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Evolutionary traps as keys to understanding behavioral maladaptation

December 1, 2016

Evolutionary traps are severe cases of behavioral maladaptation that occur when, due to human activity, the cues animals use to guide their behavior become uncoupled from their fitness consequences. The result is that animals can prefer the most dangerous resources or behaviors, even when better options are available. Traps are increasingly common and represent a significant wildlife conservation problem. Understanding of the more proximate sensory-cognitive mechanisms underpinning traps remains poor, which highlights the need for interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches to investigating traps. Key to advancing basic trap theory and its conservation applications will be the development of appropriate and tractable model systems to investigate the mechanisms that cause traps within species, and how mechanisms vary across species.

Publication Year 2016
Title Evolutionary traps as keys to understanding behavioral maladaptation
DOI 10.1016/j.cobeha.2016.08.007
Authors Bruce A. Robertson, Anna Chalfoun
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences
Index ID 70182771
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Coop Res Unit Seattle