title: Cognition-mediated evolution of low-quality floral nectars.
abstract: Plants pollinated by hummingbirds or bats produce dilute nectars even though these animals prefer more concentrated sugar solutions. This mismatch is an unsolved evolutionary paradox. Here we show that lower quality, or more dilute, nectars evolve when the strength of preferring larger quantities or higher qualities of nectar diminishes as magnitudes of the physical stimuli increase. In a virtual evolution experiment conducted in the tropical rainforest, bats visited computer-automated flowers with simulated genomes that evolved relatively dilute nectars. Simulations replicated this evolution only when value functions, which relate the physical stimuli to subjective sensations, were nonlinear. Selection also depended on the supply/demand ratio; bats selected for more dilute nectar when competition for food was higher. We predict such a pattern to generally occur when decision-makers consider multiple value dimensions simultaneously, and increases of psychological value are not fully proportional to increases in physical magnitude.
authors.affiliation: Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany.|Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.
authors.forename: Vladislav
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nachev
authors.affiliation: Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.
authors.forename: Kai Petra
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Stich
authors.affiliation: University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Clemens
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Winter
authors.affiliation: University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA.
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bond
authors.affiliation: University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA.
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kamil
authors.affiliation: Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. york.winter@charite.de.|Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.
authors.forename: York
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Winter
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003657:Decision Making; D035264:Flowers / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D008960:Models, Psychological; D057048:Plant Nectar / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D054817:Pollination; D013395:Sucrose / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D057048:Plant Nectar; D013395:Sucrose