Ecological Drivers of Antipredator Defenses in Carnivores

Stankowich, Theodore; Haverkamp, Paul J.; Caro, Timothy

doi:10.1111/evo.12356

Cited by 36 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…However, even if they have the same predators, the southern population may experience a higher predation risk than the northern one, as smaller individuals tend to have higher predation risk per se , because they are easier to manipulate and can have a larger spectrum of predators than bigger prey (Caro ; Stankowich et al. ). In fact, the smaller body size of the southern population may facilitate attacks by unusual lizard predators such as birds, Passeriformes (Pérez & Avila ; Marín ; Salvador & Bodrati ; Bianchini ), and Piciformes (Ojeda & Chazarreta ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asymmetric Response to Heterotypic Distress Calls in the Lizard Liolaemus chiliensis

2016

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The weeping lizard, Liolaemus chiliensis, emits distress calls when trapped by a predator. Conspecific lizards respond to such calls with prolonged immobility, which may increase their probability of remaining undetected by a predator. This benefit, however, depends on the ability to react to the alert message of the call, which may be impaired by natural variation in the calls. The distress calls of L. chiliensis show geographic variation, and here we tested the response of two geographically distant populations (>700 km apart) to local (homotypic) and non‐local (heterotypic) distress calls; if populations are finely tuned to their local calls, they may not be able to respond to heterotypic calls. We found that geographic variation in calls affects the lizards’ response, but this effect was population dependent; whereas southern lizards responded to calls of both populations, the northern lizards only reacted to homotypic distress calls. The factors that determine this asymmetric response to heterotypic calls are unclear and we discuss three hypotheses that have a common component in the difference in body size between the tested populations, which seems to play a key role in determining the response to distress calls in this species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asymmetric Response to Heterotypic Distress Calls in the Lizard Liolaemus chiliensis

2016

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“…Mammalian carnivores comprise an excellent taxon in which to assess the relationship between brain size and problem-solving ability and test predictions of hypotheses forwarded to explain the evolution of large brains and superior cognitive abilities, because they exhibit great variation in their body size, their brain size relative to body size, their social structure, and their apparent need to use diverse behaviors to solve ecological problems. Although most carnivores are solitary, many species live in cohesive or fission-fusion social groups that closely resemble primate societies (21)(22)(23). Furthermore, experiments with both wild spotted hyenas (24) and wild meerkats (25) show that members of these species are able to solve novel problems, and in spotted hyenas, those individuals that exhibit the greatest behavioral diversity are the most successful problem-solvers (24).…”

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confidence: 99%

Brain size predicts problem-solving ability in mammalian carnivores

Benson‐Amram

Dantzer

Stricker

et al. 2016

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

309

252

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Despite considerable interest in the forces shaping the relationship between brain size and cognitive abilities, it remains controversial whether larger-brained animals are, indeed, better problem-solvers. Recently, several comparative studies have revealed correlations between brain size and traits thought to require advanced cognitive abilities, such as innovation, behavioral flexibility, invasion success, and self-control. However, the general assumption that animals with larger brains have superior cognitive abilities has been heavily criticized, primarily because of the lack of experimental support for it. Here, we designed an experiment to inquire whether specific neuroanatomical or socioecological measures predict success at solving a novel technical problem among species in the mammalian order Carnivora. We presented puzzle boxes, baited with food and scaled to accommodate body size, to members of 39 carnivore species from nine families housed in multiple North American zoos. We found that species with larger brains relative to their body mass were more successful at opening the boxes. In a subset of species, we also used virtual brain endocasts to measure volumes of four gross brain regions and show that some of these regions improve model prediction of success at opening the boxes when included with total brain size and body mass. Socioecological variables, including measures of social complexity and manual dexterity, failed to predict success at opening the boxes. Our results, thus, fail to support the social brain hypothesis but provide important empirical support for the relationship between relative brain size and the ability to solve this novel technical problem.brain size | problem-solving | carnivore | social complexity | intelligence

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“…Although most carnivores are solitary, some species form social groups that are comparable in size and complexity to those of primates (e.g. Gittleman, 1989a; Smith, Swanson, Reed, & Holekamp, 2012; Stankowich, Haverkamp, & Caro, 2014). Gregarious carnivores engage in a variety of behaviours that appear highly intelligent, such as cooperative hunts of large vertebrate prey.…”

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confidence: 99%

Brains, brawn and sociality: a hyaena's tale

et al. 2015

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Theoretically intelligence should evolve to help animals solve specific types of problems posed by the environment, but it remains unclear how environmental complexity or novelty facilitates the evolutionary enhancement of cognitive abilities, or whether domain-general intelligence can evolve in response to domain-specific selection pressures. The social complexity hypothesis, which posits that intelligence evolved to cope with the labile behaviour of conspecific group-mates, has been strongly supported by work on the sociocognitive abilities of primates and other animals. Here we review the remarkable convergence in social complexity between cercopithecine primates and spotted hyaenas, and describe our tests of predictions of the social complexity hypothesis in regard to both cognition and brain size in hyaenas. Behavioural data indicate that there has been remarkable convergence between primates and hyaenas with respect to their abilities in the domain of social cognition. Furthermore, within the family Hyaenidae, our data suggest that social complexity might have contributed to enlargement of the frontal cortex. However, social complexity failed to predict either brain volume or frontal cortex volume in a larger array of mammalian carnivores. To address the question of whether or not social complexity might be able to explain the evolution of domain-general intelligence as well as social cognition in particular, we presented simple puzzle boxes, baited with food and scaled to accommodate body size, to members of 39 carnivore species housed in zoos and found that species with larger brains relative to their body mass were more innovative and more successful at opening the boxes. However, social complexity failed to predict success in solving this problem. Overall our work suggests that, although social complexity enhances social cognition, there are no unambiguous causal links between social complexity and either brain size or performance in problem-solving tasks outside the social domain in mammalian carnivores.

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Ecological Drivers of Antipredator Defenses in Carnivores

Cited by 36 publications

References 33 publications

Asymmetric Response to Heterotypic Distress Calls in the Lizard Liolaemus chiliensis

Asymmetric Response to Heterotypic Distress Calls in the Lizard Liolaemus chiliensis

Brain size predicts problem-solving ability in mammalian carnivores

Brains, brawn and sociality: a hyaena's tale

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