Behavioral EcologyPub Date : 2026-04-22eCollection Date: 2026-05-01DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arag036
Catarina Vila-Pouca, Hannah De Waele, Lisa Nijhuis, Regina Vega-Trejo, Marc Naguib, Alexander Kotrschal
{"title":"Predation selection impacts social information use in guppies (<i>Poecilia reticulata</i>).","authors":"Catarina Vila-Pouca, Hannah De Waele, Lisa Nijhuis, Regina Vega-Trejo, Marc Naguib, Alexander Kotrschal","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arag036","DOIUrl":"10.1093/beheco/arag036","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Social information use helps animals to rapidly acquire biologically relevant information, but it can increase competition or be erroneous. The \"costly information' hypothesis proposes that animals especially rely on social information in high-risk contexts such as under predation pressure. However, whether predation drives the evolution of social learning remains enigmatic. Here we use artificial selection lines of Trinidadian guppies (<i>Poecilia reticulata</i>) that had been selected for predation survival for 3 generations (and control lines that were visually and olfactory exposed to predation but in a secured enclosure) to test how predation selects for social information use. In our study, social information use was assessed in a low-risk foraging context, which allows us to isolate evolved differences from acute responses under high-risk. Individuals observed a demonstrator on a screen solving a color association task, correctly or incorrectly, before attempting the task themselves. We show that individuals from both treatments learned the task, but only animals from the control lines relied on the use of social information during the process, while animals from the predation lines prioritized private information. Our results challenge the assumptions that social information use has adaptive benefits under increased predation risk. On the contrary, we propose that under high-predation certain social learning mechanisms may incur excessive costs due to, for instance, extensive acquisition time. We suggest that in a high-predation environment, disregarding social information and relying on personal information can be an adaptive strategy.</p>","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"37 3","pages":"arag036"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13102101/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147760654","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Behavioral EcologyPub Date : 2026-04-20eCollection Date: 2026-07-01DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arag039
George R A Hancock, Heta Lehtonen, Theo Brown, Amine Ejjite, Ossi Nokelainen, Johanna Mappes, Sandra Winters
{"title":"Biologically inspired warning patterns deter a passerine, <i>Parus major</i>, from digital turbine blades.","authors":"George R A Hancock, Heta Lehtonen, Theo Brown, Amine Ejjite, Ossi Nokelainen, Johanna Mappes, Sandra Winters","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arag039","DOIUrl":"10.1093/beheco/arag039","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Wind power has been at the forefront of renewable energy investment, but bird fatalities from turbine collisions remain a key ecological and social concern. Increasingly, how principles from sensory ecology might reduce collisions by enhancing the detectability or aversiveness of turbine blades have been investigated. In nature, aposematic species use high-contrast colors and striped patterns to warn predators of their unprofitability. These signal elements are effective due to their conspicuousness across variable natural scenes, memorability, generalisability from mimicry, and exploitation of innate color aversions. This begs the question: might employing biologically inspired turbine warning colors help birds to avoid turbine blades? Here, we used a screen-based \"game\" experimental setup to test the behavioral responses of wild-caught great tits (<i>Parus major</i>) to 3 existing wind turbine patterns (white, red-striped, and single black blade) as well as a novel biologically inspired aposematic pattern. Tits were less likely to approach and, when they did approach, took significantly longer to approach patterned than uniform white blades. This effect was strongest for our bio-inspired pattern. Our work supports the need for further investigation into the use of warning patterns to reduce bird collisions with wind turbines.</p>","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"37 4","pages":"arag039"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13178681/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147962014","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Behavioral EcologyPub Date : 2026-04-20eCollection Date: 2026-07-01DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arag041
Josie McPherson, Julien G A Martin, Lauriane Bégué, Noëlle Tschirren, Patrick Walsh, Eva Ringler
{"title":"Predation risk shapes among- and within-individual variation in behavior in poison frog tadpoles.","authors":"Josie McPherson, Julien G A Martin, Lauriane Bégué, Noëlle Tschirren, Patrick Walsh, Eva Ringler","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arag041","DOIUrl":"10.1093/beheco/arag041","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Environmental conditions during early development can considerably shape individual behavior, and laboratory studies suggest that predator presence is an important factor influencing both within- and among-individual behavioral variation. To test this under natural conditions, we studied neotropical poison frog (<i>Allobates femoralis</i>) tadpoles from pools with and without dragonfly larvae (tadpole predators) under naturally varying environmental conditions. We measured 2 behavioral traits, distance moved in a novel environment and time to emerge from a shelter, across 4 repeated trials in predator-exposed (<i>n</i> = 48) and predator-naïve (<i>n</i> = 169) tadpoles. Predator-exposed tadpoles moved less, emerged later in their first trial and were more unpredictable in emergence time than predator-naïve individuals. Moreover, among-individual variation in both behaviors was higher in predator-exposed tadpoles, although behavioral repeatability did not differ significantly between predator-exposed and predator-naïve groups. Predator-naïve individuals exhibited behavioral and predictability syndromes, individuals that moved more also emerged sooner, and individuals more predictable in 1 behavior were more predictable in the other. Despite only being significant in predator-naïve individuals, these correlations did not differ between predator-exposed and predator-naïve groups. A personality-plasticity association occurred only in predator-exposed tadpoles: individuals that initially moved less showed less behavioral change across trials. These findings demonstrate that even in naturally variable environments, predation risk shapes behavioral variation at multiple levels, thereby contributing to the emergence and maintenance of \"animal personality\".</p>","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"37 4","pages":"arag041"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13190278/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148013320","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Behavioral EcologyPub Date : 2026-04-13eCollection Date: 2026-05-01DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arag037
Iago Ferreiro-Arias, Iris Martínez, Emilio José García, Vicente Palacios, Víctor Sazatornil, Alejandro Rodríguez, José Vicente López-Bao, Luis Llaneza
{"title":"Human disturbance, preys and refuge cover shape top predator movements in anthropogenic landscapes.","authors":"Iago Ferreiro-Arias, Iris Martínez, Emilio José García, Vicente Palacios, Víctor Sazatornil, Alejandro Rodríguez, José Vicente López-Bao, Luis Llaneza","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arag037","DOIUrl":"10.1093/beheco/arag037","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Studies on wolf movement have focused on the effects of different isolated drivers, such as intrinsic traits or prey abundance, in wild settings. Consequently, a holistic understanding of how several factors jointly shape daily movement patterns, particularly in heavily anthropized landscapes, remains lacking. To examine the joint effect of intrinsic factors, food availability, human disturbance and refuge cover, we equipped 26 individuals with GPS-GSM collars in NW Iberia, one of the most anthropized areas of their range. We obtained 54,721 locations and 4,560 daily trajectories from positions taken every 2 h. We calculated 3 daily movement metrics: daily distance, net displacement, and straightness index. Using Bayesian regression models and variance partitioning, we assessed the relative contribution of intrinsic traits and external factors related to food availability, anthropogenic disturbance and refuge cover on wolf movement. Wolves traveled a mean daily distance of 9 km, with a mean net displacement of 3.8 km. Anthropogenic disturbance, particularly the interaction between human population and settlement density, was the main driver of movement reduction. Paved road density had a negative effect on movement, but this was mitigated by the extent and cohesion of refuge cover. Wolves feeding on livestock traveled shorter daily distances and net displacements compared with those feeding on wild ungulates. Our findings highlight the importance of the interplay between trophic resources, anthropogenic disturbance, and refuge availability in shaping daily wolf movements. In human-dominated landscapes, wolves shorten their movements to minimize exposure and mortality risk where close food and refuge are available.</p>","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"37 3","pages":"arag037"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13121897/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147760667","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Behavioral EcologyPub Date : 2026-04-09eCollection Date: 2026-05-01DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arag032
Marie Robert, Annika Radu, Christine L Dudgeon, Dominique A Potvin
{"title":"Island-mainland song divergence is decoupled from genetic and geographic distance in silvereyes.","authors":"Marie Robert, Annika Radu, Christine L Dudgeon, Dominique A Potvin","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arag032","DOIUrl":"10.1093/beheco/arag032","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Population connectivity shapes both genetic and cultural variation, including in learned vocal behaviors such as birdsong. Silvereyes (Zosterops lateralis) are well-known island colonizers, providing a useful model for examining how cultural evolution unfolds across populations with differing geographic isolation. We compared song dialects from 4 populations in South East Queensland: 2 mainland (Z. l. cornwalli) and 2 island populations (Z. l. chlorocephalus), for which patterns of genetic connectivity had previously been described. From field recordings, we constructed syllable repertoires and measured spectral features to quantify dialect structure and acoustic divergence. We found no correlation between acoustic distance and either genetic or geographic distance among populations, indicating that dialect divergence is not strongly constrained by neutral genetic structure or spatial separation at this scale. Island populations showed greater similarity to one another, as well as slightly higher syllable diversity, than mainland populations. These patterns are consistent with cultural divergence shaped by local, social, or ecological conditions rather than by geographic or genetic distance. Our findings refine current understanding of island dialect evolution in silvereyes by showing that cultural differentiation can occur despite limited genetic divergence and relatively small geographic distances. Because song is socially transmitted, cultural traits may respond rapidly to environmental change, suggesting that conservation strategies for island passerines may benefit from integrating the cultural dimensions of avian behavior.</p>","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"37 3","pages":"arag032"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13501412/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148811941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Behavioral EcologyPub Date : 2026-04-06eCollection Date: 2026-07-01DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arag034
