1. |
- Pizzari, T., et al.
(författare)
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A novel test of the phenotype-linked fertility hypothesis reveals independent components of fertility
- 2004
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Ingår i: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8436 .- 1471-2970 .- 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 271:1534, s. 51-58
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The phenotype-linked fertility hypothesis predicts that male sexual ornaments signal fertilizing efficiency and that the coevolution of male ornaments and female preference for such ornaments is driven by female pursuit of fertility benefits. In addition, directional testicular asymmetry frequently observed in birds has been suggested to reflect fertilizing efficiency and to covary with ornament expression. However, the idea of a phenotypic relationship between male ornaments and fertilizing efficiency is often tested in populations where environmental effects mask the underlying genetic associations between ornaments and fertilizing efficiency implied by this idea. Here, we adopt a novel design, which increases genetic diversity through the crossing of two divergent populations while controlling for environmental effects, to test: (i) the phenotypic relationship between male ornaments and both, gonadal (testicular mass) and gametic (sperm quality) components of fertilizing efficiency, and (ii) the extent to which these components are phenotypically integrated in the fowl, Gallus gallus. We show that consistent with theory, the testosterone-dependent expression of a male ornament, the comb, predicted testicular mass. However, despite their functional inter-dependence, testicular mass and sperm quality were not phenotypically integrated. Consistent with this result, males of one parental population invested more in testicular and comb mass, whereas males of the other parental population had higher sperm quality. We found no evidence that directional testicular asymmetry covaried with ornament expression. These results shed new light on the evolutionary relationship between male fertilizing efficiency and ornaments. Although testosterone-dependent ornaments may covary with testicular mass and thus reflect sperm production rate, the lack of phenotypic integration between gonadal and gametic traits reveals that the expression of an ornament is unlikely to reflect the overall fertilizing efficiency of a male.
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2. |
- Smolla, Marco, et al.
(författare)
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Underappreciated features of cultural evolution
- 2021
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954 .- 0962-8436 .- 1471-2970. ; 376:1828
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cultural evolution theory has long been inspired by evolutionary biology. Conceptual analogies between biological and cultural evolution have led to the adoption of a range of formal theoretical approaches from population dynamics and genetics. However, this has resulted in a research programme with a strong focus on cultural transmission. Here, we contrast biological with cultural evolution, and highlight aspects of cultural evolution that have not received sufficient attention previously. We outline possible implications for evolutionary dynamics and argue that not taking them into account will limit our understanding of cultural systems. We propose twelve key questions for future research, among which are calls to improve our understanding of the combinatorial properties of cultural innovation, and the role of development and life history in cultural dynamics. Finally, we discuss how this vibrant research field can make progress by embracing its multidisciplinary nature.
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3. |
- Abbott, Jessica K.
(författare)
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Intra-locus sexual conflict and sexually antagonistic genetic variation in hermaphroditic animals
- 2011
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 278:1703, s. 161-169
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Intra-locus sexual conflict results when sex-specific selection pressures for a given trait act against the intra-sexual genetic correlation for that trait. It has been found in a wide variety of taxa in both laboratory and natural populations, but the importance of intra-locus sexual conflict and sexually antagonistic genetic variation in hermaphroditic organisms has rarely been considered. This is not so surprising given the conceptual and theoretical association of intra-locus sexual conflict with sexual dimorphism, but there is no a priori reason why intra-locus sexual conflict cannot occur in hermaphroditic organisms as well. Here, I discuss the potential for intra-locus sexual conflict in hermaphroditic animals and review the available evidence for such conflict, and for the existence of sexually antagonistic genetic variation in hermaphrodites. I argue that mutations with asymmetric effects are particularly likely to be important in mediating sexual antagonism in hermaphroditic organisms. Moreover, sexually antagonistic genetic variation is likely to play an important role in inter-individual variation in sex allocation and in transitions to and from gonochorism (separate sexes) in simultaneous hermaphrodites. I also describe how sequential hermaphrodites may experience a unique form of intra-locus sexual conflict via antagonistic pleiotropy. Finally, I conclude with some suggestions for further research.
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4. |
- Abbott, Jessica K., et al.
(författare)
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Sex chromosome evolution : Historical insights and future perspectives
- 2017
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 284:1854
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many separate-sexed organisms have sex chromosomes controlling sex determination. Sex chromosomes often have reduced recombination, specialized (frequently sex-specific) gene content, dosage compensation and heteromorphic size. Research on sex determination and sex chromosome evolution has increased over the past decade and is today a very active field. However, some areas within the field have not received as much attention as others.We therefore believe that a historic overviewof key findings and empirical discoveries will put current thinking into context and help us better understand where to go next. Here, we present a timeline of important conceptual and analytical models, as well as empirical studies that have advanced the field and changed our understanding of the evolution of sex chromosomes. Finally, we highlight gaps in our knowledge so far and propose some specific areas within the field that we recommend a greater focus on in the future, including the role of ecology in sex chromosome evolution and newmultilocus models of sex chromosome divergence.
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5. |
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6. |
- Alerstam, Thomas, et al.
(författare)
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A polar system of intercontinental bird migration
- 2007
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Ingår i: Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 1471-2954. ; 274:1625, s. 2523-2530
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Studies of birdmigration in the Beringia region of Alaska and eastern Siberia are of special interest for revealing the importance of bird migration between Eurasia and North America, for evaluating orientation principles used by the birds at polar latitudes and for understanding the evolutionary implications of intercontinental migratory connectivity among birds as well as their parasites. We used tracking radar placed onboard the ice-breaker Oden to register bird migratory flights from 30 July to 19 August 2005 and we encountered extensive birdmigration in the whole Beringia range from latitude 64 degrees N in Bering Strait up to latitude 75 degrees N far north of Wrangel Island, with eastward flights making up 79% of all track directions. The results from Beringia were used in combination with radar studies from the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia and in the Beaufort Sea to make a reconstruction of a major Siberian-American birdmigration system in a wide Arctic sector between longitudes 1108 E and 130 degrees W, spanning one-third of the entire circumpolar circle. This system was estimated to involve more than 2 million birds, mainly shorebirds, terns and skuas, flying across the Arctic Ocean at mean altitudes exceeding 1 km (maximum altitudes 3-5 km). Great circle orientation provided a significantly better fit with observed flight directions at 20 different sites and areas than constant geographical compass orientation. The long flights over the sea spanned 40-80 degrees of longitude, corresponding to distances and durations of 1400-2600 km and 26-48 hours, respectively. The birds continued from this eastward migration system over the Arctic Ocean into several different flyway systems at the American continents and the Pacific Ocean. Minimization of distances between tundra breeding sectors and northerly stopover sites, in combination with the Beringia glacial refugium and colonization history, seemed to be important for the evolution of this major polar bird migration system.
