What question did this study set out to answer?

To test whether the fitness and survival consequences of problem-solving innovation in wild house mice depend on environmental food quality, addressing the necessity drives innovation hypothesis.

August 20, 2026Biology LettersOpen Access

Food quality-driven variation in the link between innovation and survival in semi-natural populations of wild mice

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Authors

FDFragkiskos DarmisMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology AGAnja GuentherUniversity of Hildesheim

Discussion

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Implication

Experimental study demonstrates that dietary quality alters the survival benefits of problem-solving innovation in wild mice, indicating environment-dependent fitness trade-offs.

Key Points

To test whether the fitness and survival consequences of problem-solving innovation in wild house mice depend on environmental food quality, addressing the necessity drives innovation hypothesis.
Assigned young wild house mice to either a high-quality or lower-quality diet and quantified early-life innovation propensity and latency using standardized behavioral tasks.
Released individuals into semi-natural outdoor enclosures matching their developmental diet and monitored longitudinal body mass and survival over a six-month period.
Mice raised on the high-quality diet exhibited significantly greater innovation propensity compared to mice on the lower-quality diet.
Early-life innovation propensity did not predict subsequent body mass trajectories across environments.
Survival was determined by a significant interaction between innovation latency and environmental quality, confirming context-dependent fitness trade-offs.

Cite This Study

Darmis et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a86b4cb8a91293e6a1cc571 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2026.0281

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August 20, 2026Biology LettersOpen Access

Food quality-driven variation in the link between innovation and survival in semi-natural populations of wild mice

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

FDFragkiskos DarmisMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology AGAnja GuentherUniversity of Hildesheim

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Experimental study demonstrates that dietary quality alters the survival benefits of problem-solving innovation in wild mice, indicating environment-dependent fitness trade-offs.

Key Points

To test whether the fitness and survival consequences of problem-solving innovation in wild house mice depend on environmental food quality, addressing the necessity drives innovation hypothesis.
Assigned young wild house mice to either a high-quality or lower-quality diet and quantified early-life innovation propensity and latency using standardized behavioral tasks.
Released individuals into semi-natural outdoor enclosures matching their developmental diet and monitored longitudinal body mass and survival over a six-month period.
Mice raised on the high-quality diet exhibited significantly greater innovation propensity compared to mice on the lower-quality diet.
Early-life innovation propensity did not predict subsequent body mass trajectories across environments.
Survival was determined by a significant interaction between innovation latency and environmental quality, confirming context-dependent fitness trade-offs.

Cite This Study

Darmis et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a86b4cb8a91293e6a1cc571 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2026.0281

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