Abstract:

Cultural evolutionary processes can often lead to a statistical association between neutral and adaptive traits during episodes of population dispersal and the introduction of a beneficial technology in a geographic region. Here, we examine such cultural hitchhiking processes using an individual-based model portraying cultural and genetic interaction between a migrant and an incumbent population. The two populations are characterised by different variants for their neutral and adaptive cultural traits, with the latter set providing a reproductive advantage for the migrant communities over the incumbent ones. We explore how the neutral traits of the migrant population spread and how this process is conditioned by the following factors: 1) the possibility of transmission of the adaptive traits; 2) the extent of the increased reproductive advantage provided by the adaptive variants of the migrant population; 3) post-marital residence rules; and 4) how and when neutral traits are transmitted. Our results reveal a diverse range of outputs, highlighting the relevance of factors such as the nature of post-martial resocialisation and the specific combination of post-marital residence rules and sex-biased transmission.

Speaker's social media:

Twitter: @simoncarrignon