Cooperative breeding and the emergence of multilevel societies in birds

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ettore Camerlenghi ◽  
Alexandra McQueen ◽  
Kaspar Delhey ◽  
Carly N. Cook ◽  
Sjouke A. Kingma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Cooperative Breeding ◽  
Breeding Birds ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding ◽  
Multilevel Society ◽  
Complex Forms ◽  
Malurus Cyaneus ◽  
Multilevel Societies ◽  
Animal Societies

Multilevel societies (MLSs), where social levels are hierarchically nested within each other, are considered one of the most complex forms of animal societies. Although thought to mainly occur in mammals, it is suggested that MLSs could be under-detected in birds. Here we propose that the emergence of MLSs could be common in cooperatively breeding birds, as both systems are favoured by similar ecological and social drivers. We first investigate this proposition by systematically comparing evidence for multilevel social structure in cooperative and non-cooperative birds in Australia and New Zealand, global hotspots for cooperative breeding. We then analyse non-breeding social networks of cooperatively breeding superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus) to reveal their structured multilevel society, with three hierarchical social levels that are stable across years. Our results confirm recent predictions that MLSs are likely to be widespread in birds and suggest that these societies could be particularly common in cooperatively breeding birds.

scholarly journals Can we measure the benefits of help in cooperatively breeding birds: the case of superb fairy-wrens Malurus cyaneus?

2008 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 430-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Cockburn ◽  
Rachel A. Sims ◽  
Helen L. Osmond ◽  
David J. Green ◽  
Michael C. Double ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Birds ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding ◽  
Malurus Cyaneus

scholarly journals The evolution of altruistic social preferences in human groups

2016 ◽  
Vol 371 (1687) ◽  
pp. 20150097 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan B. Silk ◽  
Bailey R. House
Keyword(s):  
Cooperative Breeding ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Preferences ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
Group Level ◽  
Selective Pressures ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding ◽  
Animal Societies

In this paper, we consider three hypotheses to account for the evolution of the extraordinary capacity for large-scale cooperation and altruistic social preferences within human societies. One hypothesis is that human cooperation is built on the same evolutionary foundations as cooperation in other animal societies, and that fundamental elements of the social preferences that shape our species' cooperative behaviour are also shared with other closely related primates. Another hypothesis is that selective pressures favouring cooperative breeding have shaped the capacity for cooperation and the development of social preferences, and produced a common set of behavioural dispositions and social preferences in cooperatively breeding primates and humans. The third hypothesis is that humans have evolved derived capacities for collaboration, group-level cooperation and altruistic social preferences that are linked to our capacity for culture. We draw on naturalistic data to assess differences in the form, scope and scale of cooperation between humans and other primates, experimental data to evaluate the nature of social preferences across primate species, and comparative analyses to evaluate the evolutionary origins of cooperative breeding and related forms of behaviour.

scholarly journals Proactive prosociality in a cooperatively breeding corvid, the azure-winged magpie ( Cyanopica cyana )

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 20160649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Horn ◽  
Clara Scheer ◽  
Thomas Bugnyar ◽  
Jorg J. M. Massen
Keyword(s):  
Cooperative Breeding ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Over Time

One of the contemporary hypotheses concerning the evolution of human altruism is the cooperative breeding hypothesis (CBH) which has recently been tested in non-human primates. Using a similar paradigm, we investigated prosociality in a cooperatively breeding corvid, the azure-winged magpie. We found that the magpies delivered food to their group members at high rates, and unlike other corvids, they did so without any cues provided by others. In two control conditions, the magpies stopped participating over time, indicating that they learned to discriminate prosocial tests from controls. Azure-winged magpies are thus the first birds that experimentally show proactive prosociality. Our findings are in line with the CBH; however, additional corvid species need to be tested in this promising paradigm.

Multidimensional, complex and contingent: Exploring international PhD students’ social mobility

Ethnicities ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 146879682096670
Author(s):  
Rituparna Roy ◽  
Shinya Uekusa ◽  
Jeevan Karki
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
Class Identity ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Highly Skilled Migrants ◽  
Highly Skilled ◽  
Multidimensional Complex ◽  
Downward Social Mobility

This paper is a collaborative autoethnography (CAE) by three international PhD students from Bangladesh, Japan and Nepal who pursued (or who are currently pursuing) their studies in New Zealand. In contrast to previous research which largely advanced a simplistic, downward social mobility experience of international PhD students or highly skilled migrants in general, we argue that this experience is dynamic, complex and multidimensional in nature. In doing so, we turn to Bourdieu’s theory of capital. By focusing on less-direct economic resources (e.g. ethnicity, nationality, language and social networks), we explore the multidimensionality and convolution of our social mobility which stems from migration. Setting aside a narrative of adversity and downward social mobility among international PhD students, this paper emphasizes how we actively negotiated and dealt with shifting class identity and social mobility in the host countries.

scholarly journals Ecological and social constraints combine to promote evolution of non-breeding strategies in clownfish

