Data from: Is ungulate migration culturally transmitted? Evidence of social learning from translocated animals

Ungulate migrations are assumed to stem from learning and cultural transmission of information regarding seasonal distribution of forage, but this hypothesis has not been tested empirically. We compared the migratory propensities of bighorn sheep and moose translocated into novel habitats with those of historical populations that had persisted for hundreds of years. Whereas individuals from historical populations were largely migratory, translocated individuals initially were not. After multiple decades, however, translocated populations gained knowledge about surfing green waves of forage (tracking plant phenology) and increased their propensity to migrate. Our findings indicate that learning and cultural transmission are the primary mechanisms by which ungulate migrations evolve. Loss of migration will therefore expunge generations of knowledge about the locations of high-quality forage and likely suppress population abundance.

有蹄类动物（Ungulate）的迁徙行为通常被认为源于对季节性分布草料相关信息的学习与文化传承，但该假说尚未得到实证检验。本研究将被迁地至全新生境的大角羊与驼鹿的迁徙倾向，与已存续数百年的历史种群进行了对比。历史种群的个体大多具备迁徙习性，而迁地个体在初始阶段并无此类行为。然而历经数十年后，迁地种群掌握了追踪草料绿浪（即跟踪植物物候（plant phenology））的相关知识，其迁徙倾向也随之提升。本研究结果表明，学习与文化传承是有蹄类动物迁徙行为演化的核心机制。因此，迁徙行为的丧失将抹去世代积累的优质草料位点相关知识，并可能抑制种群丰度。