Search results for "social transmission"

Social transmission in avian brood parasitism systems

Obligate brood parasites lay all of their eggs in nests of other species, leaving the burden of parental care entirely to the hosts. As a consequence of being parasitized, hosts’ reproductive success is often reduced. This strategy has triggered a coevolutionary dynamic involving behavioural, physiological and morphological adaptations and counter-adaptations from the two players, whose conflicting functions are to successfully parasitize a nest, and prevent or reduce the negative effects of parasitism. In parasite systems studied in the New and Old worlds, warbler hosts exhibited different degrees of learning antiparasite defences from conspecifics. By quantifying strength and direction of…

Evolutionary consequences of social transmission in avian brood parasitism systems

Obligate brood parasites lay all of their eggs in nests of other species, leaving the burden of parental care entirely to the hosts. As a consequence of being parasitized, hosts’ reproductive success is often reduced. This strategy has triggered a coevolutionary dynamic involving behavioural, physiological and morphological adaptations and counter-adaptations from the two players, whose conflicting functions are to successfully parasitize a nest, and prevent or reduce the negative effects of parasitism. In parasite systems studied in the New and Old worlds, warbler hosts exhibited different degrees of learning antiparasite defences from conspecifics. By quantifying strength and direction of…

Social transmission of avoidance among predators facilitates the spread of novel prey.

2018

Warning signals are an effective defence strategy for aposematic prey, but only if they are recognized by potential predators. If predators must eat prey to associate novel warning signals with unpalatability, how can aposematic prey ever evolve? Using experiments with great tits (Parus major) as predators, we show that social transmission enhances the acquisition of avoidance by a predator population. Observing another predator’s disgust towards tasting one novel conspicuous prey item led to fewer aposematic than cryptic prey being eaten for the predator population to learn. Despite reduced personal encounters with unpalatable prey, avoidance persisted and increased over subsequent trials.…