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7. |
- Alerstam, Thomas, et al.
(författare)
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Convergent patterns of long-distance nocturnal migration in noctuid moths and passerine birds.
- 2011
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Ingår i: Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 1471-2954. ; 278, s. 3074-3080
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Vast numbers of insects and passerines achieve long-distance migrations between summer and winter locations by undertaking high-altitude nocturnal flights. Insects such as noctuid moths fly relatively slowly in relation to the surrounding air, with airspeeds approximately one-third of that of passerines. Thus, it has been widely assumed that windborne insect migrants will have comparatively little control over their migration speed and direction compared with migrant birds. We used radar to carry out the first comparative analyses of the flight behaviour and migratory strategies of insects and birds under nearly equivalent natural conditions. Contrary to expectations, noctuid moths attained almost identical ground speeds and travel directions compared with passerines, despite their very different flight powers and sensory capacities. Moths achieved fast travel speeds in seasonally appropriate migration directions by exploiting favourably directed winds and selecting flight altitudes that coincided with the fastest air streams. By contrast, passerines were less selective of wind conditions, relying on self-powered flight in their seasonally preferred direction, often with little or no tailwind assistance. Our results demonstrate that noctuid moths and passerines show contrasting risk-prone and risk-averse migratory strategies in relation to wind. Comparative studies of the flight behaviours of distantly related taxa are critically important for understanding the evolution of animal migration strategies.
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8. |
- Ameen, Carly, et al.
(författare)
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Specialized sledge dogs accompanied Inuit dispersal across the North American Arctic
- 2019
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 286:1916
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Domestic dogs have been central to life in the North American Arctic for millennia. The ancestors of the Inuit were the first to introduce the widespread usage of dog sledge transportation technology to the Americas, but whether the Inuit adopted local Palaeo-Inuit dogs or introduced a new dog population to the region remains unknown. To test these hypotheses, we generated mitochondrial DNA and geometric morphometric data of skull and dental elements from a total of 922 North American Arctic dogs and wolves spanning over 4500 years. Our analyses revealed that dogs from Inuit sites dating from 2000 BP possess morphological and genetic signatures that distinguish them from earlier Palaeo-Inuit dogs, and identified a novel mitochondrial clade in eastern Siberia and Alaska. The genetic legacy of these Inuit dogs survives today in modern Arctic sledge dogs despite phenotypic differences between archaeological and modern Arctic dogs. Together, our data reveal that Inuit dogs derive from a secondary pre-contact migration of dogs distinct from Palaeo-Inuit dogs, and probably aided the Inuit expansion across the North American Arctic beginning around 1000 BP.
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9. |
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10. |
- Andersen, K. H., et al.
(författare)
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Damped trophic cascades driven by fishing in model marine ecosystems
- 2010
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Ingår i: Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 1471-2954. ; 277:1682, s. 795-802
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The largest perturbation on upper trophic levels of many marine ecosystems stems from fishing. The reaction of the ecosystem goes beyond the trophic levels directly targeted by the fishery. This reaction has been described either as a change in slope of the overall size spectrum or as a trophic cascade triggered by the removal of top predators. Here we use a novel size- and trait-based model to explore how marine ecosystems might react to perturbations from different types of fishing pressure. The model explicitly resolves the whole life history of fish, from larvae to adults. The results show that fishing does not change the overall slope of the size spectrum, but depletes the largest individuals and induces trophic cascades. A trophic cascade can propagate both up and down in trophic levels driven by a combination of changes in predation mortality and food limitation. The cascade is damped as it comes further away from the perturbed trophic level. Fishing on several trophic levels leads to a disappearance of the signature of the trophic cascade. Differences in fishing patterns among ecosystems might influence whether a trophic cascade is observed.
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11. |
- Andersen, K. H., et al.
(författare)
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Trophic and individual efficiencies of size-structured communities
- 2009
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Ingår i: Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 1471-2954. ; 276:1654, s. 109-114
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Individual and trophic efficiencies of size-structured communities are derived from mechanistically based principles at the individual level. The derivations are relevant for communities with a size-based trophic structure, i.e. where trophic level is strongly correlated with individual size as in many aquatic systems. The derivations are used to link Lindeman's trophic theory and trophic theory based on average individuals with explicit individual-level size spectrum theory. The trophic efficiency based on the transfer of mass between trophic levels through predator-prey interactions is demonstrated to be valid only when somatic growth can be ignored. Taking somatic growth into account yields an average individual growth efficiency that is smaller than the trophic efficiency.
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12. |
- Andersen, O., et al.
(författare)
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Haemoglobin polymorphisms affect the oxygen-binding properties in Atlantic cod populations
- 2009
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 276:1658, s. 833-841
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A major challenge in evolutionary biology is to identify the genes underlying adaptation. The oxygen-transporting haemoglobins directly link external conditions with metabolic needs and therefore represent a unique system for studying environmental effects on molecular evolution. We have discovered two haemoglobin polymorphisms in Atlantic cod populations inhabiting varying temperature and oxygen regimes in the North Atlantic. Three-dimensional modelling of the tetrameric haemoglobin structure demonstrated that the two amino acid replacements Met55β1Val and Lys62β1Ala are located at crucial positions of the α1β1subunit interface and haem pocket, respectively. The replacements are proposed to affect the oxygen-binding properties by modifying the haemoglobin quaternary structure and electrostatic feature. Intriguingly, the same molecular mechanism for facilitating oxygen binding is found in avian species adapted to high altitudes, illustrating convergent evolution in water- and air-breathing vertebrates to reduction in environmental oxygen availability. Cod populations inhabiting the cold Arctic waters and the low-oxygen Baltic Sea seem well adapted to these conditions by possessing the high oxygen affinity Val55–Ala62 haplotype, while the temperature-insensitive Met55–Lys62 haplotype predominates in the southern populations. The distinct distributions of the functionally different haemoglobin variants indicate that the present biogeography of this ecologically and economically important species might be seriously affected by global warming.
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13. |
- Andersson, Jens, et al.
(författare)
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Interactions between predator- and diet-induced phenotypic changes in body shape of crucian carp
- 2006
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 273:1585, s. 431-437
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Predator cues and diet, when studied separately, have been shown to affect body shape of organisms. Previous studies show that the morphological responses to predator absence/presence and diet may be similar, and hence could confound the interpretation of the causes of morphological differences found between groups of individuals. In this study, we simultaneously examined the effect of these two factors on body shape and performance in crucian carp in a laboratory experiment. Crucian carp (Carassius carassius) developed a shallow body shape when feeding on zooplankton prey and a deep body shape when feeding on benthic chironomids. In addition, the presence of chemical cues from a pike predator affected body shape, where a shallow body shape was developed in the absence of pike and a deep body shape was developed in the presence of pike. Foraging activity was low in the presence of pike cues and when chironomids were given as prey. Our results thereby suggest that the change in body shape could be indirectly mediated through differences in foraging activity. Finally, the induced body shape changes affected the foraging efficiency, where crucians raised on a zooplankton diet or in the absence of pike cues had a higher foraging success on zooplankton compared to crucian raised on a chironomid diet or in the presence of pike. These results suggest that body changes in response to predators can be associated with a cost, in terms of competition for resources.
