| 1. |
- Amcoff, Mirjam, et al.
(author)
-
A test of sensory exploitation in the swordtail characin (Corynopoma riisei) based on colour matchingbetween female prey and a male ornament
- 2014
-
In: Environmental Biology of Fishes. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0378-1909 .- 1573-5133. ; 97:3, s. 247-254
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The sensory exploitation hypothesis states that pre-existing biases in female sensory systems may generate strong selection on male signals to match such biases. As environmental conditions differ between populations, sexual preferences resulting from natural selection are expected to vary as well. The swordtail characin (Corynopoma riisei) is a species in which males carry a flag-like ornament growing from the operculum that has been proposed to function as a prey mimic to attract females. Here, we investigated if female plasticity in feeding preferences is associated with plasticity in preference for an artificial male ornament in this species. Females were trained for 10 days by offering them differently coloured food items and were then tested for changes in preferences for differently coloured artificial male ornaments according to foraging experience. We found a rapid and pronounced change in female preference for the colouration of the artificial ornament according to food training. Thus our results support the possibility that sensory exploitation may act as a driving force for female preferences for male ornaments in this species.
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| 2. |
- Amcoff, Mirjam, et al.
(author)
-
Courtship signalling with a labile bilateral signal : males show their best side
- 2009
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In: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0340-5443 .- 1432-0762. ; 63:12, s. 1717-1725
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Asymmetries in courtship signals can result from both developmental instability during ontogeny and from temporary or permanent damage following mating, fighting, or interactions with predators. These two types of asymmetries, which can be divided into fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and damage asymmetry (DA), have both been suggested to play an important role in mate choice as potential honest indicators of phenotypic and/or genetic quality, while at the same time, DA may affect ornament asymmetry in a random manner. Interestingly, despite the massive research effort that has been devoted to the study of asymmetry during the past decades, very little is known about how an individual's behaviour relates to asymmetry. Here, we measure and characterise asymmetry in morphological courtship signals in Corynopoma riisei, a fish where males carry elaborate paddle-like appendices on each side of the body that they display in front of females during courtship. Moreover, we investigate whether male courtship display, employing this bilateral morphological trait, reflects trait asymmetry. Finally, we assess whether males respond to phenotypic manipulations of DA with corresponding changes in courtship behaviour. We show that male display behaviour is asymmetric in a manner that reflects asymmetry of their morphological courtship trait and that male display behaviour responds to manipulations of asymmetry of these paddles. Our results thus suggest that males preferentially use their best side and, hence, that males respond adaptively to temporary changes in signal trait asymmetry.
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| 3. |
- Amcoff, Mirjam, et al.
(author)
-
Does female feeding motivation affect the response to a food-mimicking male ornament in the swordtail characin Corynopoma riisei?
- 2013
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In: Journal of Fish Biology. - : Wiley. - 0022-1112 .- 1095-8649. ; 83:2, s. 343-354
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Female response to various aspects of male trait morphology and the effect of female feeding motivation were investigated in the swordtail characin Corynopoma riisei, a species where males are equipped with a flag-like food-mimicking ornament that grows from the operculum. Unfed females responded more strongly to the male ornament and showed a stronger preference for larger ornaments than did fed females. Females were shown not to discriminate between artificial male ornaments of either undamaged or damaged shape.
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| 4. |
- Amcoff, Mirjam, et al.
(author)
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Evolution of egg dummies in Tanganyikan cichlid fishes : the roles of parental care and sexual selection
- 2013
-
In: Journal of Evolutionary Biology. - : Wiley. - 1010-061X .- 1420-9101. ; 26:11, s. 2369-2382
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sexual selection has been suggested to be an important driver of speciation in cichlid fishes of the Great Lakes of Africa, and the presence of male egg dummies is proposed to have played a key role. Here, we investigate how mouthbrooding and egg dummies have evolved in Tanganyikan cichlids, the lineage which seeded the other African radiations, with a special emphasis on the egg dummies. Using modern phylogenetic comparative analyses and a phylogeny including 86% of the 200 described species, we provide formal evidence demonstrating correlated evolution between mouthbrooding and egg dummies in Tanganyikan cichlids. These results concur with existing evidence, suggesting that egg dummies have evolved through sensory exploitation. We also demonstrate that there is a strong evolutionary correlation between the presence of egg dummies and both pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection. Moreover, egg dummy evolution was contingent on the intensity of pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection in Tanganyikan cichlids. In sum, our results provide evidence supporting the hypothesis of egg dummies evolving through sensory exploitation and highlight the role of sexual selection in favouring the evolution and maintenance of this trait.
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| 5. |
- Amcoff, Mirjam, 1983-
(author)
-
Fishing for Females : Sensory Exploitation in the Swordtail Characin
- 2013
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Mate choice plays an important role in sexual selection and speciation. The evolution of mate choice is intriguing in cases where choosy individuals gain little except for genetic material from the mate and where the trait used as a criterion for the choice is costly to its bearer. The sensory exploitation hypothesis is an interesting idea that applies to such cases because it suggests that sexual preferences may arise as side-effects of preferences that are under selection in other contexts. The role of mate choice in speciation is strong but is debated because the reasons for population divergence in mate preferences and sexual traits are sometimes hard to explain. Also in this context sensory exploitation offers a potential explanation in that a link between natural and sexual selection may result in divergence in sexual selection whenever populations differ in natural selection.In this thesis, I test several aspects of this hypothesis in a species of fish, the swordtail characin (Corynopoma riisei). In this species males display a flag-like ornament that grows from the operculum. Because females respond to this ornament by biting at it, it has been proposed to act as a food-mimic. By manipulating female food type and quantity, and testing the resulting female preference for the male ornament, I find support for the theory that the preference has evolved through sensory exploitation and that females indeed appear to relate the ornament to a food item. Furthermore, I show that sensory exploitation can lead to morphological divergence among natural populations in this species. Apart from the flag-ornament, other courtship signals are also investigated. The results show that the relative importance of different signals may vary depending on receiver motivation. This suggests that various aspects of both male courtship signals and the conditions during which they are being signalled should be considered to gain a full understanding of mate choice and its role in sexual selection and speciation.
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| 6. |
- Amcoff, Mirjam, et al.
(author)
-
Male Courtship Pheromones Affect Female Behaviour in the Swordtail Characin ( Corynopoma riisei)
- 2014
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In: Ethology. - : Wiley. - 0179-1613 .- 1439-0310. ; 120:5, s. 463-470
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Pheromones constitute an important cue used by both males and females during courtship. Here, we investigate the effect of male pheromones on female behaviour in the swordtail characin (Corynopoma riisei), a species of fish where males have a caudal pheromone gland which has been suggested to affect female behaviour during courtship. We subjected female C.riisei to male courtship pheromones and investigated the effect on both female behaviour and brain serotonergic activity levels compared to a control group. While no difference in serotonergic activity was found, the pheromone-treated females showed lower stress levels compared to the control group. Furthermore, pheromone-treated females increased locomotor activity over time, while a decrease in locomotor activity was observed in the control group. These results suggest that the male courtship pheromones may serve to reduce female stress and increase female activity, possibly to aid males in gaining access to females and facilitating sperm transfer.
