| 1. |
- Grabowski, Mark, et al.
(författare)
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A Cautionary Note on "A Cautionary Note on the Use of Ornstein Uhlenbeck Models in Macroevolutionary Studies"
- 2023
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Ingår i: SYSTEMATIC BIOLOGY. - 1063-5157 .- 1076-836X. ; 72:4, s. 955-963
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Models based on the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process have become standard for the comparative study of adaptation. have cast doubt on this practice by claiming statistical problems with fitting Ornstein-Uhlenbeck models to comparative data. Specifically, they claim that statistical tests of Brownian motion may have too high Type I error rates and that such error rates are exacerbated by measurement error. In this note, we argue that these results have little relevance to the estimation of adaptation with Ornstein-Uhlenbeck models for three reasons. First, we point out that did not consider the detection of distinct optima (e.g. for different environments), and therefore did not evaluate the standard test for adaptation. Second, we show that consideration of parameter estimates, and not just statistical significance, will usually lead to correct inferences about evolutionary dynamics. Third, we show that bias due to measurement error can be corrected for by standard methods. We conclude that have not identified any statistical problems specific to Ornstein-Uhlenbeck models, and that their cautions against their use in comparative analyses are unfounded and misleading.
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| 2. |
- Grabowski, Mark, et al.
(författare)
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Both Diet and Sociality Affect Primate Brain-Size Evolution
- 2023
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Ingår i: Systematic Biology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1063-5157 .- 1076-836X. ; 72:2, s. 404-418
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Increased brain size in humans and other primates is hypothesized to confer cognitive benefits but brings costs associated with growing and maintaining energetically expensive neural tissue. Previous studies have argued that changes in either diet or levels of sociality led to shifts in brain size, but results were equivocal. Here we test these hypotheses using phylogenetic comparative methods designed to jointly account for and estimate the effects of adaptation and phylogeny. Using the largest current sample of primate brain and body sizes with observation error, complemented by newly compiled diet and sociality data, we show that both diet and sociality have influenced the evolution of brain size. Shifting from simple to more complex levels of sociality resulted in relatively larger brains, while shifting to a more folivorous diet led to relatively smaller brains. While our results support the role of sociality, they modify a range of ecological hypotheses centered on the importance of frugivory, and instead indicate that digestive costs associated with increased folivory may have resulted in relatively smaller brains.
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| 3. |
- Hansen, Thomas F., et al.
(författare)
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Analyzing Disparity and Rates of Morphological Evolution with Model-Based Phylogenetic Comparative Methods
- 2022
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Ingår i: Systematic Biology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1063-5157 .- 1076-836X. ; 71:5, s. 1054-1072
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Understanding variation in rates of evolution and morphological disparity is a goal of macroevolutionary research. In a phylogenetic comparative methods framework, we present three explicit models for linking the rate of evolution of a trait to the state of another evolving trait. This allows testing hypotheses about causal influences on rates of phenotypic evolution with phylogenetic comparative data. We develop a statistical framework for fitting the models with generalized least-squares regression and use this to discuss issues and limitations in the study of rates of evolution more generally. We show that the power to detect effects on rates of evolution is low in that even strong causal effects are unlikely to explain more than a few percent of observed variance in disparity. We illustrate the models and issues by testing if rates of beak-shape evolution in birds are influenced by brain size, as may be predicted from a Baldwin effect in which presumptively more behaviorally flexible large-brained species generate more novel selection on themselves leading to higher rates of evolution. From an analysis of morphometric data for 645 species, we find evidence that both macro- and microevolution of the beak are faster in birds with larger brains, but with the caveat that there are no consistent effects of relative brain size.[Baldwin effect; beak shape; behavioral drive; bird; brain size; disparity; phylogenetic comparative method; rate of evolution.]
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| 4. |
- Hayward, A., et al.
