Rhabdomys dilectus chakae and R. d. dilectus) originating across southern Africa. We μCT‐scanned crania obtained from museums in South Africa and used digital software to create endocasts and extract total endocranium and regional volumes: olfactory bulb, anterior cerebrum, posterior cerebrum, cerebellum volume and petrosal volume. Total endocranial volume scaled with basal skull length and all‐region volumes scaled with total endocranial volume. We found taxon‐, and population‐level differences in total endocranial volume. Relative anterior and posterior cerebrum volume did not differ significantly between taxa or populations, but relative cerebellum volume was larger in arid populations than mesic populations. Relative olfactory bulb volume was larger in mesic R. dilectus than in the R. pumilio, but petrosal lobule volume was larger in R. pumilio populations than in R. dilectus. Males had larger total endocranial volumes than females. Drivers of larger total endocranial volumes in R. pumilio are not immediately clear from our results. Environmental seasonality of food availability, cognitive buffering and locomotion may all correlate with total endocranial volume size, whereas the influence of sociality cannot be excluded. The environment and degree of semi‐arboreality are likely driving variation in cerebellum, olfactory bulb and petrosal lobule volumes.

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“…bechuanae, R. dilectus) occurring in habitats of different complexity did not differ in spatial learning abilities, possibly due to phylogenetic constraints (Mackay and Pillay 2017).…”

Section: Habitat Exploration While Searching and Finding Foodmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…In primates, abundance of socially transmitted parasites were positively associated with rates of social learning, and environmentally transmitted parasites were positively associated with rates of exploration (McCabe et al 2015). Habitat complexity was positively correlated with spatial cognition and brain size in rodents (Mackay and Pillay 2017) and fish (White and Brown 2015a). Hence, some results point towards an association between cognitive performance and ecological adaptations and a systematic summary of respective associations across species may contribute to a better understanding of potential causalities and their relative effect sizes.…”

Section: The Link Between Cognition and Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive adaptations in two sympatric mouse lemur species occupying different ecological niches

Johanna¹

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Cognition describes an individual's abilities to perceive, process, and act on information of the abiotic and biotic environment. The investigation of cognitive variation between individuals and species has been of interest for many decades and several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution of cognition. Sizes of certain brain areas covary with the cognitive abilities they process, and socio-ecological factors have been related to various brain size measures. However, covariations of phenotypic cognitive performances with socio-ecological factors are essential to understand the adaptive value of cognitive abilities. While links with social factors have been the focus of comparative studies, which and how cognitive abilities and ecological factors link with each other, has been less systematically investigated. Precisely, it is assumed, that ecological generalists consistently outperform ecological specialists in cognitive challenges, but a respective link lacks systematic empirical evidence.In my first theoretic approach, I reviewed the literature for comparative studies that experimentally assessed cognitive performances among at least two species of the same phylogenetic order. I found that cognitive variation can be related to species-specific dietary preferences, related foraging behaviors, migratory behavior, or habitat complexity. However, other ecological factors, such as the synecology with predators or parasites, or the degree of ecological specialization, have largely been disregarded to be linked with cognitive performances. Only a subset of the reviewed studies specifically mentioned the degree of ecological specialization of the species in comparison. After complementing the respective information using additional literature, I applied a sign-test to estimate whether the degree of dietary or habitat specialization consistently covaries with cognitive performances. Across a total of 34 comparisons, N = 26 cognitive performances differed between the species in comparison. In 62% of these comparisons, the dietary generalist achieved higher performance scores than the relative dietary specialist. Habitat generalists achieved higher scores than relative habitat specialists in 72% of the comparisons. However, ecological generalism was not significantly associated with higher performances that go beyond innovative and flexible learning abilities. It Summary IV remains therefore questionable, whether generalist species consistently outperform more specialist species across a broader range of cognitive abilities.In my second empirical approach, I applied a conclusive cognitive test battery to two wild primate sister species. The gray and the Madame Berthe's mouse lemur possess a comparable social system, occur in sympatry at the chosen study site, but are differentially adapted to ecological factors. Essentially, the gray mouse lemur is a dietary and habitat generalist, while the Madame Berthe's mouse lemur is more specialized along these ecological niche axes. Occupying different ecological n...

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Similarities in spatial cognition in sister species of the striped mouse Rhabdomys originating from different ecological contexts

Cited by 7 publications

References 68 publications

Linking ecology and cognition: does ecological specialisation predict cognitive test performance?

Linking ecology and cognition: does ecological specialisation predict cognitive test performance?

Variation in brain volume in nine populations and three taxa of the African striped mouse Rhabdomys

Cognitive adaptations in two sympatric mouse lemur species occupying different ecological niches

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