SynthesisProceedings. Biological sciences2017
Patterns of predator neophobia: a meta-analytic review.
Synthesis in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 118 citations in OpenAlex.
- The exploitation of sexual signals by predators: a meta-analysis.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Pooled it
- Australian native mammals recognize and respond to alien predators: a meta-analysis.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2018Pooled it
- A neuro-behavioural model of neophobia.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2026Review
- Chromatic Contrast Alone Does Not Predict Predation Risk in the Longhorn BeetleEcology and evolution · 2026Article
- Birds Decorating Their Nests With Plastic May Suffer Less Egg Depredation by Corvids.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Environmental enrichment influences the relationship between lateralization and neophobia in zebrafish larvae.Animal cognition · 2025Article
- Neophilia in wolves and dogs.Animal cognition · 2025Article
- Don't You Know That I'm Toxic? Wild Birds Learn to Avoid a Novel Aposematic Warning Signal.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- A large-scale study across the avian clade identifies ecological drivers of neophobia.PLoS biology · 2025Article
- Neophobia across social contexts in juvenile herring gulls.Royal Society open science · 2025Article
- Article
- The Neophobia Hypothesis: nest decoration in birds may reduce predation by corvids.Royal Society open science · 2025Article
- Does visual or mechanosensory disruption influence risk assessment in coral reef fishes: a preliminary study.Journal of fish biology · 2024Article
- Background predation risk induces anxiety-like behaviour and predator neophobia in zebrafish.Animal cognition · 2024Article
- Long-term anti-predator learning and memory differ across populations and sexes in an intertidal snail.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Exploring the Importance of Environmental Complexity for Newly Hatched Zebrafish.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- A first exploratory comparison of the behaviour of wolves (Canis lupus) and wolf-dog hybrids in captivity.Animal cognition · 2024Article
- Article
- Article
- Microhabitat conditions drive uncertainty of risk and shape neophobic responses in Trinidadian guppies,Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Neophobia, the fear of novel stimuli, plays a major role in animal ecology. Here, we review studies on predator neophobia and explore its underlying patterns within an ecological framework. Predator neophobia is typically assessed by observing behaviours in novel areas that bring potential risk from unknown predators, or by observing behaviours towards certain kinds of objects and odours that are novel. We conducted a literature review across taxa, surveying research on baseline and induced neophobia versus controls. We calculated effect sizes for the intensity of neophobic responses, and categorized data according to six factors (taxa, age class, background type, trophic position, test cue type and experimental treatment type). While accounting for each of the other factors, we found that baseline neophobia was stronger among birds and mammals, and towards novel areas, relative to other taxa and cue types. Baseline neophobia was lower for wild-caught animals and for those that were higher in trophic position, compared with those reared in captivity and from lower trophic levels. By contrast, induced neophobia was similar in intensity across taxa, background types and testing cue types, while again being lower among upper trophic-level members and among juvenile animals. Although induced neophobia occurred across all treatment types, brain lesions induced stronger neophobia than predation risk or social isolation. We discuss potential mechanisms underlying these results and highlight gaps in the literature.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.