Neophilia, innovation and learning in an urbanized world: a critical evaluation of mixed findings

Conversion of natural environments to cities confronts animals with abundant novel opportunities. Research on perception of threat in urban animals is fast expanding, but analyses of their capacity to exploit novel resources are scant. Experimental predictions regarding urban/non-urban behavioral differences are grounded in disparate statements regarding the ecological conditions that prevail in urban environments. We evaluate critically whether urban habitats favor high neophilia, innovation and learning in established populations. Extreme spatial complexity of urban landscapes coupled with increased resource predictability due to human routine activities should favor neophilia and learning. Cities provide exciting new opportunities to investigate empirically whether variation in these traits is related to variation in environmental complexity and predictability as forecast by a body of theoretical work.