ROBERTSON, Bruce; University of Montana: A Cognitive Perspective on Evolutionary Traps

Evolutionary traps describe situations in which, due to some rapid change in conditions, formerly reliable behavioral cues instead trigger maladaptive behaviors. While the concept of an evolutionary trap is widely recognized, existing conceptual models have been insufficient to describe their mechanistic bases. Focusing on the cognitive traits of animals that govern information gathering and processing provides a new perspective on the evolutionary processes that make traps possible. From this perspective, I use empirical evidence to illustrate how mimicry of adaptively evolved behavioral cues can trigger maladaptive responses under novel environmental conditions, and illustrate how exposure to entirely novel signals can also trigger evolutionary traps. In this way, hidden preferences and receiver biases represent two previously undescribed mechanisms by which evolutionary traps can be triggered. The mechanistic framework developed herein illustrates the evolutionary underpinnings of the evolutionary trap concept and its potential to expand our understanding of a range of ecological and evolutionary phenomena.