1
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Souza LS, Folmar J, Salle A, Eda S. Partial privatization and cooperation in biofilms. AN ACAD BRAS CIENC 2023; 95:e20220985. [PMID: 38126521 DOI: 10.1590/0001-3765202320220985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2022] [Accepted: 01/24/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The evolution of cooperation in microbes is a challenge to explain because microbes producing costly goods for the benefit of any strain types (cooperators) often withstand the threat of elimination by interacting with individuals that exploit these benefits without contributing (defectors). Here we developed an individual-based model to investigate whether partial privatization via the partial secretion of goods can favor cooperation in structured, surface-attaching microbial populations, biofilms. Whether partial secretion can favor cooperation in biofilms is unclear for two reasons. First, while partial privatization has been shown to foster cooperation in unstructured populations, little is known about the role of partial privatization in biofilms. Second, while limited diffusion of goods favors cooperation in biofilms because molecules are more likely to be shared with genetically-related individuals, partial secretion reduces goods that could have been directed towards genetically related individuals. Our results show that although partial secretion weakens the role that limited diffusion has on fostering cooperation, partial secretion favors cooperation in biofilms. Overall, our results provide predictions that future experiments could test to reveal contributions of relatedness and partial secretion to the social evolution of biofilms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas S Souza
- University of Tennessee, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 1416 Circle Dr, 37996, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Jackie Folmar
- Yale University, Yale University Office of Undergraduate Admissions, 38 Hillhouse Ave, 06520-8234, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Abby Salle
- Lincoln Memorial University, College of Osteopathic Medicine, 6965 Cumberland Gap Pkwy, 37752, Harrogate, Tennessee, USA
| | - Shigetoshi Eda
- University of Tennessee, Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries, 2505 E.J. Chapman Drive, 37996-4563, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
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2
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Metzler S, Kirchner J, Grasse AV, Cremer S. Trade-offs between immunity and competitive ability in fighting ant males. BMC Ecol Evol 2023; 23:37. [PMID: 37550612 PMCID: PMC10405452 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-023-02137-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2023] [Accepted: 06/16/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fighting disease while fighting rivals exposes males to constraints and trade-offs during male-male competition. We here tested how both the stage and intensity of infection with the fungal pathogen Metarhizium robertsii interfere with fighting success in Cardiocondyla obscurior ant males. Males of this species have evolved long lifespans during which they can gain many matings with the young queens of the colony, if successful in male-male competition. Since male fights occur inside the colony, the outcome of male-male competition can further be biased by interference of the colony's worker force. RESULTS We found that severe, but not yet mild, infection strongly impaired male fighting success. In late-stage infection, this could be attributed to worker aggression directed towards the infected rather than the healthy male and an already very high male morbidity even in the absence of fighting. Shortly after pathogen exposure, however, male mortality was particularly increased during combat. Since these males mounted a strong immune response, their reduced fighting success suggests a trade-off between immune investment and competitive ability already early in the infection. Even if the males themselves showed no difference in the number of attacks they raised against their healthy rivals across infection stages and levels, severely infected males were thus losing in male-male competition from an early stage of infection on. CONCLUSIONS Males of the ant C. obscurior have a well-developed immune system that raises a strong immune response very fast after fungal exposure. This allows them to cope with mild pathogen exposures without compromising their success in male-male competition, and hence to gain multiple mating opportunities with the emerging virgin queens of the colony. Under severe infection, however, they are weak fighters and rarely survive a combat already at early infection when raising an immune response, as well as at progressed infection, when they are morbid and preferentially targeted by worker aggression. Workers thereby remove males that pose a future disease threat by biasing male-male competition. Our study thus reveals a novel social immunity mechanism how social insect workers protect the colony against disease risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sina Metzler
- ISTA (Institute of Science and Technology Austria), Am Campus 1, Klosterneuburg, 3400, Austria
| | - Jessica Kirchner
- ISTA (Institute of Science and Technology Austria), Am Campus 1, Klosterneuburg, 3400, Austria
| | - Anna V Grasse
- ISTA (Institute of Science and Technology Austria), Am Campus 1, Klosterneuburg, 3400, Austria
| | - Sylvia Cremer
- ISTA (Institute of Science and Technology Austria), Am Campus 1, Klosterneuburg, 3400, Austria.
