Expected utility violations evolve under status-based selection mechanisms

The expected utility theory of decision making under uncertainty, a cornerstone of modern economics, assumes that humans linearly weight “utilities” for different possible outcomes by the probabilities with which these outcomes occur. Despite the theory's intuitive appeal, both from normative and from evolutionary perspectives, many experiments demonstrate systematic, though poorly understood, patterns of deviation from EU predictions. This paper offers a novel theoretical account of such patterns of deviation by demonstrating that EU violations can emerge from evolutionary selection when individual “status” affects inclusive fitness. In humans, battles for resources and social standing involve high-stakes decision making, and assortative mating ensures that status matters for fitness outcomes. The paper therefore proposes grounding the study of decision making under uncertainty in an evolutionary game-theoretic framework.     

Population genetic consequences of the reproductive system in the liverwort <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mannia fragrans</Emphasis>

Ecological factors affecting reproduction and dispersal are particularly important in determining genetic structure of plant populations. Polyoicous reproductive system is not rare in bryophytes; however, to date, nothing is known about its functioning and possible population genetic effects. Using the liverwort Mannia fragrans as a model species, the main aims of this study were to separate the relative importance of the components of the polyoicous reproductive system and to assess its consequences on the genetic structure of populations. High sex expression rates increasing with patch size and strongly female-biased sex ratios were detected. Additional input into clonal growth after production of sex organs was found in males compared to females. Similar clonal traits of the rare bisexual and asexual plants and preference toward newly colonized patches suggest that selection prefers colonizers that first develop organs of both sexes, hence ensuring sexual reproduction when no partner is present. Despite frequent spore production, ISSR markers revealed low genetic diversity, probably resulting from the effective clonal propagation of the species and frequent crossing between genetically identical plants. The presence of numerous rare alleles and unique recombinant haplotypes indicates occasional recombination and mutation. Effective spreading of new haplotypes is probably hampered however by large spore size. Since populations are small and isolated, such haplotypes are probably continuously eliminated by genetic drift. These results suggest that although both sexual and asexual reproductions seem to be effective, asexual components of the reproductive system play a greater role in shaping the genetic composition of the populations.     

Sex allocation and dispersal in a heterogeneous two-patch environment

We investigate the evolution of sex allocation and dispersal in a two-habitat environment using a game theoretic analysis. One habitat is of better quality than the other and increased habitat quality influences the competitive ability of offspring in a sex-specific manner. Unlike previous work, we allow incomplete mixing of the population during mating. We discuss three special cases involving the evolution of sex allocation under fixed levels of dispersal between habitats. In these special cases, stable sex-allocation behaviors can be both biased and unbiased. When sex-allocation behavior and dispersal rates co-evolve we identify two basic outcomes. First-when sex-specific differences in the consequences of spatial heterogeneity are large-we predict the evolution of biased sex-allocation behavior in both habitats, with dispersal by males in one direction and dispersal by females in the other direction. Second-when sex-specific differences are small-unbiased sex-allocation is predicted with no dispersal between habitats.     

Determinants of time allocation across the lifespan

This paper lays the groundwork for a theory of time allocation across the life course, based on the idea that strength and skill vary as a function of age, and that return rates for different activities vary as a function of the combination of strength and skills involved in performing those tasks. We apply the model to traditional human subsistence patterns. The model predicts that young children engage most heavily in low-strength/low-skill activities, middle-aged adults in high-strength/high-skill activities, and older adults in low-strength/high-skill activities. Tests among Machiguenga and Piro forager-horticulturalists of southeastern Peru show that males and females focus on low-strength/low-skill tasks early in life (domestic tasks and several forms of fishing), switch to higher-strength/higher-skill activities in their twenties and thirties (hunting, fishing, and gardening for males; fishing and gardening for females), and shift focus to high-skill activities late in life (manufacture/repair, food processing). Michael Gurven is an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of California-Santa Barbara. He received his Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico in 2000. He has conducted fieldwork in Paraguay and Bolivia with Ache and Tsimane forager-horticulturalists. His research interests include intragroup cooperation and problems of collective action, and the application of life history theory to explaining human longevity, cognitive development, delayed maturation, and sociality. Since 2002, Gurven and Kaplan have co-directed the Tsimane Health and Life History Initiative, a five-year project to develop theory and test implications of different models of human life history evolution. Hillard Kaplan is a professor of anthropology at University of New Mexico. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Utah in 1983. He has conducted fieldwork in Paraguay, Brazil, Botswana, and Bolivia. His research interests include evolutionary perspectives on life course development and senescence, and brain evolution. He has launched theoretical and empirical investigations into each of these areas, uniting evolutionary and economic approaches. He has applied human capital theory toward explaining human life history evolution, and the proximate physiological and psychological mechanisms governing fertility and parental investment in both traditional, high-fertility, subsistence economies and modern, low-fertility, industrial societies.     

