Macroevolutionary evidence suggests trait-dependent coevolution between behaviour and life-history

• Species with fast life-histories prioritize current over future reproduction, which ought to require greater energetic resources, but also results in a shorter time-period to realize their reproductive potential, compared to slow life-histories, which prioritize future reproduction. Hence, behaviours that increase access to both resources and mating opportunities, at a cost of increased mortality risk, are thought to coevolve with the pace of life-history. However, whether this prediction holds across species, is yet to be tested under standardized conditions. Here, we test how potentially risky behaviours, which facilitate access to resources and mating opportunities (i.e. activity, boldness and aggression), along with metabolic rate, correlates with the pace of life-history across 20 species of killifish, which present a remarkable divergence in the pace of their life-histories. We found a positive correlation between the pace of life-history and aggression, but not with any other behavioural traits or metabolic rate. Aggression is often expressed in the context of mating, while the other behaviours we measured might be more relevant for access to energetic resources. Our results therefore suggest that the trade-off between current and future reproduction plays a more prominent role in shaping mating behaviour, while behaviours related to acquisition of energetic resources may be more affected by ecological factors.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Evolutionsbiologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Evolutionary Biology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

killifish

life-history trade-offs

pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis

risk-taking behaviour

standard metabolic rate (SMR)

etologi

Ethology

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

ovr (subject category)