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14. |
- Andersson, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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Sexual conflict and anti-aphrodisiac titre in a polyandrous butterfly : male ejaculate tailoring and absence of female control
- 2004
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 271:1550, s. 1765-1770
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Males of the green-veined butterfly Pieris napi synthesize and transfer the volatile methyl salicylate (MeS) to females at mating, a substance that is emitted by non-virgin females when courted by males, curtailing courtship and decreasing the likelihood of female re-mating. The volatile is released when females display the 'mate-refusal' posture with spread wings and elevated abdomen, when courted by conspecific males. Here, we assess how the amount of MeS released by courted females changes over time since mating, and whether it is influenced by the frequency with which females display the mate-refusal posture. We also assess whether males tailor the anti-aphrodisiac content of ejaculates with respect to the expected degree of sperm competition, by comparing how males allocate MeS proportionately to first and second ejaculates in relation to ejaculate mass. The results show that females housed for 5 days in individual cages where they were able to fly and oviposit normally, released similar amounts of MeS. However, females housed together for the same period of time, causing them to frequently display the mate-refusal posture, released significantly lower levels of MeS than the individually housed females. This indicates that female display of the mate-refusal posture depletes their anti-aphrodisiac stores, and suggests that females are unable to voluntarily control their release of the anti-aphrodisiac. A comparison of relative proportion of MeS transferred by males in their first and second ejaculates showed that proportionately more MeS was allocated to the first ejaculate, in accordance with the idea that these are tailored to delay female re-mating.
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15. |
- Andersson, J., et al.
(författare)
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Sexual cooperation and conflict in butterflies : a male-transferred anti-aphrodisiac reduces harassment of recently mated females
- 2000
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 267:1450, s. 1271-1275
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sexual selection theory predicts that the different selection pressures on males and females result in sexual conflict. However, in some instances males and females share a common interest which could lead to sexual cooperation. In the pierid butterfly Pieris napi the male and the recently mated female share a common interest in reducing female harassment by other males soon after mating. Here we show that P. napi males transfer an anti-aphrodisiac to the female at mating, methyl-salicylate (MeS), which is a volatile substance which mated females emit when courted and which makes males quickly abandon them. A C-13-labelling experiment demonstrated that only males synthesize MeS. The effect of this antiaphrodisiac is so strong that most males will refrain from mating with virgin females to whom MeS has been artificially applied. In P. napi, males also transfer nutrients to females at mating. This increases female fecundity and longevity and so females benefit from remating. Hence, sexual cooperation gradually turns to conflict. Future research is required to reveal which sex controls the gradual decrease in the MeS titre which is necessary for allowing mated females to regain attractiveness and remate.
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16. |
- Andersson, Linus, et al.
(författare)
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A matter of time: Bateman's principles and mating success as count and duration across social strata in contemporary Finland
- 2023
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 290:2002
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Bateman's principles heavily influence the understanding of human reproductive behaviour. Yet, few rigorous studies on Bateman's principles in contemporary industrialized populations exist. Most studies use small samples, exclude non-marital unions, and disregard recent insights on within-population heterogeneity in mating strategies. We assess mating success and reproductive success using population-wide Finnish register data on marital and non-marital cohabitations and fertility. We examine variability across social strata in the Bateman principles and analyse the mate count, the cumulated duration with a mate, and the association with reproductive success. Results support Bateman's first and second principles. Regarding Bateman's third principle, the number of mates is more positively associated with reproductive success for men than women, but this association is driven by ever having a mate. Having more than one mate is on average associated with lower reproductive success. However, for men in the lowest income quartile, having more than one mate positively predicts reproductive success. Longer union duration is associated with higher reproductive success, and more so for men. We note that sex differences in the relationship between mating success and reproductive success differ by social strata, and argue that mate duration may be an important component of mating success alongside mate count.
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17. |
- ANDERSSON, MS, et al.
(författare)
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GLYCOSYLATED HEMOGLOBIN - A NEW MEASURE OF CONDITION IN BIRDS
- 1995
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Ingår i: PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON SERIES B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES. - : ROYAL SOC LONDON. - 0962-8452. ; 260:1359, s. 299-303
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The influence of condition on time of breeding and reproductive success has been discussed since Darwin first suggested a relation in 1871. We used a novel method to investigate the influence of condition on the timing of breeding and reproductive success
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18. |
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19. |
- Angeler, David
(författare)
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Body size distributions signal a regime shift in a lake ecosystem
- 2016
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 283
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Communities of organisms, from mammals to microorganisms, have discontinuous distributions of body size. This pattern of size structuring is a conservative trait of community organization and is a product of processes that occur at multiple spatial and temporal scales. In this study, we assessed whether body size patterns serve as an indicator of a threshold between alternative regimes. Over the past 7000 years, the biological communities of Foy Lake (Montana, USA) have undergone a major regime shift owing to climate change. We used a palaeoecological record of diatom communities to estimate diatom sizes, and then analysed the discontinuous distribution of organism sizes over time. We used Bayesian classification and regression tree models to determine that all time intervals exhibited aggregations of sizes separated by gaps in the distribution and found a significant change in diatom body size distributions approximately 150 years before the identified ecosystem regime shift. We suggest that discontinuity analysis is a useful addition to the suite of tools for the detection of early warning signals of regime shifts.
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20. |
- Anikin, Andrey, et al.
(författare)
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Harsh is large : Nonlinear vocal phenomena lower voice pitch and exaggerate body size
- 2021
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Ingår i: Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 1471-2954. ; 288:1954
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A lion’s roar, a dog’s bark, an angry yell in a pub brawl: what do these voca-lizations have in common? They all sound harsh due to nonlinear vocal phenomena (NLP)—deviations from regular voice production, hypothesized to lower perceived voice pitch and thereby exaggerate the apparent bodysize of the vocalizer. To test this yet uncorroborated hypothesis, we synthesized human nonverbal vocalizations, such as roars, groans and screams, with and without NLP (amplitude modulation, subharmonics and chaos).We then measured their effects on nearly 700 listeners’ perceptions of three psychoacoustic (pitch, timbre, roughness) and three ecological (body size, for-midability, aggression) characteristics. In an explicit rating task, all NLP lowered perceived voice pitch, increased voice darkness and roughness, and caused vocalizers to sound larger, more formidable and more aggressive. Key results were replicated in an implicit associations test, suggesting that the‘harsh is large’ bias will arise in ecologically relevant confrontational contexts that involve a rapid, and largely implicit, evaluation of the opponent’s size. In sum, nonlinearities in human vocalizations can flexibly communicate both formidability and intention to attack, suggesting they are not a mere byproduct of loud vocalizing, but rather an informative acoustic signal wellsuited for intimidating potential opponents.