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3
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Bose APH, Dabernig-Heinz J, Oberkofler J, Koch L, Grimm J, Sefc KM, Jordan A. Aggression and spatial positioning of kin and non-kin fish in social groups. Behav Ecol 2023; 34:673-681. [PMID: 37434638 PMCID: PMC10332448 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arad036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2022] [Revised: 04/01/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Group-living animals are faced with the challenge of sharing space and local resources amongst group members who may be either relatives or non-relatives. Individuals may reduce the inclusive fitness costs they incur from competing with relatives by either reducing their levels of aggression toward kin, or by maintaining physical separation between kin. In this field study, we used the group-living cichlid Neolamprologus multifasciatus to examine whether within-group aggression is reduced among group members that are kin, and whether kin occupy different regions of their group's territory to reduce kin competition over space and local resources. We determined the kinship relationships among cohabiting adults via microsatellite genotyping and then combined these with spatial and behavioral analyses of groups in the wild. We found that aggressive contests between group members declined in frequency with spatial separation between their shelters. Female kin did not engage in aggressive contests with one another, whereas non-kin females did, despite the fact these females lived at similar distances from one another on their groups' territories. Contests within male-male and male-female dyads did not clearly correlate with kinship. Non-kin male-male and male-female dyads lived at more variable distances from one another on their territories than their corresponding kin dyads. Together, our study indicates that contests among group members can be mediated by relatedness in a sex-dependent manner. We also suggest that spatial relationships can play an important role in determining the extent to which group members compete with one another.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aneesh P H Bose
- Department of Wildlife, Fish & Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Skogsmarksgränd, 90183, Umeå, Sweden
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany
| | | | - Jan Oberkofler
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Lukas Koch
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Jacqueline Grimm
- Institute of Biology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2, 8010, Graz, Austria
| | - Kristina M Sefc
- Institute of Biology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2, 8010, Graz, Austria
| | - Alex Jordan
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany
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4
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Leimar O, McNamara JM. Game theory in biology: 50 years and onwards. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20210509. [PMID: 36934762 PMCID: PMC10024991 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 08/31/2022] [Indexed: 03/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Game theory in biology gained prominence 50 years ago, when Maynard Smith & Price formulated the concept of an evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS). Their aim was to explain why conflicts between animals of the same species usually are of a 'limited war' type, not causing serious injury. They emphasized that game theory is an alternative to previous ideas about group selection, which were used by ethologists to explain limited aggression. Subsequently, the ESS concept was applied to many phenomena with frequency dependence in the evolutionary success of strategies, including sex allocation, alternative mating types, contest behaviour and signalling, cooperation, and parental care. Both the analyses of signalling and cooperation were inspired by similar problems in economics and attracted much attention in biology. Here we give a perspective on which of the ambitions in the field have been achieved, with a focus on contest behaviour and cooperation. We evaluate whether the game-theoretical study of the evolution of cooperation has measured up to expectations in explaining the behaviour of non-human animals. We also point to potentially fruitful directions for the field, and emphasize the importance of incorporating realistic behavioural mechanisms into models. This article is part of the theme issue 'Half a century of evolutionary games: a synthesis of theory, application and future directions'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olof Leimar
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm 106 91, Sweden
| | - John M. McNamara
- School of Mathematics, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UG, UK
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5
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Chen Y, Ge E, Zhou L, Du J, Mace R. Sex inequality driven by dispersal. Curr Biol 2023; 33:464-473.e4. [PMID: 36626905 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.12.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Revised: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Inequality between the sexes is pervasive both outside and inside the home. One contributing factor could be the dispersal of one sex at marriage that sets up sex-specific differences in relatedness to the group. Here we exploit the ecological diversity and different social structures found in southwest China to investigate the role of sex-biased dispersal on inequality in the sexual division of labor. We use a wearable fitness tracker and validated readings by confirming that participants' daily "steps" were positively correlated with time spent in high-energy activities, such as agriculture and animal husbandry work, and negatively correlated with low-energy activities, such as leisure and relaxation. We applied multilevel comparative approaches to examine the relative workload pattern between the sexes under different dispersal states. Our results reveal two characteristics that lead to an unfavorable division of workload: being female and dispersing at marriage. This is consistent with the hypothesis that males have increased bargaining power when remaining in their natal home, leading to inequality in workload.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuan Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland and Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, 222 Tianshui South Road, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, PRC; Department of Anthropology, University College London, 14 Taviton Street, London WC1H 0BW, UK.
