Big brains stabilize populations and facilitate colonization of variable habitats in birds

TitelBig brains stabilize populations and facilitate colonization of variable habitats in birds
MedientypJournal Article
Jahr der Veröffentlichung2017
AutorenFristoe, T., A. Iwaniuk, and C. Botero
Volume1
Veröffentlichungsdatum2017/11/01
Zusammenfassung

The cognitive buffer hypothesis posits that environmental variability can be a major driver of the evolution of cognition because an enhanced ability to produce flexible behavioural responses facilitates coping with the unexpected. Although comparative evidence supports different aspects of this hypothesis, a direct connection between cognition and the ability to survive a variable and unpredictable environment has yet to be demonstrated. Here, we use complementary demographic and evolutionary analyses to show that among birds, the mechanistic premise of this hypothesis is well supported but the implied direction of causality is not. Specifically, we show that although population dynamics are more stable and less affected by environmental variation in birds with larger relative brain sizes, the evolution of larger brains often pre-dated and facilitated the colonization of variable habitats rather than the other way around. Our findings highlight the importance of investigating the timeline of evolutionary events when interpreting patterns of phylogenetic correlation.The ability to cope with environmental variability is thought to be a major driver of brain-size evolution. Here, the authors show that cognitive capacity in birds may instead have pre-dated and facilitated the colonization of variable habitats.




Und denn, man muß das Wahre immer wiederholen, weil auch der Irrtum um uns her immer wieder gepredigt wird, und zwar nicht von Einzelnen, sondern von der Masse. In Zeitungen und Enzyklopädien, auf Schulen und Universitäten, überall ist der Irrtum oben auf, und es ist ihm wohl und behaglich, im Gefühl der Majorität, die auf seiner Seite ist. -Oft lehrt man auch Wahrheit und Irrtum zugleich und hält sich an letzteren. {Johann Wolfgang von Goethe}