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| Open AccessThe evolution of democratic peace in animal societies
The democratic peace hypothesis suggests that autocracies are more warlike than democracies. Here, the authors use evolutionary game theory to test this hypothesis across taxa, finding that democratic peace can emerge without the need for complex human institutions.
- K. L. Hunt
- , M. Patel
- & D. W. E. Sankey
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Article
| Open AccessAir pollution disproportionately impairs beneficial invertebrates: a meta-analysis
Air pollution has the potential to harm invertebrates. This meta-analysis compares invertebrate performance in unpolluted and polluted atmospheres, finding negative impacts on beneficial invertebrates and detrimental impacts from low levels of ozone.
- James M. W. Ryalls
- , Jacob Bishop
- & Robbie D. Girling
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| Open AccessRevealing principles of autonomous thermal soaring in windy conditions using vulture-inspired deep reinforcement-learning
Thermal soaring, inspired by gliding birds, is an appealing model behavior for understanding motion control and how it is learned by animals and engineered autonomous systems. The authors propose a deep reinforcement learning framework to study the learning process of thermal soaring under horizontal wind conditions.
- Yoav Flato
- , Roi Harel
- & Tsevi Beatus
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Article
| Open AccessThe adaptive value of density-dependent habitat specialization and social network centrality
Social behavior and habitat specialization are often linked through density-dependence and their effects on fitness. Here, the authors show that in caribou, these traits are density-dependent, but only habitat specialization has an effect on fitness.
- Quinn M. R. Webber
- , Michel P. Laforge
- & Eric Vander Wal
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Article
| Open AccessA systematic review and meta-analysis of unimodal and multimodal predation risk assessment in birds
Animal behavioural response to predation risk could depend on the type and number of cues. This global metaanalysis shows that providing multiple cues of predation risk reduces variance in the behavioural responses of birds.
- Kimberley J. Mathot
- , Josue David Arteaga-Torres
- & Shinichi Nakagawa
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Article
| Open AccessHidden impacts of ocean warming and acidification on biological responses of marine animals revealed through meta-analysis
Climate change effects on animals are typically measured as decreases or increases in performance, compared to controls. Because both directions can have cascading effects at the ecosystem level, this study conducts a meta-analysis testing for deviations in biological responses using absolute rather than relative changes, showing that impacts on marine animals might have been largely underestimated.
- Katharina Alter
- , Juliette Jacquemont
- & Paolo Domenici
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Article
| Open AccessCollective incentives reduce over-exploitation of social information in unconstrained human groups
Individual decisions drive the dynamics of collective systems. Here, the authors use an immersive-reality experiment to show that group incentives reduce social information use and improve performance in naturalistic collectives.
- Dominik Deffner
- , David Mezey
- & Ralf H. J. M. Kurvers
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Article
| Open AccessMating harassment may boost the effectiveness of the sterile insect technique for Aedes mosquitoes
The sterile insect technique involves the introduction of sterile males to induce sterility in females and reduce population size. Here, the authors show that sterile males may also reduce female density and inhibit female blood feeding through mating harassment.
- Dongjing Zhang
- , Hamidou Maiga
- & Jérémy Bouyer
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Article
| Open AccessPredator selection on phenotypic variability of cryptic and aposematic moths
Selection is expected to act differently on aposematic and cryptic species. Analysis of wing images revealed that camouflaged moths exhibit higher wing pattern variability than aposematic moths, supporting the theory that camouflaged species display more variability, consistent with anti-predator strategy.
- Ossi Nokelainen
- , Sanni A. Silvasti
- & Johanna Mappes
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Article
| Open AccessEffects of human disturbances on wildlife behaviour and consequences for predator-prey overlap in Southeast Asia
Prior studies showed that humans are causing species to become more active at night. Here the authors show that this trend is not consistent across hyperdiverse wildlife communities, as camera trap surveys in Southeast Asia show that responses depend on species traits and do not affect the temporal overlap of biotic interactions.