Jane Faull, Laura L Griffin, Cong Yu, Bawan Amin, Adam F Smith, Amy Haigh, Anna David, Sarah Redmond, Niamh Collins, Simone Ciuti
{"title":"Approaching humans for food is a behavior transmitted from mothers to offspring in a large herbivore.","authors":"Jane Faull, Laura L Griffin, Cong Yu, Bawan Amin, Adam F Smith, Amy Haigh, Anna David, Sarah Redmond, Niamh Collins, Simone Ciuti","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arag034","DOIUrl":"10.1093/beheco/arag034","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Human-wildlife interactions, particularly artificial feeding, have led to significant behavioral changes in wildlife. Begging for food is a behavior commonly seen in species like gulls, seals and foxes across social media. There are concerns about whether this behavior is passed from parent to offspring, either through genetic inheritance or cultural transmission. In our model peri-urban deer population in Dublin, Ireland, we observed a subset of individuals consistently begging for food. We conducted a 6-year longitudinal study involving 255 fawns from 146 mothers to investigate the transmission of begging behavior. We found that offspring of consistently begging mothers were more likely to beg for food than those whose mothers avoided humans. Neonatal personality also played a role in shaping offspring behavior: bolder (more risk taking) fawns were more likely to beg. Our novel results provide empirical evidence of intergenerational transmission of begging behavior. Combined with prior findings that begging mothers have heavier fawns at birth that grow faster, and have higher first-year survival rates, our study suggests this behavioral trait may become more prevalent over generations, aligning with increasing reports of human-wildlife feeding interactions in urban areas.</p>","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"37 4","pages":"arag034"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13231267/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148161639","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Behavioral EcologyPub Date : 2026-04-03eCollection Date: 2026-05-01DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arag031
Nikola Falk, Stuart K Watson, Vanessa Rüegg, Marta B Manser
{"title":"Exploring mechanisms underlying heterospecific alarm call responses in meerkats and yellow mongooses.","authors":"Nikola Falk, Stuart K Watson, Vanessa Rüegg, Marta B Manser","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arag031","DOIUrl":"10.1093/beheco/arag031","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>\"Eavesdropping\" on heterospecific alarm calls is common, but we are only beginning to understand the cognitive mechanisms involved. A key question is whether eavesdropping results from innate perceptual sensitivities to acoustic features that are common to the calls of diverse species, or if it is a learned behavior. Here, we used playback experiments to investigate whether wild and captive meerkats (<i>Suricata suricatta</i>), and wild yellow mongooses (<i>Cynictis penicillata</i>) respond in a functionally appropriate way, ie successfully \"eavesdrop\", to heterospecific alarm calls. We tested calls from both sympatric and allopatric species to reveal whether responses were a result of learned associations between call types and their referents, or of innate perceptual sensitivities to their acoustic features. By playing back calls which signal either \"aerial\" or \"general\" predation threats, we also explored whether subjects could differentiate between the underlying function of heterospecific alarm calls. Our results show that wild meerkats and wild yellow mongooses, but not captive meerkats, were more likely to respond to the alarm calls of sympatric species. Additionally, wild, but not captive, meerkats were also more likely to flee as a response to aerial as opposed to general alarm calls. This indicates that learning likely affects the response of mongooses to heterospecific alarm calls. However, other factors are also likely to have an impact on how individuals in different populations of the same species respond to heterospecific alarm calls, such as innate perceptual sensitivities, external threats, the need to respond, and the soundscape a species is exposed to.</p>","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"37 3","pages":"arag031"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13107173/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147760492","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Behavioral EcologyPub Date : 2026-03-16eCollection Date: 2026-05-01DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arag028
David A Gray