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| 7. |
- Amcoff, Mirjam, et al.
(author)
-
Multiple male sexual signals and female responsiveness in the swordtail characin, Corynopoma riisei
- 2015
-
In: Environmental Biology of Fishes. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0378-1909 .- 1573-5133. ; 98:7, s. 1731-1740
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the courtship process, multiple signals are often used between the signaller and the receiver. Here we describe female response to multiple male visual morphological and behavioural signals in the swordtail characin, Corynopoma riisei. The swordtail characin is a species in which males display several morphological ornaments as well as a rich courtship repertoire. Our results show that high courtship intensity was associated with an increased female response towards the male ornament, increased number of mating attempts and a reduction in female aggression. The morphological aspects investigated here did not seem to correlate with female response. This may indicate that, when both behaviour and morphology are considered simultaneously, courtship behaviour may have priority over morphological cues in this species.
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| 8. |
- Amcoff, Mirjam, et al.
(author)
-
Sensory exploitation and plasticity in female mate choice in the swordtail characin
- 2013
-
In: Animal Behaviour. - : Elsevier BV. - 0003-3472 .- 1095-8282. ; 85:5, s. 891-898
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Despite extensive research in the field of sexual selection, the evolutionary origin and maintenance of preferences for sexual ornaments are still debated. Recent studies have pointed out that plasticity in mate choice might be more common than previously thought, but little is still known about the factors that affect such plasticity. The swordtail characin, Corynopoma riisei, is a tropical fish species in which males use a food-mimicking ornament to attract females. We tested whether ecological factors, more specifically prior foraging experience, can affect female preference for male ornaments. For this, we habituated females on a diet consisting of either red-coloured food or standard-coloured green food items and then we tested whether female preferences for artificially red-coloured male ornaments matched their previous foraging experience. We found a strong effect of food treatment: females trained on red food showed a stronger response to males with red-coloured ornaments than females trained on green food. Our results show that ecological variation can generate divergence of female preferences for male ornaments and that the response in preference to environmental change can be rapid if the bias is partly learnt.
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| 9. |
- Arnqvist, Göran, et al.
(author)
-
Population differentiation in the swordtail characin (Corynopoma riisei) : a role for sensory drive?
- 2010
-
In: Journal of Evolutionary Biology. - : Wiley. - 1010-061X .- 1420-9101. ; 23:9, s. 1907-1918
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sensory drive, where the efficacy of a sexual signal depends on the environment in which it is employed, is a potential mechanism behind divergent evolution of secondary sexual traits. Male swordtail characins are equipped with a narrow and transparent extension of the gill cover with a flag-like structure at its tip. This opercular flag mimics a prey item and is employed by males as a 'lure' to attract the attention of females during mating attempts. We conducted a study of genetic and morphological differentiation across swordtail characin populations throughout their native range in Trinidad. The morphology of the opercular flag varied across populations and several aspects of this variation match the predicted hallmarks of sensory drive. First, morphological differentiation of the flag across populations was unrelated to genetic similarity at neutral genetic markers. Second, the shape of the flag covaried with those aspects of body shape that should reflect adaptation to different feeding regimes. Third, and most importantly, the shape of the flag covaried across populations with those environmental characteristics that should most closely reflect differences in local prey abundance. Overall, our results are consistent with a scenario where the evolution of this male sexual signal tracks food-related shifts in female sensory biases across populations, thus providing at least provisional support for a role for sensory drive in population differentiation.
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| 10. |
- Berlin Kolm, Sofia, et al.
(author)
-
Genetic diversity, population structure and phenotypic variation in European Salix viminalis L. (Salicaceae)
- 2014
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In: Tree Genetics & Genomes. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1614-2942 .- 1614-2950. ; 10:6, s. 1595-1610
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To investigate the potential of association genetics for willow breeding, Salix viminalis germplasm was assembled from UK and Swedish collections (comprising accessions from several European countries) and new samples collected from nature. A subset of the germplasm was planted at two sites (UK and Sweden), genotyped using 38 SSR markers and assessed for phenological and biomass traits. Population structure, genetic differentiation (F-ST) and quantitative trait differentiation (Q(ST)) were investigated. The extent and patterns of trait adaptation were assessed by comparing F-ST and Q(ST) parameters. Of the 505 genotyped diploid accessions, 27 % were not unique. Genetic diversity was high: 471 alleles was amplified; the mean number of alleles per locus was 13.46, mean observed heterozygosity was 0.55 and mean expected heterozygosity was 0.62. Bayesian clustering identified four subpopulations which generally corresponded to Western Russia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Sweden. All pairwise F-ST values were highly significant (p<0.001) with the greatest genetic differentiation detected between the Western Russian and the Western European subpopulations (F-ST = 0.12), and the smallest between the Swedish and Eastern European populations (F-ST = 0.04). The Swedish population also had the highest number of identical accessions, supporting the view that S. viminalis was introduced into this country and has been heavily influenced by humans. Q(ST) values were high for growth cessation and leaf senescence, and to some extent stem diameter, but low for bud burst time and shoot number. Overall negative clines between longitudinal coordinates and leaf senescence, bud burst and stem diameter were also found.
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| 11. |
- Bloch, Natasha I., et al.
(author)
-
Different mating contexts lead to extensive rewiring of female brain coexpression networks in the guppy
- 2021
-
In: Genes, Brain and Behavior. - : Wiley. - 1601-1848 .- 1601-183X. ; 20:3
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Understanding the basis of behavior requires dissecting the complex waves of gene expression that underlie how the brain processes stimuli and produces an appropriate response. In order to determine the dynamic nature of the neurogenomic network underlying mate choice, we use transcriptome sequencing to capture the female neurogenomic response in two brain regions involved in sensory processing and decision-making under different mating and social contexts. We use differential coexpression (DC) analysis to evaluate how gene networks in the brain are rewired when a female evaluates attractive and nonattractive males, greatly extending current single-gene approaches to assess changes in the broader gene regulatory network. We find the brain experiences a remarkable amount of network rewiring in the different mating and social contexts we tested. Further analysis indicates the network differences across contexts are associated with behaviorally relevant functions and pathways, particularly learning, memory and other cognitive functions. Finally, we identify the loci that display social context-dependent connections, revealing the basis of how relevant neurological and metabolic pathways are differentially recruited in distinct social contexts. More broadly, our findings contribute to our understanding of the genetics of mating and social behavior by identifying gene drivers behind behavioral neural processes, illustrating the utility of DC analysis in neurosciences and behavior.
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| 12. |
- Bloch, Natasha, I, et al.
