Sharp Stuart P, McGowan Andrew, Wood Matthew J, Hatchwell Ben J
Evolution and Behaviour Group, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
Nature. 2005 Apr 28;434(7037):1127-30. doi: 10.1038/nature03522.
In many cooperatively breeding birds, kin selection has an important role in the evolution and maintenance of social behaviour, and 'helpers' can maximize indirect fitness gains by preferentially allocating care to close relatives. Although there is evidence for kin-biased helping behaviour in several species, the mechanism of kin recognition underlying this behaviour is poorly understood. Vocalizations are the most commonly used cues in avian recognition systems, but the effectiveness of vocal signals as reliable recognition cues must depend on how they are acquired. However, there have been no experimental studies of the development of vocal recognition cues in cooperative birds; indeed, the ontogeny of all bird vocalizations other than song is poorly known in any species. Here, we show that cooperatively breeding long-tailed tits (Aegithalos caudatus) can discriminate between kin and non-kin according to the individual-specific characteristics of contact calls, and show experimentally that individuals learn these calls from provisioning adults during the nestling period. Finally, we show that the pattern of cooperative behaviour in this species is consistent with the use of recognition cues learned through association.
在许多合作繁殖的鸟类中，亲缘选择在社会行为的进化和维持中起着重要作用，“帮手”可以通过优先照顾近亲来最大化间接适合度收益。尽管有证据表明几种物种存在偏向亲缘的帮助行为，但这种行为背后的亲缘识别机制却知之甚少。发声是鸟类识别系统中最常用的线索，但发声信号作为可靠识别线索的有效性必须取决于它们的获取方式。然而，目前尚无关于合作鸟类发声识别线索发育的实验研究；事实上，除了鸣唱之外，所有鸟类发声的个体发育在任何物种中都鲜为人知。在此，我们表明合作繁殖的长尾山雀（Aegithalos caudatus）能够根据联络叫声的个体特异性特征区分亲缘和非亲缘个体，并通过实验表明个体在雏鸟期从提供食物的成鸟那里学习这些叫声。最后，我们表明该物种的合作行为模式与通过联想学习到的识别线索的使用是一致的。
