Boussard Annika, Ahlkvist Mikaela, Corral-López Alberto, Fong Stephanie, Fitzpatrick John, Kolm Niclas
Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 18B, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.
Behav Ecol. 2024 May 3;35(4):arae033. doi: 10.1093/beheco/arae033. eCollection 2024 Jul-Aug.
Collective motion is common across all animal taxa, from swarming insects to schools of fish. The collective motion requires intricate behavioral integration among individuals, yet little is known about how evolutionary changes in brain morphology influence the ability for individuals to coordinate behavior in groups. In this study, we utilized guppies that were selectively bred for relative telencephalon size, an aspect of brain morphology that is normally associated with advanced cognitive functions, to examine its role in collective motion using an open-field assay. We analyzed high-resolution tracking data of same-sex shoals consisting of 8 individuals to assess different aspects of collective motion, such as alignment, attraction to nearby shoal members, and swimming speed. Our findings indicate that variation in collective motion in guppy shoals might not be strongly affected by variation in relative telencephalon size. Our study suggests that group dynamics in collectively moving animals are likely not driven by advanced cognitive functions but rather by fundamental cognitive processes stemming from relatively simple rules among neighboring individuals.
集体运动在所有动物类群中都很常见，从成群的昆虫到鱼群。集体运动需要个体之间复杂的行为整合，但对于大脑形态的进化变化如何影响个体在群体中协调行为的能力，我们却知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们利用了因端脑相对大小而经过选择性培育的孔雀鱼，端脑大小是大脑形态的一个方面，通常与高级认知功能相关，我们通过旷场试验来研究其在集体运动中的作用。我们分析了由8只个体组成的同性鱼群的高分辨率跟踪数据，以评估集体运动的不同方面，如排列、对附近鱼群成员的吸引力和游泳速度。我们的研究结果表明，孔雀鱼鱼群集体运动的变化可能不会受到端脑相对大小变化的强烈影响。我们的研究表明，集体运动动物的群体动态可能不是由高级认知功能驱动的，而是由相邻个体之间相对简单规则所产生的基本认知过程驱动的。
