Biology subjects

Street, S. E.

Publications and source records attributed to Street, S. E..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2023

Anthropogenic nest material use correlates with human landscape modifications in a global sample of birds

As humans increasingly modify the natural world, many animals have responded by changing their behaviour. Predicting the extent of these responses is a key step in conserving these species. For example, the tendency for some species of birds to incorporate anthropogenic items - particularly plastic material - into their nests is of increasing concern, as in some cases this behaviour has harmful effects on both adults and young. Studies of this phenomenon, however, have to date been limited in geographic and taxonomic scope. To investigate the global correlates of anthropogenic (including plastic) nest material use, we used Bayesian phylogenetic mixed models and a dataset of recorded nest materials in 6,147 species of birds. We find that after controlling for research effort, anthropogenic nest material use is correlated with proximity to human landscape modification, synanthropic (artificial) nesting locations, breeding environment, and the number of materials that has been recorded within the species nest. We also demonstrate that anthropogenic nest material use is unrelated to body mass, range size, or conservation status. These results indicate that anthropogenic materials are more likely to be included in nests when they are more readily available, as well as potentially by species who have more flexibility in nest material choice.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Nest traits for the world's birds

MotivationA well-constructed nest is a key element of successful reproduction in most species of birds, and nest-building strategies vary widely across the class. Macroecological and macroevolutionary studies tend to group nest design into a small number of discrete categories, often based on taxonomic inference. In reality, however, many species display considerable intraspecific variation in their nest-building behaviour, and broad-level categories may include many functionally distinct nest types. To address this confusion in the literature and facilitate future studies of broad-scale variation in avian parental care, we here introduce a detailed, global comparative database of nest building in birds, together with preliminary correlations between these traits and species-level environmental variables. Main types of variable containedWe present species-level data for nest structure, location, height, material composition, sex of builder, building time, and nest dimensions. Spatial location and grainGlobal. Maps are presented at the 1{degrees}x1{degrees} level. Time period and grainIncluded species are generally extant, although we present some data for recently extinct taxa. The data was collected 2017-2021 and was drawn from secondary sources published 1992-2021. Major taxa and level of measurementPartial or complete trait data is presented for 8,601 species of birds, representing 36 of 36 orders and 239 of 243 families. Software formatData have been uploaded as Supplementary Material in .xlsx format and are separated by species and source for all traits (S1) as well as summarised at the species level for structure and location variables (S2).

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2021

Convergent evolution of elaborate nests as structural defences in birds

The hanging-basket nests of some weaverbird and icterid species are among the most complex structures built by any animal, but why they have evolved remains to be explained. The precarious attachments and extended entrance tunnels characteristic of these nests are widely speculated to act as structural defences against invasion by nest predators, particularly tree-climbing snakes, but this hypothesis has yet to be systematically tested. We use phylogenetic comparative methods to investigate the role of nest structure in developmental period length, a proxy for offspring mortality, in the weaverbirds (Ploceidae) and icterids (Icteridae), two bird families in which hanging-basket nests have independently evolved. We find that more elaborate nest designs, particularly those with entrance tunnels, are associated with longer developmental periods in both families. This finding is robust to potentially confounding effects of body mass, phylogenetic relationships and nest location. We provide the first comparative evidence for the role of elaborate nest designs in reducing offspring mortality from nest invasion. More broadly, our findings highlight the importance of offspring mortality risk in shaping diversity in birds nest designs and suggest that complex structures built by animals can buffer against environmental hazards and facilitate the evolution of slower life histories.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2021

