DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Cognitive constraints on adaptation: Chick recognition as host defense against conspecific brood parasitism

布鲁斯里昂（PI）和Daizaburo Shizuka提案编号：IOS-0808579适应的认知限制：小鸡识别作为宿主防御同种育雏寄生虫父母通常优先照顾自己的后代，而不是其他后代，当他们可以区分他们。有些鸟，通常被称为育雏寄生虫，利用父母的照顾，把它们的蛋产在别人的巢里。一个突出的问题是，为什么这种生殖寄生的受害者会照顾其他个体甚至其他物种的后代，特别是当后代与自己的后代有很大差异时。这种识别失败是特别令人惊讶的考虑到寄主的育雏寄生虫往往已经进化出识别和拒绝育雏寄生虫卵看起来很像自己的能力。在这项研究中，静香和里昂开发了一个理论模型，以显示如何在学习识别后代的一般过程中的约束可能解释为什么育雏寄生后代被接受在一些物种，但不是其他。该研究的实验部分将讨论该模型是否适用于美国黑鸭（Fulica americana），一种水鸟。雌鸭在对方的巢中产卵，许多寄生卵沿着宿主的卵孵化。初步的数据表明，一些父母的乌骨鸡认识寄生小鸡和对待他们不同，从自己的。实验将确定（a）鸡是否能够识别和区分宿主和外来小鸡，（B）使用什么一般类型的学习机制来发展识别，以及（c）小鸡的发声是否是识别中使用的线索。通过将理论模型与认知的实验操作相结合，这项研究将有助于更好地理解生物体用于解决生态问题的机制如何限制适应性进化。该项目将在实地研究和分子方法方面对本科生进行培训，研究结果将纳入当地K-12学生的生态学谈话计划。

Bruce Lyon (PI) and Daizaburo ShizukaProposal #:IOS-0808579Cognitive constraints on adaptation: chick recognition as host defense against conspecific brood parasitesParents typically preferentially care for their own offspring over the offspring of others when they can tell them apart. Some birds, that are commonly called brood parasites, exploit parental care by laying their eggs in the nests of others. An outstanding question is why victims of this type of reproductive parasitism provide care for the offspring of other individuals or even of other species, particularly when the offspring vary dramatically from their own. This recognition failure is especially surprising considering that hosts of brood parasites have often evolved the ability to recognize and reject brood parasite eggs that look much like their own. In this study, Shizuka and Lyon develop a theoretical model to show how a constraint in the general process of learning to recognize offspring may explain why brood parasitic offspring are accepted in some species, but not others. The experimental portion of the study will then address whether this model can apply to American coots (Fulica americana), a waterbird. Female coots lay eggs in each other's nests, and many of these parasitic eggs hatch along with the host's eggs. Preliminary data suggests that some parent coots recognize parasitic chicks and treat them differently from their own. The experiments will determine (a) whether coots can recognize and discriminate between host and foreign chicks, (b) what general type of learning mechanism is used to develop recognition, and (c) whether chick vocalizations are the cues used in recognition. By integrating a theoretical model with experimental manipulations of cognition, this study will contribute to a greater understanding of how the mechanisms organisms use to solve ecological problems can constrain adaptive evolution. The project will train undergraduate students in field research and molecular methods, and the findings will be incorporated into an Ecology Talk program for local K-12 students.