OPUS: The ecology and evolution of cooperation in a tropical bird

这个项目将综合20年来对长尾蜥蜴的生态学和进化的研究。这些新热带鸟类有一个lek交配系统，成群的雄性向雌性求爱。它们的腿在动物王国里是独一无二的，因为一对不相关的雄性（阿尔法和β）合作进行协调的歌舞表演。如果发生交配，总是由阿尔法交配。由于这种合作既不涉及亲缘选择，也不涉及互惠，因此出现了一个进化难题。为什么beta要帮助alpha呢？PI将以两种主要方式综合他的结果：1)利用借用社会学的模型来探索男性之间复杂的社会关系；2)利用18年的单独标记鸟类的记录，分析了雄性的相互作用。他将写出：1)一本总结和综合他对这一物种的研究的书；2)一本编辑过的书，在这本书中，研究人员描述了侏儒猴作为理解热带生物多样性模型的许多方式。理解促进不相关个体之间合作的经验条件，可以激发对培育人类替代暴力的条件的见解。人类社会越来越多地是由不相关的个体组成的群体，受到暴力互动的困扰。社会学家和心理学家经常使用非人类动物的见解来模拟人类的过程。侏儒猴更简单的社会系统应该有助于揭示在意想不到的情况下促进合作的条件，比如应该激烈竞争配偶的雄性，而不是合作行为的明显悖论。

This project will be a synthesis of 20 years of research on the ecology and evolution of Long-tailed Manakins. These Neotropical birds have a lek mating system, in which clustered males court females. Their leks are unique in the animal kingdom because pairs of unrelated males (alphas and betas) cooperate for coordinated song and dance displays. If a mating occurs, it is always by the alpha. Because the cooperation involves neither kin selection nor reciprocity, an evolutionary puzzle arises. Why should betas help alphas? The PI will synthesize his results in two major ways: 1) by using models borrowed from sociology to explore the complex social relationships among males; 2) with analyses of male interactions, using 18 years of records of individually marked birds. He will generate: 1) a book summarizing and synthesizing his research on this species, 2) an edited book, in which researchers describe the many ways manakins serve as models for understanding tropical biodiversity. Understanding empirical conditions that promote cooperation among unrelated individuals could stimulate insights into conditions that foster alternatives to violence in humans. Increasingly, human societies are aggregations of unrelated individuals plagued by violent interactions. Sociologists and psychologists have often used insights from non-human animals to model processes in humans. The simpler social system of the manakins should be useful in suggesting conditions that promote cooperation in unexpected contexts, such as the apparent paradox that males that should compete intensely for mates, instead act cooperatively.