Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Evolution
Elevated nest predation risk promotes offspring size variation in birds with prolonged parental care.
Published: 2019-01-29
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences
Predation of offspring is the main cause of reproductive failure in many species, and the mere fear of offspring predation shapes reproductive strategies. Yet, natural predation risk is ubiquitously variable and can be unpredictable. Consequently, the perceived prospect of predation early in a reproductive cycle may not reflect the actual risk to ensuing offspring. An increased variance in [...]
Steroid Receptors and Vertebrate Evolution
Published: 2019-01-26
Subjects: Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences
Considering that life on earth evolved about 3.7 billion years ago, vertebrates are young, appearing in the fossil record during the Cambrian explosion about 542 to 515 million years ago. Results from sequence analyses of genomes from bacteria, yeast, plants, invertebrates and vertebrates indicate that receptors for adrenal steroids (aldosterone, cortisol), and sex steroids (estrogen, [...]
The more you get, the more you give: Positive cascading effects shape the evolutionary potential of prenatal maternal investment
Published: 2019-01-24
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences
Maternal effects are prevalent in nature and significantly contribute to variation in phenotypic trait expression. However, little attention has been paid to the factors shaping variation in the traits mediating these effects (maternal effectors). Specific maternal effectors are often not identified, and typically they are assumed to be inherited in an additive genetic and autosomal manner. Given [...]
Counter culture: Causes, extent and solutions of systematic bias in the analysis of behavioural counts
Published: 2019-01-06
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences
We often quantify the rate at which a behaviour occurs by counting the number of times it occurs within a specific, short observation period. Measuring behaviour in such a way is typically unavoidable but induces error. This error acts to systematically reduce effect sizes, including metrics of particular interest to behavioural and evolutionary ecologists such as R2, repeatability (intra-class [...]
Temperature as a modulator of sexual selection
Published: 2018-12-03
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences
A central question in ecology and evolution is to understand why sexual selection varies so much in strength across taxa, and it has long been known that ecological factors are crucial to this respect. Temperature is a particularly critical abiotic ecological factor that can drastically modulate a wide range of physiological, morphological and behavioural traits, impacting individuals and [...]