(author)
-
Early neurogenomic response associated with variation in guppy female mate preference
- 2018
-
In: Nature Ecology & Evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-334X. ; 2:11, s. 1772-1781
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Understanding the evolution of mate choice requires dissecting the mechanisms of female preference, particularly how these differ among social contexts and preference phenotypes. Here, we studied the female neurogenomic response after only 10 min of mate exposure in both a sensory component (optic tectum) and a decision-making component (telencephalon) of the brain. By comparing the transcriptional response between females with and without preferences for colourful males, we identified unique neurogenomic elements associated with the female preference phenotype that are not present in females without preference. A network analysis revealed different properties for this response at the sensory-processing and the decision-making levels, and we show that this response is highly centralized in the telencephalon. Furthermore, we identified an additional set of genes that vary in expression across social contexts, beyond mate evaluation. We show that transcription factors among these loci are predicted to regulate the transcriptional response of the genes we found to be associated with female preference.
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| 13. |
- Boussard, Annika, et al.
(author)
-
Brain size does not predict learning strategies in a serial reversal learning test
- 2020
-
In: Journal of Experimental Biology. - : The Company of Biologists. - 0022-0949 .- 1477-9145. ; 223:15
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Reversal learning assays are commonly used across a wide range of taxa to investigate associative learning and behavioural flexibility. In serial reversal learning, the reward contingency in a binary discrimination is reversed multiple times. Performance during serial reversal learning varies greatly at the interspecific level, as some animals adopt a rule-based strategy that enables them to switch quickly between reward contingencies. A larger relative brain size, generating enhanced learning ability and increased behavioural flexibility, has been proposed to be an important factor underlying this variation. Here, we experimentally tested this hypothesis at the intraspecific level. We used guppies (Poecilia reticulata) artificially selected for small and large relative brain size, with matching differences in neuron number, in a serial reversal learning assay. We tested 96 individuals over 10 serial reversals and found that learning performance and memory were predicted by brain size, whereas differences in efficient learning strategies were not. We conclude that variation in brain size and neuron number is important for variation in learning performance and memory, but these differences are not great enough to cause the larger differences in efficient learning strategies observed at higher taxonomic levels.
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| 14. |
- Boussard, Annika, 1984-, et al.
(author)
-
Collective decision-making under predator threat is faster in guppy shoals selected for larger telencephalon size
-
Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Avoiding predation is essential for most animals. For group-living species, effective predator avoidance relies on making fast and accurate collective decisions. However, the mechanisms underlying the ability to make adaptive collective decisions and to coordinate movements under predation threat remains unclear. Here, we used guppies artificially selected for divergence in the size of the telencephalon, the main brain region for advanced decision-making in vertebrates, to test the influence of telencephalon size on collective decision-making under predation threat. We measured the latency and accuracy of collective decision-making to avoid a model predator in guppy shoals. In addition, we used high-resolution tracking analysis to assess shoaling dynamics under predator threat between the telencephalon size selection lines. We found that collective decision-making latency was shorter in large telencephalon guppy shoals, indicating that variation in telencephalon size can influence the ability to avoid predation. However, general aspects of shoaling dynamics did not differ between the telencephalon size selected lines. Our study highlights that rapid mosaic changes in brain region size may be an important mechanism behind social behavioural variation with strong fitness implications.
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| 15. |
- Boussard, Annika, et al.
(author)
-
No Sex-Specific Effects of Artificial Selection for Relative Telencephalon Size during Detour Learning and Spatial Discrimination in Guppies (Poecilia reticulata)
- 2023
-
In: Fishes. - 2410-3888. ; 8:11
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Over recent decades, substantial research has focused on fish cognitive evolution to increase our understanding of the evolution of the enormous diversity of cognitive abilities that exists in fishes. One important but understudied aspect of cognitive evolution is sexual dimorphism in cognitive abilities. Sex-specific variation in brain region morphology has been proposed to be an important mechanism in this context. However, it is also common to find sex-specific variation in behavior and cognition without associated differences in brain morphology among the sexes. The telencephalon is the major cognitive center in the vertebrate brain and variation in telencephalon size has been associated with variation in cognition. Here, we utilize recently developed guppy artificial selection lines with ca. 10% differences in relative telencephalon size to investigate whether similar responses to selection of the size of this region may affect cognitive abilities differently in males and females. To that end, we compared two ecologically relevant aspects of cognition, detour learning and binary spatial discrimination. We tested the significance of the interaction between telencephalon size and sex, and we found no sex-specific effects of evolutionary increases in telencephalon size in the cognitive abilities tested. This study indicates that no clear cognitive sex-specific effects occur in response to rapid selection of telencephalon size. We suggest that future research on sexual dimorphism in cognitive abilities in fish could use various cognitive tests and examine telencephalic sub-regions to gain a more comprehensive understanding of their evolution.
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| 16. |
- Boussard, Annika, et al.
(author)
-
Relative telencephalon size does not affect collective motion in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata)
- 2024
-
In: Behavioral Ecology. - : Oxford University Press. - 1045-2249 .- 1465-7279. ; 35:4
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Collective motion is common across all animal taxa, from swarming insects to schools of fish. The collective motion requires intricate behavioral integration among individuals, yet little is known about how evolutionary changes in brain morphology influence the ability for individuals to coordinate behavior in groups. In this study, we utilized guppies that were selectively bred for relative telencephalon size, an aspect of brain morphology that is normally associated with advanced cognitive functions, to examine its role in collective motion using an open-field assay. We analyzed high-resolution tracking data of same-sex shoals consisting of 8 individuals to assess different aspects of collective motion, such as alignment, attraction to nearby shoal members, and swimming speed. Our findings indicate that variation in collective motion in guppy shoals might not be strongly affected by variation in relative telencephalon size. Our study suggests that group dynamics in collectively moving animals are likely not driven by advanced cognitive functions but rather by fundamental cognitive processes stemming from relatively simple rules among neighboring individuals. Collective motion occurs when animals coordinate their movement in schools, flocks, or herds. Using an experimental approach, we show that the size of the cognitive center in the vertebrate brain, the telencephalon, does not influence the ability to coordinate movement in single-sex guppy shoals artificially selected to have large or small telencephalon size. Advanced cognitive functions are likely not used during coordination of movements in guppy shoals.
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| 17. |
- Boussard, Annika, et al.
(author)
-
The link between relative brain size and cognitive ageing in female guppies (Poecilia reticulata) artificially selected for variation in brain size
- 2021
-
In: Experimental Gerontology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0531-5565 .- 1873-6815. ; 146
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Cognitive ageing is the general process when certain mental skills gradually deteriorate with age. Across species, there is a pattern of a slower brain structure degradation rate in large-brained species. Hence, having a larger brain might buffer the impact of cognitive ageing and positively affect survival at older age. However, few studies have investigated the link between relative brain size and cognitive ageing at the intraspecific level. In particular, experimental data on how brain size affects brain function also into higher age is largely missing. We used 288 female guppies (Poecilia reticulata), artificially selected for large and small relative brain size, to investigate variation in colour discrimination and behavioural flexibility, at 4-6, 12 and 24 months of age. These ages are particularly interesting since they cover the life span from sexual maturation until maximal life length under natural conditions. We found no evidence for a slower cognitive ageing rate in large-brained females in neither initial colour discrimination nor reversal learning. Behavioural flexibility was predicted by large relative brain size in the youngest group, but the effect of brain size disappeared with increasing age. This result suggests that cognitive ageing rate is faster in large-brained female guppies, potentially due to the faster ageing and shorter lifespan in the large-brained selection lines. It also means that cognition levels align across different brain sizes with older age. We conclude that there are cognitive consequences of ageing that vary with relative brain size in advanced learning abilities, whereas fundamental aspects of learning can be maintained throughout the ecologically relevant life span.