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21. |
- Aplin, Lucy M., et al.
(författare)
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Individual-level personality influences social foraging and collective behaviour in wild birds
- 2014
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 281:1789, s. 20141016-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is increasing evidence that animal groups can maintain coordinated behaviour and make collective decisions based on simple interaction rules. Effective collective action may be further facilitated by individual variation within groups, particularly through leader-follower polymorphisms. Recent studies have suggested that individual-level personality traits influence the degree to which individuals use social information, are attracted to conspecifics, or act as leaders/followers. However, evidence is equivocal and largely limited to laboratory studies. We use an automated data-collection system to conduct an experiment testing the relationship between personality and collective decision-making in the wild. First, we report that foraging flocks of great tits (Parus major) show strikingly synchronous behaviour. A predictive model of collective decision-making replicates patterns well, suggesting simple interaction rules are sufficient to explain the observed social behaviour. Second, within groups, individuals with more reactive personalities behave more collectively, moving to within-flock areas of higher density. By contrast, proactive individuals tend to move to and feed at spatial periphery of flocks. Finally, comparing alternative simulations of flocking with empirical data, we demonstrate that variation in personality promotes within-patch movement while maintaining group cohesion. Our results illustrate the importance of incorporating individual variability in models of social behaviour.
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22. |
- Arlt, D, et al.
(författare)
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Observation of a ZZW female in a natural population: implications for avian sex determination
- 2004
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Ingår i: Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 1471-2954. ; 271:S4, s. 249-251
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Avian sex determination is chromosomal; however, the underlying mechanisms are not yet understood. There is no conclusive evidence for either of two proposed mechanisms: a dominant genetic switch or a dosage mechanism. No dominant sex-determining gene on the female-specific W chromosome has been found. Birds lack inactivation of one of the Z chromosomes in males, but seem to compensate for a double dose of Z-linked genes by other mechanisms. Recent studies showing female-specific expression of two genes may support an active role of the W chromosome. To resolve the question of avian sex determination the investigation of birds with a 2A: ZZW or 2A: Z0 genotype would be decisive. Here, we report the case of an apparent 2A: ZZW great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) female breeding in a natural population, which was detected using Z-linked microsatellites. Our data strongly suggest a role of W-linked genes in avian sex determination.
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23. |
- Arnqvist, Göran, Professor, 1961-, et al.
(författare)
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Direct and indirect effects of male genital elaboration in female seed beetles
- 2021
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - London : Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 288:1954
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Our understanding of coevolution between male genitalia and female traits remains incomplete. This is perhaps especially true for genital traits that cause internal injuries in females, such as the spiny genitalia of seed beetles where males with relatively long spines enjoy a high relative fertilization success. We report on a new set of experiments, based on extant selection lines, aimed at assessing the effects of long male spines on females in Callosobruchus maculatus . We first draw on an earlier study using microscale laser surgery, and demonstrate that genital spines have a direct negative (sexually antagonistic) effect on female fecundity. We then ask whether artificial selection for long versus short spines resulted in direct or indirect effects on female lifetime offspring production. Reference females mating with males from long-spine lines had higher offspring production, presumably due to an elevated allocation in males to those ejaculate components that are beneficial to females. Remarkably, selection for long male genital spines also resulted in an evolutionary increase in female offspring production as a correlated response. Our findings thus suggest that female traits that affect their response to male spines are both under direct selection to minimize harm but are also under indirect selection (a good genes effect), consistent with the evolution of mating and fertilization biases being affected by several simultaneous processes.
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24. |
- Arnqvist, Göran, et al.
(författare)
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Genome size correlates with reproductive fitness in seed beetles
- 2015
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 282:1815
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The ultimate cause of genome size (GS) evolution in eukaryotes remains a major and unresolved puzzle in evolutionary biology. Large-scale comparative studies have failed to find consistent correlations between GS and organismal properties, resulting in the 'C-value paradox'. Current hypotheses for the evolution of GS are based either on the balance between mutational events and drift or on natural selection acting upon standing genetic variation in GS. It is, however, currently very difficult to evaluate the role of selection because within-species studies that relate variation in life-history traits to variation in GS are very rare. Here, we report phylogenetic comparative analyses of GS evolution in seed beetles at two distinct taxonomic scales, which combines replicated estimation of GS with experimental assays of life-history traits and reproductive fitness. GS showed rapid and bidirectional evolution across species, but did not show correlated evolution with any of several indices of the relative importance of genetic drift. Within a single species, GS varied by 4-5% across populations and showed positive correlated evolution with independent estimates of male and female reproductive fitness. Collectively, the phylogenetic pattern of GS diversification across and within species in conjunction with the pattern of correlated evolution between GS and fitness provide novel support for the tenet that natural selection plays a key role in shaping GS evolution.
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25. |
- Arnqvist, Göran, et al.
(författare)
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Sexual conflict and the gender load : correlated evolution between population fitness and sexual dimorphism in seed beetles
- 2010
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 277:1686, s. 1345-1352
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although males and females share much of the same genome, selection is often distinct in the two sexes. Sexually antagonistic loci will in theory cause a gender load in populations, because sex-specific selection on a given trait in one sex will compromise the adaptive evolution of the same trait in the other sex. However, it is currently not clear whether such intralocus sexual conflict (ISC) represents a transient evolutionary state, where conflict is rapidly resolved by the evolution of sexual dimorphism (SD), or whether it is a more chronic impediment to adaptation. All else being equal, ISC should manifest itself as correlated evolution between population fitness and SD in traits expressed in both sexes. However, comparative tests of this prediction are problematic and have been unfeasible. Here, we assess the effects of ISC by comparing fitness and SD across distinct laboratory populations of seed beetles that should be well adapted to a shared environment. We show that SD in juvenile development time, a key life-history trait with a history of sexually antagonistic selection in this model system, is positively related to fitness. This effect is due to a correlated evolution between population fitness and development time that is positive in females but negative in males. Loosening the genetic bind between the sexes has evidently allowed the sexes to approach their distinct adaptive peaks.
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26. |
- Arnqvist, Göran, et al.