Multilocus autosomal sex determination

The two basic one locus sex determination models, diploid individual sex determination and parental sex determination, are generalized to the multilocus framework. As in the single locus case, it is established that there are two classes of polymorphic equilibria, equilibria with even sex ratio and equilibria with equal allele frequencies in the two sexes. The condition for external stability of this second class equilibria to invasion by a new mutant allele is that a new appropriately averaged sex ratio near the equilibrium be moved closer to the even sex ratio. However, stable polymorphisms with noneven sex ratio are not those that have a sex ratio as close as possible to 1/2, in contrast to the single locus case.Research supported in part by NIH grants GM 28016 and GM 10452 and a grant from the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation     

A model for the evolutionary maintenance of monogyny in spiders

Sexual selection theory predicts that males should attempt to mate with several females, unless the benefits of male promiscuity are trumped by alternative benefits associated with male monogamy (monogyny). Here we use a game theory model to address the adaptive value of a monogynous strategy, which has the sole benefit of enhancing a male's paternity share in the context of competition with other males. We consider two ways in which monogynists might enhance their paternity: by outcompeting rival ejaculates in sperm competition, and by reducing the probability that a female remates with rival males. The model is based on the biology of some particularly well-studied spider species, in which males are morphologically restricted to mate with either one or at most two females in their lifetime. Our results suggest that, regardless of the mechanism of paternity enhancement involved, a male-biased sex ratio is generally required for the evolution and maintenance of monogyny. Moreover, we show that there is a large region of parameter space where monogyny and bigyny can coexist as alternative mating strategies under negative frequency dependent selection. There is also a narrow range of conditions where either monogyny or bigyny can be evolutionarily stable. Our results are in qualitative agreement with empirical findings in spiders.     

Solution of functional difference equations from behavioral theory

Behavioral models based on Markovian decision processes lead to functional difference equations for quantities such as the mean lifetime of the forager and the probability of reproductive success of the forager. In this paper, asymptotic and iterative methods are developed for the solution of such equations. The asymptotic methods are compared with numerical simulations. The iterative methods can be proved by a simple application of contraction mapping theorems.     

On the optimal compromise for a dispersing parasitoid

Vector optimization concepts are used to demonstrate that key characteristics of searching and oviposition by the parasitoid Anagrus delicatus (Mymaridae, Hymenoptera) are consistent with the idea that it forages to achieve an optimal compromise, in an uncertain environment, between maximizing ovipositions at suitable sites and dispersing its eggs as widely as possible.     

Hypothetical role of men's sexual activity in the regulation of human sex ratio: Analysis of the sex ratio of post-war abandoned children

The regulation of the sex ratio at birth in human species remains poorly understood. After wars, a shift of the sex ratio in favor of men is always observed. Among the different hypothesis to explain this observation, one is to consider that Y-bearing spermatozoids have a weight advantage following insemination and that X-bearing spermatozoids, heavier, are more time-resistant. Following these observations, frequent sex may favor the birth of boys, whether infrequent sex may favor the birth of girls.Sustaining this sperm weight hypothesis, I report here that in France, after the two world wars, there has been an increase of abandoned illegitimate children with a significant shift of the sex ratio in favor of men. These observations may reflect an increase in illegitimate birth and indirectly an increase of men paternity.     

宏观动物学研究现状和未来十五年发展趋势

本文讨论了动物系统学、动物行为学、保护生物这在国内外的研究现状和未来十五年的发展趋势,对我国宏观动物学的发展对策提出了一些建议。     

Dinosaur nest ecology and predation during the Late Cretaceous: was there a relationship between upper Cretaceous extinction and nesting behavior?

