Low survival of strongly footed pheasants may explain constraints on lateralization
Whiteside, MA; Bess, MM; Frasnelli, E; et al.Beardsworth, CE; Langley, EJG; van Horik, JO; Madden, JR
Date: 13 September 2018
Journal
Scientific Reports
Publisher
Springer Nature
Publisher DOI
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Abstract
Brain lateralization is considered adaptive because it leads to behavioral biases and specializations that bring fitness benefits. Across species, strongly lateralized individuals perform better in specific behaviors likely to improve survival. What constrains continued exaggerated lateralization? We measured survival of pheasants, ...
Brain lateralization is considered adaptive because it leads to behavioral biases and specializations that bring fitness benefits. Across species, strongly lateralized individuals perform better in specific behaviors likely to improve survival. What constrains continued exaggerated lateralization? We measured survival of pheasants, finding that individuals with stronger bias in their footedness had shorter life expectancies compared to individuals with weak biases. Consequently, weak, or no footedness provided the highest fitness benefits. If, as suggested, footedness is indicative of more general brain lateralization, this could explain why continued brain lateralization is constrained even though it may improve performance in specific behaviors.
Psychology - old structure
Collections of Former Colleges
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