(författare)
-
The effect of epistasis on sexually antagonistic genetic variation
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 281:1787, s. 20140489-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is increasing evidence of segregating sexually antagonistic (SA) genetic variation for fitness in laboratory and wild populations, yet the conditions for the maintenance of such variation can be restrictive. Epistatic interactions between genes can contribute to the maintenance of genetic variance in fitness and we suggest that epistasis between SA genes should be pervasive. Here, we explore its effect on SA genetic variation in fitness using a two locus model with negative epistasis. Our results demonstrate that epistasis often increases the parameter space showing polymorphism for SA loci. This is because selection in one locus is affected by allele frequencies at the other, which can act to balance net selection in males and females. Increased linkage between SA loci had more marginal effects. We also show that under some conditions, large portions of the parameter space evolve to a state where male benefit alleles are fixed at one locus and female benefit alleles at the other. This novel effect of epistasis on SA loci, which we term the 'equity effect', may have important effects on population differentiation and may contribute to speciation. More generally, these results support the suggestion that epistasis contributes to population divergence.
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27. |
- Aronson, M.F.J., et al.
(författare)
-
A global analysis of the impacts of urbanization on bird and plant diversity reveals key anthropogenic drivers
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 281:1780, s. 20133330-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Urbanization contributes to the loss of the world's biodiversity and the homogenization of its biota. However, comparative studies of urban biodiversity leading to robust generalities of the status and drivers of biodiversity in cities at the global scale are lacking. Here, we compiled the largest global dataset to date of two diverse taxa in cities: birds (54 cities) and plants (110 cities). We found that the majority of urban bird and plant species are native in the world's cities. Few plants and birds are cosmopolitan, the most common being Columba livia and Poa annua. The density of bird and plant species (the number of species per km2) has declined substantially: only 8% of native bird and 25% of native plant species are currently present compared with estimates of non-urban density of species. The current density of species in cities and the loss in density of species was best explained by anthropogenic features (landcover, city age) rather than by non-anthropogenic factors (geography, climate, topography). As urbanization continues to expand, efforts directed towards the conservation of intact vegetation within urban landscapes could support higher concentrations of both bird and plant species. Despite declines in the density of species, cities still retain endemic native species, thus providing opportunities for regional and global biodiversity conservation, restoration and education.
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28. |
- Arshamian, Artin, et al.
(författare)
-
Human sickness detection is not dependent on cultural experience
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 288:1954
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Animals across phyla can detect early cues of infection in conspecifics, thereby reducing the risk of contamination. It is unknown, however, if humans can detect cues of sickness in people belonging to communities with whom they have limited or no experience. To test this, we presented Western faces photographed 2 h after the experimental induction of an acute immune response to one Western and five non-Western communities, including small-scale hunter-gatherer and large urban-dwelling communities. All communities could detect sick individuals. There were group differences in performance but Western participants, who observed faces from their own community, were not systematically better than all non-Western participants. At odds with the common belief that sickness detection of an out-group member should be biased to err on the side of caution, the majority of non-Western communities were unbiased. Our results show that subtle cues of a general immune response are recognized across cultures and may aid in detecting infectious threats.
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29. |
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30. |
- Asghar, Muhammad, et al.
(författare)
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Parallel telomere shortening in multiple body tissues owing to malaria infection
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 1471-2954 .- 0962-8452. ; 283:1836
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Several studies have shown associations between shorter telomere length in blood and weakened immune function, susceptibility to infections, and increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Recently, we have shown that malaria accelerates telomere attrition in blood cells and shortens lifespan in birds. However, the impact of infections on telomere attrition in different body tissues within an individual is unknown. Here, we tested whether malarial infection leads to parallel telomere shortening in blood and tissue samples from different organs. We experimentally infected siskins (Spinus spinus) with the avian malaria parasite Plasmodium ashfordi, and used real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to measure telomere length in control and experimentally infected siskins. We found that experimentally infected birds showed faster telomere attrition in blood over the course of infection compared with control individuals (repeatedly measured over 105 days post-infection (DPI)). Shorter telomeres were also found in the tissue of all six major organs investigated (liver, lungs, spleen, heart, kidney, and brain) in infected birds compared with controls at 105 DPI. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study showing that an infectious disease results in synchronous telomere shortening in the blood and tissue cells of internal organs within individuals, implying that the infection induces systemic stress. Our results have far-reaching implications for understanding how the short-term effects of an infection can translate into long-term costs, such as organ dysfunction, degenerative diseases, and ageing.
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31. |
- Auffret, Alistair G., et al.
(författare)
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Land uplift creates important meadow habitat and a potential original niche for grassland species
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 285:1876
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Semi-natural grasslands have been severely affected by agricultural land-use change. However, the isostatic land adjustment following deglaciation in the Northern Hemisphere means that new land is continually being created in coastal areas. We modelled isostatic adjustment during the last 4000 years in a region of the Baltic coast to estimate the emergence of potential grassland habitat. We also compared the alpha and beta diversity of existing managed and abandoned coastal meadows, and assessed their contribution to biodiversity at landscape scales. We estimated that half the 7866 km(2) of emerging land had the potential to become coastal meadow habitat, which is an order of magnitude larger than the total area of all valuable semi-natural grassland in the study region today. The small area of managed coastal habitat remaining was found to have a disproportionate influence on the richness of threatened species at landscape scales, but our results also show that continued management is essential for the maintenance of grassland biodiversity. Our combination of approaches identifies uplifted coastal meadows as an additional original niche for grassland plant species, while highlighting that low-intensity disturbance through grassland management is essential for the maintenance of diversity at multiple scales.
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32. |
- Auld, Stuart K J R, et al.
(författare)
-
The timings of host diapause and epidemic progression mediate host genetic diversity and future epidemic size in Daphnia-parasite populations.
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Proceedings. Biological sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 1471-2954. ; 290:1995
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Epidemics commonly exert parasite-mediated selection and cause declines in host population genetic diversity. This can lead to evolution of resistance in the long term and smaller subsequent epidemics. Alternatively, the loss of genetic diversity can increase host vulnerability to future disease spread and larger future epidemics. Matters are made more complex by the fact that a great many host organisms produce diapausing life stages in response to environmental change (often as a result of sexual reproduction; e.g. plant seeds and invertebrate resting eggs). These diapausing stages can disrupt the relationship between past epidemics, host genetic diversity and future epidemics because they allow host dispersal through time. Specifically, temporally dispersing hosts avoid infection and thus selection from contemporary parasites, and also archive genetic variation for the future. We studied 80 epidemics in 20 semi-natural populations of the temporally dispersing crustacean Daphnia magna and its sterilizing bacterial parasite Pasteuria ramosa, and half of these populations experienced a simulated environmental disturbance treatment. We found that early initiation of diapause relative to the timing of the epidemic led to greater host genetic diversity and reduced epidemic size in the subsequent year, but this was unaffected by environmental disturbance.
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33. |
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34. |
- Axelsson, John, et al.
