Digest: environmental variability as a constraint on cognitive evolution in lizards. (16th December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ashton, Benjamin J; Baeckens, Simon
• Is Part Of: Evolution. Volume 77:Number 2(2023)
• Page Start: 625
• Page End: 626
• Publication Date: 2022-12-16
• Subjects: cognition -- cognitive buffer hypothesis -- comparative cognition -- expensive brain hypothesis -- lacertidae -- learning; Evolution -- Periodicals; Heredity -- Periodicals; Évolution (Biologie) -- Périodiques; Hérédité -- Périodiques; 338.47004094
• DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpac059
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0014-3820

Abstract

Abstract: How does ecology influence cognitive evolution in lizards? Taking a comparative approach, De Meester et al. (2022) discovered that species living in temporally fluctuating environments tend to perform relatively poorly on cognitive tasks associated with behavioral flexibility compared to species living in more climatically stable environments. The negative association between environmental variability and cognitive performance suggests that stochastic environments can hamper, rather than stimulate, the evolution of cognitive ability.