title: Experimentally induced innovations lead to persistent culture via conformity in wild birds.
abstract: In human societies, cultural norms arise when behaviours are transmitted through social networks via high-fidelity social learning. However, a paucity of experimental studies has meant that there is no comparable understanding of the process by which socially transmitted behaviours might spread and persist in animal populations. Here we show experimental evidence of the establishment of foraging traditions in a wild bird population. We introduced alternative novel foraging techniques into replicated wild sub-populations of great tits (Parus major) and used automated tracking to map the diffusion, establishment and long-term persistence of the seeded innovations. Furthermore, we used social network analysis to examine the social factors that influenced diffusion dynamics. From only two trained birds in each sub-population, the information spread rapidly through social network ties, to reach an average of 75% of individuals, with a total of 414 knowledgeable individuals performing 57,909 solutions over all replicates. The sub-populations were heavily biased towards using the technique that was originally introduced, resulting in established local traditions that were stable over two generations, despite a high population turnover. Finally, we demonstrate a strong effect of social conformity, with individuals disproportionately adopting the most frequent local variant when first acquiring an innovation, and continuing to favour social information over personal information. Cultural conformity is thought to be a key factor in the evolution of complex culture in humans. In providing the first experimental demonstration of conformity in a wild non-primate, and of cultural norms in foraging techniques in any wild animal, our results suggest a much broader taxonomic occurrence of such an apparently complex cultural behaviour.
authors.affiliation: 1] Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK [2] Department of Evolution, Ecology and Genetics, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2600, Australia.
authors.forename: Lucy M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Aplin
authors.affiliation: 1] Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK [2] Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA [3] Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ancon 9100, Panama.
authors.forename: Damien R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Farine
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa K1N 9B2, Canada.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Morand-Ferron
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolution, Ecology and Genetics, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2600, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cockburn
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn TR10 9EZ, UK.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thornton
authors.affiliation: 1] Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK [2] Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ben C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Sheldon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000502:physiology*; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology*; D003468:Cultural Evolution; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D012925:Social Conformity; D013997:Time Factors; D006113:United Kingdom