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

该项目将是20年来对长尾假人的生态和进化研究的综合。这些新热带鸟类有一个LEK交配系统，在这个系统中，雄性成群地向雌性求爱。它们的猎犬在动物界是独一无二的，因为一对不相关的雄性(阿尔法和贝塔)合作进行协调的歌舞表演。如果交配发生，它总是由阿尔法。由于这种合作既不涉及亲属选择，也不涉及互惠，因此出现了一个进化之谜。为什么贝塔要帮助阿尔法？PI将以两种主要方式综合他的结果：1)借鉴社会学的模型来探索雄性之间复杂的社会关系；2)使用18年来单独标记的鸟类的记录，分析雄性的互动。他将产生：1)一本总结和综合他对这种物种的研究的书，2)一本编辑过的书，研究人员在书中描述了人偶作为了解热带生物多样性的模型的许多方式。了解促进无关个人之间合作的经验条件，可以促进对促进人类暴力替代办法的条件的洞察。人类社会日益成为受到暴力互动困扰的无关个体的集合体。社会学家和心理学家经常使用非人类动物的洞察力来模拟人类的过程。在意想不到的情况下促进合作的条件，比如明显的悖论，即应该激烈竞争配偶的雄性，而不是合作的雄性，这种更简单的社会制度应该很有用。

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.