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| 18. |
- Buechel, Séverine D., et al.
(author)
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Artificial selection on male genitalia length alters female brain size
- 2016
-
In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 283:1843
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Male harassment is a classic example of how sexual conflict over mating leads to sex-specific behavioural adaptations. Females often suffer significant costs from males attempting forced copulations, and the sexes can be in an arms race over male coercion. Yet, despite recent recognition that divergent sex-specific interests in reproduction can affect brain evolution, sexual conflict has not been addressed in this context. Here, we investigate whether artificial selection on a correlate of male success at coercion, genital length, affects brain anatomy in males and females. We analysed the brains of eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki), which had been artificially selected for long or short gonopodium, thereby mimicking selection arising from differing levels of male harassment. By analogy to how prey species often have relatively larger brains than their predators, we found that female, but not male, brain size was greater following selection for a longer gonopodium. Brain subregion volumes remained unchanged. These results suggest that there is a positive genetic correlation between male gonopodium length and female brain size, which is possibly linked to increased female cognitive ability to avoid male coercion. We propose that sexual conflict is an important factor in the evolution of brain anatomy and cognitive ability.
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| 19. |
- Buechel, Séverine D., et al.
(author)
-
Brain size affects performance in a reversal-learning test
- 2018
-
In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 285:1871
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It has become increasingly clear that a larger brain can confer cognitive benefits. Yet not all of the numerous aspects of cognition seem to be affected by brain size. Recent evidence suggests that some more basic forms of cognition, for instance colour vision, are not influenced by brain size. We therefore hypothesize that a larger brain is especially beneficial for distinct and gradually more complex aspects of cognition. To test this hypothesis, we assessed the performance of brain size selected female guppies (Poecilia reticulata) in two distinct aspects of cognition that differ in cognitive complexity. In a standard reversal-learning test we first investigated basic learning ability with a colour discrimination test, then reversed the reward contingency to specifically test for cognitive flexibility. We found that large-brained females outperformed small-brained females in the reversed-learning part of the test but not in the colour discrimination part of the test. Large-brained individuals are hence cognitively more flexible, which probably yields fitness benefits, as they may adapt more quickly to social and/or ecological cognitive challenges. Our results also suggest that a larger brain becomes especially advantageous with increasing cognitive complexity. These findings corroborate the significance of brain size for cognitive evolution.
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| 20. |
- Buechel, Séverine D., et al.
(author)
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Variation in sexual brain size dimorphism over the breeding cycle in the three-spined stickleback
- 2019
-
In: Journal of Experimental Biology. - : The Company of Biologists. - 0022-0949 .- 1477-9145. ; 222:7
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Snapshot analyses have demonstrated dramatic intraspecific variation in the degree of brain sexual size dimorphism (SSD). Although brain SSDis believed to be generated by the sex-specific cognitive demands of reproduction, the relative roles of developmental and population-specific contributions to variation in brain SSD remain little studied. Using a common garden experiment, we tested for sex-specific changes in brain anatomy over the breeding cycle in three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) sampled from four locations in northern Europe. We found that the male brain increased in size (ca. 24%) significantly more than the female brain towards breeding, and that the resulting brain SSD was similar (ca. 20%) for all populations over the breeding cycle. Our findings support the notion that the stickleback brain is highly plastic and changes over the breeding cycle, especially in males, likely as an adaptive response to the cognitive demands of reproduction (e.g. nest construction and parental care). The results also provide evidence to suggest that breeding-related changes in brain size may be the reason for the widely varying estimates of brain SSD across studies of this species, cautioning against interpreting brain size measurements from a single time point as fixed/static.
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| 21. |
- Chen, Yu-Chia, et al.
(author)
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Expression change in Angiopoietin-1 underlies change in relative brain size in fish
- 2015
-
In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 282:1810
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Brain size varies substantially across the animal kingdom and is often associated with cognitive ability; however, the genetic architecture underpinning natural variation in these key traits is virtually unknown. In order to identify the genetic architecture and loci underlying variation in brain size, we analysed both coding sequence and expression for all the loci expressed in the telencephalon in replicate populations of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) artificially selected for large and small relative brain size. A single gene, Angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1), a regulator of angiogenesis and suspected driver of neural development, was differentially expressed between large-and small-brain populations. Zebra fish (Danio rerio) morphants showed that mild knock down of Ang-1 produces a small-brained phenotype that could be rescued with Ang-1 mRNA. Translation inhibition of Ang-1 resulted in smaller brains in larvae and increased expression of Notch-1, which regulates differentiation of neural stem cells. In situ analysis of newborn large-and small-brained guppies revealed matching expression patterns of Ang-1 and Notch-1 to those observed in zebrafish larvae. Taken together, our results suggest that the genetic architecture affecting brain size in our population may be surprisingly simple, and Ang-1 may be a potentially important locus in the evolution of vertebrate brain size and cognitive ability.
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| 22. |
- Corral-López, Alberto, et al.
(author)
-
Brain size affects responsiveness in mating behaviour to variation in predation pressure and sex ratio
- 2020
-
In: Journal of Evolutionary Biology. - : Wiley. - 1010-061X .- 1420-9101. ; 33:2, s. 165-177
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Despite ongoing advances in sexual selection theory, the evolution of mating decisions remains enigmatic. Cognitive processes often require simultaneous processing of multiple sources of information from environmental and social cues. However, little experimental data exist on how cognitive ability affects such fitness-associated aspects of behaviour. Using advanced tracking techniques, we studied mating behaviours of guppies artificially selected for divergence in relative brain size, with known differences in cognitive ability, when predation threat and sex ratio was varied. In females, we found a general increase in copulation behaviour in when the sex ratio was female biased, but only large-brained females responded with greater willingness to copulate under a low predation threat. In males, we found that small-brained individuals courted more intensively and displayed more aggressive behaviours than large-brained individuals. However, there were no differences in female response to males with different brain size. These results provide further evidence of a role for female brain size in optimal decision-making in a mating context. In addition, our results indicate that brain size may affect mating display skill in male guppies. We suggest that it is important to consider the association between brain size, cognitive ability and sexual behaviour when studying how morphological and behavioural traits evolve in wild populations.
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| 23. |
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| 24. |
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| 25. |
- Corral-Lopez, Alberto, 1984-, et al.
(author)
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Evolution of schooling drives changes in neuroanatomy and motion characteristics across predation contexts in guppies
- 2023
-
In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Nature. - 2041-1723. ; 14
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- One of the most spectacular displays of social behavior is the synchronized movements that many animal groups perform to travel, forage and escape from predators. However, elucidating the neural mechanisms underlying the evolution of collective behaviors, as well as their fitness effects, remains challenging. Here, we study collective motion patterns with and without predation threat and predator inspection behavior in guppies experimentally selected for divergence in polarization, an important ecological driver of coordinated movement in fish. We find that groups from artificially selected lines remain more polarized than control groups in the presence of a threat. Neuroanatomical measurements of polarization-selected individuals indicate changes in brain regions previously suggested to be important regulators of perception, fear and attention, and motor response. Additional visual acuity and temporal resolution tests performed in polarization-selected and control individuals indicate that observed differences in predator inspection and schooling behavior should not be attributable to changes in visual perception, but rather are more likely the result of the more efficient relay of sensory input in the brain of polarization-selected fish. Our findings highlight that brain morphology may play a fundamental role in the evolution of coordinated movement and anti-predator behavior.
