Abstract
Behavioural innovations are increasingly thought to provide a rich source of phenotypic plasticity and evolutionary change. Innovation propensity shows substantial variation across avian taxa and provides an adaptive mechanism by which behaviour is flexibly adjusted to changing environmental conditions. Here, we tested for the first time the prediction that inter-individual variation in innovation propensity is equally a measure of behavioural flexibility. We used Indian mynas, Sturnus tristis, a highly successful worldwide invader. Results revealed that mynas that solved an extractive foraging task more quickly learnt to discriminate between a cue that predicted food, and one that did not more quickly. However, fast innovators were slower to change their behaviour when the significance of the food cues changed. This unexpected finding appears at odds with the well-established view that avian taxa with larger brains relative to their body size, and therefore greater neural processing power, are both faster, and more flexible learners. We speculate that the existence of this relationship across taxa can be reconciled with its absence within species by assuming that fast, innovative learners and non innovative, slow, flexible learners constitute two separate individual strategies, which are both underpinned by enhanced neural processing power. This idea is consistent with the recent proposal that individuals may differ consistently in ‘cognitive style’, differentially trading off speed against accuracy in cognitive tasks.
Highlights
Behavioural innovations -solutions to novel problems, or novel solutions to old problems [1]- are increasingly thought to provide a rich source of phenotypic plasticity and evolutionary change [2,3,4]
Given the strong evidence that the prevalence of innovative behaviour at the taxon level is indicative of behavioural flexibility, it is reasonable to assume that variation at the individual level in innovation propensity should reflect inter-individual differences in flexibility
Our research evaluated whether, interindividual variation in innovativeness could be linked to an increased ability to adjust to a changing environment
Summary
Behavioural innovations -solutions to novel problems, or novel solutions to old problems [1]- are increasingly thought to provide a rich source of phenotypic plasticity and evolutionary change [2,3,4]. The number of anecdotal reports of novel feeding behaviours in the wild, aka innovation rate [4], is correlated across avian taxa with a variety of ecological variables, including urbanization [5] but see [6], habitat degradation [7], introduction to novel environments [8,9,10,11], and seasonal resource variability in habitats of resident species [12] This body of work indicates that the ability to innovate provides an adaptive mechanism by which avian species flexibly adjust to changing environmental conditions [4]. To our knowledge, this key prediction has not been tested to date
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
