Nakagawa Shinichi, Waas Joseph R
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand.
Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 2004 Feb;79(1):101-19. doi: 10.1017/s1464793103006249.
Avian literature on sibling recognition is rare compared to that developed by mammalian researchers. We compare avian and mammalian research on sibling recognition to identify why avian work is rare, how approaches differ and what avian and mammalian researchers can learn from each other. Three factors: (1) biological differences between birds and mammals, (2) conceptual biases and (3) practical constraints, appear to influence our current understanding. Avian research focuses on colonial species because sibling recognition is considered adaptive where 'mixing potential' of dependent young is high; research on a wider range of species, breeding systems and ecological conditions is now needed. Studies of acoustic recognition cues dominate avian literature; other types of cues (e.g. visual, olfactory) deserve further attention. The effect of gender on avian sibling recognition has yet to be investigated; mammalian work shows that gender can have important influences. Most importantly, many researchers assume that birds recognise siblings through 'direct familiarisation' (commonly known as associative learning or familiarity); future experiments should also incorporate tests for 'indirect familiarisation' (commonly known as phenotype matching). If direct familiarisation proves crucial, avian research should investigate how periods of separation influence sibling discrimination. Mammalian researchers typically interpret sibling recognition in broad functional terms (nepotism, optimal outbreeding); some avian researchers more successfully identify specific and testable adaptive explanations, with greater relevance to natural contexts. We end by reporting exciting discoveries from recent studies of avian sibling recognition that inspire further interest in this topic.
与哺乳动物研究人员开展的研究相比，关于鸟类同胞识别的文献较少。我们比较了鸟类和哺乳动物在同胞识别方面的研究，以确定鸟类研究较少的原因、方法上的差异，以及鸟类和哺乳动物研究人员可以相互借鉴之处。有三个因素：（1）鸟类和哺乳动物之间的生物学差异，（2）概念偏差，以及（3）实际限制，似乎影响着我们目前的理解。鸟类研究主要集中在群居物种上，因为在依赖幼雏“混合潜力”较高的地方，同胞识别被认为具有适应性；现在需要对更广泛的物种、繁殖系统和生态条件进行研究。声学识别线索的研究在鸟类文献中占主导地位；其他类型的线索（如视觉、嗅觉）值得进一步关注。性别对鸟类同胞识别的影响尚未得到研究；哺乳动物的研究表明性别可能有重要影响。最重要的是，许多研究人员认为鸟类通过“直接熟悉”（通常称为联想学习或熟悉）来识别同胞；未来的实验也应该纳入对“间接熟悉”（通常称为表型匹配）的测试。如果直接熟悉被证明至关重要，鸟类研究应该调查分离期如何影响同胞辨别。哺乳动物研究人员通常从广泛的功能角度（裙带关系、最佳远交）来解释同胞识别；一些鸟类研究人员更成功地确定了具体的、可测试的适应性解释，这些解释与自然环境的相关性更大。我们最后报告了最近鸟类同胞识别研究中的令人兴奋的发现，这些发现激发了对该主题的进一步兴趣。
