PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Kotrschal, Alexander
AU  - Szorkovszky, Alexander
AU  - Herbert-Read, James
AU  - Bloch, Natasha I.
AU  - Romenskyy, Maksym
AU  - Buechel, Séverine Denise
AU  - Eslava, Ada Fontrodona
AU  - Alòs, Laura Sánchez
AU  - Zeng, Hongli
AU  - Le Foll, Audrey
AU  - Braux, Ganaël
AU  - Pelckmans, Kristiaan
AU  - Mank, Judith E.
AU  - Sumpter, David
AU  - Kolm, Niclas
TI  - Rapid evolution of coordinated and collective movement in response to artificial selection
AID  - 10.1126/sciadv.aba3148
DP  - 2020 Dec 01
TA  - Science Advances
PG  - eaba3148
VI  - 6
IP  - 49
4099  - http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/49/eaba3148.short
4100  - http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/49/eaba3148.full
SO  - Sci Adv2020 Dec 01; 6
AB  - Collective motion occurs when individuals use social interaction rules to respond to the movements and positions of their neighbors. How readily these social decisions are shaped by selection remains unknown. Through artificial selection on fish (guppies, Poecilia reticulata) for increased group polarization, we demonstrate rapid evolution in how individuals use social interaction rules. Within only three generations, groups of polarization-selected females showed a 15% increase in polarization, coupled with increased cohesiveness, compared to fish from control lines. Although lines did not differ in their physical swimming ability or exploratory behavior, polarization-selected fish adopted faster speeds, particularly in social contexts, and showed stronger alignment and attraction responses to multiple neighbors. Our results reveal the social interaction rules that change when collective behavior evolves.