| | - Erhao Ge
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland and Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, 222 Tianshui South Road, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, PRC; Department of Anthropology, University College London, 14 Taviton Street, London WC1H 0BW, UK
| | - Liqiong Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland and Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, 222 Tianshui South Road, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, PRC
| | - Juan Du
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland and Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, 222 Tianshui South Road, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, PRC.
| | - Ruth Mace
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, 14 Taviton Street, London WC1H 0BW, UK; Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Université de Toulouse 1 Capitole, 31080 Toulouse Cedex 06, France.
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6
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Denison RF, Muller KE. An evolutionary perspective on increasing net benefits to crops from symbiotic microbes. Evol Appl 2022; 15:1490-1504. [PMID: 36330301 PMCID: PMC9624085 DOI: 10.1111/eva.13384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2021] [Revised: 04/05/2022] [Accepted: 04/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Plant‐imposed, fitness‐reducing sanctions against less‐beneficial symbionts have been documented for rhizobia, mycorrhizal fungi, and fig wasps. Although most of our examples are for rhizobia, we argue that the evolutionary persistence of mutualism in any symbiosis would require such sanctions, if there are multiple symbiont genotypes per host plant. We therefore discuss methods that could be used to develop and assess crops with stricter sanctions. These include methods to screen strains for greater mutualism as resources to identify crop genotypes that impose stronger selection for mutualism. Single‐strain experiments that measure costs as well as benefits have shown that diversion of resources by rhizobia can reduce nitrogen‐fixation efficiency (N per C) and that some legumes can increase this efficiency by manipulating their symbionts. Plants in the field always host multiple strains with possible synergistic interactions, so benefits from different strains might best be compared by regressing plant growth or yield on each strain's abundance in a mixture. However, results from this approach have not yet been published. To measure legacy effects of stronger sanctions on future crops, single‐genotype test crops could be planted in a field that recently had replicated plots with different genotypes of the sanction‐imposing crop. Enhancing agricultural benefits from symbiosis may require accepting tradeoffs that constrained past natural selection, including tradeoffs between current and future benefits.
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Affiliation(s)
- R. Ford Denison
- Ecology Evolution and Behavior University of Minnesota Twin Cities Saint Paul USA
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7
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Vickruck JL, Richards MH. Competition Drives Group Formation and Reduces Within Nest Relatedness in a Facultatively Social Carpenter Bee. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.738809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals respond to competition among kin for critical breeding resources in two ways: avoidance of direct fitness costs via dispersal of siblings to breed separately, and formation of kin-based societies in which subordinates offset direct fitness costs of breeding competition via altruism and increased indirect fitness. In the facultatively social eastern carpenter bee, nests are a critical breeding resource in perpetually short supply, leading to strong competition among females. Observations of individually marked and genotyped females in conditions of high and low resource competition demonstrate that competition leads to resource sharing and group nesting. However, in contrast to almost all known animal societies, females avoid nesting with relatives, and disperse from their natal nests to join social groups of non-relatives. This is the first example of a structured insect society with cooperation nestmates, the majority of which are unrelated; thus cooperation is more likely based on selection for direct, rather than indirect fitness. By forming social groups of non-kin, females avoid the indirect fitness costs of kin competition among sisters, yet increase their chances of successful reproduction, and thus direct fitness, when forming colonies of non-relatives.
