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Pollinator sharing between close relatives can be costly and can promote pollination niche partitioning and floral divergence. This should be reflected by a higher species divergence in sympatry than in allopatry. We tested this hypothesis in two orchid congeners with overlapping distributions and flowering times. We characterized floral traits and pollination niches and quantified pollen limitation...
Phylogenies are a ubiquitous visual representation of core concepts in evolutionary biology and it is important that students develop an ability to read and correctly interpret these diagrams. However, as with any representation of complex disciplinary information, learning to correctly interpret phylogenies can be challenging, requiring that a diversity of educational strategies be deployed. Representational...
Local selection can promote phenotypic divergence despite gene flow across habitat mosaics, but adaptation itself may generate substantial barriers to genetic exchange. In plants, life‐history, phenology, and mating system divergence have been proposed to promote genetic differentiation in sympatry. In this study, we investigate phenotypic and genetic variation in Mimulus guttatus (yellow monkeyflowers)...
Male harm arises when traits that increase reproductive success in competition with other males also harm females as a side effect. The extent of harm depends on male and female phenotypes, both of which can diverge between populations. Within a population, harm is inferred when increased exposure to males reduces female fitness, but studies of the divergence of male harm rarely manipulate male exposure...
Vision is critical for most vertebrates, including fish. One challenge that aquatic habitats pose is the high variability in spectral properties depending on depth and the inherent optical properties of the water. By altering opsin gene expression and chromophore usage, cichlid fish modulate visual sensitivities to maximize sensory input from the available light in their respective habitat. Thyroid...
What factors drive diversification in species groups with wide distributions and high morphological disparity? Pavón‐Vázquez et al. used an extensive morphological and phylogenetic dataset to investigate patterns of diversification in monitor lizards (Varanidae). They found contrasting drivers of speciation and morphological diversity across clades and regions, highlighting the importance of considering...
What conditions favor cooperation in sibling interactions? In burying beetles of the genus Nicrophorus, Prang et al. found that dependence on parental care cannot solely explain the degree of offspring cooperation. While only larvae of independent species cooperated when receiving pre‐hatching care, both independent and dependent species cooperated in the absence of pre‐hatching care. This finding...
The structure of the genome shapes the distribution of genetic diversity and sequence divergence. To investigate how the relationship between chromosome size and recombination rate affects sequence divergence between species, we combined empirical analyses and evolutionary simulations. We estimated pairwise sequence divergence among 15 species from three different mammalian clades—Peromyscus rodents,...
Migratory divides are contact zones between breeding populations with divergent migratory strategies during the nonbreeding season. These locations provide an opportunity to evaluate the role of seasonal migration in the maintenance of reproductive isolation, particularly the relationship between population structure and features associated with distinct migratory strategies. We combine light‐level...
A longstanding goal of evolutionary biology is to understand the relationship between genotype and phenotype. Schiffman and Ralph use mathematical modeling to theoretically examine how the genetic network underlying a conserved phenotype can change over time. They found that when phenotypically identical populations with different gene network configurations interbreed, hybrid incompatibilities can...
Senescence, the functional deterioration of cells or organisms associated with increased age, is pervasive across the tree of life. Yet our understanding of the genetic and physiological basis underlying age‐related declines in health and reproduction remains limited. Experimental evolution allows empirical examination of the question of why aging occurs; imposing selection for age‐specific fitness...
Little is known about the intraspecific variation of parasite life‐history traits and how this variation may affect parasite fitness and evolution. We investigated how life‐history traits predict success of individual tree‐hole ticks Ixodes arboricola and estimated their evolutionary potential, as well as genetic correlations within stages and phenotypic correlations within and across stages. Ticks...
Parental care is widespread and has fitness benefits. But caregiving parents incur costs including higher predation, and this may lead to selection for body colors or patterns that help mitigate the risks of caring. The evolution of coloration, including sexual dichromatism, however, can be driven by other factors, such as sexual selection. Therefore, examining the associations between parental care...
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