The mafia hypothesis is an explanation of why nesting host species do not reject the eggs of
brood parasites
Brood parasitism is a subclass of parasitism and phenomenon and behavioural pattern of animals that rely on others to raise their young. The strategy appears among birds, insects and fish. The brood parasite manipulates a host, either of the ...
. The parasite eggs are accepted by the
host
A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it.
Host may also refer to:
Places
* Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County
* Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica
People
* ...
to avoid retaliation (egg destruction, nest destruction, and/or the killing of nestlings) by the brood parasite, in an example of
coevolution
In biology, coevolution occurs when two or more species reciprocally affect each other's evolution through the process of natural selection. The term sometimes is used for two traits in the same species affecting each other's evolution, as well a ...
.
Amotz Zahavi proposed it in 1979, and it was tested by Manuel Soler in 1995.
Mathematical modeling
Maria Abou Chakra, of the
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, with others, successfully
mathematically modeled the mafia hypothesis as a viable strategy, conditional on two factors:
* hosts are capable of
learning
Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, value (personal and cultural), values, Attitude (psychology), attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, non-human animals, and ...
* parasites revisit nests
They found that the proportion of mafia versus non-mafia brood parasites, and unconditionally versus conditionally accepting hosts cycled over time. If all hosts unconditionally accepted parasite eggs, then it would not be worth the parasite's effort to revisit the nest to conduct a mafia retaliation. If sufficiently few parasites were mafia, then only accepting parasite eggs after nest destruction once would be best for the hosts. As such, the mafia proportion of parasites would increase, thereby leading to unconditional acceptance by hosts, and so on.
Farmer strategy
Nest or egg destruction may occur as a result of "farming," or attempts to by the parasite to synchronize the hosts' schedule with the parasites'. It bears similarities to the mafia strategy in that both engage in depredation of nests.
The farmer strategy complicates the mafia/non, un/conditional acceptance model, as in the case of farmers, rejection enters as a viable third host strategy.
References
{{reflist
* Hoover, Jeffrey P.; Robinson, Scott K. (2007-03-13)
"Retaliatory mafia behavior by a parasitic cowbird favors host acceptance of parasitic eggs" ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences''. 104 (11): 4479–4483.
doi:
10.1073/pnas.0609710104.
ISSN
An International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is an eight-digit to uniquely identify a periodical publication (periodical), such as a magazine. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title. ISSNs a ...
0027-8424.
PMCbr>
1838626 PMID
PubMed is an openly accessible, free database which includes primarily the MEDLINE database of references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical topics. The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of ...
br>
17360549
"Cuckoos Use Mafia Tactics, And They Work" ''IFLScience''. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
* https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/283374
* https://books.google.com/books?id=U3ZZDwAAQBAJ&dq=mafia+hypothesis&pg=PA280
* https://journal.afonet.org/vol93/iss4/art4/
Biology theories
Biological hypotheses