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8
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Abstract
Bioremediation is a sustainable remediation technology as it utilizes microorganisms to convert hazardous compounds into their less toxic or non-toxic constituent elements. This technology has achieved some success in the past decades; however, factors involving microbial consortia, such as microbial assembly, functional interactions, and the role of member species, hinder its development. Microbial consortia may be engineered to reconfigure metabolic pathways and reprogram social interactions to get the desired function, thereby providing solutions to its inherent problems. The engineering of microbial consortia is commonly applied for the commercial production of biomolecules. However, in the field of bioremediation, the engineering of microbial consortia needs to be emphasized. In this review, we will discuss the molecular and ecological mechanisms of engineering microbial consortia with a particular focus on metabolic cross-feeding within species and the transfer of metabolites. We also discuss the advantages and limitations of top-down and bottom-up approaches of engineering microbial consortia and their applications in bioremediation.
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9
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Lymbery SJ, Tomkins JL, Buzatto BA, Hosken DJ. Kin-mediated plasticity in alternative reproductive tactics. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20211069. [PMID: 34344179 PMCID: PMC8334832 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.1069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2021] [Accepted: 07/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Conditional strategies occur when the relative fitness pay-off from expressing a given phenotype is contingent upon environmental circumstances. This conditional strategy model underlies cases of alternative reproductive tactics, in which individuals of one sex employ different means to obtain reproduction. How kin structure affects the expression of alternative reproductive tactics remains unexplored. We address this using the mite Rhizoglyphus echinopus, in which large males develop into aggressive 'fighters' and small males develop into non-aggressive 'scramblers.' Because only fighters kill their rivals, they should incur a greater indirect fitness cost when competing with their relatives, and thus fighter expression could be reduced in the presence of relatives. We raised mites in full-sibling or mixed-sibship groups and found that fighters were more common at higher body weights in full-sibling groups, not less common as we predicted (small individuals were almost exclusively scramblers in both treatments). This result could be explained if relatedness and cue variability are interpreted signals of population density, since fighters are more common at low densities in this species. Alternatively, our results may indicate that males compete more intensely with relatives in this species. We provide the first evidence of kin-mediated plasticity in the expression of alternative reproductive tactics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel J. Lymbery
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9EZ, Cornwall, UK
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences (M092), The University of Western Australia, Crawley 6009, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Joseph L. Tomkins
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences (M092), The University of Western Australia, Crawley 6009, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Bruno A. Buzatto
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences (M092), The University of Western Australia, Crawley 6009, Western Australia, Australia
- Department of Biological Sciences (E8C 209), Macquarie University, Sydney 2109, New South Wales, Australia
| | - David J. Hosken
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9EZ, Cornwall, UK
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10
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Nestling sex does not influence provisioning effort of parents or helpers in a cooperative bird with a male-biased helper contingent. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-021-03038-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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11
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Abdi MK, Lupi D, Hardy ICW. Co-foundress confinement elicits kinship effects in a naturally sub-social parasitoid. J Evol Biol 2020; 33:1068-1085. [PMID: 32323381 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2019] [Revised: 04/11/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Kinship among interacting individuals is often associated with sociality and also with sex ratio effects. Parasitoids in the bethylid genus Goniozus are sub-social, with single foundress females exhibiting post-ovipositional maternal care via short-term aggressive host and brood defence against conspecific females. Due to local mate competition (LMC) and broods normally being produced by a single foundress, sex ratios are female-biased. Contests between adult females are, however, not normally fatal, and aggression is reduced when competing females are kin, raising the possibility of multi-foundress reproduction