- Samuel Xin Tham Lee
- , Zachary Amir
- & Matthew Scott Luskin
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Article
| Open AccessPolar bear energetic and behavioral strategies on land with implications for surviving the ice-free period
Declining Arctic sea ice is increasing polar bear land use. Here, the authors follow 20 different polar bears on land over 3 years and measure daily energy expenditure finding that despite behavioural and diet plasticity the bears are at risk of starvation.
- Anthony M. Pagano
- , Karyn D. Rode
- & Charles T. Robbins
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Article
| Open AccessMesozoic evolution of cicadas and their origins of vocalization and root feeding
The evolution of cicadas is unclear due to a lack of understanding of transitional features. Here, the authors assess adult and nymph mid-Cretaceous cicadas, to elucidate their morphological evolution and identify evidence of the origins of cicada sound-generation and subterranean lifestyle.
- Hui Jiang
- , Jacek Szwedo
- & Bo Wang
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Article
| Open AccessUnfamiliarity generates costly aggression in interspecific avian dominance hierarchies
Although intraspecific dominance hierarchies are common, large scale interspecific dominance hierarchies are unknown. Using data from hundreds of avian species, the authors find that species that are more familiar with each other engage in less aggression and the aggression is resolved more directly.
- Gavin M. Leighton
- , Jonathan P. Drury
- & Eliot T. Miller
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| Open AccessReproductive individuality of clonal fish raised in near-identical environments and its link to early-life behavioral individuality
Even in the absence of apparent genetic and environmental differences, substantial behavioral individuality emerges. This study demonstrates that such seemingly stochastic variation in a clonal fish species translates into predictable differences in life-history measures and ultimately fitness.
- Ulrike Scherer
- , Sean M. Ehlman
- & Max Wolf
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Article
| Open AccessreplicAnt: a pipeline for generating annotated images of animals in complex environments using Unreal Engine
Deep learning-based computer vision tools are transforming animal behavioural research; however, many challenges remain. Here, Plum et al. present replicAnt, a novel tool for generating synthetic data to train computer vision models for animal behaviour studies, reducing the need for manual annotation.
- Fabian Plum
- , René Bulla
- & David Labonte
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| Open AccessSex differences in avian parental care patterns vary across the breeding cycle
Parental care in birds includes diverse behaviours but the variation in care from each parent across the breeding cycle and between species is unclear. Here, the authors study 1533 bird species, finding different patterns across breeding stages, and that species with strong sexual selection or paternity uncertainty tend to show female-biased care.
- Daiping Wang
- , Wenyuan Zhang
- & Xiang-Yi Li Richter
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Article
| Open AccessThe evolution of same-sex sexual behaviour in mammals
There is still no consensus on the factors favouring the evolution of same-sex sexual behaviour in mammals. This study presents evidence that it is a widespread behaviour that has evolved repeatedly in mammals, and that may play an adaptive role in bonding and conflict resolution.
- José M. Gómez
- , A. Gónzalez-Megías
- & M. Verdú
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Article
| Open AccessSocial isolation shortens lifespan through oxidative stress in ants
The mechanisms behind the negative effects of social isolation on social species are unclear. Here, the authors examine colonies of carpenter ants, finding that behavioral, physiological, and lifespan changes may be caused by oxidative stress.
- Akiko Koto
- , Makoto Tamura
- & Laurent Keller
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Article
| Open AccessWild jackdaws can selectively adjust their social associations while preserving valuable long-term relationships
Individuals may benefit from adjusting their social relationships strategically in response to changing conditions, but evidence in wild animals is limited. Using an automated field experiment, the authors show that wild jackdaws learn to modify their social interactions to maximise foraging rewards, while retaining valuable long-term relationships.
- Michael Kings
- , Josh J. Arbon
- & Alex Thornton
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Article
| Open AccessUnexpected worker mating and colony-founding in a superorganism
Workers in social insects such as honey bees, bumble bees, and ants are expected to spend their lives helping their mother reproduce. Here the authors show that workers of several bumble bee species can in fact mate and lead colonies of their own.