Many hypotheses have been advanced to explain the K/Pg extinctions, yet none closely examines the likely interactions between dinosaurs and contemporary taxa within their communities. The diversity of predators of dinosaur nests and hatchlings increased toward the end of the Cretaceous. In addition to large snakes having been found fossilized in the act of foraging in dinosaur nests, mammals and birds had also evolved new forms potentially capable of exploiting this resource. The constraints on mammal size and niche diversity lessened prior to the K/Pg boundary. Using comparisons of predator/prey size ratios between extant species and known fossils, we demonstrate that mammalian and avian clades had members large enough to prey on dinosaur eggs and hatchlings. We argue that the reproductive strategy of obligatory nest defense was likely practiced by most non-avian dinosaur species. This strategy was highly susceptible to the increasing numbers of mammalian, avian, and reptilian predators, which rendered this strategy obsolete. Continued selection against large oviparous species in the Cenozoic has limited this life-history strategy to habitats that provide concealment – primarily grasslands, a habitat that did not exist until the Miocene. We urge the evaluation of multiple, perhaps synergistic, hypotheses when considering extinction events of this magnitude.     

性别与年龄对圈养大熊猫行为的影响

对 2 4只圈养大熊猫行为进行了定量观察 ,发现雄性活动、蹭阴标记和探究行为频次显著高于雌性 ,其它行为差异不够显著。随年龄的增长 ,个体探究和游戏行为频次显著减少 ;雄性个体用于蹭阴标记和嗅闻的时间显著多于雌性 ,而用于休息行为的时间则正相反。随年龄的增长 ,个体用于游戏的时间显著减少 ,休息的时间显著增加 ;圈养雄性个体白天处于活跃状态的时间百分比 (86 5 9± 5 4 0 ,n =11)显著多于雌性 (6 6 77±5 75 % ,n =13,P =0 0 5 0 )。结果表明 :1)大熊猫个体行为的性别差异不仅存在于野生个体 ,而且存在于圈养个体 ;2 )幼年个体表现较多的游戏和探究行为可能与行为学习和模仿有关 ,并可能对个体行为发育有重要影响。非发情期雄性个体表现较多的蹭阴标记和嗅闻行为可能与护卫领地和维持社群关系有关。     

Are mistakes inevitable? Sex allocation specialization by workers can reduce the genetic information needed to assess queen mating frequency

Insect workers can increase their inclusive fitness by biasing colony sex allocation towards males when their mother queen is mated to multiple males and females when she is singly mated. Workers need heritable variation in odour diversity to assess queen mating frequency. Here we present a simple one-locus two-allele model, which shows that the sex ratio specialization itself will often select against rare alleles that would provide additional information for the assessment of queen mating frequency. However, under certain rather restricted conditions, such as when sex ratios are highly female biased, and when worker reproduction is rare, sex ratio specialization can select for rare alleles. This suggests that sex allocation biasing by workers will usually reduce the very information that workers need to assess queen mating frequency. Our model is an example where an explicit treatment of underlying genetics and mechanisms of behaviour, such as information use, is necessary to fully understand the evolution of an adaptive behavioural strategy.     

Parasitoid Encapsulation as a Defense Mechanism in the Coccoidea (Homoptera) and Its Importance in Biological Control

Encapsulation is a common defense mechanism exerted by a host insect in response to invasion by a metazoan parasitoid or other foreign organisms. In the process of encapsulation, the host forms a capsule around the parasitoid egg or larva, which is usually composed of host blood cells and the pigment melanin. The capsule may kill the parasitoid and thus prevent successful parasitism. Encapsulation may adversely affect the degree of biological control effected by parasitoids as it may either prevent the establishment of exotic parasitoids in new regions or reduce parasitoid efficacy. A high incidence of encapsulation may also cause difficulties in mass rearing of parasitoids. In the Coccoidea (Homoptera), parasitoid encapsulation has so far been recorded in three families: Coccidae (soft scale insects), Diaspididae (armored scale insects), and Pseudococcidae (mealybugs). Important factors that affect the frequency of parasitoid encapsulation in the Coccoidea include: Host and parasitoid species, the host's physiological age and physiological condition, the host origin (or strain), superparasitism, the rearing and/or ambient temperature, and the host plant. The effects of these factors on the incidence of parasitoid encapsulation in the Coccidae, Diaspididae, and Pseudococcidae are described.     