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| 26. |
- Corral-López, Alberto, et al.
(author)
-
Female brain size affects the assessment of male attractiveness during mate choice
- 2017
-
In: Science Advances. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 2375-2548. ; 3:3
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mate choice decisions are central in sexual selection theory aimed to understand how sexual traits evolve and their role in evolutionary diversification. We test the hypothesis that brain size and cognitive ability are important for accurate assessment of partner quality and that variation in brain size and cognitive ability underlies variation in mate choice. We compared sexual preference in guppy female lines selected for divergence in relative brain size, which we have previously shown to have substantial differences in cognitive ability. In a dichotomous choice test, large-brained and wild-type females showed strong preference for males with color traits that predict attractiveness in this species. In contrast, small-brained females showed no preference for males with these traits. In-depth analysis of optomotor response to color cues and gene expression of key opsins in the eye revealed that the observed differences were not due to differences in visual perception of color, indicating that differences in the ability to process indicators of attractiveness are responsible. We thus provide the first experimental support that individual variation in brain size affects mate choice decisions and conclude that differences in cognitive ability may be an important underlying mechanism behind variation in female mate choice.
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| 27. |
- Corral-López, Alberto, 1984-, et al.
(author)
-
Functional convergence of genomic and transcriptomic architecture underlies schooling behaviour in a live-bearing fish
- 2024
-
In: Nature Ecology and Evolution. - : Springer Nature. - 2397-334X. ; 8:1, s. 98-110
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The organization and coordination of fish schools provide a valuable model to investigate the genetic architecture of affiliative behaviours and dissect the mechanisms underlying social behaviours and personalities. Here we used replicate guppy selection lines that vary in schooling propensity and combine quantitative genetics with genomic and transcriptomic analyses to investigate the genetic basis of sociability phenotypes. We show that consistent with findings in collective motion patterns, experimental evolution of schooling propensity increased the sociability of female, but not male, guppies when swimming with unfamiliar conspecifics. This finding highlights a relevant link between coordinated motion and sociability for species forming fission–fusion societies in which both group size and the type of social interactions are dynamic across space and time. We further show that alignment and attraction, the two major traits forming the sociability personality axis in this species, showed heritability estimates at the upper end of the range previously described for social behaviours, with important variation across sexes. The results from both Pool-seq and RNA-seq data indicated that genes involved in neuron migration and synaptic function were instrumental in the evolution of sociability, highlighting a crucial role of glutamatergic synaptic function and calcium-dependent signalling processes in the evolution of schooling.
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| 28. |
- Corral-López, Alberto, et al.
(author)
-
No association between brain size and male sexual behavior in the guppy
- 2015
-
In: Current Zoology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1674-5507 .- 2396-9814. ; 61:2, s. 265-273
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Animal behavior is remarkably variable at all taxonomic levels. Over the last decades, research on animal behavior has focused on understanding ultimate processes. Yet, it has progressively become more evident that to fully understand behavioral variation, ultimate explanations need to be complemented with proximate ones. In particular, the mechanisms generating variation in sexual behavior remain an open question. Variation in aspects of brain morphology has been suggested as a plausible mechanism underlying this variation. However, our knowledge of this potential association is based almost exclusively on comparative analyses. Experimental studies are needed to establish causality and bridge the gap between micro-and macroevolutionary mechanisms concerning the link between brain and sexual behavior. We used male guppies that had been artificially selected for large or small relative brain size to study this association. We paired males with females and scored the full known set of male and female sexual behaviors described in guppies. We found several previously demonstrated associations between male traits, male behavior and female behavior. Females responded more strongly towards males that courted more and males with more orange coloration. Also, larger males and males with less conspicuous coloration attempted more coerced copulations. However, courting, frequency of coerced copulation attempts, total intensity of sexual behavior, and female response did not differ between large-and small-brained males. Our data suggest that relative brain size is an unlikely mechanism underlying variation in sexual behavior of the male guppy. We discuss these findings in the context of the conditions under which relative brain size might affect male sexual behavior
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| 29. |
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| 30. |
- Corral-López, Alberto, et al.
(author)
-
On the role of body size, brain size, and eye size in visual acuity
- 2017
-
In: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0340-5443 .- 1432-0762. ; 71:12
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The visual system is highly variable across species, and such variability is a key factor influencing animal behavior. Variation in the visual system, for instance, can influence the outcome of learning tasks when visual stimuli are used. We illustrate this issue in guppies (Poecilia reticulata) artificially selected for large and small relative brain size with pronounced behavioral differences in learning experiments and mate choice tests. We performed a study of the visual system by quantifying eye size and optomotor response of large-brained and small-brained guppies. This represents the first experimental test of the link between brain size evolution and visual acuity. We found that female guppies have larger eyes than male guppies, both in absolute terms and in relation to their body size. Likewise, individuals selected for larger brains had slightly larger eyes but not better visual acuity than small-brained guppies. However, body size was positively associated with visual acuity. We discuss our findings in relation to previous macroevolutionary studies on the evolution of brain morphology, eye morphology, visual acuity, and ecological variables, while stressing the importance of accounting for sensory abilities in behavioral studies.
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| 31. |
- Corral-López, Alberto, et al.
(author)
-
Selection for relative brain size affects context-dependent male preference for, but not discrimination of, female body size in guppies
- 2018
-
In: Journal of Experimental Biology. - : The Company of Biologists. - 0022-0949 .- 1477-9145. ; 221:12
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Understanding what drives animal decisions is fundamental in evolutionary biology, and mate choice decisions are arguably some of the most important in any individual's life. As cognitive ability can impact decision making, elucidating the link between mate choice and cognitive ability is necessary to fully understand mate choice. To experimentally study this link, we used guppies (Poecilia reticulata) artificially selected for divergence in relative brain size and with previously demonstrated differences in cognitive ability. A previous test in our female guppy selection lines demonstrated the impact of brain size and cognitive ability on information processing during female mate choice decisions. Here, we evaluated the effect of brain size and cognitive ability on male mate choice decisions. Specifically, we investigated the preference of large-brained, small-brained and non-selected guppy males for female body size, a key indicator of female fecundity in this species. For this, male preference was quantified in dichotomous choice tests when presented with dyads of females with small, medium and large body size differences. All types of males showed a preference for larger females but no effect of brain size was found in the ability to discriminate between differently sized females. However, we found that non-selected and large-brained males, but not small-brained males, showed a context-dependent preference for larger females depending on the difference in female size. Our results have two important implications. First, they provide further evidence that male mate choice also occurs in a species in which secondary sexual omamentation is present only in males. Second, they show that brain size and cognitive ability have important effects on individual variation in mating preference and sexually selected traits.
