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Behavioral Ecology Vol. 10 No. 3: 270-274
© 1999 International Society for Behavioral Ecology

Foraging innovation is inversely related to competitive ability in male but not in female guppies

Kevin N. Laland and Simon M. Reader

Sub-Department of Animal Behaviour, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Madingley, Cambridge, CB3 8AA, UK

Address correspondence to K. N. Laland. E-mail: knl1001{at}hermes.cam.ac.uk

Foraging success is likely to affect hunger level and motivation to locate and exploit novel food sources in animals. We explored the relationship between scramble competition for limited food and foraging innovation in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata), predicting that poor competitors would be more likely to innovate when presented with novel foraging tasks. Among males, we found that latency to complete novel foraging tasks was correlated both with weight gain and number of food items consumed, suggesting that poor competitors are more likely to innovate. However, among females there was no relationship between innovative tendency and either weight gain or foraging success. We suggest that this sex difference may reflect parental investment asymmetries in males and females, and we predict similar sex differences in other species.

Key words: animal proto-culture, foraging, guppies, innovation, Poecilia reticulata, scramble competition.


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