Survival of the copycats
6 Apr 2011 by Evoluted New Media
Sea turtles return to the same beach they were born on to lay their eggs – even though swim past perfectly good beaches on the way – and researchers think they may know why.
Sea turtles return to the same beach they were born on to lay their eggs – even though swim past perfectly good beaches on the way – and researchers think they may know why.
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Sea turtles blindly copying their parents might be smarter than we think |
Although it might not seem very efficient, the sea turtles are in fact copying their parents in the hope of securing long-term success for their genes.
“This may not seem very smart, but those turtles are actually sticking to the safest bet there could be – the spot where their parents successfully gave birth to them,” said Dr Sasha Dall from the Centres for Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter.
Using mathematical models, researchers compared the evolutionary success of straightforward copying strategies with that of more dynamic approaches that focus on adapting to new information to make key lifestyle decisions.
Dall said that sticking to what your parents did may seem a ridiculously stupid thing to do, especially when they can be out of touch with current events, but it’s a different story when you look at it from the perspective of your genes.
“What we actually found is, in certain circumstances, it can be a more effective method of ensuring long-term survival of your genes than more nuanced strategies,” Dall said. “Surprisingly, this kind of mindless strategy can actually be more effective than the sophisticated alternative of adjusting to changes you detect in the environment.”
Dall’s conclusion is based on the multiplier effect – that if you are in the right environment for your genotype, you will thrive and breed, and so over generations more and more individuals will find themselves in conditions they are suited to just like their parents.
Professor John McNamara from the School of Mathematics at the University of Bristol said the mathematical model showed blindly copying your parents proves more successful, while adapting to the environment can cause costly – even fatal – mistakes.
“The sheer fact that you are alive is a big clue, because your parents must have for it right. If you follow their lead, you should get it right too,” he said.