{"title":"Intraspecific variation in animal mating signals: a test of Mayr's conjecture.","authors":"David A Gray","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arag028","DOIUrl":"10.1093/beheco/arag028","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mayr proposed that the stringency of stabilizing selection on animal mating signals is context-dependent: in species lacking sympatric congeners, relaxed selection pressure would afford greater intraspecific variability. This idea has rarely (if ever) been directly tested. Here, I evaluate Mayr's conjecture using a comprehensive dataset on acoustic mating signals from 39 taxa (33 named species and 6 unnamed lineages) of North American <i>Gryllus</i> field crickets. In doing so, I distinguish between 2 distinct functions of mating signal components: recognition versus persuasion. Contrary to Mayr's prediction, intraspecific variation in recognition mating signals did not increase in species with fewer or no sympatric congeners. Stabilizing selection on recognition traits appears to be maintained across both isolated and sympatric populations, possibly due to selection for efficient intraspecific communication-aligning with some aspects of Paterson's \"Specific Mate Recognition System\" model. Persuasion traits, on the other hand, show elevated levels of variation consistent with directional sexual selection promoting condition dependence. Together these results reveal the ubiquity of stabilizing selection on recognition traits when at evolutionary equilibrium, and the critical importance of distinguishing between recognition and persuasion functions of animal mating signals.</p>","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"37 3","pages":"arag028"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13017002/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147571947","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Behavioral EcologyPub Date : 2026-03-11eCollection Date: 2026-05-01DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arag029
Ruonan Li, Emily Gilford, Rolando Rodríguez-Muñoz, Tom Tregenza
{"title":"Wild crickets can adjust escaping speed under varying predation cues.","authors":"Ruonan Li, Emily Gilford, Rolando Rodríguez-Muñoz, Tom Tregenza","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arag029","DOIUrl":"10.1093/beheco/arag029","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Predator-prey dynamics impose strong selection pressures on the evolution of antipredator strategies, which constitute a fundamental adaptive response in wild animals. However, these strategies incur energetic costs, requiring tradeoffs with other fitness-related traits. While predator-prey interactions have been extensively studied, empirical evidence for behavioral plasticity in responses across predation risk gradients remains limited. We conducted field experiments on wild cricket (<i>Gryllus campestris</i>) nymphs in northern Spain, to investigate (1) how the intensity of predation cues influences escape speed adjustments and (2) whether antipredator strategies vary by sex, developmental stage and according to thermal conditions. We simulated 2 levels of vibrational cues: low-intensity and high-intensity. Contrary to our threat-sensitivity predictions, nymphs exhibited slower escape responses to high-intensity cues. This pattern may reflect ecological relevance: cricket predators are primarily small vertebrates which will generate lower intensity vibrational cues than passing ungulates. Consistent with our previous findings in adults, escape speed in nymphs increased with body temperature. However, sex-dependent variation was observed only in adults, not in nymphs, suggesting developmental differences in antipredator strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"37 3","pages":"arag029"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13012820/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147509239","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Behavioral EcologyPub Date : 2026-03-05eCollection Date: 2026-05-01DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arag024
Elisa P Badás, Duarte S Viana, Jordi Figuerola, Laura Gangoso
{"title":"Reproductive senescence in a polymorphic raptor: phenotypic, sex, and environmental effects.","authors":"Elisa P Badás, Duarte S Viana, Jordi Figuerola, Laura Gangoso","doi":"10.1093/beheco/arag024","DOIUrl":"10.1093/beheco/arag024","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The decline in reproductive performance with age (reproductive senescence) is a well-known process in evolutionary biology. Still, the interactive nature of factors operating at the individual level, such as sex or phenotype, and their effects on the rates of senescence, are understudied. Little is also known about the interaction between certain phenotypic traits and early-life conditions, despite the latter being known to impact fitness and senescence. Species that show genetically determined polymorphisms may aid to disentangle variation in senescence in response to environmental constraints, particularly when distinct physiological and behavioral responses are found across phenotypes. Here, using complete life histories gathered over 13 yr, we evaluated age, environmental and phenotypic effects on annual offspring number and lifetime reproductive success in a color polymorphic raptor, the Eleonora's falcon (<i>Falco eleonorae</i>). In females, we found evidence of within-individual reproductive senescence with differing patterns between color morphs, highlighting the need to further explore the sex-specific effects of overproducing melanin on senescence rates. We also found higher breeding success at older ages in both sexes, indicating population-level effects (selective appearance). Independent of sex and morph, higher lifetime reproductive success was associated with the exposure to a benign developmental environment, suggesting a \"silver-spoon\" effect of early-life conditions on fitness. However, in short-lived individuals, the negative effects of a harsh developmental environment on reproductive output were less evident. We propose that a breeding strategy that maximizes reproductive effort early in adulthood may be beneficial under unfavorable early-life conditions, at the expense of shorter lifespan.</p>","PeriodicalId":8840,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Ecology","volume":"37 3","pages":"arag024"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13016796/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147519758","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}