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Evolution of schooling drives changes in neuroanatomy and motion characteristics across predation contexts in guppies

Corral-Lopez, Alberto ; Kotrschal, Alexander ; Szorkovszky, Alexander ; Garate-Olaizola, Maddi ; Herbert-Read, James LU orcid ; van der Bijl, Wouter ; Romenskyy, Maksym ; Zeng, Hong Li ; Buechel, Severine Denise and Fontrodona-Eslava, Ada , et al. (2023) In Nature Communications 14.
Abstract

One of the most spectacular displays of social behavior is the synchronized movements that many animal groups perform to travel, forage and escape from predators. However, elucidating the neural mechanisms underlying the evolution of collective behaviors, as well as their fitness effects, remains challenging. Here, we study collective motion patterns with and without predation threat and predator inspection behavior in guppies experimentally selected for divergence in polarization, an important ecological driver of coordinated movement in fish. We find that groups from artificially selected lines remain more polarized than control groups in the presence of a threat. Neuroanatomical measurements of polarization-selected individuals... (More)

One of the most spectacular displays of social behavior is the synchronized movements that many animal groups perform to travel, forage and escape from predators. However, elucidating the neural mechanisms underlying the evolution of collective behaviors, as well as their fitness effects, remains challenging. Here, we study collective motion patterns with and without predation threat and predator inspection behavior in guppies experimentally selected for divergence in polarization, an important ecological driver of coordinated movement in fish. We find that groups from artificially selected lines remain more polarized than control groups in the presence of a threat. Neuroanatomical measurements of polarization-selected individuals indicate changes in brain regions previously suggested to be important regulators of perception, fear and attention, and motor response. Additional visual acuity and temporal resolution tests performed in polarization-selected and control individuals indicate that observed differences in predator inspection and schooling behavior should not be attributable to changes in visual perception, but rather are more likely the result of the more efficient relay of sensory input in the brain of polarization-selected fish. Our findings highlight that brain morphology may play a fundamental role in the evolution of coordinated movement and anti-predator behavior.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nature Communications
volume
14
article number
6027
pages
15 pages
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • scopus:85172802042
  • pmid:37758730
ISSN
2041-1723
DOI
10.1038/s41467-023-41635-6
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2023, Springer Nature Limited.
id
b9cd76a9-9436-4578-a318-900d1c5692b0
date added to LUP
2024-01-12 09:57:05
date last changed
2024-04-27 05:22:05
@article{b9cd76a9-9436-4578-a318-900d1c5692b0,
  abstract     = {{<p>One of the most spectacular displays of social behavior is the synchronized movements that many animal groups perform to travel, forage and escape from predators. However, elucidating the neural mechanisms underlying the evolution of collective behaviors, as well as their fitness effects, remains challenging. Here, we study collective motion patterns with and without predation threat and predator inspection behavior in guppies experimentally selected for divergence in polarization, an important ecological driver of coordinated movement in fish. We find that groups from artificially selected lines remain more polarized than control groups in the presence of a threat. Neuroanatomical measurements of polarization-selected individuals indicate changes in brain regions previously suggested to be important regulators of perception, fear and attention, and motor response. Additional visual acuity and temporal resolution tests performed in polarization-selected and control individuals indicate that observed differences in predator inspection and schooling behavior should not be attributable to changes in visual perception, but rather are more likely the result of the more efficient relay of sensory input in the brain of polarization-selected fish. Our findings highlight that brain morphology may play a fundamental role in the evolution of coordinated movement and anti-predator behavior.</p>}},
  author       = {{Corral-Lopez, Alberto and Kotrschal, Alexander and Szorkovszky, Alexander and Garate-Olaizola, Maddi and Herbert-Read, James and van der Bijl, Wouter and Romenskyy, Maksym and Zeng, Hong Li and Buechel, Severine Denise and Fontrodona-Eslava, Ada and Pelckmans, Kristiaan and Mank, Judith E. and Kolm, Niclas}},
  issn         = {{2041-1723}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{09}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Nature Communications}},
  title        = {{Evolution of schooling drives changes in neuroanatomy and motion characteristics across predation contexts in guppies}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41635-6}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41467-023-41635-6}},
  volume       = {{14}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}