(författare)
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Evolutionary associations between host traits and parasite load : insights from Lake Tanganyika cichlids
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Evolutionary Biology. - : WILEY. - 1010-061X .- 1420-9101. ; 30:6, s. 1056-1067
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Parasite diversity and abundance (parasite load) vary greatly among host species. However, the influence of host traits on variation in parasitism remains poorly understood. Comparative studies of parasite load have largely examined measures of parasite species richness and are predominantly based on records obtained from published data. Consequently, little is known about the relationships between host traits and other aspects of parasite load, such as parasite abundance, prevalence and aggregation. Meanwhile, understanding of parasite species richness may be clouded by limitations associated with data collation from multiple independent sources. We conducted a field study of Lake Tanganyika cichlid fishes and their helminth parasites. Using a Bayesian phylogenetic comparative framework, we tested evolutionary associations between five key host traits (body size, gut length, diet breadth, habitat complexity and number of sympatric hosts) predicted to influence parasitism, together with multiple measures of parasite load. We find that the number of host species that a particular host may encounter due to its habitat preferences emerges as a factor of general importance for parasite diversity, abundance and prevalence, but not parasite aggregation. In contrast, body size and gut size are positively related to aspects of parasite load within, but not between species. The influence of host phylogeny varies considerably among measures of parasite load, with the greatest influence exerted on parasite diversity. These results reveal that both host morphology and biotic interactions are key determinants of host-parasite associations and that consideration of multiple aspects of parasite load is required to fully understand patterns in parasitism.
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| 5. |
- Love, Alan C., et al.
(författare)
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Evolvability in the fossil record
- 2022
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Ingår i: Paleobiology. - : Cambridge University Press (CUP). - 0094-8373 .- 1938-5331. ; 48:2, s. 186-209
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The concept of evolvability - the capacity of a population to produce and maintain evolutionarily relevant variation - has become increasingly prominent in evolutionary biology. Paleontology has a long history of investigating questions of evolvability, but paleontological thinking has tended to neglect recent discussions, because many tools used in the current evolvability literature are challenging to apply to the fossil record. The fundamental difficulty is how to disentangle whether the causes of evolutionary patterns arise from variational properties of traits or lineages rather than being due to selection and ecological success. Despite these obstacles, the fossil record offers unique and growing sources of data that capture evolutionary patterns of sustained duration and significance otherwise inaccessible to evolutionary biologists. Additionally, there exist a variety of strategic possibilities for combining prominent neontological approaches to evolvability with those from paleontology. We illustrate three of these possibilities with quantitative genetics, evolutionary developmental biology, and phylogenetic models of macroevolution. In conclusion, we provide a methodological schema that focuses on the conceptualization, measurement, and testing of hypotheses to motivate and provide guidance for future empirical and theoretical studies of evolvability in the fossil record.
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| 6. |
- Lürig, Moritz D., et al.
(författare)
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Computer Vision, Machine Learning, and the Promise of Phenomics in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
- 2021
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-701X. ; 9
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- For centuries, ecologists and evolutionary biologists have used images such as drawings, paintings and photographs to record and quantify the shapes and patterns of life. With the advent of digital imaging, biologists continue to collect image data at an ever-increasing rate. This immense body of data provides insight into a wide range of biological phenomena, including phenotypic diversity, population dynamics, mechanisms of divergence and adaptation, and evolutionary change. However, the rate of image acquisition frequently outpaces our capacity to manually extract meaningful information from images. Moreover, manual image analysis is low-throughput, difficult to reproduce, and typically measures only a few traits at a time. This has proven to be an impediment to the growing field of phenomics – the study of many phenotypic dimensions together. Computer vision (CV), the automated extraction and processing of information from digital images, provides the opportunity to alleviate this longstanding analytical bottleneck. In this review, we illustrate the capabilities of CV as an efficient and comprehensive method to collect phenomic data in ecological and evolutionary research. First, we briefly review phenomics, arguing that ecologists and evolutionary biologists can effectively capture phenomic-level data by taking pictures and analyzing them using CV. Next we describe the primary types of image-based data, review CV approaches for extracting them (including techniques that entail machine learning and others that do not), and identify the most common hurdles and pitfalls. Finally, we highlight recent successful implementations and promising future applications of CV in the study of phenotypes. In anticipation that CV will become a basic component of the biologist’s toolkit, our review is intended as an entry point for ecologists and evolutionary biologists that are interested in extracting phenotypic information from digital images.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Nilsson, Kalle J., et al.