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| 32. |
- Corral López, Alberto, 1984-
(author)
-
The link between brain size, cognitive ability, mate choice and sexual behaviour in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata)
- 2017
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Competition over access for mates has led to the evolution of many striking examples of morphological traits and behaviour in animals. The rapid development of the sexual selection field in recent decades have dramatically advanced our understanding of what traits make individuals more successful in attracting mates and how preferences for mates evolve over time. However, till now, research in this field has put less emphasis on the mechanisms that underlie variation in mate choice and sexual behaviour. Cognitive processes could potentially be key drivers of individual variation in mating preferences and sexual behaviours and therefore deserve further investigation. In this thesis, I used guppies artificially selected for relative brain size as the model system to study the association between brain size, cognitive ability and various aspects of mate choice. Previous studies in this model system showed that large-brained individuals of both sexes outperformed small-brained individuals in cognitive tests. Here I quantified their sexual behaviours and mating preferences to provide novel empirical data concerning the association between brain size, cognitive ability and sexual selection. In dichotomous choice preference tests based on visual cues, comparisons between large-brained and small-brained guppies showed important differences in their assessment of mate quality. These results are not driven by pre-existing visual biases caused by the artificial selection since further investigation of the visual capacity of these fish detected no differences between large-brained and small-brained individuals in their sensitivity to colour or in their capacity to resolve spatial detail. I also quantified sexual behaviour in male guppies artificially selected for relative brain size and found no difference in the behaviours of large-brained and small-brained males in a single male-single female non-competitive scenario. On the contrary, in a more complex social setting I found a reduction in large-brained males in the rate of courtship towards females and dominance displays towards other males when exposed to different degrees of predation threat and different numbers of male competitors. However, this reduction in behavioural intensity did not result in a lower access to copulation with females for large-brained males. I likewise evaluated female sexual behaviour and found that large-brained females had higher behavioural flexibility such that they decreased their receptiveness towards males more strongly under higher levels of predation threat. Together, these results provide novel empirical evidence that brain size and cognitive ability are tightly linked to mating preferences and sexual behaviours. These findings suggest that brain size and cognitive ability might be important mechanisms behind variation in mating preferences and in sexually selected traits across and within species.
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| 33. |
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| 34. |
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| 35. |
- Emerson, B. C., et al.
(author)
-
Species diversity can drive speciation
- 2005
-
In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 434:7036, s. 1015-1017
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A fundamental question in evolutionary ecology and conservation biology is: why do some areas contain greater species diversity than others? Island biogeographic theory has identified the roles of immigration and extinction in relation to area size and proximity to source areas(1,2), and the role of speciation is also recognized as an important factor(3-6). However, one as yet unexplored possibility is that species diversity itself might help to promote speciation, and indeed the central tenets of island biogeographic theory support such a prediction. Here we use data for plants and arthropods of the volcanic archipelagos of the Canary and Hawaiian Islands to address whether there is a positive relationship between species diversity and rate of diversification. Our index of diversification for each island is the proportion of species that are endemic, and we test our prediction that this increases with increasing species number. We show that even after controlling for several important physical features of islands, diversification is strongly related to species number.
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| 36. |
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| 37. |
- Fitzpatrick, John L., et al.
(author)
-
Female promiscuity promotes the evolution of faster sperm in cichlid fishes
- 2009
-
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 106:4, s. 1128-1132
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sperm competition, the contest among ejaculates from rival males to fertilize ova of a female, is a common and powerful evolutionary force influencing ejaculate traits. During competitive interactions between ejaculates, longer and faster spermatozoa are expected to have an edge; however, to date, there has been mixed support for this key prediction from sperm competition theory. Here, we use the spectacular radiation of cichlid fishes from Lake Tanganyika to examine sperm characteristics in 29 closely related species. We provide phylogenetically robust evidence that species experiencing greater levels of sperm competition have faster-swimming sperm. We also show that sperm competition selects for increases in the number, size, and longevity of spermatozoa in the ejaculate of a male, and, contrary to expectations from theory, we find no evidence of trade-offs among sperm traits in an interspecific analysis. Also, sperm swimming speed is positively correlated with sperm length among, but not within, species. These different responses to sperm competition at intra-and interspecific levels provide a simple, powerful explanation for equivocal results from previous studies. Using phylogenetic analyses, we also reconstructed the probable evolutionary route of trait evolution in this taxon, and show that, in response to increases in the magnitude of sperm competition, the evolution of sperm traits in this clade began with the evolution of faster (thus, more competitive) sperm.
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| 38. |
- Fitzpatrick, J. L., et al.
(author)
-
Male Contest Competition And The Coevolution Of Weaponry And Testes In Pinnipeds
- 2012
-
In: Evolution. - : Wiley. - 0014-3820 .- 1558-5646. ; 66:11, s. 3595-3604
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Male reproductive success is influenced by competitive interactions during precopulatory and postcopulatory selective episodes. Consequently, males can gain reproductive advantages during precopulatory contest competition by investing in weaponry and during postcopulatory sperm competition by investing in ejaculates. However, recent theory predicts male expenditure on weaponry and ejaculates should be subject to a trade-off, and should vary under increasing risk and intensity of sperm competition. Here, we provide the first comparative analysis of the prediction that expenditure on weaponry should be negatively associated with expenditure on testes mass. Specifically, we assess how sexual selection influences the evolution of primary and secondary sexual traits among pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walruses). Using recently developed comparative methods, we demonstrate that sexual selection promotes rapid divergence in body mass, sexual size dimorphism (SSD), and genital morphology. We then show that genital length appears to be positively associated with the strength of postcopulatory sexual selection. However, subsequent analyses reveal that both genital length and testes mass are negatively associated with investment in precopulatory weaponry. Thus, our results are congruent with recent theoretical predictions of contest-based sperm competition models. We discuss the possible role of trade-offs and allometry in influencing patterns of reproductive trait evolution in pinnipeds.
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| 39. |
- Fitzpatrick, J. L., et al.
(author)
-
Sexual selection uncouples the evolution of brain and body size in pinnipeds
- 2012
-
In: Journal of Evolutionary Biology. - : Wiley. - 1010-061X .- 1420-9101. ; 25:7, s. 1321-1330
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The size of the vertebrate brain is shaped by a variety of selective forces. Although larger brains (correcting for body size) are thought to confer fitness advantages, energetic limitations of this costly organ may lead to trade-offs, for example as recently suggested between sexual traits and neural tissue. Here, we examine the patterns of selection on male and female brain size in pinnipeds, a group where the strength of sexual selection differs markedly among species and between the sexes. Relative brain size was negatively associated with the intensity of sexual selection in males but not females. However, analyses of the rates of body and brain size evolution showed that this apparent trade-off between sexual selection and brain mass is driven by selection for increasing body mass rather than by an actual reduction in male brain size. Our results suggest that sexual selection has important effects on the allometric relationships of neural development.