(författare)
-
Identification of acutely sick people and facial cues of sickness
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 285:1870
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Detection and avoidance of sick individuals have been proposed as essential components in a behavioural defence against disease, limiting the risk of contamination. However, almost no knowledge exists on whether humans can detect sick individuals, and if so by what cues. Here, we demonstrate that untrained people can identify sick individuals above chance level by looking at facial photos taken 2 h after injection with a bacterial stimulus inducing an immune response (2.0 ng kg-1 lipopolysaccharide) or placebo, the global sensitivity index being d' = 0.405. Signal detection analysis (receiver operating characteristic curve area) showed an area of 0.62 (95% confidence intervals 0.60-0.63). Acutely sick people were rated by naive observers as having paler lips and skin, a more swollen face, droopier corners of the mouth, more hanging eyelids, redder eyes, and less glossy and patchy skin, as well as appearing more tired. Our findings suggest that facial cues associated with the skin, mouth and eyes can aid in the detection of acutely sick and potentially contagious people.
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35. |
- Bacquet, Paul M B, et al.
(författare)
-
Selection on male sex pheromone composition contributes to butterfly reproductive isolation.
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 1471-2954. ; 282:1804
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Selection can facilitate diversification by inducing character displacement in mate choice traits that reduce the probability of maladaptive mating between lineages. Although reproductive character displacement (RCD) has been demonstrated in two-taxa case studies, the frequency of this process in nature is still debated. Moreover, studies have focused primarily on visual and acoustic traits, despite the fact that chemical communication is probably the most common means of species recognition. Here, we showed in a large, mostly sympatric, butterfly genus, a strong pattern of recurrent RCD for predicted male sex pheromone composition, but not for visual mate choice traits. Our results suggest that RCD is not anecdotal, and that selection for divergence in male sex pheromone composition contributed to reproductive isolation within the Bicyclus genus. We propose that selection may target olfactory mate choice traits as a more common sensory modality to ensure reproductive isolation among diverging lineages than previously envisaged.
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36. |
- Baird, Emily, et al.
(författare)
-
Finding the gap : A brightness-based strategy for guidance in cluttered environments
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452. ; 283:1828
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The ability to move safely between obstacles is critical for animals that fly rapidly through cluttered environments but surprisingly little is known about how they achieve this. Do they reactively avoid obstacles or do they instead fly towards the gaps between them? If they aim towards gaps, what information do they use to detect and fly through them? Here, we aim to answer these questions by presenting orchid bees with different apertures. When negotiating gaps, orchid bees locate and fly close to the point that gives themgreatest clearance from the edges. The cue that they use to pinpoint this spot is the brightness gradient formed across the aperture. Furthermore, we find that orchid bees also rely on brightness cues to locate gaps that are sufficiently large to negotiate safely. The advantage of using brightness for locating and negotiating gaps in a cluttered environment is that it provides information about the safest path through obstacles, at least in a forest environment. This brightness-based guidance strategy for gap detection and negotiation represents a fast, computationally simple and efficient mechanism to identify the clearest path through a forest and is, therefore, likely to represent a more general mechanism used by other animals.
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37. |
- Baird, Emily, et al.
(författare)
-
The effect of optic flow cues on honeybee flight control in wind
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 288:1943
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To minimize the risk of colliding with the ground or other obstacles, flying animals need to control both their ground speed and ground height. This task is particularly challenging in wind, where head winds require an animal to increase its airspeed to maintain a constant ground speed and tail winds may generate negative airspeeds, rendering flight more difficult to control. In this study, we investigate how head and tail winds affect flight control in the honeybee Apis mellifera, which is known to rely on the pattern of visual motion generated across the eye-known as optic flow-to maintain constant ground speeds and heights. We find that, when provided with both longitudinal and transverse optic flow cues (in or perpendicular to the direction of flight, respectively), honeybees maintain a constant ground speed but fly lower in head winds and higher in tail winds, a response that is also observed when longitudinal optic flow cues are minimized. When the transverse component of optic flow is minimized, or when all optic flow cues are minimized, the effect of wind on ground height is abolished. We propose that the regular sidewards oscillations that the bees make as they fly may be used to extract information about the distance to the ground, independently of the longitudinal optic flow that they use for ground speed control. This computationally simple strategy could have potential uses in the development of lightweight and robust systems for guiding autonomous flying vehicles in natural environments.
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38. |
- Balogh, Alexandra C.V. 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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Müllerian mimicry: an examination of Fisher's theory of gradual evolutionary change
- 2005
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 272, s. 2269-2275
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 1927, Fisher suggested that Müllerian mimicry evolution could be gradual and driven by predator generalization. A competing possibility is the so-called two-step hypothesis, entailing that Müllerian mimicry evolves through major mutational leaps of a less-protected species towards a better-protected, which sets the stage for coevolutionary fine-tuning of mimicry. At present, this hypothesis seems to be more widely accepted than Fisher’s suggestion. We conducted individual-based simulations of communities with predators and two prey types to assess the possibility of Fisher’s process leading to a common prey appearance. We found that Fisher’s process worked for initially relatively similar appearances. Moreover, by introducing a predator spectrum consisting of several predator types with different ranges of generalization, we found that gradual evolution towards mimicry occurred also for large initial differences in prey appearance. We suggest that Fisher’s process together with a predator spectrum is a realistic alternative to the two-step hypothesis and, furthermore, that it has fewer problems with purifying selection. We also examined factors influencing gradual evolution towards mimicry and found that not only the relative benefits from mimicry but also the mutational schemes of the prey types matter.
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39. |
- Balter, Leonie J. T., et al.
(författare)
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Sleep and subjective age : protect your sleep if you want to feel young
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 291:2019
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The current studies examined the impact of insufficient sleep and sleepiness on the subjective experience of age. Study 1, a cross-sectional study of 429 participants (282 females (66%), 144 males, 3 other gender; age range 18-70), showed that for each additional day of insufficient sleep in the last 30 days, subjective age increased by 0.23 years. Study 2, an experimental crossover sleep restriction study (n = 186; 102 females (55%), 84 males; age range 18-46), showed that two nights of sleep restriction (4 h in bed per night) made people feel 4.44 years older compared to sleep saturation (9 h in bed per night). Additionally, moving from feeling extremely alert (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) score of 1) to feeling extremely sleepy (KSS score of 9) was associated with feeling 10 years older in both studies. These findings provide compelling support for insufficient sleep and sleepiness to exert a substantial influence on how old we feel, and that safeguarding sleep is probably a key factor in feeling young.
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40. |
- Barclay, Victoria C, et al.