- Mingsheng Zhuang
- , Thomas J. Colgan
- & Jilian Li
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| Open AccessFine-scale collective movements reveal present, past and future dynamics of a multilevel society in Przewalski’s horses
High resolution tracking is providing new opportunities to understand the social dynamics of wild animals. Here, the authors track individual wild horses with drones and link their movement patterns to long-term population monitoring to reveal the structure of their society.
- Katalin Ozogány
- , Viola Kerekes
- & Máté Nagy
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| Open AccessBehavioural individuality determines infection risk in clonal ant colonies
Behaviour drives infection risk in social groups. Here, Li et al. show that depending on the behavioural role of clonal ants in a colony, genetically identical individuals face vastly different risks of becoming infected with parasitic nematodes.
- Zimai Li
- , Bhoomika Bhat
- & Yuko Ulrich
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Article
| Open AccessShort-term particulate matter contamination severely compromises insect antennal olfactory perception
The consequences for insects of sub-lethal levels of ambient particulate matter pollution exposure have not received much attention. Here, the authors show that accumulation of particulate matter on houseflies severely compromises their olfactory and other key physiological functions.
- Qike Wang
- , Genting Liu
- & Mark A. Elgar
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Article
| Open AccessSexual selection for both diversity and repetition in birdsong
Birdsong is simultaneously repetitive and highly diverse. Sierro et al. resolve this apparent paradox through experiments in blue tits showing that consistent repetition is a fitness indicator, while song diversity reduces habituation during singing displays.
- Javier Sierro
- , Selvino R. de Kort
- & Ian R. Hartley
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| Open AccessDynamic pathogen detection and social feedback shape collective hygiene in ants
Cooperative disease defense is part of group-level collective behavior. Here, the authors explore individual decisions, finding that garden ants increase grooming highly infectious individuals when they perceive a high pathogen load and suppress grooming after having been groomed by nestmates.
- Barbara Casillas-Pérez
- , Katarína Boďová
- & Sylvia Cremer
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| Open AccessCall combinations and compositional processing in wild chimpanzees
Syntax is a key feature distinguishing human language from other animal communication systems. Here, Leroux et al. show that chimpanzees produce a compositional syntactic-like structure, suggesting syntax might be evolutionary ancient and potentially already present in our last common ancestor with chimpanzees.
- Maël Leroux
- , Anne M. Schel
- & Simon W. Townsend
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Article
| Open AccessBird tolerance to humans in open tropical ecosystems
The degree to which species tolerate human disturbance contributes to shape human-wildlife coexistence. Here, the authors identify key predictors of avian tolerance of humans across 842 bird species from open tropical ecosystems.
- Peter Mikula
- , Oldřich Tomášek
- & Tomáš Albrecht
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Article
| Open AccessMigrating mule deer compensate en route for phenological mismatches
This study examined the movements of mule deer in western Wyoming, which began their spring migration considerably mismatched from the wave of green-up that propagates from low-elevation winter ranges to high-elevation summer ranges. They show that individual deer compensated for phenological mismatches with the green wave en route by accelerating or decelerating their movement.
- Anna C. Ortega
- , Ellen O. Aikens
- & Matthew J. Kauffman
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Article
| Open AccessAggregation pheromones have a non-linear effect on oviposition behavior in Drosophila melanogaster
Drosophila larvae may benefit each other at lower densities but compete at higher densities. Here, Verschut et al. identify a mechanism enabling Drosophila females to favor egg-laying sites containing medium concentrations of aggregation pheromones, which may facilitate choice of favorable sites.
- Thomas A. Verschut
- , Renny Ng
- & Jean-Christophe Billeter
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| Open AccessDisentangling the causes of temporal variation in the opportunity for sexual selection
The opportunity for sexual selection is a key evolutionary parameter but we know little about its temporal dynamics. Using data from multiple animal species the authors show that this metric varies rapidly through time and that simulations should be used to avoid substantial misinterpretation.
