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Alan C. Kamil Professor School of Biological Sciences University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
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Alan C. Kamil Professor School of Biological Sciences University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
The Evolution of Intelligence in Animals
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28 January Guest Lecture for Spring 2000 Graduate Seminar: Evolution & Learning |
ABSTRACT:
When we think of competition for resources among animals we tend to think of "nature red in tooth and claw", of the physical characteristics that contribute to biological success. But in many cases, success goes to the more knowledgeable competitor, not the larger or stronger. This has crucial implications for studies of the cognitive abilities of animals. I will discuss these implications with examples drawn from research in my laboratory on spatial memory, the use of geometry during orientation, and transitive inference. I will conclude by sketching an outline of a broad approach to the evolution of animal intelligence.
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| SEMINAR TALK: Predator Psychology and the Evolution of Prey: Virtual Ecology |
SEMINAR TALK ABSTRACT:
The relationship between the cognitive abilities of predators and the appearance of their prey poses many important evolutionary questions. Classic examples include crypsis, polymorphism, warning coloration, and Batesian mimicry. However, it has proven exceptionally difficult to test the effects of predator psychology on prey appearance, and much of the work in this area is based on correlational data or indirect experiments. This is largely because this interaction involves a dynamic interplay between behavior and environment that is difficult to reconstruct. To circumvent this constraint, Alan Bond and I have developed an experimental method that allows realistic, replicable simulation of the original processes involved in the evolution of color patterns in prey organisms. This "virtual ecology" technique provides an innovative approach to the experimental study of evolutionary dynamics and a quantum improvement in the ability to test evolutionary hypotheses. In this talk I will describe the development of this technique and how we are using it to study the evolutionary effects of cognition.
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RELATED READING:
Balda, R.P., A.C. Kamil, & P.A. Bednekoff. 1997. Predicting cognitive capacitiesfrom natural histories: Examples from four Corvid species. Current Ornithology 13:33-66.Kamil, A.C., & J.E. Jones. 1997. Clark's nutcrackers learn geometric relationships among landmarks. Nature 390:276-279. Olson, D.J., A.C. Kamil, R.P. Balda, & P.J. Nims. 1995. Performance of four seed-caching Corvid species in operant tests of nonspatial and spatial memory. Journal of Comparative Psychology 109:173-181. Bond, A.B., & A.C. Kamil. 1998. Apostatic selection by blue jays produces balanced polymorphism in virtual prey. Nature 395: 594-596. Pietrewicz, A.T., & A.C. Kamil. 1979. Search image formation in the blue jay(Cyanocitta cristata). Science 204:1332-1333. ONLINE RESOURCES: Dr. Kamil's Departmental Page Dr. Kamil's Nebraska Behavioral Biology Group Page Clark's Nutcrackers: Don't Call Them 'Bird-Brained' (UNL Science News,1997) Of Pixels and Predators (UNL Science News, 1998) |
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| OTHER SPRING 2000 SPEAKERS: Colin Allen . Tim Tully . Michael Fanselow . Leda Cosmides |
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