Sexual selection and the evolution of cognition

越来越多的证据表明，认知能力在动物物种之间和动物内部都存在很大差异，但认知差异是如何进化的仍鲜为人知。在过去的十年里，几项研究报告称，男性的认知能力与交配成功之间存在正相关关系，这有力地表明，通过女性择偶，性选择可能会推动男性认知能力增强的进化。尽管如此，两性选择在多大程度上有助于维持男性认知的多样性一直是许多争论的焦点。例如，我们目前缺乏直接证据表明，女性一致根据可靠地反映男性认知能力的特征来选择配偶。因此，性选择的方向和强度似乎取决于生态和社会背景，以及认知能力的不同。拟议的研究计划将把理论工作与实验研究结合起来，并将有助于开发一个概念框架，以了解和预测自然选择和性选择对认知多样性的相对重要性及其对信号进化的影响。它被分为三个轴，旨在i)确定哪些认知特征是不同生态环境下性别选择的目标，ii)确定女性是否以及如何评估男性的认知能力，以及iii)理解第二性特征与认知能力之间的关联模式。由于认知能力影响个体在新的或改良的栖息地中生存的能力，因此确定哪些因素可能改善或降低认知能力是至关重要的。然后，拟议的研究计划将为保护生物学家和进化心理学家提供重要的结果。它还将促进对科学家的培训，他们将发展设计实验的关键方法技能，并根据理论、数学和计算分析产生可检验的预测。

There is accumulating evidence that cognitive abilities vary widely both among and within animal species but how differences in cognition evolve remains little understood. Over the last decade, several studies reported a positive link between male cognitive abilities and mating success, which strongly suggests that sexual selection, through female mate choice, could drive the evolution of enhanced male cognition. Notwithstanding, the extent in which intersexual selection contributes to the maintenance of diversity in male cognition has been the focus of much debate. For instance, we currently lack direct evidence that females unanimously base their mate choice on traits that reliably reflect male cognitive ability. Thus, it would appear that the direction and strength of sexual selection varies depending on the ecological and social contexts, as well as among cognitive abilities. The proposed research program will combine theoretical work with experimental studies and will contribute to the development of a conceptual framework for understanding and predicting the relative importance of natural and sexual selection on cognitive diversity, and its consequences on signal evolution. It is divided into three axes aimed at i) determining which cognitive traits are the targets of sexual selection under different ecological contexts, ii) establishing whether and how females assess male cognitive ability, and iii) understanding the patterns of association between secondary sexual traits and cognitive abilities. Because cognitive abilities affect the capacity of individuals to survive in novel or modified habitats, it is crucial to identify what may improve or reduce cognition. The proposed research program will then provide important results for conservation biologists and evolutionary psychologists. It will also contribute to the training of scientists that will develop critical methodological skills to design experiments and generate testable predictions from theoretical mathematical and computational analyses.