Sofia Forss – Shaping and Shifting the Cognitive Phenotype: Ontogeny, Urbanization, and the Evolutionary Validity of Animal Intelligence
Abstract
In any given species, some individuals consistently appear more “intelligent” than their peers, yet explaining the origin of this variation and its direct link to biological fitness remains a fundamental challenge in evolutionary biology. Because cognitive skills are heavily shaped by experiences during development, understanding the impact of the early environment on adult phenotypes is critical—especially in mammals, where early ontogeny represents a disproportionately impactful life stage. However, our understanding of animal intelligence is historically biased toward either artificial laboratory settings or large-brained species, decoupling cognitive studies from natural selection pressures. To bring ecological validity to the study of animal intelligence, this talk integrates two distinct yet complementary paradigms in mammalian cognition: a longitudinal field study of small mammals and the shifting dynamics of the urban niche. First, using a longitudinal, developmental approach on wild meerkats, I explore how socio-ecological drivers and key developmental life history transitions shape cognitive abilities. Second, expanding this developmental and ecological framework to human-modified landscapes, I examine the cognitive realities of the urban niche through the lens of the Urban Vervet Project. While urbanization is widely assumed to act as a selective or developmental driver for enhanced problem-solving, I reconsider this consensus by evaluating the roles of anthropogenic habituation and cognitive exaptation. Pre-existing behavioural flexibility may simply allow certain species to exploit urban environments as “easy” niches, rather than demanding novel cognitive adaptations.
Speaker Bio
Sofia Forss is an evolutionary biologist dedicated to understanding animal minds. Her research explores the evolutionary drivers of individual intelligence, investigating how socio-ecological pressures, intrinsic motivation, and development interact to shape cognitive variation and biological fitness. Currently, Sofia is a Group Leader at the University of Zurich’s Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Sciences. There, she directs two major long-term field initiatives in South Africa: the Mongoose Cognition Project and the Urban Vervet Project, where Sofia and her team critically evaluate how wild populations cognitively navigate both natural ecosystems and rapidly changing anthropogenic landscapes.
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