A sustained change in the supply of parental care causes adaptive evolution of offspring morphology

Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolynErthygladolygiad gan gymheiriaid

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Dangosydd eitem ddigidol (DOI)

  • Benjamin Jarrett
    Michigan State University
  • Emma Evans
    Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge
  • Hannah Haynes
    Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge
  • Miranda Leaf
    Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge
  • Darren Rebar
    Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge
  • Ana Duarte
    Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge
  • Matthew Schrader
    Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge
  • Rebecca Kilner
    Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge

Although cooperative social interactions within species are considered an important driver of evolutionary change, few studies have experimentally demonstrated that they cause adaptive evolution. Here we address this problem by studying the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespil- loides. In this species, parents and larvae work together to obtain nourishment for larvae from the carrion breeding resource: parents feed larvae and larvae also self-feed. We established experimentally evolving populations in which we varied the assistance that parents provided for their offspring and investigated how offspring evolved in response. We show that in populations where parents predictably supplied more care, larval mandibles evolved to be smaller in relation to larval mass, and larvae were correspondingly less self-sufficient. Pre- vious work has shown that antagonistic social interactions can generate escalating evolu- tionary arms races. Our study shows that cooperative interactions can yield the opposite evolutionary outcome: when one party invests more, the other evolves to invest less.
Iaith wreiddiolSaesneg
Tudalennau (o-i)3987
CyfnodolynNature Communications
Cyfrol9
Dynodwyr Gwrthrych Digidol (DOIs)
StatwsCyhoeddwyd - 28 Medi 2018
Cyhoeddwyd yn allanolIe
Gweld graff cysylltiadau