Evolutionary drivers of caching behaviour in corvids
Abstract Caching has recurrently evolved across a range of animal taxa to withstand fluctuations in food availability and in the context of intraspecific competition. It is widespread in the corvid family, which exhibit considerable interspecific variation in their behavioural and morphological adap...
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Springer
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Animal Cognition |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-025-01938-1 |
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| author | Fran Daw Bret A. Beheim Claudia A. F. Wascher |
| author_facet | Fran Daw Bret A. Beheim Claudia A. F. Wascher |
| author_sort | Fran Daw |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Caching has recurrently evolved across a range of animal taxa to withstand fluctuations in food availability and in the context of intraspecific competition. It is widespread in the corvid family, which exhibit considerable interspecific variation in their behavioural and morphological adaptations to caching. However, the evolutionary drivers responsible for this diversity have seldom been explored. The present study systematically reviews the literature on caching behaviour in corvids globally to determine (1) which food caching strategies species have adopted (specialist, generalist or non-cacher) and (2) whether ecological factors affect the occurrence of different strategies, namely (a) climate breadth, (b) trophic niche, (c) habitat breadth, (d) centroid latitude, (e) centroid longitude, (f) breeding system, and (g) body mass. In addition, the ancestral states of caching are reconstructed to assess the evolutionary trajectory of each strategy. Caching strategies were identified in 63 species from 16 genera (out of 128 corvid species and 22 genera). Ancestral state analysis suggested specialist caching as the ancestral state in corvids. Type of caching is associated with distance from equator and by average body mass, with generalist caching concentrated around the equatorial zone and among heavier corvids, while specialist caching occurring more commonly in smaller species found farther from the equator. Although specialist caching most likely was the ancestral state in corvids, both specialist and generalist caching evolved several times independently in the family of corvids. Our results show caching to be widespread in corvids and affected by body size and latitude but ecological factors such as trophic niche and habitat breadth and breeding system, not to be strong drivers shaping caching behaviour. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e4f2b461adc94308a89084af2d5093f1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1435-9456 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Springer |
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| series | Animal Cognition |
| spelling | doaj-art-e4f2b461adc94308a89084af2d5093f12025-08-20T04:02:56ZengSpringerAnimal Cognition1435-94562025-02-012811910.1007/s10071-025-01938-1Evolutionary drivers of caching behaviour in corvidsFran Daw0Bret A. Beheim1Claudia A. F. Wascher2Behavioural Ecology Research Group, School of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin UniversityDepartment of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyBehavioural Ecology Research Group, School of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin UniversityAbstract Caching has recurrently evolved across a range of animal taxa to withstand fluctuations in food availability and in the context of intraspecific competition. It is widespread in the corvid family, which exhibit considerable interspecific variation in their behavioural and morphological adaptations to caching. However, the evolutionary drivers responsible for this diversity have seldom been explored. The present study systematically reviews the literature on caching behaviour in corvids globally to determine (1) which food caching strategies species have adopted (specialist, generalist or non-cacher) and (2) whether ecological factors affect the occurrence of different strategies, namely (a) climate breadth, (b) trophic niche, (c) habitat breadth, (d) centroid latitude, (e) centroid longitude, (f) breeding system, and (g) body mass. In addition, the ancestral states of caching are reconstructed to assess the evolutionary trajectory of each strategy. Caching strategies were identified in 63 species from 16 genera (out of 128 corvid species and 22 genera). Ancestral state analysis suggested specialist caching as the ancestral state in corvids. Type of caching is associated with distance from equator and by average body mass, with generalist caching concentrated around the equatorial zone and among heavier corvids, while specialist caching occurring more commonly in smaller species found farther from the equator. Although specialist caching most likely was the ancestral state in corvids, both specialist and generalist caching evolved several times independently in the family of corvids. Our results show caching to be widespread in corvids and affected by body size and latitude but ecological factors such as trophic niche and habitat breadth and breeding system, not to be strong drivers shaping caching behaviour.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-025-01938-1CachingCorvidsGeneralist cachersSocio-ecologySpecialist cachers |
| spellingShingle | Fran Daw Bret A. Beheim Claudia A. F. Wascher Evolutionary drivers of caching behaviour in corvids Animal Cognition Caching Corvids Generalist cachers Socio-ecology Specialist cachers |
| title | Evolutionary drivers of caching behaviour in corvids |
| title_full | Evolutionary drivers of caching behaviour in corvids |
| title_fullStr | Evolutionary drivers of caching behaviour in corvids |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evolutionary drivers of caching behaviour in corvids |
| title_short | Evolutionary drivers of caching behaviour in corvids |
| title_sort | evolutionary drivers of caching behaviour in corvids |
| topic | Caching Corvids Generalist cachers Socio-ecology Specialist cachers |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-025-01938-1 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT frandaw evolutionarydriversofcachingbehaviourincorvids AT bretabeheim evolutionarydriversofcachingbehaviourincorvids AT claudiaafwascher evolutionarydriversofcachingbehaviourincorvids |