- Rômulo Carleial
- , Tommaso Pizzari
- & Grant C. McDonald
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| Open AccessA signal-like role for floral humidity in a nocturnal pollination system
Flowers are well known for attracting pollinators with visual and olfactory displays. Here, the authors show that in a nocturnal, desert pollination system, flower choice by pollinators is also mediated by floral humidity.
- Ajinkya Dahake
- , Piyush Jain
- & Robert A. Raguso
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Article
| Open AccessSuicidal chemotaxis in bacteria
Bacteria respond to nutrients and other compounds via chemotaxis, but little is known of their responses to antibiotics. By tracking cells in antibiotic gradients, the authors show that surface-attached Pseudomonas aeruginosa move towards antibiotics in what appears to be a suicidal attack strategy.
- Nuno M. Oliveira
- , James H. R. Wheeler
- & Kevin R. Foster
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Article
| Open AccessResource sharing is sufficient for the emergence of division of labour
Division of labour, where members of a group specialise on different tasks, is a central feature of many social organisms. Using a theoretical model, the authors demonstrate that division of labour can emerge spontaneously within a group of entirely identical individuals.
- Jan J. Kreider
- , Thijs Janzen
- & Franz J. Weissing
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Article
| Open AccessConsistent diel activity patterns of forest mammals among tropical regions
Temporal niche partitioning is an important feature of animal communities. Here, Vallejo-Vargas and colleagues analyze standardized camera trap survey data from protected areas across the tropics to investigate diel patterns of forest mammals in relation to body mass and trophic guild.
- Andrea F. Vallejo-Vargas
- , Douglas Sheil
- & Richard Bischof
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| Open AccessTwo simple movement mechanisms for spatial division of labour in social insects
Ant and honeybee workers specialize on certain tasks and also on zones within the nest; but how do they avoid straying into the wrong zone? The authors conduct automated tracking experiments following thousands of individuals, revealing that workers use context-dependent rules to navigate inside the nest.
- Thomas O. Richardson
- , Nathalie Stroeymeyt
- & Laurent Keller
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| Open AccessThe emergence and development of behavioral individuality in clonal fish
You’re unique just like everyone else. But when does such individuality appear? Laskowski et al. find that clonal fish show unique behavioral patterns on their first day of life, and these patterns predict their behavior up to at least 10 weeks later.
- Kate L. Laskowski
- , David Bierbach
- & Max Wolf
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Article
| Open AccessBiological invasions as a selective filter driving behavioral divergence
Invasive species are a leading driver of global biodiversity loss. Here, the authors show that the process of invasion itself can promote behavioral changes important to the success of widespread invaders, with implications for understanding the effects of alien species on invaded communities.
- David G. Chapple
- , Annalise C. Naimo
- & Bob B. M. Wong
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Article
| Open AccessExperimental evidence for core-Merge in the vocal communication system of a wild passerine
It has been hypothesized that language depends on a capacity to produce and recognize two items (e.g., “come” + “talk”) as a single unit (e.g., “come talk”). Here, the authors show that a wild passerine also uses this capacity in vocal communication.
- Toshitaka N. Suzuki
- & Yui K. Matsumoto
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Article
| Open AccessA Cryptochrome adopts distinct moon- and sunlight states and functions as sun- versus moonlight interpreter in monthly oscillator entrainment
Reproduction in numerous marine organisms is timed to specific moon phases, but the mechanisms for sensing moon phases are incompletely understood. Here the authors report that an ancient, light-sensitive protein L-Cryptochrome in a marine bristle worm can discriminate between sun- and moonlight, enabling the animals to properly decode moon phases.