(författare)
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Colonization of a Novel Host Plant Reduces Phenotypic Variation
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Ingår i: Evolutionary Biology. - 0071-3260.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Understanding the evolution of evolvability—the evolutionary potential of populations—is key to predicting adaptation to novel environments. Despite growing evidence that evolvability structures adaptation, it remains unclear how adaptation to novel environments in turn influences evolvability. Here we address the interplay between adaptation and evolvability in the peacock fly Tephritis conura, which recently underwent an adaptive change in ovipositor length following a host shift. We compared the evolvability of morphological traits, including ovipositor length, between the ancestral and the derived host race. We found that mean evolvability was reduced in females of the derived host race compared to the ancestral host race. However, patterns of multivariate evolvability (considering trait covariances) were very similar in both host races, and populations of the derived host race had diverged from the ancestral host race in directions of greater-than-average evolvability. Exploration of phenotypic integration patterns further revealed relatively high levels of independent variation in ovipositor length compared to other measured traits, allowing some degree of independent divergence. Our findings suggest that adaptation to novel environments can reduce mean evolvability without major changes in patterns of variational constraints, and that trait autonomy helps facilitate divergence of functionally important traits.
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| 9. |
- Saito, Keita, et al.
(författare)
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Developmental noise and phenotypic plasticity are correlated in Drosophila simulans
- 2024
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Ingår i: Evolution letters. - 2056-3744. ; 8:3, s. 397-405
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Non-genetic variation is the phenotypic variation induced by the differential expression of a genotype in response to varying environmental cues and is broadly categorized into two types: phenotypic plasticity and developmental noise. These aspects of variation have been suggested to play an important role in adaptive evolution. However, the mechanisms by which these two types of non-genetic variations influence the evolutionary process are currently poorly understood. Using a machine-learning-based phenotyping tool, we independently quantified phenotypic plasticity and developmental noise in the wing morphological traits of the fruit fly Drosophila simulans. Utilizing a rearing experiment, we demonstrated plastic responses in both wing size and shape as well as non-zero heritability of both phenotypic plasticity and developmental noise, which suggests that adaptive phenotypic plasticity can evolve via genetic accommodation in the wing morphology of D. simulans. We found a positive correlation between phenotypic plasticity and developmental noise, while the correlation between the plastic response to three kinds of environmental factors that were examined (nutrient condition, temperature, and light-dark cycle) was poor. These results suggest that phenotypic plasticity and developmental noise contribute to evolvability in a similar manner, however, the mechanisms that underlie the correspondence between these two types of variation remain to be elucidated.
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| 10. |
- Tsuboi, Masahito
(författare)
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Biological interpretations of the biphasic model of ontogenetic brain-body allometry : A reply to Packard
- 2019
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Ingår i: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0024-4066 .- 1095-8312. ; 128:4, s. 1068-1075
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Allometry is a description of organismal growth. Historically, a simple power law has been used most widely to describe the rate of growth in phenotypic traits relative to the rate of growth in overall size. However, the validity of this standard practice has repeatedly been criticized. In an accompanying opinion piece, Packard reanalysed data from a recent study on brain-body ontogenetic allometry and claimed that the biphasic growth model suggested in that study was an artefact of logarithmic transformation. Based on the model selection, Packard proposed alternative hypotheses for brain-body ontogenetic allometry. Here, I examine the validity of these models by comparing empirical data on body sizes at two critical neurodevelopmental events in mammals, i.e. at birth and at the time of the peak rate of brain growth, with statistically inferred body sizes that are supposed to characterize neurodevelopmental processes. These analyses support the existence of two distinct phases of brain growth and provide weak support for Packard's uniphasic model of brain growth. This study demonstrates the importance of considering alternative models in studies of allometry, but also highlights that such models need to respect the biological theoretical context of allometry.
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| 11. |
- Tsuboi, Masahito, et al.