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| 40. |
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| 41. |
- Fong, Stephanie, 1990-
(author)
-
Brain morphology and behaviour in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata) : Effects of plasticity and mosaic brain evolution
- 2020
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Understanding how brains have evolved and subsequently culminated in the huge variation in brain morphology among contemporary vertebrate species has fascinated researchers for many decades. It has been recognized that brain morphology is both genetically and environmentally determined. Adaptations to ecological challenges, for one, has been proposed to be a major force in brain diversification processes. Considering the large energetic costs of neural tissue, it is believed that brain evolution is a highly complex process, involving a delicate balance between the corresponding costs and benefits. Using the guppy (Poecilia reticulata) as the model organism, I first examined the conditions under which diversity in brain morphology is generated. This was done by investigating factors known to exert an influence on brain plasticity, namely environmental and cognitive effects (Paper I). Existing studies generally indicate that the provision of environmental enrichment lead to the enlargement of specific brain structures. While plastic alterations in brain morphology was found to respond to environmental complexity in my study, successful performance in two cognitive tasks did not produce any significant changes. I next assessed the feasibility of the mosaic brain evolution hypothesis by artificially selecting for an increase and decrease in the relative size of the telencephalon (Paper II). Telencephalon size was shown to respond rapidly to divergent selection pressures, with no substantial changes in any of the other brain regions. A comparison with wild fish revealed that fish from the unselected control treatment had telencephalon sizes most similar to that of wild populations, whereas both up-selected and down-selected fish had considerably larger and smaller telencephalon, respectively. I tested fish from the artificial selection lines in a test battery to determine if known differences in telencephalon size affects boldness (Paper III). Individuals were subjected to an emergence test, an open field test and a novel object test. I found no differences in boldness levels across selection treatments, but distinct sex differences were noted whereby males were more active and bolder. The cognitive benefits associated with a larger telencephalon were examined in males in a test of self-control (Paper IV). Guppies from the up-selected lines attained a steeper learning curve and made more correct detours compared to their down-selected conspecifics. In conclusion, I provide experimental evidence for the mosaic brain evolution hypothesis by showing that a specific brain region (telencephalon) can evolve rapidly and independently under directed selection. Future tests on other cognitive benefits as well as implicated costs, together with underlying neuronal changes would help to further unravel the factors governing brain evolution.
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| 42. |
- Fong, Stephanie, et al.
(author)
-
Plastic changes in brain morphology in relation to learning and environmental enrichment in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata)
- 2019
-
In: Journal of Experimental Biology. - : The Company of Biologists. - 0022-0949 .- 1477-9145. ; 222:10
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Despite the common assumption that the brain is malleable to surrounding conditions mainly during ontogeny, plastic neural changes can occur also in adulthood. One of the driving forces responsible for alterations in brain morphology is increasing environmental complexity that may demand enhanced cognitive abilities (e.g. attention, memory and learning). However, studies looking at the relationship between brain morphology and learning are scarce. Here, we tested the effects of both learning and environmental enrichment on neural plasticity in guppies (Poecilia reticulata), by means of either a reversal-learning test or a spatial-learning test. Given considerable evidence supporting environmentally induced plastic alterations, two separate control groups that were not subjected to any cognitive test were included to account for potential changes induced by the experimental setup alone. We did not find any effect of learning on any of our brain measurements. However, we found strong evidence for an environmental effect, where fish given access to the spatial-learning environment had larger relative brain size and optic tectum size in relation to those exposed to the reversal-learning environment. Our results demonstrate the plasticity of the adult brain to respond adaptively mainly to environmental conditions, providing support for the environmental enhancement theory.
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| 43. |
- Fong, Stephanie, 1990-, et al.
(author)
-
Rapid mosaic brain evolution under artificial selection for relative telencephalon size in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata)
-
Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The vertebrate brain displays enormous morphological variation and the quest to understand the evolutionary causes and consequences of this variation has spurred over a century of research. The mosaic brain evolution hypothesis, stating that brain regions can evolve relatively independently, is a highly influential idea in this research field. Here we provide the first experimental support for this hypothesis through an artificial selection experiment in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata). After three generations of selection on relative telencephalon volume in replicated up-selected, down-selected and control selection lines, we found substantial overall changes in relative telencephalon size (i.e. relative to brain size), but no changes in other brain regions. The differences were not evident at birth but present at the time of sexual maturation. There was a non-significant trend towards asymmetry in the response to selection in both sexes, with larger changes occurring during upwards selection as opposed to downwards selection. Our results demonstrate that independent evolutionary changes in specific brain regions can be an important mechanism during cognitive evolution.
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| 44. |
- Fong, Stephanie, et al.
(author)
-
Rapid mosaic brain evolution under artificial selection for relative telencephalon size in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata)
- 2021
-
In: Science Advances. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 2375-2548. ; 7:46
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The mosaic brain evolution hypothesis, stating that brain regions can evolve relatively independently during cognitive evolution, is an important idea to understand how brains evolve with potential implications even for human brain evolution. Here, we provide the first experimental evidence for this hypothesis through an artificial selection experiment in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata). After four generations of selection on relative telencephalon volume (relative to brain size), we found substantial changes in telencephalon size but no changes in other regions. Further comparisons revealed that up-selected lines had larger telencephalon, while down-selected lines had smaller telencephalon than wild Trinidadian populations. Our results support that independent evolutionary changes in specific brain regions through mosaic brain evolution can be important facilitators of cognitive evolution.
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| 45. |
- Fong, Stephanie, et al.
(author)
-
Relative telencephalon size does not affect boldness in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata)
-
Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- It has long been acknowledged that individuals consistently differ in their behaviour over time and across contexts, often defined as animal personality. Much of the existing research into personality traits in animals have focussed on the bold-shy continuum, given its implications in fitness and relatively straight-forward quantification. Recently, a substantial research effort has focussed on how brain morphology affects the level of boldness. Using recently established artificial selection lines with known differences in telencephalon size, a brain region important for decision making, we tested this potential link with a test battery for boldness (emergence test, open field test and novel object test). We did not detect an effect of telencephalon size on overall level of boldness. However, supporting previous findings we found a strong sex-difference in behavioural patterns whereby male guppies were generally more active and more likely to emerge from the start compartment, presumably due to different life-history strategies. Our results thus do not support any direct link between the size of the telencephalon and boldness at the intraspecific level.
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| 46. |
- Garamszegi, László Zsolt, et al.
(author)
-
Evolution of relative brain size in dogs—no effects of selection for breed function, litter size, or longevity
- 2023
-
In: Evolution. - 0014-3820 .- 1558-5646. ; 77:7, s. 1591-1606
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Domestication is a well-known example of the relaxation of environmentally based cognitive selection that leads to reductions in brain size. However, little is known about how brain size evolves after domestication and whether subsequent directional/artificial selection can compensate for domestication effects. The first animal to be domesticated was the dog, and recent directional breeding generated the extensive phenotypic variation among breeds we observe today. Here we use a novel endocranial dataset based on high-resolution CT scans to estimate brain size in 159 dog breeds and analyze how relative brain size varies across breeds in relation to functional selection, longevity, and litter size. In our analyses, we controlled for potential confounding factors such as common descent, gene flow, body size, and skull shape. We found that dogs have consistently smaller relative brain size than wolves supporting the domestication effect, but breeds that are more distantly related to wolves have relatively larger brains than breeds that are more closely related to wolves. Neither functional category, skull shape, longevity, nor litter size was associated with relative brain size, which implies that selection for performing specific tasks, morphology, and life history does not necessarily influence brain size evolution in domesticated species.