温度对江黄颡鱼性分化的影响

通过组织学方法观察江黄颡鱼原始生殖细胞(PGCs)迁移、生殖嵴生成和性腺分化,并且探讨在不同温度培育下性腺分化的差异。实验结果显示:1日龄仔鱼PGCs位于鱼体中肠背方的脏壁中胚层中;5日龄时,PGCs迁移到背方的腹膜上皮;8日龄时,生殖嵴形成;14日龄时,原始性腺形成;23日龄时,性腺开始分化。从孵化后的第10天开始,分别用(20±0.5)、(24±1.0自然水温、对照组)、(30±0.5)和(34±0.5)℃4种水温培育仔鱼达25天。实验结束后统计结果显示:对照组和(20±0.5)℃组的雌、雄性比接近1∶1(分别为1∶1.09和1.22∶1);(30±0.5)℃组的为1∶4.89,雄性率达(83.3±0.7)%;(34±0.5)℃组的为2.85∶1,雄性率仅为(26.4±0.4)%。提示(30±0.5)℃可使幼鱼性腺发育趋向雄性,(34±0.5)℃则使幼鱼性腺发育趋向雌性。实验结果表明,江黄颡鱼的性分化是属于温度依赖型性别决定。     

云南省人口的性比

对云南省1990年人口普查时的性比(男:女100)进行了分析研究,发现:(1)云南省总人口的性比(105.67)比1982年人口普查时提高了2.89,比全国的(106.60)仅低0.93,开始高出“性比较为严衡状态”(1003.5:1000),为1005.3:1000,且后8年年均递升速度为1982年的18年的2.19倍。(2)景颇族的性比特别低(95.77),而汉族0—14岁儿童性比则为107.27。(3)云南“大跃进”与“国民经济暂时旧难”时期出生的人,1982年”三普”时(20—24岁)性比特别低(101.11),可1990年“四普”时(28—32岁)却达107.84。(4)城镇人口的性比(113.01),比农村入门的性比(105.67)高得多,但差异在减小,(5)全省各地人口性比不同。     

PCR sexing and developmental rate differences in preimplantation mouse embryos fertilized and cultured in vitro

A two-step polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was used to determine the sex of mouse preimplantation embryos obtained from oocytes fertilized and cultured in vitro, to investigate the differences in the developmental rates of mouse embryos according to the sex. All the in vitro developed embryos could be analyzed by this method. When the embryos were classified according to the time of morula to blastocyst transition as fast-intermediate- and slow-growing embryos, a significantly high percentage (78.0%) of the fast-developing embryos were identified as males; while a significantly lower percentage (42.5%) of slow-developing embryos were identified as males. The intermediate-developing embryos presented a sex ratio not significantly different from the total (57.5%). The deviation of sex ratio was further confirmed by embryo transfer experiment, where fast- and slow-developing embryos gave 76.2% and 25.7% male fetuses, respectively. We concluded that male mouse embryos fertilized and cultured in vitro develop faster than female embryos. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

云南玉溪地区人口的性比

对云南玉溪地区1982年人口普查时的性比(男:女100)进行了分析,发现:(1)玉溪地区总人口的性比(99.22)比全国的(106.3)低,0—4岁与5—9岁儿童的性比(103.45与102.9)也比全国的(107.15与106.24)低。(2)傣族的性比特别低,其0—14岁儿童的性比为98.54;回族的性比也较低,其0—14岁儿童的性比为101.22;汉族0—14岁儿童性比则为104.16。(3)“大跃进”与“国民经济暂时困难”时期出生的人(20—24岁)性比特别低,仅为92.30,而且按民族,县,及城、乡分别统计时均有同样趋势。这一情况在全国人口性比统计中也得到证实。作者估计,这可能是当时自然流产增多造成的。(4)玉溪地区解放以来总人口性比不断增高,1953年为88.70,1964年为94.94,1982年则为99.22。(5)城镇人口的性比(156.48)比农村的(95.86)高得多,这与全国各地区相同。     

On compromise in foraging and an experiment by Krebs et al. (1977)

A vectorized version of the method of stochastic dynamic programming is used to demonstrate that behaviour observed in Parus major by Krebs et al. (1977) is more consistent with the hypothesis that animals compromise between time and energy in foraging than with the hypothesis that they maximize their rate of energy gain.