Cross-continental test of natal philopatry and habitat-imprinting hypotheses to explain host specificity in an obligate brood parasite

Koleček, Jaroslav; Procházka, Petr; Brlík, Vojtěch; Honza, Marcel

doi:10.1007/s00114-020-1667-0

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…This general interpretation is consistent with current population trends in the common cuckoo ( Cuculus canorus )—a generalist at the species level, but a specialist at the individual level—which has experienced strong declines in recent years 48 , apparently in response to phenological mismatches driven by climate change 49 , 50 . As such, while individual host selection decisions may manifest in response to ecological opportunism, habitat 51 , and developmental imprinting 52 may also constrain host use.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological uncertainty favours the diversification of host use in avian brood parasites

et al. 2020

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Adaptive responses to ecological uncertainty may affect the dynamics of interspecific interactions and shape the course of evolution within symbioses. Obligate avian brood parasites provide a particularly tractable system for understanding how uncertainty, driven by environmental variability and symbiont phenology, influences the evolution of species interactions. Here, we use phylogenetically-informed analyses and a comprehensive dataset on the behaviour and geographic distribution of obligate avian brood parasites and their hosts to demonstrate that increasing uncertainty in thermoregulation and parental investment of parasitic young are positively associated with host richness and diversity. Our findings are consistent with the theoretical expectation that ecological risks and environmental unpredictability should favour the evolution of bet-hedging. Additionally, these highly consistent patterns highlight the important role that ecological uncertainty is likely to play in shaping the evolution of specialisation and generalism in complex interspecific relationships.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological uncertainty favours the diversification of host use in avian brood parasites

et al. 2020

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“…When given the simultaneous choice between all possible rearing habitats and a natural reed habitat, they indeed preferred to watch nest‐building songbirds within the habitat they had been imprinted on (Teuschl et al, 1998). In a radio‐telemetry study in the Czech Republik, further support for this hypothesis was accumulated (Vogl et al, 2002, 2004), and a recent cross‐continental study using ringing data confirmed that after first migration, cuckoos return to habitats resembling the ones they grew up in (Kolecek et al, 2020).…”

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confidence: 91%

The Evolution of Social Behaviour

Taborsky

2021

Ethology

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“…This is especially relevant for generalist parasites that can learn from past experience to flexibly fine-tune their behavioural competence to the behavioural repertoire of particular host species. Indeed, most existing reports on parasite learning refer to broad generalist avian brood parasites 21 – 24 . The brown-headed cowbird ( Molothrus ater ) is capable of parasitizing over 200 host species 25 and can utilise social information acquired prior to their own parasitic attempts to choose suitable nests for parasitism 21 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Brown-headed cowbirds also have the cognitive abilities to remember promising hosts based on their past reproductive success 22 and improve their decision-making processes on whom to parasitise as they age 23 . Common cuckoos ( Cuculus canorus ) imprint on their natal habitat and return to similarly structured sites to reproduce 26 , 27 , increasing their likelihood of choosing suitable hosts 24 . However, these limited insights do not directly address the development of attributes that play a key role in successful brood parasitism – precisely timed and performed parasite oviposition followed by successful egg acceptance by the host.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual experience as a key to success for the cuckoo catfish brood parasitism

et al. 2022

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Brood parasites are involved in coevolutionary arms races with their hosts, whereby adaptations of one partner elicit the rapid evolution of counter-adaptations in the other partner. Hosts can also mitigate fitness costs of brood parasitism by learning from individual or social experience. In brood parasites, however, the role of learning can be obscured by their stealthy behaviour. Cuckoo catfish (Synodontis multipunctatus) parasitise clutches of mouthbrooding cichlids in Lake Tanganyika and are the only non-avian obligate brood parasites among vertebrates. We experimentally demonstrate that cuckoo catfish greatly enhance their efficiency in parasitising their hosts as they learn to overcome host defences. With increasing experience, cuckoo catfish increased their parasitism success by greater efficiency through improved timing and coordination of intrusions of host spawnings. Hence, within the coevolutionary arms races, brood parasites learn to overcome host defences during their lifetime.

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Cross-continental test of natal philopatry and habitat-imprinting hypotheses to explain host specificity in an obligate brood parasite

Cited by 11 publications

References 27 publications

Ecological uncertainty favours the diversification of host use in avian brood parasites

Ecological uncertainty favours the diversification of host use in avian brood parasites

The Evolution of Social Behaviour

Individual experience as a key to success for the cuckoo catfish brood parasitism

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