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| 47. |
- Garamszegi, László Zsolt, et al.
(author)
-
The role of common ancestry and gene flow in the evolution of human-directed play behaviour in dogs
- 2020
-
In: Journal of Evolutionary Biology. - : Wiley. - 1010-061X .- 1420-9101. ; 33:3, s. 318-328
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Among-population variance of phenotypic traits is of high relevance for understanding evolutionary mechanisms that operate in relatively short timescales, but various sources of nonindependence, such as common ancestry and gene flow, can hamper the interpretations. In this comparative analysis of 138 dog breeds, we demonstrate how such confounders can independently shape the evolution of a behavioural trait (human-directed play behaviour from the Dog Mentality Assessment project). We combined information on genetic relatedness and haplotype sharing to reflect common ancestry and gene flow, respectively, and entered these into a phylogenetic mixed model to partition the among-breed variance of human-directed play behaviour while also accounting for within-breed variance. We found that 75% of the among-breed variance was explained by overall genetic relatedness among breeds, whereas 15% could be attributed to haplotype sharing that arises from gene flow. Therefore, most of the differences in human-directed play behaviour among breeds have likely been caused by constraints of common ancestry as a likely consequence of past selection regimes. On the other hand, gene flow caused by crosses among breeds has played a minor, but not negligible role. Our study serves as an example of an analytical approach that can be applied to comparative situations where the effects of shared origin and gene flow require quantification and appropriate statistical control in a within-species/among-population framework. Altogether, our results suggest that the evolutionary history of dog breeds has left remarkable signatures on the among-breed variation of a behavioural phenotype.
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| 48. |
- Ghelardini, Luisa, et al.
(author)
-
Genetic architecture of spring and autumn phenology in Salix
- 2014
-
In: BMC Plant Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2229. ; 14, s. 31-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: In woody plants from temperate regions, adaptation to the local climate results in annual cycles of growth and dormancy, and optimal regulation of these cycles are critical for growth, long-term survival, and competitive success. In this study we have investigated the genetic background to growth phenology in a Salix pedigree by assessing genetic and phenotypic variation in growth cessation, leaf senescence and bud burst in different years and environments. A previously constructed linkage map using the same pedigree and anchored to the annotated genome of P. trichocarpa was improved in target regions and used for QTL analysis of the traits. The major aims in this study were to map QTLs for phenology traits in Salix, and to identify candidate genes in QTL hot spots through comparative mapping with the closely related Populus trichocarpa. Results: All traits varied significantly among genotypes and the broad-sense heritabilities ranged between 0.5 and 0.9, with the highest for leaf senescence. In total across experiment and years, 80 QTLs were detected. For individual traits, the QTLs explained together from 21.5 to 56.5% of the variation. Generally each individual QTL explained a low amount of the variation but three QTLs explained above 15% of the variation with one QTL for leaf senescence explaining 34% of the variation. The majority of the QTLs were recurrently identified across traits, years and environments. Two hotspots were identified on linkage group (LG) II and X where narrow QTLs for all traits co-localized. Conclusions: This study provides the most detailed analysis of QTL detection for phenology in Salix conducted so far. Several hotspot regions were found where QTLs for different traits and QTLs for the same trait but identified during different years co-localised. Many QTLs co-localised with QTLs found in poplar for similar traits that could indicate common pathways for these traits in Salicaceae. This study is an important first step in identifying QTLs and candidate genes for phenology traits in Salix.
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| 49. |
- Gonzalez-Voyer, Alejandro, et al.
(author)
-
Brain structure evolution in a basal vertebrate clade: evidence from phylogenetic comparative analysis of cichlid fishes
- 2009
-
In: BMC Evolutionary Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2148. ; 9, s. 238-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: The vertebrate brain is composed of several interconnected, functionally distinct structures and much debate has surrounded the basic question of how these structures evolve. On the one hand, according to the 'mosaic evolution hypothesis', because of the elevated metabolic cost of brain tissue, selection is expected to target specific structures mediating the cognitive abilities which are being favored. On the other hand, the 'concerted evolution hypothesis' argues that developmental constraints limit such mosaic evolution and instead the size of the entire brain varies in response to selection on any of its constituent parts. To date, analyses of these hypotheses of brain evolution have been limited to mammals and birds; excluding Actinopterygii, the basal and most diverse class of vertebrates. Using a combination of recently developed phylogenetic multivariate allometry analyses and comparative methods that can identify distinct rates of evolution, even in highly correlated traits, we studied brain structure evolution in a highly variable clade of ray-finned fishes; the Tanganyikan cichlids.Results: Total brain size explained 86% of the variance in brain structure volume in cichlids, a lower proportion than what has previously been reported for mammals. Brain structures showed variation in pair-wise allometry suggesting some degree of independence in evolutionary changes in size. This result is supported by variation among structures on the strength of their loadings on the principal size axis of the allometric analysis. The rate of evolution analyses generally supported the results of the multivariate allometry analyses, showing variation among several structures in their evolutionary patterns. The olfactory bulbs and hypothalamus were found to evolve faster than other structures while the dorsal medulla presented the slowest evolutionary rate.Conclusion: Our results favor a mosaic model of brain evolution, as certain structures are evolving in a modular fashion, with a small but non-negligible influence of concerted evolution in cichlid fishes. Interestingly, one of the structures presenting distinct evolutionary patterns within cichlids, the olfactory bulbs, has also been shown to evolve differently from other structures in mammals. Hence, our results for a basal vertebrate clade also point towards a conserved developmental plan for all vertebrates.
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| 50. |
- Gonzalez-Voyer, Alejandro, et al.
(author)
-
Distinct Evolutionary Patterns of Brain and Body Size During Adaptive Radiation
- 2009
-
In: Evolution. - : Wiley. - 0014-3820 .- 1558-5646. ; 63:9, s. 2266-2274
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Morphological traits are often genetically and/or phenotypically correlated with each other and such covariation can have an important influence on the evolution of individual traits. The strong positive relationship between brain size and body size in vertebrates has attracted a lot of interest, and much debate has surrounded the study of the factors responsible for the allometric relationship between these two traits. Here, we use comparative analyses of the Tanganyikan cichlid adaptive radiation to investigate the patterns of evolution for brain size and body size separately. We found that body size exhibited recent bursts of rapid evolution, a pattern that is consistent with divergence linked to ecological specialization. Brain weight on the other hand, showed no bursts of divergence but rather evolved in a gradual manner. Our results thus show that even highly genetically correlated traits can present markedly different patterns of evolution, hence interpreting patterns of evolution of traits from correlations in extant taxa can be misleading. Furthermore, our results suggest, contrary to expectations from theory, that brain size does not play a key role during adaptive radiation.
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