on some hosts. Here, we screen for further life-history effects of kinship by varying the numbers and relatedness of foundresses confined together with a host resource and also by varying the size of host. We confined groups of 1-8 Goniozus nephantidis females together with a host for 5+ days. Multi-foundress groups were either all siblings or all nonsiblings. Our chief expectations included that competition for resources would be more intense among larger foundress groups but diminished by both larger host size and closer foundress relatedness, affecting both foundress mortality and reproductive output. From classical LMC theory, we expected that offspring group sex ratios would be less female-biased when there were more foundresses, and from extended LMC theory, we expected that sex ratios would be more female-biased when foundresses were close kin. We found that confinement led to the death of some females (11% overall) but only when host resources were most limiting. Mortality of foundresses was less common when foundresses were siblings. Developmental mortality among offspring was considerably higher in multi-foundress clutches but was unaffected by foundress relatedness. Groups of sibling foundresses collectively produced similar numbers of offspring to nonsibling groups. There was little advantage for individual females to reproduce in multi-foundress groups: single foundresses suppressed even the largest hosts presented and had the highest per capita production of adult offspring. Despite single foundress reproduction being the norm, G. nephantidis females in multi-foundress groups appear to attune sex allocation according to both foundress number and foundress relatedness: broods produced by sibling foundresses had sex ratios similar to broods produced by single foundresses (ca. 11% males), whereas the sex ratios of broods produced by nonsibling females were approximately 20% higher and broadly increased with foundress number. We conclude that relatedness and host size may combine to reduce selection against communal reproduction on hosts and that, unlike other studied parasitoids, G. nephantidis sex ratios conform to predictions of both classical and extended LMC theories.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Daniela Lupi
- Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS), University of Milan, Milano, Italy
| | - Ian C W Hardy
- School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Loughborough, UK
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12
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Preussger D, Giri S, Muhsal LK, Oña L, Kost C. Reciprocal Fitness Feedbacks Promote the Evolution of Mutualistic Cooperation. Curr Biol 2020; 30:3580-3590.e7. [PMID: 32707067 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.06.100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2020] [Revised: 04/29/2020] [Accepted: 06/29/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Mutually beneficial interactions are ubiquitous in nature and have played a pivotal role for the evolution of life on earth. However, the factors facilitating their emergence remain poorly understood. Here, we address this issue both experimentally and by mathematical modeling using cocultures of auxotrophic strains of Escherichia coli, whose growth depends on a reciprocal exchange of amino acids. Coevolving auxotrophic pairs in a spatially heterogeneous environment for less than 150 generations transformed the initial interaction that was merely based on an exchange of metabolic byproducts into a costly metabolic cooperation, in which both partners increased the amounts of metabolites they produced to benefit their corresponding partner. The observed changes were afforded by the formation of multicellular clusters, within which increased cooperative investments were favored by positive fitness feedbacks among interacting genotypes. Under these conditions, non-cooperative individuals were less fit than cooperative mutants. Together, our results highlight the ease with which mutualistic cooperation can evolve, suggesting similar mechanisms likely operate in natural communities. VIDEO ABSTRACT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Preussger
- Experimental Ecology and Evolution Research Group, Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Beutenberg Campus, Hans-Knöll Str. 8, Jena 07745, Germany; Department of Ecology, School of Biology/Chemistry, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück 49076, Germany
| | - Samir Giri
- Experimental Ecology and Evolution Research Group, Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Beutenberg Campus, Hans-Knöll Str. 8, Jena 07745, Germany; Department of Ecology, School of Biology/Chemistry, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück 49076, Germany
| | - Linéa K Muhsal
- Department of Ecology, School of Biology/Chemistry, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück 49076, Germany
| | - Leonardo Oña
- Department of Ecology, School of Biology/Chemistry, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück 49076, Germany
| | - Christian Kost
- Experimental Ecology and Evolution Research Group, Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Beutenberg Campus, Hans-Knöll Str. 8, Jena 07745, Germany; Department of Ecology, School of Biology/Chemistry, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück 49076, Germany.
