笨人们,加油啦!据对澳大利亚园丁鸟的研究发现,与智商较低的竞争者相比,聪明的雄鸟得到更多的艳遇机会。研究人员称,这是首次有研究发现动物的智商与求偶成功率存在关联。
园丁鸟的求偶行为在鸟类中是最复杂、最有活力的。在繁殖季节,雄鸟在森林的地面上搭建一个特殊的平台(或称凉亭)吸引雌鸟,用蓝色羽毛和闪光的玻璃片等不常见的物体做装饰。同时它们还会发出不同的叫声,跳来跳去并且上下摆动尾巴。
以上这些行为有助于雄性园丁鸟吸引异性,不过雌鸟是否中意的是一个脑瓜儿灵的家伙呢?为了找到答案,马里兰大学学院公园(University of Maryland, College Park)的研究人员与30来只在澳大利亚袋鼠溪发现的园丁鸟打上了交道。研究生Jason Keagy利用雄鸟不喜欢在凉亭中出现红色物体(它们比较喜欢蓝色,显然是因为蓝色在自然环境中较少见)进行测试。在一次测试中,他将一个红色的电池端子塑料盖放在凉亭中,并用一个透明的盒子盖住,雄鸟必须掀开盒子才能弄走塑料盖。在另一次测试中,他将红色瓷砖用螺丝固定在平台上,迫使园丁鸟尝试用树叶和树枝盖住它们。研究人员用摄像机自动记录这些过程。
研究人员在《动物行为》(Animal Behaviour)杂志网络版上发文称,解决问题能力最强的雄鸟获得的交配次数最多。例如,在电池盖测试中,一些鸟仅用20秒钟就移走了物体,而另外一些鸟却束手无策。鸟与鸟之间的交配成功率差别很大,个体在繁殖季节的交配次数从0到几十次不等。研究人员称,大体上讲,能力最突出的鸟的交配次数约为能力差的鸟的两倍。
Keagy称,他计划研究园丁鸟著名的模仿其它鸟类叫声的能力是否与解决问题能力和求偶的能力存在关联。他最终的目标是做出一个园丁鸟总体认知能力测量表(即普通智商量表)。
美国北卡罗来纳州达勒姆国家进化综合中心的行为生态学家Carlos Botero称,据他所知,这是第一次实验证明解决问题能力与成功繁殖具有关联性。他表示,“这种观察很不错”,尽管“到目前为止,我们还不知道为何会存在这种关联”,也就是说,(我们不知道)雌鸟在选择配偶时,究竟是依据对方的智商还是被与智力无关的性感舞姿所吸引。(生物谷Bioon.com)
生物谷推荐原始出处:
Animal Behaviour doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.07.011
Male satin bowerbird problem-solving ability predicts mating success
Jason Keagya, , , Jean-Fran?ois Savardb, 1 and Gerald Borgiaa, b, 1
aProgram in Behavior, Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, University of Maryland, College Park
bDepartment of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park
Mate choice and mate attraction are important behaviours influencing the evolution of elaborate traits. It is possible that male general cognitive performance plays an important role in sexual attractiveness, but there has been no direct test of this hypothesis. Satin bowerbirds, Ptilonorhynchus violaceus, are an excellent species for testing this hypothesis because their complex male courtship, including use of decorations of certain colours, suggests a selective advantage to individuals with superior cognitive abilities. We used males' strong aversion to red objects on their bowers to design two unique problem-solving tests. We presented males with these problems to test the hypothesis that males that are better problem-solvers have higher mating success. We confirmed this prediction and demonstrate that neither age nor motivational level significantly influenced problem-solving scores. Our findings suggest that general cognitive performance is related to male mating success. This is the first evidence that individuals with better problem-solving abilities are more sexually attractive.