Social learning and communication enable animals to enhance their adaptability and behavioural flexibility in response to changing environmental conditions. This paper examines current perspectives on the diversity of social learning mechanisms, their ecological significance, and the behavioural mechanisms underlying the spread of novel behaviours within animal groups, with particular attention to the relationship between innovativeness and intelligence and the potential for innovative behaviours to spread through social learning. Within this framework, I highlight the distributed social learning (DSL) hypothesis, which posits that the initial performance of a complete behavioural pattern by a few individuals promotes its spread among conspecifics that possess only dormant fragments of the same behaviour. These fragments consist of short, neutral action sequences that, under favourable conditions, can be integrated into a coherent and functional pattern. Drawing on a wide range of research on social learning, I propose that DSL functions as a form of ‘folk culture’, blending innate, previously dormant behavioural components with learned ones. This process may enable animals to assemble novel behavioural patterns by recruiting and integrating pre-existing latent fragments of behaviour more efficiently than would be possible through entirely de novo acquisition.
Hunting female fireflies of the Photurinae subfamily specialize in feeding on heterospecific male fireflies, generally smaller than themselves, responding to their courtship signals. Photuris spp. females hunt males of Photinus spp. species, from which they obtain nutrients and defensive toxins. In some localities, Photuris lugubris is sympatric with Photinus extensus, whose males are larger than the hunting females. Here, we report a field study of the frequency of interactions between signalling P. extensus males and hunting P. lugubris females. We also report an experiment to determine whether P. lugubris females attack and feed on P. extensus males in captivity. In more than 18 h of focal observations, we only observed one case in which a P. extensus male was attracted by a P. lugubris female, but no attack occurred. In our experiment, females attacked in 17
This study presents a comparative analysis of original laboratory data on optional insect-hunting behaviour across 21 species of myomorph rodents, which revealed that, during the phase of prey attacks, the dropping out of elements from the “bite–seizing with paws” sequence followed distinct species-level patterns. The behavioural elements ‘bite’ and ‘seizing with paws’ differed in the degree to which their expression was evolutionarily constrained. Zero-inflated negative binomial phylogenetic generalized linear mixed model (ZINB PGLMM) analysis revealed a statistically significant negative association between the dropping out of these behavioral elements, indicating that most species tended to omit a single attack element rather than both. Cricetinae uniquely exhibited pronounced inter-individual variability, with individuals omitting either element. In Gerbillinae, the dropping out of ‘bites’ occurred not only during unsuccessful attacks but also during successful hunting sequences. Notably, this dropping out showed a strong phylogenetic signal, suggesting a close correspondence between variation in this trait and species relationships. Together, these results highlight the flexibility of sequential attack patterns in rodents, indicating that stereotyped action patterns can be reorganised in response to ecological and behavioural demands. The dropping out of ‘bites’ may represent a transitional step toward more derived attack strategies, such as initiating prey capture with the forepaws. Given the observed interspecific and individual-level variability, we propose that experience-dependent processes may contribute to the modification of hunting sequences. Stable individual differences in hunting behaviour may therefore provide a substrate for natural selection under changing ecological conditions, offering promising directions for future experimental and comparative research.
Distress calls are widespread among frogs, yet their communicative function remains poorly understood. Several hypotheses have been proposed, including startling predators, warning nearby individuals, and attracting other animals that may interfere with predation, but direct evidence supporting any of these functions is scarce. Here we report an opportunistic observation of a Blacksmith Treefrog (Boana faber) emitting distress calls while being attacked by a vine snake (Chironius sp.) in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. During the predation event, four hybrid marmosets (Callithrix jacchus × C. penicillata) approached the source of the calls, closely followed the snake, and physically interacted with it while the frog continued vocalizing. The marmosets became progressively more engaged as the frog increased the intensity and rate of distress calling, suggesting that the calls attracted their attention and may have contributed to their interference with the predator. Although the outcome of the predation attempt could not be determined, this observation suggests that frog distress calls may attract nearby animals to an ongoing predation event, potentially creating additional opportunities for escape. Further field observations and experimental studies are needed to determine how widespread this phenomenon is and whether it may have contributed to the evolution of distress calls in frogs.
The ocean’s physical properties and ecological complexity shape a unique selective environment for the evolution of cognition and behaviour in marine life. This review explores how marine organisms sense, interpret, and act upon information in a three-dimensional space that shifts constantly, influenced by light attenuation, sound transmission, and hydrodynamic flow. We combine information across taxa to show how social and environmental pressures have influenced both domain-specific specialisation and domain-general flexibility. From the diffuse nerve nets of cnidarians to the complex brains of cephalopods and cetaceans, marine cognition displays multiple evolutionary pathways to abilities like problem-solving, learning, and innovation. In ectothermic fish, modular brain systems seem to manage specialised tasks such as social negotiation or spatial learning. Meanwhile, endothermic marine mammals exhibit domain-general intelligence characterised by behavioural flexibility and cultural transmission. It is also discussed individual and social learning behaviours, including cooperation, imitation and teaching, and their ecological significance in marine ecosystems. Unknown insights into cognition under natural conditions are now possible thanks to recent technological developments, including biologging, autonomous vehicles, acoustic monitoring, and neurogenomic tools. Finally, we discuss how anthropogenic stressors such as pollution, artificial noise and light disrupt behavioural plasticity, with implications for adaptation and species resilience. This review combines evolutionary, behavioural, and technical perspectives to present the ocean as a testing ground for cognitive evolution. Furthermore, we also advocate for the broader inclusion of marine ecosystems in ethological and comparative cognitive studies.
