The importance of population heterogeneities in detecting social learning as the foundation of animal cultural transmission

Nöbel, Sabine; Wang, Xiaobo; Talvard, Laurine; Tariel, Juliette; Lille, Maëva; Roussigné, Myriam; Danchin, Étienne

doi:10.1098/rspb.2022.0431

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 70 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Indeed, the wide-ranging estimates found here mirror the large individual variation found in other studies on jackdaw behaviour [ 59 , 60 ]. Understanding the causes and consequences of such individual differences is therefore an important priority for social learning research [ 58 , 61 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Competition and generalization impede cultural formation in wild jackdaws

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Animal cultures have now been demonstrated experimentally in diverse taxa from flies to great apes. However, experiments commonly use tasks with unrestricted access to equal pay-offs and innovations seeded by demonstrators who are trained to exhibit strong preferences. Such conditions may not reflect those typically found in nature. For example, the learned preferences of natural innovators may be weaker, while competition for depleting resources can favour switching between strategies and generalizing from past experience. Here we show that in experiments where wild jackdaws ( Corvus monedula ) can freely discover depleting supplies of novel foods, generalization has a powerful effect on learning, allowing individuals to exploit multiple new opportunities through both social and individual learning. Further, in contrast to studies with trained demonstrators, individuals that were first to innovate showed weak preferences. As a consequence, many individuals ate all available novel foods, displaying no strong preference and no group-level culture emerged. Individuals followed a ‘learn from adults’ strategy, but other demographic factors played a minimal role in shaping social transmission. These results demonstrate the importance of generalization in allowing animals to exploit new opportunities and highlight how natural competitive dynamics may impede the formation of culture.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Competition and generalization impede cultural formation in wild jackdaws

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For many species, living in social groups provides evolutionary benefits, such as protection from predators, sharing of information and resources, and increased potential mating opportunities [1][2][3][4][5]. Living in large social groups also has costs and puts individuals at an increased risk of infection [6][7][8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurobiology of Pathogen Avoidance and Mate Choice: Current and Future Directions

Cantini,

Choleris,

Kavaliers

2024

Animals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Animals are under constant threat of parasitic infection. This has influenced the evolution of social behaviour and has strong implications for sexual selection and mate choice. Animals assess the infection status of conspecifics based on various sensory cues, with odours/chemical signals and the olfactory system playing a particularly important role. The detection of chemical cues and subsequent processing of the infection threat that they pose facilitates the expression of disgust, fear, anxiety, and adaptive avoidance behaviours. In this selective review, drawing primarily from rodent studies, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the detection and assessment of infection status and their relations to mate choice are briefly considered. Firstly, we offer a brief overview of the aspects of mate choice that are relevant to pathogen avoidance. Then, we specifically focus on the olfactory detection of and responses to conspecific cues of parasitic infection, followed by a brief overview of the neurobiological systems underlying the elicitation of disgust and the expression of avoidance of the pathogen threat. Throughout, we focus on current findings and provide suggestions for future directions and research.

show abstract