Presentation Details
| Inherited biases shape the cultural evolution of bird song David Lahti1, 2. 1Queens College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.2The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA |
Abstract
Social learning is the defining mechanism of culture, but it does not operate independently of inherited developmental influences. On the contrary, inherited features can substantially influence the nature and dynamics even of traits that are acquired via social learning and can be said to culturally evolve. I illustrate this sort of effect with three lab-rearing studies. First, swamp sparrows (Melospiza georgiana) do not simply copy the songs they hear; when possible, they preferentially learn or produce higher-performance versions. Second, canaries (Serinus canaria) selectively bred for different traits differ genetically in the songs they will learn and in the parts of their repertoires they tend to sing. Third, house finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) song contains features that vary in their degree of developmental flexibility, spanning a continuum from relative rigidity to malleability under social learning. Together, these studies show that even cultural signals are structured by inherited biases, with important consequences for trajectories of song evolution.
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