- Birgit Poehn
- , Shruthi Krishnan
- & Kristin Tessmar-Raible
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Article
| Open AccessRaptors avoid the confusion effect by targeting fixed points in dense aerial prey aggregations
Flocking, schooling, and swarming prey are thought to benefit from a confusion effect. However, here the authors show that hawks attacking swarming bats avoid confusion by steering towards a fixed point in the swarm instead of targeting any one individual.
- Caroline H. Brighton
- , Laura N. Kloepper
- & Graham K. Taylor
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Article
| Open AccessSearch performance and octopamine neuronal signaling mediate parasitoid induced changes in Drosophila oviposition behavior
Animals have evolved varied strategies for predator avoidance. Here the authors find that Drosophila can recognize threats from younger parasitoid wasps via the perception of their search performance, and reduce egg laying through the reduction of octopamine neuronal signalling.
- Lan Pang
- , Zhiguo Liu
- & Jianhua Huang
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Article
| Open AccessCumulative cultural evolution and mechanisms for cultural selection in wild bird songs
Cumulative cultural evolution is ubiquitous in humans, but is rarely observed in non-human animals. Here, Williams et al. report elaboration of songs over several decades in Savannah sparrows, consistent with cumulative cultural evolution.
- Heather Williams
- , Andrew Scharf
- & Julie C. Blackwood
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Article
| Open AccessMothers with higher twinning propensity had lower fertility in pre-industrial Europe
The question of whether women who produce twins are more fertile than other women has been debated. Here, the authors analyze a large dataset of pre-industrial birth outcomes and find evidence against the idea of higher fertility and instead that more births lead to more twinning opportunities.
- Ian J. Rickard
- , Colin Vullioud
- & Alexandre Courtiol
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Article
| Open AccessLimiting motorboat noise on coral reefs boosts fish reproductive success
Using a season-long field manipulation with an established model fish system on the Great Barrier Reef, this study demonstrates that limiting motorboat activity on reefs leads to faster growth and survival of more fish offspring compared to reefs experiencing busy motorboat traffic. Noise mitigation and abatement could therefore present a valuable opportunity for enhancing ecosystem resilience.
- Sophie L. Nedelec
- , Andrew N. Radford
- & Stephen D. Simpson
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Article
| Open AccessIndividual experience as a key to success for the cuckoo catfish brood parasitism
The importance of learning for brood parasites is explored using cuckoo catfish. The catfish increase their parasitism success as they gain experience, mainly by improving their social coordination and timing of intrusions to cichlid host spawnings.
- Holger Zimmermann
- , Radim Blažek
- & Martin Reichard
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Article
| Open AccessMachine learning reveals cryptic dialects that explain mate choice in a songbird
The authors show that captive populations of zebra finches, which have been kept in isolation for up to 100 generations, have diverged in song dialect. When individuals singing different dialects are mixed, mating is assortative for song dialect.
- Daiping Wang
- , Wolfgang Forstmeier
- & Bart Kempenaers
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Article
| Open AccessPaternal transmission of migration knowledge in a long-distance bird migrant
Animals often migrate in social groups, but little is known about the social learning of migration behaviours. Here, Byholm et al. analyse high-resolution tracking data from Caspian Terns and reveal that juveniles’ survival and learning of migration routes depend critically on following a parent.
- Patrik Byholm
- , Martin Beal
- & Susanne Åkesson
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Article
| Open AccessIntralocus conflicts associated with a supergene
‘A supergene that underlies variation in male mating phenotypes has consequences for female reproduction. Here, the authors use evolutionary models to show that the rarest variant of this supergene is maintained by disproportionally high male reproductive success.’
- Lina M. Giraldo-Deck
- , Jasmine L. Loveland
- & Clemens Küpper
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Article
| Open AccessHysteresis stabilizes dynamic control of self-assembled army ant constructions
Army ant bridges are a remarkable example of self-assembled living structures. Here, the authors investigate experimentally how army ant bridges respond to unstable ground, revealing how responses emerge from the decentralized actions of individuals.
- Helen F. McCreery
- , Georgina Gemayel
- & Radhika Nagpal