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13
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Lymbery SJ, Wyber B, Tomkins JL, Simmons LW. No evidence for divergence in male harmfulness or female resistance in response to changes in the opportunity for dispersal. J Evol Biol 2020; 33:966-978. [PMID: 32279381 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2019] [Accepted: 04/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The outcome of sexual conflict can depend on the social environment, as males respond to changes in the inclusive fitness payoffs of harmfulness and harm females less when they compete with familiar relatives. Theoretical models also predict that if limited male dispersal predictably enhances local relatedness while maintaining global competition, kin selection can produce evolutionary divergences in male harmfulness among populations. Experimental tests of these predictions, however, are rare. We assessed rates of dispersal in female and male seed beetles Callosobruchus maculatus, a model species for studies of sexual conflict, in an experimental setting. Females dispersed significantly more often than males, but dispersing males travelled just as far as dispersing females. Next, we used experimental evolution to test whether limiting dispersal allowed the action of kin selection to affect divergence in male harmfulness and female resistance. Populations of C. maculatus were evolved for 20 and 25 generations under one of three dispersal regimens: completely free dispersal, limited dispersal and no dispersal. There was no divergence among treatments in female reproductive tract scarring, ejaculate size, mating behaviour, fitness of experimental females mated to stock males or fitness of stock females mated to experimental males. We suggest that this is likely due to insufficient strength of kin selection rather than a lack of genetic variation or time for selection. Limited dispersal alone is therefore not sufficient for kin selection to reduce male harmfulness in this species, consistent with general predictions that limited dispersal will only allow kin selection if local relatedness is independent of the intensity of competition among kin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel J Lymbery
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Blake Wyber
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Joseph L Tomkins
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Leigh W Simmons
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
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14
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Thünken T, Hesse S, Meuthen D. Increased Levels of Perceived Competition Decrease Juvenile Kin-Shoaling Preferences in a Cichlid Fish. Am Nat 2020; 195:868-875. [PMID: 32364789 DOI: 10.1086/707747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Inclusive fitness theory predicts that individuals can increase their indirect fitness by grouping with kin. However, kin grouping also increases competition between kin, which potentially outweighs its benefits. The level of kin competition is contingent on environmental conditions and thus highly variable. Hence, individuals should benefit from plastically adjusting kin discrimination according to the expected level of kin competition. Here, we investigate whether perceived high competition affects juvenile kin-shoaling preferences in the cichlid Pelvicachromis taeniatus. Juveniles were given the choice between two shoals consisting of either kin or nonkin. Levels of perceived competition were manipulated through food limitation in the face of the differential energy expenditure of differently sized fish. The preference to shoal with kin decreased with increasing levels of perceived competition; small food-deprived individuals avoided kin. Shoaling with kin under strong competition may reduce individual indirect fitness. Hence, individuals can likely improve their inclusive fitness by plastically adjusting their kin-grouping preferences.
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15
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Patel M, West SA, Biernaskie JM. Kin discrimination, negative relatedness, and how to distinguish between selfishness and spite. Evol Lett 2020; 4:65-72. [PMID: 32055412 PMCID: PMC7006462 DOI: 10.1002/evl3.150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2019] [Revised: 11/06/2019] [Accepted: 11/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Spiteful behaviors occur when an actor harms its own fitness to inflict harm on the fitness of others. Several papers have predicted that spite can be favored in sufficiently small populations, even when the harming behavior is directed indiscriminately at others. However, it is not clear that truly spiteful behavior could be favored without the harm being directed at a subset of social partners with relatively low genetic similarity to the actor (kin discrimination, causing a negative relatedness between actor and harmed recipient). Using mathematical models, we show that (1) the evolution of spite requires kin discrimination; (2) previous models suggesting indiscriminate spite involve scenarios where the actor gains a direct feedback benefit from harming others, and so the harming is selfish rather than spiteful; (3) extreme selfishness can be favored in small populations (or, more generally, under local competition) because this is where the direct feedback benefit of harming is greatest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matishalin Patel
- Department of Zoology University of Oxford Oxford OX1 3SZ United Kingdom
| | - Stuart A West
- Department of Zoology University of Oxford Oxford OX1 3SZ United Kingdom
| | - Jay M Biernaskie
- Department of Plant Sciences University of Oxford Oxford OX1 3RB United Kingdom
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16
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Lukas D, Huchard E. The evolution of infanticide by females in mammals. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 374:20180075. [PMID: 31303157 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
