Life-history trade-offs favour the evolution of animal personalities

Max Wolf, G. Sander van Doorn, Olof Leimar and Franz J. Weissing ()
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Max Wolf: Theoretical Biology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, Kerklaan 30, 9751 NN Haren, The Netherlands
G. Sander van Doorn: Theoretical Biology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, Kerklaan 30, 9751 NN Haren, The Netherlands
Olof Leimar: Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
Franz J. Weissing: Theoretical Biology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, Kerklaan 30, 9751 NN Haren, The Netherlands

Nature, 2007, vol. 447, issue 7144, 581-584

Abstract: Evolving personalities Although 'personalities' such as boldness, aggressive behaviour and risk avoidance have been shown to exist in more than sixty animal species, from primates to ants, explaining their existence in terms of evolution has been a puzzle. Surely, evolution should not favour the maintenance of different personalities, but rather the convergence towards a single one. In a numerical life-history model, Wolf et al. show that the evolution of animal personalities, defined as consistent sets of behaviours shown in a variety of contexts, is related to an adaptive response to life-history trade-offs. In this model, decisions on trade-offs between current and future reproduction condition the response of individuals to risky situations, and this may be the basis for animal personalities and their maintenance in populations.

Date: 2007
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DOI: 10.1038/nature05835

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