(författare)
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CD4(+)T cells do not mediate within-host competition between genetically diverse malaria parasites
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 1471-2954. ; 275:1639, s. 1171-1179
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ecological interactions between microparasite populations in the same host are an important source of selection on pathogen traits such as virulence and drug resistance. In the rodent malaria model Plasmodium chabaudi in laboratory mice, parasites that are more virulent can competitively suppress less virulent parasites in mixed infections. There is evidence that some of this suppression is due to immune-mediated apparent competition, where an immune response elicited by one parasite population suppress the population density of another. This raises the question whether enhanced immunity following vaccination would intensify competitive interactions, thus strengthening selection for virulence in Plasmodium populations. Using the P. chabaudi model, we studied mixed infections of virulent and avirulent genotypes in CD4(+)T cell-depleted mice. Enhanced efficacy of CD4(+)T cell-dependent responses is the aim of several candidate malaria vaccines. We hypothesized that if immune-mediated interactions were involved in competition, removal of the CD4(+)T cells would alleviate competitive suppression of the avirulent parasite. Instead, we found no alleviation of competition in the acute phase, and significant enhancement of competitive suppression after parasite densities had peaked. Thus, the host immune response may actually be alleviating other forms of competition, such as that over red blood cells. Our results suggest that the CD4(+)-dependent immune response, and mechanisms that act to enhance it such as vaccination, may not have the undesirable affect of exacerbating within-host competition and hence the strength of this source of selection for virulence.
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41. |
- Bartholomée, Océane, et al.
(författare)
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Shining a light on species coexistence : visual traits drive bumblebee communities
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 290:1996
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Local coexistence of bees has been explained by flower resource partitioning, but coexisting bumblebee species often have strongly overlapping diets. We investigated if light microhabitat niche separation, underpinned by visual traits, could serve as an alternative mechanism underlying local coexistence of bumblebee species. To this end, we focused on a homogeneous flower resource—bilberry—in a heterogeneous light environment—hemi-boreal forests. We found that bumblebee communities segregated along a gradient of light intensity. The community-weighted mean of the eye parameter—a metric measuring the compromise between light sensitivity and visual resolution—decreased with light intensity, showing a higher investment in light sensitivity of communities observed in darker conditions. This pattern was consistent at the species level. In general, species with higher eye parameter (larger investment in light sensitivity) foraged in dimmer light than those with a lower eye parameter (higher investment in visual resolution). Moreover, species realized niche optimum was linearly related to their eye parameter. These results suggest microhabitat niche partitioning to be a potential mechanism underpinning bumblebee species coexistence. This study highlights the importance of considering sensory traits when studying pollinator habitat use and their ability to cope with changing environments.
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42. |
- Baselga-Cervera, Beatriz, et al.
(författare)
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Loss-of-heterozygosity facilitates a fitness valley crossing in experimentally evolved multicellular yeast
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 289:1976
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Determining how adaptive possibilities do or do not become evolutionary realities is central to understanding the tempo and mode of evolutionary change. Some of the simplest evolutionary landscapes arise from underdominance at a single locus where the fitness valley consists of only one less-fit genotype. Despite their potential for rapid evolutionary change, few such examples have been investigated. We capitalized on an experimental system in which a significant evolutionary shift, the transition from uni-to-multicellularity, was observed in asexual diploid populations of Saccharomyces cerevisiae experimentally selected for increased settling rates. The multicellular phenotype results from recessive single-locus mutations that undergo loss-of-heterozygosity (LOH) events. By reconstructing the necessary heterozygous intermediate steps, we found that the evolution of multicellularity involves a decrease in size during the first steps. Heterozygous genotypes are 20% smaller in size than genotypes with functional alleles. Nevertheless, populations of heterozygotes give rise to multicellular genotypes more readily than unicellular genotypes with two functional alleles, by rapid LOH events. LOH drives adaptation that may enable rapid evolution in diploid yeast. Together these results show discordance between the phenotypic and genotypic multicellular transition. The evolutionary path to multicellularity, and the adaptive benefits of increased size, requires initial size reductions.
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43. |
- Batista, R., et al.
(författare)
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Phylogenomics and biogeography of the world's thrushes (Aves, Turdus): new evidence for a more parsimonious evolutionary history
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Proceedings. Biological sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 1471-2954. ; 287:1919
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To elucidate the relationships and spatial range evolution across the world of the bird genus Turdus (Aves), we produced a large genomic dataset comprising ca 2 million nucleotides for ca 100 samples representing 53 species, including over 2000 loci. We estimated time-calibrated maximum-likelihood and multispecies coalescent phylogenies and carried out biogeographic analyses. Our results indicate that there have been considerably fewer trans-oceanic dispersals within the genus Turdus than previously suggested, such that the Palaearctic clade did not originate in America and the African clade was not involved in the colonization of the Americas. Instead, our findings suggest that dispersal from the Western Palaearctic via the Antilles to the Neotropics might have occurred in a single event, giving rise to the rich Neotropical diversity of Turdus observed today, with no reverse dispersals to the Palaearctic or Africa. Our large multilocus dataset, combined with dense species-level sampling and analysed under probabilistic methods, brings important insights into historical biogeography and systematics, even in a scenario of fast and spatially complex diversification.
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44. |
- Baur, Julian, et al.
(författare)
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Coevolution of longevity and female germline maintenance
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 291:2024
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An often-overlooked aspect of life-history optimization is the allocation of resources to protect the germline and secure safe transmission of genetic information. While failure to do so renders significant fitness consequences in future generations, germline maintenance comes with substantial costs. Thus, germline allocation should trade off with other life-history decisions and be optimized in accordance with an organism's reproductive schedule. Here, we tested this hypothesis by studying germline maintenance in lines of seed beetle, selected for early (E) or late (L) reproduction for 350 and 240 generations, respectively. Female animals provide maintenance and screening of male gametes in their reproductive tract and oocytes. Here, we reveal the ability of young and aged E- and L-females to provide this form of germline maintenance by mating them to males with ejaculates with artificially elevated levels of protein and DNA damage. We find that germline maintenance in E-females peaks at young age and then declines, while the opposite is true for L-females, in accordance with the age of reproduction in the respective regime. These findings identify the central role of allocation to secure germline integrity in life-history evolution and highlight how females can play a crucial role in mitigating the effects of male germline decisions on mutation rate and offspring quality.
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45. |
- Beadell, JS, et al.
(författare)
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Global phylogeographic limits of Hawaii's avian malaria
- 2006
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Ingår i: Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 1471-2954. ; 273:1604, s. 2935-2944
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The introduction of avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum) to Hawaii has provided a model system for studying the influence of exotic disease on naive host populations. Little is known, however, about the origin or the genetic variation of Hawaii's malaria and traditional classification methods have confounded attempts to place the parasite within a global ecological and evolutionary context. Using fragments of the parasite mitochondrial gene cytochrome b and the nuclear gene dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase obtained from a global survey of greater than 13 000 avian samples, we show that Hawaii's avian malaria, which can cause high mortality and is a major limiting factor for many species of native passerines, represents just one of the numerous lineages composing the morphological parasite species. The single parasite lineage detected in Hawaii exhibits a broad host distribution worldwide and is dominant on several other remote oceanic islands, including Bermuda and Moorea, French Polynesia. The rarity of this lineage in the continental New World and the restriction of closely related lineages to the Old World suggest limitations to the transmission of reproductively isolated parasite groups within the morphological species.