(författare)
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Brain size evolution in pipefishes and seahorses : the role of feeding ecology, life history and sexual selection
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Evolutionary Biology. - : Wiley. - 1010-061X .- 1420-9101. ; 30:1, s. 150-160
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Brain size varies greatly at all taxonomic levels. Feeding ecology, life history and sexual selection have been proposed as key components in generating contemporary diversity in brain size across vertebrates. Analyses of brain size evolution have, however, been limited to lineages where males predominantly compete for mating and females choose mates. Here, we present the first original data set of brain sizes in pipefishes and seahorses (Syngnathidae) a group in which intense female mating competition occurs in many species. After controlling for the effect of shared ancestry and overall body size, brain size was positively correlated with relative snout length. Moreover, we found that females, on average, had 4.3% heavier brains than males and that polyandrous species demonstrated more pronounced (11.7%) female-biased brain size dimorphism. Our results suggest that adaptations for feeding on mobile prey items and sexual selection in females are important factors in brain size evolution of pipefishes and seahorses. Most importantly, our study supports the idea that sexual selection plays a major role in brain size evolution, regardless of on which sex sexual selection acts stronger.
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| 12. |
- Tsuboi, Masahito, et al.
(författare)
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Breakdown of brain-body allometry and the encephalization of birds and mammals
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology & Evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-334X. ; 2:9, s. 1492-1500
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The allometric relationship between brain and body size among vertebrates is often considered a manifestation of evolutionary constraints. However, birds and mammals have undergone remarkable encephalization, in which brain size has increased without corresponding changes in body size. Here, we explore the hypothesis that a reduction of phenotypic integration between brain and body size has facilitated encephalization in birds and mammals. Using a large dataset comprising 20,213 specimens across 4,587 species of jawed vertebrates, we show that the among-species (evolutionary) brain-body allometries are remarkably constant, both across vertebrate classes and across taxonomic levels. Birds and mammals, however, are exceptional in that their within-species (static) allometries are shallower and more variable than in other vertebrates. These patterns are consistent with the idea that birds and mammals have reduced allometric constraints that are otherwise ubiquitous across jawed vertebrates. Further exploration of ontogenetic allometries in selected taxa of birds, fishes and mammals reveals that birds and mammals have extended the period of fetal brain growth compared to fishes. Based on these findings, we propose that avian and mammalian encephalization has been contingent on increased variability in brain growth patterns.
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| 13. |
- Tsuboi, Masahito, et al.
(författare)
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Comparative support for the expensive tissue hypothesis : Big brains are correlated with smaller gut and greater parental investment in Lake Tanganyika cichlids
- 2015
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Ingår i: Evolution. - : Wiley. - 0014-3820 .- 1558-5646. ; 69:1, s. 190-200
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The brain is one of the most energetically expensive organs in the vertebrate body. Consequently, the energetic requirements of encephalization are suggested to impose considerable constraints on brain size evolution. Three main hypotheses concerning how energetic constraints might affect brain evolution predict covariation between brain investment and (1) investment into other costly tissues, (2) overall metabolic rate, and (3) reproductive investment. To date, these hypotheses have mainly been tested in homeothermic animals and the existing data are inconclusive. However, there are good reasons to believe that energetic limitations might play a role in large-scale patterns of brain size evolution also in ectothermic vertebrates. Here, we test these hypotheses in a group of ectothermic vertebrates, the Lake Tanganyika cichlid fishes. After controlling for the effect of shared ancestry and confounding ecological variables, we find a negative association between brain size and gut size. Furthermore, we find that the evolution of a larger brain is accompanied by increased reproductive investment into egg size and parental care. Our results indicate that the energetic costs of encephalization may be an important general factor involved in the evolution of brain size also in ectothermic vertebrates.
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| 14. |
- Tsuboi, Masahito, et al.