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Branconi ◽  
Tina A. Barbasch ◽  
Robin K. Francis ◽  
Maya Srinivasan ◽  
Geoffrey P. Jones ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cooperative Breeding ◽  
Wild Population ◽  
Social Constraints ◽  
Bargaining Theory ◽  
Breeding Strategies ◽  
Ecological Constraints ◽  
Amphiprion Percula ◽  
Outside Options ◽  
Risk Of Mortality ◽  
Animal Societies

Abstract Individuals that forgo their own reproduction in animal societies represent an evolutionary paradox because it is not immediately apparent how natural selection can preserve the genes that underlie non-breeding strategies. Cooperative breeding theory provides a solution to the paradox: non-breeders benefit by helping relatives and/or inheriting breeding positions; non-breeders do not disperse to breed elsewhere because of ecological constraints. However, the question of why non-breeders do not contest to breed within their group has rarely been addressed. Here, we use a wild population of clownfish (Amphiprion percula), where non-breeders wait peacefully for years to inherit breeding positions, to show non-breeders will disperse when ecological constraints (risk of mortality during dispersal) are experimentally weakened. In addition, we show non-breeders will contest when social constraints (risk of eviction during contest) are experimentally relaxed. Our results show it is the combination of ecological and social constraints that promote the evolution of non-breeding strategies. The findings highlight parallels between, and potential for fruitful exchange between, cooperative breeding theory and economic bargaining theory: individuals will forgo their own reproduction and wait peacefully to inherit breeding positions (engage in cooperative options) when there are harsh ecological constraints (poor outside options) and harsh social constraints (poor inside options).

Annual Reproductive Yield in the Cooperative Pygmy Nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea)

The Auk ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Sydeman ◽  
Marcel Güntert ◽  
Russell P. Balda
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Cooperative Breeding ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Breeding Birds ◽  
Overwinter Survival ◽  
Northern Arizona ◽  
Floral Diversity ◽  
Indirect Fitness ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract We studied cooperative-breeding Pygmy Nuthatches (Sitta pygmaea) for 4 yr in northern Arizona. Breeding units contained 2-5 birds. Helpers were found at about 30% of all nests. All helpers that later bred on the study area were male. Helpers were mostly yearlings, and offspring or siblings of the birds that they aided, but often aided at least one unrelated breeder. Breeding units with helpers produced significantly more young than those without helpers. Breeding units in habitats with the greatest floral diversity and structural maturity fledged significantly more young than those in other habitats. Habitat did not influence the effect of helpers. Year effects increased the strength of the relationship between helpers and annual reproductive output. Previous breeding experience and pair-bond duration were not related to reproductive success. Total brood loss, although rare, was responsible for the difference in reproductive output among pairs with and without helpers and between habitats. Breeding birds with helpers benefit by an increase in direct fitness. The advantage to the helpers is not clear but may be an increase in indirect fitness associated with aiding relatives. Helpers may benefit directly, however, by sharing roosting cavities on a group territory thereby enhancing overwinter survival.

scholarly journals Fine-Scale Population Structure but Limited Genetic Differentiation in a Cooperatively Breeding Paper Wasp

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 701-714 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah E Bluher ◽  
Sara E Miller ◽  
Michael J Sheehan
Keyword(s):  
Population Structure ◽  
Genetic Differentiation ◽  
Cooperative Breeding ◽  
Isolation By Distance ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Paper Wasp ◽  
Paper Wasps ◽  
Natal Philopatry ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding

Abstract Relatively little is known about the processes shaping population structure in cooperatively breeding insect species, despite the long-hypothesized importance of population structure in shaping patterns of cooperative breeding. Polistes paper wasps are primitively eusocial insects, with a cooperative breeding system in which females often found nests in cooperative associations. Prior mark-recapture studies of Polistes have documented extreme female philopatry, although genetic studies frequently fail to detect the strong population structure expected for highly philopatric species. Together these findings have led to lack of consensus on the degree of dispersal and population structure in these species. This study assessed population structure of female Polistes fuscatus wasps at three scales: within a single site, throughout Central New York, and across the Northeastern United States. Patterns of spatial genetic clustering and isolation by distance were observed in nuclear and mitochondrial genomes at the continental scale. Remarkably, population structure was evident even at fine spatial scales within a single collection site. However, P. fuscatus had low levels of genetic differentiation across long distances. These results suggest that P. fuscatus wasps may employ multiple dispersal strategies, including extreme natal philopatry as well as longer-distance dispersal. We observed greater genetic differentiation in mitochondrial genes than in the nuclear genome, indicative of increased dispersal distances in males. Our findings support the hypothesis that limited female dispersal contributes toward population structure in paper wasps.

scholarly journals Sex Allocation Patterns across Cooperatively Breeding Birds Do Not Support Predictions of the Repayment Hypothesis

2017 ◽  
Vol 190 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nyil Khwaja ◽  
Ben J. Hatchwell ◽  
Robert P. Freckleton ◽  
Jonathan P. Green
Keyword(s):  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Breeding Birds ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding ◽  
Allocation Patterns
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document