Brain size affects female but not male survival under predation threat.
Brain size affects female but not male survival under predation threat.
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DOI：
10.1111/ele.12441
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发表时间：
2015-07
期刊：
影响因子：
8.8
通讯作者：
Kolm N
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kotrschal A;Buechel SD;Zala SM;Corral-Lopez A;Penn DJ;Kolm N
脊椎动物之间的大脑大小存在显著的差异，但令人惊讶的是，人们对生态物种相互作用如何影响大脑大小的进化知之甚少。利用人工选择的大小大脑孔雀鱼，我们确定了在自然环境中，大脑大小如何影响捕食威胁下的生存。我们将混合的小脑和大脑个体群体与它们的天敌梭鱼共居在六条半自然的溪流中，并在超过5个月的每周人口普查中监测生存情况。我们发现，大脑大的女性比大脑小的女性的存活率高13.5%，而大脑的大小对男性的存活率没有明显的影响。我们认为，大脑较大的雌性拥有认知优势，可以更好地躲避捕食，而大脑较大的雄性则更多彩，这可能会抵消大脑大小的任何潜在好处。我们的研究首次提供了营养相互作用可以影响大脑大小进化的实验证据。
There is remarkable diversity in brain size among vertebrates, but surprisingly little is known about how ecological species interactions impact the evolution of brain size. Using guppies, artificially selected for large and small brains, we determined how brain size affects survival under predation threat in a naturalistic environment. We cohoused mixed groups of small- and large-brained individuals in six semi-natural streams with their natural predator, the pike cichlid, and monitored survival in weekly censuses over 5 months. We found that large-brained females had 13.5% higher survival compared to small-brained females, whereas the brain size had no discernible effect on male survival. We suggest that large-brained females have a cognitive advantage that allows them to better evade predation, whereas large-brained males are more colourful, which may counteract any potential benefits of brain size. Our study provides the first experimental evidence that trophic interactions can affect the evolution of brain size.