(författare)
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Ecology and mating competition influence sexual dimorphism in Tanganyikan cichlids
- 2012
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Ingår i: Evolutionary Ecology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0269-7653 .- 1573-8477. ; 26:1, s. 171-185
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sexual selection contributes strongly to the evolution of sexual dimorphism among animal taxa. However, recent comparative analyses have shown that evolution of sexual dimorphism can be influenced by extrinsic factors like mating system and environment, and also that different types of sexual dimorphism may present distinct evolutionary pathways. Investigating the co-variation among different types of sexual dimorphism and their association with environmental factors can therefore provide important information about the mechanisms generating variation in sexual dimorphism among contemporary species. Using phylogenetic comparative analyses comparing 49 species of Tanganyikan cichlid fishes, we first investigated the pairwise relationship between three types of sexual dimorphism [size dimorphism (SSD), colour dimorphism (COD) and shape dimorphism (SHD)] and how they were related to the strength of pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection. We then investigated the influence of ecological features on sexual dimorphism. Our results showed that although SSD was associated with the overall strength of sexual selection it was not related to other types of sexual dimorphism. Also, SSD co-varied with female size and spawning habitat, suggesting a role for female adaptations to spawn in small crevices and shells influencing SSD in this group. Further, COD and SHD were positively associated and both show positive relationships with the strength of sexual selection. Finally, the level of COD and SHD was related to habitat complexity. Our results thus highlight distinct evolutionary pathways for different types of sexual dimorphism and further that ecological factors have influenced the evolution of sexual dimorphism in Tanganyikan cichlid fishes.
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| 15. |
- Tsuboi, Masahito, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Evolution of brain-body allometry in Lake Tanganyika cichlids.
- 2016
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Ingår i: Evolution. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0014-3820 .- 1558-5646. ; 70:7, s. 1559-1568
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Brain size is strongly associated with body size in all vertebrates. This relationship has been hypothesized to be an important constraint on adaptive brain size evolution. The essential assumption behind this idea is that static (i.e., within species) brain-body allometry has low ability to evolve. However, recent studies have reported mixed support for this view. Here, we examine brain-body static allometry in Lake Tanganyika cichlids using a phylogenetic comparative framework. We found considerable variation in the static allometric intercept, which explained the majority of variation in absolute and relative brain size. In contrast, the slope of the brain-body static allometry had relatively low variation, which explained less variation in absolute and relative brain size compared to the intercept and body size. Further examination of the tempo and mode of evolution of static allometric parameters confirmed these observations. Moreover, the estimated evolutionary parameters indicate that the limited observed variation in the static allometric slope could be a result of strong stabilizing selection. Overall, our findings suggest that the brain-body static allometric slope may represent an evolutionary constraint in Lake Tanganyika cichlids.
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| 16. |
- Tsuboi, Masahito
(författare)
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Exceptionally Steep Brain-Body Evolutionary Allometry Underlies the Unique Encephalization of Osteoglossiformes
- 2021
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Ingår i: Brain, Behavior and Evolution. - : S. Karger AG. - 0006-8977 .- 1421-9743. ; 96:2, s. 49-63
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Brain-body static allometry, which is the relationship between brain size and body size within species, is thought to reflect developmental and genetic constraints. Existing evidence suggests that the evolution of large brain size without accompanying changes in body size (that is, encephalization) may occur when this constraint is relaxed. Teleost fish species are generally characterized by having close-fitting brain-body static allometries, leading to strong allometric constraints and small relative brain sizes. However, one order of teleost, Osteoglossiformes, underwent extreme encephalization, and its mechanistic bases are unknown. Here, I used a dataset and phylogeny encompassing 859 teleost species to demonstrate that the encephalization of Osteoglossiformes occurred through an increase in the slope of evolutionary (among-species) brain-body allometry. The slope is virtually isometric (1.03 ± 0.09 SE), making it one of the steepest evolutionary brain-body allometric slopes reported to date, and it deviates significantly from the evolutionary brain-body allometric slopes of other clades of teleost. Examination of the relationship between static allometric parameters (intercepts and slopes) and evolutionary allometry revealed that the dramatic steepening of the evolutionary allometric slope in Osteoglossiformes was a combined result of evolution in the slopes and intercepts of static allometry. These results suggest that the evolution of static allometry, which likely has been driven by evolutionary changes in the rate and timing of brain development, has facilitated the unique encephalization of Osteoglossiformes.
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| 17. |
- Tsuboi, Masahito, et al.