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46. |
- Bensch, Staffan, et al.
(författare)
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Host specificity in avian blood parasites: a study of Plasmodium and Haemoproteus mitochondrial DNA amplified from birds
- 2000
-
Ingår i: Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 1471-2954. ; 267:1452, s. 1583-1589
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene of avian malaria (genera Haemoproteus and Plasmodium) was amplified from blood samples of 12 species of passerine birds from the genera Acrocephalus, Phylloscopus and Parus. By sequencing 478 nucleotides of the obtained fragments, we found 17 different mitocholdrial haplotypes of Haemoproteus or Plasmodium among the 12 bird species investigated. Only one out of the: 17 haplotypes was found in more than one host species, this exception being a haplotype detected in both blue tits (Parus caeruleus) and great tits (Parus major). The phylogenetic tree which was constructed grouped the sequences into two clades, most probably representing Haemoproteus and Plasmodium, respectively. We found two to four different parasite mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes in four bird species. The phylogenetic tree obtained from the mtDNA of the parasites matched the phylogenetic tree of the bird hosts poorly For example, the two tit species and the willow warbler (Phylloscopus troclilus) carried parasites differing by only 0.6% sequence divergence, suggesting that Haemoproteus shift both between species within the same genus and also between species in different families. Hence, host shifts seem to have occurred repeatedly in this parasite-host system. We discuss this in terms of the possilble evolutionary consequences for these bird species.
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47. |
- Benson, Roger B. J., et al.
(författare)
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Mesozoic marine tetrapod diversity: mass extinctions and temporal heterogeneity in geological megabiases affecting vertebrates
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 1471-2954. ; 277:1683, s. 829-834
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The fossil record is our only direct means for evaluating shifts in biodiversity through Earth's history. However, analyses of fossil marine invertebrates have demonstrated that geological megabiases profoundly influence fossil preservation and discovery, obscuring true diversity signals. Comparable studies of vertebrate palaeodiversity patterns remain in their infancy. A new species-level dataset of Mesozoic marine tetrapod occurrences was compared with a proxy for temporal variation in the volume and facies diversity of fossiliferous rock ( number of marine fossiliferous formations: FMF). A strong correlation between taxic diversity and FMF is present during the Cretaceous. Weak or no correlation of Jurassic data suggests a qualitatively different sampling regime resulting from five apparent peaks in Triassic-Jurassic diversity. These correspond to a small number of European formations that have been the subject of intensive collecting, and represent 'Lagerstatten effects'. Consideration of sampling biases allows re-evaluation of proposed mass extinction events. Marine tetrapod diversity declined during the Carnian or Norian. However, the proposed end-Triassic extinction event cannot be recognized with confidence. Some evidence supports an extinction event near the Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary, but the proposed end-Cenomanian extinction is probably an artefact of poor sampling. Marine tetrapod diversity underwent a long-term decline prior to the Cretaceous-Palaeogene extinction.
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48. |
- Berg, Elena C., et al.
(författare)
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Kin but less than kind : within-group male relatedness does not increase female fitness in seed beetles
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : ROYAL SOC. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 286:1910, s. 1471-2954
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Theory maintains within-group male relatedness can mediate sexual conflict by reducing male-male. competition and collateral harm to females. We tested whether male relatedness can lessen female harm in the seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus. Male relatedness did not influence female lifetime reproductive success or individual fitness across two different ecologically relevant scenarios of mating competition. However, male relatedness marginally improved female survival. Because male relatedness improved female-survival in late life when C. maculatus females are no longer producing offspring, our results do not provide support for the role of within-group male relatedness in mediating sexual conflict. The fact that male relatedness improves the post-reproductive part of the female life cycle strongly suggests that the effect is non-adaptive. We discuss adaptive and non-adaptive mechanisms that could result in reduced female harm in this and previous studies, and suggest that cognitive error is a likely explanation.
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49. |
- Berg, Elena C., et al.
(författare)
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Sexes suffer from suboptimal lifespan because of genetic conflict in a seed beetle
- 2012
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 279:1745, s. 4296-4302
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Males and females have different routes to successful reproduction, resulting in sex differences in lifespan and age-specific allocation of reproductive effort. The trade-off between current and future reproduction is often resolved differently by males and females, and both sexes can be constrained in their ability to reach their sex-specific optima owing to intralocus sexual conflict. Such genetic antagonism may have profound implications for evolution, but its role in ageing and lifespan remains unresolved. We provide direct experimental evidence that males live longer and females live shorter than necessary to maximize their relative fitness in Callosobruchus maculatus seed beetles. Using artificial selection in a genetically heterogeneous population, we created replicate long-life lines where males lived on average 27 per cent longer than in short-life lines. As predicted by theory, subsequent assays revealed that upward selection on male lifespan decreased relative male fitness but increased relative female fitness compared with downward selection. Thus, we demonstrate that lifespan-extending genes can help one sex while harming the other. Our results show that sexual antagonism constrains adaptive life-history evolution, support a novel way of maintaining genetic variation for lifespan and argue for better integration of sex effects into applied research programmes aimed at lifespan extension.
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50. |
- Berger, David, et al.
(författare)
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Divergence and ontogenetic coupling of larval behaviour and thermal reaction norms in three closely related butterflies
- 2011
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 278:1703, s. 313-320
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Genetic trade-offs such as between generalist-specialist strategies can be masked by changes in compensatory processes involving energy allocation and acquisition which regulation depends on the state of the individual and its ecological surroundings. Failure to account for such state dependence may thus lead to misconceptions about the trade-off structure and nature of constraints governing reaction norm evolution. Using three closely related butterflies, we first show that foraging behaviours differ between species and change remarkably throughout ontogeny causing corresponding differences in the thermal niches experienced by the foraging larvae. We further predicted that thermal reaction norms for larval growth rate would show state-dependent variation throughout development as a result of selection for optimizing feeding strategies in the respective foraging niches of young and old larvae. We found substantial developmental plasticity in reaction norms that was species-specific and reflected the different ontogenetic niche shifts. Any conclusions regarding constraints on performance curves or species-differentiation in thermal physiology depend on when reaction norms were measured. This demonstrates that standardized estimates at single points in development, or in general, allow variation in only one ecological dimension, may sometimes provide incomplete information on reaction norm constraints.
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