Empirical test of the many-wrongs hypothesis reveals weighted averaging of individual routes in pigeon flocks

Our data showed that larger homing pigeon flocks had significantly more efficient (i.e. shorter) homing routes than smaller flocks, consistent with previous findings and with the predictions of the many-wrongs hypothesis. However, a heuristic optimization procedure showed that flock routes were not simply averages of individual routes, but instead that pigeons that more faithfully recapitulated their routes during individual flights had proportionally greater influence on their flocks’ routes.我们的研究数据显示，相较于小型信鸽鸽群，规模更大的鸽群其归航路线显著更高效（即路径更短），这一结果与既往研究发现以及多错误假说（many-wrongs hypothesis）的预测相一致。然而，启发式优化流程的分析结果表明，鸽群的归航路线并非简单等同于个体路线的平均，反而，那些在单次飞行中更忠实地复现自身路线的信鸽，对鸽群整体路线的影响力成比例地更大。