Traits often do not evolve in isolation or vary independently of other traits. Instead, they can be affected by covariation, both within and across species. However, the importance of within-species trait covariation and, critically, the degree to which it varies between species has yet to be thoroughly studied.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBehavioural plasticity is a major driver in the early stages of adaptation, but its effects in mediating evolution remain elusive because behavioural plasticity itself can evolve. In this study, we investigated how male Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata) adapted to different predation regimes diverged in behavioural plasticity of their mating tactic. We reared F2 juveniles of high- or low-predation population origins with different combinations of social and predator cues and assayed their mating behaviour upon sexual maturity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHow sexual traits are gained and lost in the wild remains an important question in evolutionary biology. Pacific field crickets (Teleogryllus oceanicus) in Hawaii provide an unprecedented opportunity to investigate the factors facilitating evolutionary loss of a sexual signal in real time. Natural selection from an acoustically orienting parasitoid fly drove rapid evolution of a novel, silent male morph.
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