The evolutionary origins of primate scleral coloration

Primate gaze following behaviors are of great interest to evolutionary scientists studying social cognition. The ability of an organism to determine a conspecifics likely intentions from their gaze direction may confer an advantage to individuals in a social group. This advantage could be cooperative and/or competitive. Humans are unusual in possessing depigmented sclerae whereas most other extant primates, including the closely related chimpanzee, possess dark scleral pigment. The origins of divergent scleral morphologies are currently unclear, though human white sclerae are often assumed to underlie our hyper-cooperative behaviors. Here, we use phylogenetic generalized least squares (PGLS) analyses with previously generated species-level scores of proactive prosociality, social tolerance (both n=15 primate species), and conspecific lethal aggression (n=108 primate species) to provide the first quantitative, comparative test of three complementary hypotheses. The cooperative eye [M. Tomasello, B. Hare, H. Lehmann, J. Call, J. Hum. Evol. 52, 314-320 (2007)] and self-domestication [B. Hare, Annu. Rev. Psychol. 68, 155-186 (2017)] explanations predict white sclerae to be associated with cooperative, rather than competitive, environments. The gaze camouflage hypothesis [H. Kobayashi, S. Kohshima, J. Hum. Evol. 40, 419-435 (2001)] predicts that dark scleral pigment functions as gaze direction camouflage in competitive social environments. We show that white sclerae in primates are associated with increased cooperative behaviors whereas dark sclerae are associated with reduced cooperative behaviors and increased intra-specific lethal aggression. Our results lend support to all three hypotheses of scleral evolution, suggesting that primate scleral morphologies evolve in relation to variation in social environment.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2019

Ecology, phylogeny, and the evolution of developmental duration in birds

The duration of the developmental period represents a fundamental axis of life history variation in animals, yet broad insights regarding the drivers of this diversity are currently lacking. Here using embryological data combined with information on incubation and fledging periods for 3096 species, we test key mechanistic and adaptive explanations for the evolutionary diversification of developmental durations in birds. First, using data on embryonic development for 20 model species, we show that developmental phases associated primarily with growth are longer and more variable than earlier phases, consistent with a role for allometric constraint in determining the duration of development. Second, using phylogenetic comparative methods, we find that avian developmental durations retain a strong imprint of deep evolutionary history, and that after accounting for these effects, body size differences among species explain less variation (5-22%) in developmental period lengths than previously thought. Finally, by collecting data for a suite of potential explanatory variables, our analyses reveal broad-scale ecological correlates of developmental durations, including variables associated with the relative safety of the developmental environment (e.g. nest height, insularity) and pressures of breeding phenology (e.g. migration). Overall, our results reveal that the combined effects of species body size, ecology, and phylogenetic history can account for 62-93% of the variation in developmental durations across birds, providing broad-scale quantitative insight into the relative importance of mechanistic constraints, adaptive evolution and evolutionary constraints in shaping the diversification of this key life-history trait.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Maternal investment, life histories, and the evolution of brain structure in primates

Life history is a robust correlate of relative brain size: large-brained mammals and birds have slower life histories and longer lifespans than smaller-brained species. One influential adaptive hypothesis to account for this finding is the Cognitive Buffer Hypothesis (CBH). The CBH proposes that large brains permit greater behavioural flexibility and thereby buffer the animal from unpredictable environmental challenges, allowing reduced mortality and increased lifespan. In contrast, the Developmental Costs Hypothesis (DCH) suggests that life-history correlates of brain size reflect the extension of maturational processes needed to accommodate the evolution of large brains. The hypotheses are not mutually exclusive but do make different predictions. Here we test novel predictions of the hypotheses in primates: examining how the volume of brain components with different developmental trajectories correlate with relevant phases of maternal investment, juvenile period and post-maturational lifespan. Consistent with the DCH, structures with different allocations of growth to pre-natal versus post-natal development exhibit predictably divergent correlations with the associated periods of maternal investment and pre-maturational lifespan. Contrary to the CBH, adult lifespan is uncorrelated with either whole brain size or the size of individual brain components once duration of maternal investment is accounted for. Our results substantiate and elaborate on the role of maternal investment and offspring development in brain evolution, suggest that brain components can evolve partly independently through modifications of distinct developmental mechanisms, and imply that postnatal maturational processes involving interaction with the environment may be particularly crucial for the development of cerebellar function. They also provide an explanation for why apes have relatively extended maturation times, which relate to the relative expansion of the cerebellum in this clade.

evolutionary biology↗