---
abstract: |-
  Organisms can learn by individual experience to recognize relevant stimuli
  in the environment or they can genetically inherit this ability from their
  parents. Here, we ask how these two modes of acquisition affect signal evolution, focusing in particular on the exaggeration and cost of signals. We argue first, that faster learning by individual receivers cannot be a driving force for the evolution of exaggerated and costly signals unless signal senders are related or the same receiver and sender meet repeatedly. We argue instead that biases in receivers’ recognition mechanisms can promote the evolution of costly exaggeration in signals. We provide support for this hypothesis by simulating coevolution between senders and receivers, using artificial neural networks as a model of receivers’ recognition mechanisms. We analyse the joint effects of receiver biases, signal cost and mode of acquisition, investigating the circumstances under which learned recognition gives rise to more exaggerated signals than inherited recognition. We conclude the paper by discussing the relevance of our results to a number of biological scenarios.
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chapter: ~
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creators_name:
  - family: Kamo
    given: Masashi
    honourific: ''
    lineage: ''
  - family: Ghirlanda
    given: Stefano
    honourific: ''
    lineage: ''
  - family: Enquist
    given: Magnus
    honourific: ''
    lineage: ''
date: 2003
date_type: published
datestamp: 2006-12-08
department: ~
dir: disk0/00/00/52/80
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editors_id: []
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eprint_status: archive
eprintid: 5280
fileinfo: /style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png;/5280/1/kamo_ghirlanda_enquist2002.pdf
full_text_status: public
importid: ~
institution: ~
isbn: ~
ispublished: pub
issn: ~
item_issues_comment: []
item_issues_count: 0
item_issues_description: []
item_issues_id: []
item_issues_reported_by: []
item_issues_resolved_by: []
item_issues_status: []
item_issues_timestamp: []
item_issues_type: []
keywords: 'animal behavior, neural networks, communication, game theory, '
lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:56:43
latitude: ~
longitude: ~
metadata_visibility: show
note: ~
number: ~
pagerange: 1765-17711
pubdom: FALSE
publication: Proceedings of the Royal Society
publisher: ~
refereed: TRUE
referencetext: ~
relation_type: []
relation_uri: []
reportno: ~
rev_number: 12
series: ~
source: ~
status_changed: 2007-09-12 17:08:41
subjects:
  - bio-etho
  - bio-ani-cog
  - bio-evo
  - comp-sci-neural-nets
  - bio-theory
  - bio-ani-behav
succeeds: ~
suggestions: ~
sword_depositor: ~
sword_slug: ~
thesistype: ~
title: 'The evolution of signal form: Effects of learned versus inherited recognition'
type: journalp
userid: 6801
volume: B269
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