Behavioral convergence in humans and animals

Pollution treatment investment is an important part of environment protection in terms of energy saving and emission reduction. A dynamic spatial panel model is constructed in this paper, identifying the spatial effect in pollution treatment investment of regions and discussing the mutual influences among different regions. The result shows a mutual positive influence and behavioral convergence regarding to the pollution treatment investment behavior among regions.

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Oxytocin promotes convergence in personality between members of a monogamous pair

10.1101/2020.11.20.390245 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Patrick K. Monari ◽

Nathaniel S. Rieger ◽

Kathryn Hartfield ◽

Juliette Schefelker ◽

Catherine A. Marler

Keyword(s):

Social Context ◽

Vocal Communication ◽

Behavioral Responses ◽

Ultrasonic Vocalization ◽

Pair Formation ◽

Emergent Property ◽

Pair Bonding ◽

Behavioral Type ◽

Behavioral Convergence ◽

Aggressive Signals

AbstractSocial context is critical in shaping behavioral responses to stimuli and can alter an individual’s behavioral type, which would otherwise be fixed in social isolation. For monogamous biparental vertebrates, social context is critical as interactions are frequent and consistent, involving high interindividual dependence and cooperation that can lead to large fitness impacts. We demonstrate that in the strictly monogamous and highly territorial California mouse, individuals alter approach response to an aggressive conspecific playback stimulus, barks, to become more similar to their partner during early bonding prior to pup birth; an effect distinct from assortative mating. Additionally, sustained vocalizations, an affiliative ultrasonic vocalization when used between pair members, correlate with increased behavioral convergence following pair formation suggesting a role for vocal communication in emergent pair behavior. We identified the neuropeptide oxytocin as sufficient to promote behavioral convergence in approach behavior of paired individuals who differed in their initial behavioral type. Social context, specifically pair-bonding, appears vital for behavioral responses to aggressive signals. While non-bonded animals maintained stable responses, pair-bonding led to an emergent property: convergence in behavioral responses. This convergence can be driven by oxytocin revealing a significant expansion in oxytocin’s effects on behavioral coordination.

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An ancient push-pull pollination mechanism in cycads

Science Advances ◽

10.1126/sciadv.aay6169 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (24) ◽

pp. eaay6169 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Shayla Salzman ◽

Damon Crook ◽

James D. Crall ◽

Robin Hopkins ◽

Naomi E. Pierce

Keyword(s):

New World ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Dioecious Plant ◽

Pollination Services ◽

Pollination Mechanism ◽

Pollination Mechanisms ◽

Plant Group ◽

Pollination Mutualism ◽

Molecular Phylogenetic ◽

Behavioral Convergence

Most cycads engage in brood-site pollination mutualisms, yet the mechanism by which the Cycadales entice pollination services from diverse insect mutualists remains unknown. Here, we characterize a push-pull pollination mechanism between a New World cycad and its weevil pollinators that mirrors the mechanism between a distantly related Old World cycad and its thrips pollinators. The behavioral convergence between weevils and thrips, combined with molecular phylogenetic dating and a meta-analysis of thermogenesis and coordinated patterns of volatile attraction and repulsion suggest that a push-pull pollination mutualism strategy is ancestral in this ancient, dioecious plant group. Hence, it may represent one of the earliest insect/plant pollination mechanisms, arising long before the evolution of visual floral signaling commonly used by flowering plants.

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