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

In recent years evidence has been accumulating that personalities are not only found in humans but also in a wide range of other animal species. Individuals differ consistently in their behavioural tendencies and the behaviour in one context is correlated with the behaviour in multiple other contexts. From an adaptive perspective, the evolution of animal personalities is still a mystery, because a more flexible structure of behaviour should provide a selective advantage. Accordingly, many researchers view personalities as resulting from constraints imposed by the architecture of behaviour (but see ref. 12). In contrast, we show here that animal personalities can be given an adaptive explanation. Our argument is based on the insight that the trade-off between current and future reproduction often results in polymorphic populations in which some individuals put more emphasis on future fitness returns than others. Life-history theory predicts that such differences in fitness expectations should result in systematic differences in risk-taking behaviour. Individuals with high future expectations (who have much to lose) should be more risk-averse than individuals with low expectations. This applies to all kinds of risky situations, so individuals should consistently differ in their behaviour. By means of an evolutionary model we demonstrate that this basic principle results in the evolution of animal personalities. It simultaneously explains the coexistence of behavioural types, the consistency of behaviour through time and the structure of behavioural correlations across contexts. Moreover, it explains the common finding that explorative behaviour and risk-related traits like boldness and aggressiveness are common characteristics of animal personalities.     

吉尔伯特·牛顿·路易斯：未获诺贝尔奖的化学大师

 吉尔伯特·牛顿·路易斯是20世纪最伟大的化学家之一。他因在发展热力学理论并将其应用于实际化学系统方面做出了重大贡献,被认为是现代化学热力学奠基人;因其提出的共价键和电子对概念促成现代化学键理论的产生,被认为是共价键发现者;他提出的酸碱概念是对化学科学的另一个重要的贡献。路易斯曾41次获得诺贝尔化学奖提名,但从未获奖,这也成为诺贝尔奖历史上的巨大争议之一。介绍了路易斯的人生经历和科学成就,盘点了其科学探索的历程。