(författare)
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Functional coupling constrains craniofacial diversification in Lake Tanganyika cichlids
- 2015
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Ingår i: Biology Letters. - : The Royal Society. - 1744-9561 .- 1744-957X. ; 11:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Functional coupling, where a singlemorphological trait performs multiple functions, is a universal feature of organismal design. Theory suggests that functional coupling may constrain the rate of phenotypic evolution, yet empirical tests of this hypothesis are rare. In fish, the evolutionary transition from guarding the eggs on a sandy/rocky substrate (i.e. substrate guarding) to mouthbrooding introduces a novel function to the craniofacial system and offers an ideal opportunity to test the functional coupling hypothesis. Using a combination of geometric morphometrics and a recently developed phylogenetic comparative method, we found that head morphology evolution was 43% faster in substrate guarding species than in mouthbrooding species. Furthermore, for species in which females were solely responsible for mouthbrooding the males had a higher rate of head morphology evolution than in those with biparental mouthbrooding. Our results support the hypothesis that adaptations resulting in functional coupling constrain phenotypic evolution.
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| 18. |
- Tsuboi, Masahito, et al.
(författare)
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Phenotypic integration of brain size and head morphology in Lake Tanganyika Cichlids
- 2014
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Ingår i: BMC Evolutionary Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2148. ; 14, s. 39-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Phenotypic integration among different anatomical parts of the head is a common phenomenon across vertebrates. Interestingly, despite centuries of research into the factors that contribute to the existing variation in brain size among vertebrates, little is known about the role of phenotypic integration in brain size diversification. Here we used geometric morphometrics on the morphologically diverse Tanganyikan cichlids to investigate phenotypic integration across key morphological aspects of the head. Then, while taking the effect of shared ancestry into account, we tested if head shape was associated with brain size while controlling for the potentially confounding effect of feeding strategy. Results: The shapes of the anterior and posterior parts of the head were strongly correlated, indicating that the head represents an integrated morphological unit in Lake Tanganyika cichlids. After controlling for phylogenetic non-independence, we also found evolutionary associations between head shape, brain size and feeding ecology. Conclusions: Geometric morphometrics and phylogenetic comparative analyses revealed that the anterior and posterior parts of the head are integrated, and that head morphology is associated with brain size and feeding ecology in Tanganyikan cichlid fishes. In light of previous results on mammals, our results suggest that the influence of phenotypic integration on brain diversification is a general process.
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| 19. |
- Tsuboi, Masahito, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Prey motility, egg size and female mating competition: brain size evolution in pipefishes and seahorses
-
Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Brain size varies greatly at all taxonomic levels. Feeding ecology, life history and sexual selection have been proposed as key components in generating the existing contemporary diversity in brain size across vertebrates. Analyses of brain size evolution have, however, been limited to lineages where males predominantly compete for mating and females choose mates. Here, we present the first original data set of brain sizes in pipefishes and seahorses (Syngnathidae). In this group, intense female mating competition occurs in many species (i.e. reversed sex-roles), and mating patterns include monogamy, polygynandry and polyandry. After controlling for the effect of shared ancestry and overall body size, relatively larger brains were positively correlated with relatively longer snout length, which is related to the propensity for feeding on motile and evasive prey items in Syngnathidae, and larger egg size. Furthermore, we found that females, on average, had 4.3% heavier brains than males and that polyandrous species tended to demonstrate female-favored brain size dimorphism. Our results suggest that adaptations for feeding on motile prey items, energetic constraints associated with production of large-brained juveniles and sexual selection in females are important factors in brain size evolution of pipefishes and seahorses.
