Biology subjects

Lala, K. N.

Publications and source records attributed to Lala, K. N..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

The refinement paradox and cumulative cultural evolution: collective improvement in knowledge favors conformity, blind copying and hyper-credulity

Social learning is common in nature, yet cumulative culture (where knowledge and technology increase in complexity and diversity over time) appears restricted to humans. To understand why, we organized a computer tournament in which programmed entries specified when to learn new knowledge and when to refine (i.e. improve) existing knowledge. The tournament revealed a refinement paradox: refined behavior afforded higher payoffs as individuals converged on a small number of successful behavioral variants, but refining did not generally pay. Paradoxically, entries that refined only in certain conditions did best during behavioral improvement, while simple copying entries thrived when refinement levels were high. Cumulative cultural evolution may be rare in part because sophisticated strategies for improving knowledge and technology are initially advantageous, yet complex culture, once achieved, favors conformity, blind imitation and hyper-credulity.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Anthropogenic nest material use correlates with human landscape modifications in a global sample of birds

As humans increasingly modify the natural world, many animals have responded by changing their behaviour. Predicting the extent of these responses is a key step in conserving these species. For example, the tendency for some species of birds to incorporate anthropogenic items - particularly plastic material - into their nests is of increasing concern, as in some cases this behaviour has harmful effects on both adults and young. Studies of this phenomenon, however, have to date been limited in geographic and taxonomic scope. To investigate the global correlates of anthropogenic (including plastic) nest material use, we used Bayesian phylogenetic mixed models and a dataset of recorded nest materials in 6,147 species of birds. We find that after controlling for research effort, anthropogenic nest material use is correlated with proximity to human landscape modification, synanthropic (artificial) nesting locations, breeding environment, and the number of materials that has been recorded within the species nest. We also demonstrate that anthropogenic nest material use is unrelated to body mass, range size, or conservation status. These results indicate that anthropogenic materials are more likely to be included in nests when they are more readily available, as well as potentially by species who have more flexibility in nest material choice.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Nest traits for the world's birds

MotivationA well-constructed nest is a key element of successful reproduction in most species of birds, and nest-building strategies vary widely across the class. Macroecological and macroevolutionary studies tend to group nest design into a small number of discrete categories, often based on taxonomic inference. In reality, however, many species display considerable intraspecific variation in their nest-building behaviour, and broad-level categories may include many functionally distinct nest types. To address this confusion in the literature and facilitate future studies of broad-scale variation in avian parental care, we here introduce a detailed, global comparative database of nest building in birds, together with preliminary correlations between these traits and species-level environmental variables. Main types of variable containedWe present species-level data for nest structure, location, height, material composition, sex of builder, building time, and nest dimensions. Spatial location and grainGlobal. Maps are presented at the 1{degrees}x1{degrees} level. Time period and grainIncluded species are generally extant, although we present some data for recently extinct taxa. The data was collected 2017-2021 and was drawn from secondary sources published 1992-2021. Major taxa and level of measurementPartial or complete trait data is presented for 8,601 species of birds, representing 36 of 36 orders and 239 of 243 families. Software formatData have been uploaded as Supplementary Material in .xlsx format and are separated by species and source for all traits (S1) as well as summarised at the species level for structure and location variables (S2).

evolutionary biology↗