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| 20. |
- Tsuboi, Masahito, 1985-
(författare)
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Thinking in water : Brain size evolution in Cichlidae and Syngnathidae
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Brain size varies greatly among vertebrates. It has been proposed that the diversity of brain size is produced and maintained through a balance of adaptations to different types and levels of cognitive ability and constraints for adaptive evolution. Phylogenetic comparative studies have made major contributions to our understanding of brain size evolution. However, previous studies have nearly exclusively focused on mammalian and avian taxa and almost no attempts have been made to investigate brain size evolution in ectothermic vertebrates.In my thesis, I studied brain size evolution in two groups of fish with extreme diversity in ecology, morphology and life history, Cichlidae and Syngnathidae. Using phylogenetic comparative methods, I investigated four key questions in vertebrate brain size evolution; cognitive adaptation, sexual selection, phenotypic integration and energetic constraints.I have demonstrated i) that phenotypic integration can link functionally unrelated traits, and this may constrain independent evolution of each part involved or promote concerted evolution of an integrated whole, ii) that brain-body static allometry constrains the direction of brain size evolution, even though the static-allometry showed ability to evolve, allowing evolution of relative brain size under allometric constraints, iii) that the energetic constraints of development and maintenance of brain tissue is an important factor in forming the diversity in brain size in cichlids and syngnathids, both at macroevolutionary and microevolutionary time scales, and iv) that adaptation for feeding and female mating competition may have played key roles in the adaptive evolution of brain size in pipefishes and seahorses. To conclude, my thesis shows the strong benefit of using fish as a model system to study brain size evolution with a phylogenetic comparative framework.
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| 21. |
- Tsuboi, Masahito, et al.
(författare)
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Within species support for the expensive tissue hypothesis : a negative association between brain size and visceral fat storage in females of the Pacific seaweed pipefish
- 2016
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 6:3, s. 647-655
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The brain is one of the most energetically expensive organs in the vertebrate body. Consequently, the high cost of brain development and maintenance is predicted to constrain adaptive brain size evolution (the expensive tissue hypothesis, ETH). Here, we test the ETH in a teleost fish with predominant female mating competition (reversed sex roles) and male pregnancy, the pacific seaweed pipefish Syngnathus schlegeli. The relative size of the brain and other energetically expensive organs (kidney, liver, heart, gut, visceral fat, and ovary/testis) was compared among three groups: pregnant males, nonpregnant males and egg producing females. Brood size in pregnant males was unrelated to brain size or the size of any other organ, whereas positive relationships were found between ovary size, kidney size, and liver size in females. Moreover, we found that the size of energetically expensive organs (brain, heart, gut, kidney, and liver) as well as the amount of visceral fat did not differ between pregnant and nonpregnant males. However, we found marked differences in relative size of the expensive organs between sexes. Females had larger liver and kidney than males, whereas males stored more visceral fat than females. Furthermore, in females we found a negative correlation between brain size and the amount of visceral fat, whereas in males, a positive trend between brain size and both liver and heart size was found. These results suggest that, while the majority of variation in the size of various expensive organs in this species likely reflects that individuals in good condition can afford to allocate resources to several organs, the cost of the expensive brain was visible in the visceral fat content of females, possibly due to the high costs associated with female egg production.
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| 22. |
- Tsuboi, Masahito, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Within species support for the expensive tissue hypothesis: a negative association between brain size and visceral fat storage in females of Pacific seaweed pipefish
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The brain is one of the most energetically expensive organs in the vertebrate body. Consequently, the high cost of brain development and maintenance is predicted to constrain adaptive brain size evolution (the expensive tissue hypothesis, ETH). Here, we test the ETH in a teleost fish with predominant female mating competition (reversed sex-roles) and male pregnancy, the pacific seaweed pipefish Syngnathus schlegeli. The relative size of the brain and other energetically expensive organs (kidney, liver, heart, gut, visceral fat, ovary/testis) was compared among three groups: pregnant males, non-pregnant males and egg producing females. Brood size in pregnant males was unrelated to brain size or the size of any other organ, whereas positive relationships were found between ovary size, kidney size and liver size in females. Moreover, we found that the size a suite of energetically expensive organs (brain, heart, gut, kidney, liver) as well as the amount of visceral fat did not differ between pregnant and non-pregnant males. However, we found marked differences in relative size of the expensive organs between sexes. Females had larger liver and kidney than males, whereas males stored more visceral fat than females. Furthermore, in females we found a negative correlation between brain size and the amount of visceral fat, whereas in males a positive trend between brain size and both liver and heart size was found. These results suggest that, while the majority of variation in the size of various expensive organs in this species likely reflects that individuals in good condition can afford to allocate resources to several organs, the cost of the expensive brain was visible in the visceral fat content of females, possibly due to the high costs associated with female egg production.
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