In most mammalian species, females regularly interact with kin, which is expected to reduce aggressive competitive behaviour among females. It may thus be difficult to understand why infanticide by females has been reported in numerous species and is sometimes perpetrated by groupmates. Here, we investigate the evolutionary determinants of infanticide by females by combining a quantitative analysis of the taxonomic distribution of infanticide with a qualitative synthesis of the circumstances of infanticidal attacks in published reports. Our results show that female infanticide is widespread across mammals and varies in relation to social organization and life history, being more frequent where females breed in groups and have intense bouts of high reproductive output. Specifically, female infanticide occurs where the proximity of conspecific offspring directly threatens the killer's reproductive success by limiting access to critical resources for her dependent progeny, including food, shelters, care or a social position. By contrast, infanticide is not immediately modulated by the degree of kinship among females, and females occasionally sacrifice closely related infants. Our findings suggest that the potential direct fitness rewards of gaining access to reproductive resources have a stronger influence on the expression of female aggression than the indirect fitness costs of competing against kin. This article is part of the theme issue 'The evolution of female-biased kinship in humans and other mammals'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dieter Lukas
- 1 Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge , Downing Street, CB2 3EJ Cambridge , UK.,2 Department of Human Behavior, Ecology, and Culture, MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology , Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig , Germany
| | - Elise Huchard
- 1 Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge , Downing Street, CB2 3EJ Cambridge , UK.,3 ISEM, Université de Montpellier , CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier , France
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17
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Et tu, brother? Kinship and increased nutrition lower the incidence of cannibalism in male bulb mites. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
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18
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Mathiron AG, Pottier P, Goubault M. Keep calm, we know each other: kin recognition affects aggressiveness and conflict resolution in a solitary parasitoid. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.03.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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19
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Tong X, Akimoto S. Female–female competition leads to female‐biased sex allocation and dimorphism in brood sex composition in a gall‐forming aphid. Funct Ecol 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Xin Tong
- Department of Ecology and Systematics, Graduate School of Agriculture Hokkaido University Sapporo Japan
| | - Shin‐ichi Akimoto
- Department of Ecology and Systematics, Graduate School of Agriculture Hokkaido University Sapporo Japan
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20
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Rodrigues AMM. Resource availability and adjustment of social behaviour influence patterns of inequality and productivity across societies. PeerJ 2018; 6:e5488. [PMID: 30310732 PMCID: PMC6173167 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.5488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2018] [Accepted: 07/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Animal societies vary widely in the diversity of social behaviour and the distribution of reproductive shares among their group members. It has been shown that individual condition can lead to divergent social roles and that social specialisation can cause an exacerbation or a mitigation of the inequality among group members within a society. This work, however, has not investigated cases in which resource availability varies between different societies, a factor that is thought to explain variation in the level of cooperation and the disparities in reproductive shares within each social group. In this study, I focus on how resource availability mediates the expression of social behaviour and how this, in turn, mediates inequality both within and between groups. I find that when differences in resource availability between societies persist over time, resource-rich societies become more egalitarian. Because lower inequality improves the productivity of a society, the inequality between resource-rich and resource-poor societies rises. When resource availability fluctuates over time, resource-rich societies tend to become more unequal. Because inequality hinders the productivity of a society, the inequality between resource-rich and resource-poor societies falls. From the evolutionary standpoint, my results show that spatial and temporal variation in resource availability may exert a strong influence on the level of inequality both within and between societies.
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Affiliation(s)
- António M M Rodrigues
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.,Wolfson College, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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21
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Woodruff GC, Phillips PC. Field studies reveal a close relative of C. elegans thrives in the fresh figs of Ficus septica and disperses on its Ceratosolen pollinating wasps. BMC Ecol 2018; 18:26. [PMID: 30129423 PMCID: PMC6102938 DOI: 10.1186/s12898-018-0182-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2018] [Accepted: 07/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Biotic interactions are ubiquitous and require information from ecology, evolutionary biology, and functional genetics in order to be understood. However, study systems that are amenable to investigations across such disparate fields are rare. Figs and fig wasps are a classic system for ecology and evolutionary biology with poor functional genetics; Caenorhabditis elegans is a classic system for functional genetics with poor ecology. In order to help bridge these disciplines, here we describe the natural history of a close relative of C. elegans, Caenorhabditis inopinata, that is associated with the fig Ficus septica and its pollinating Ceratosolen wasps. RESULTS To understand the natural context of fig-associated Caenorhabditis, fresh F. septica figs from four Okinawan islands were sampled, dissected, and observed under microscopy. C. inopinata was found in all islands where F. septica figs were found. C.i nopinata was routinely found in the fig interior and almost never observed on the outside surface. C. inopinata was only found in pollinated figs, and C. inopinata was more likely to be observed in figs with more foundress pollinating wasps. Actively reproducing C. inopinata dominated early phase figs, whereas late phase figs with emerging wasp progeny harbored C. inopinata dauer larvae. Additionally, C. inopinata was observed dismounting from Ceratosolen pollinating wasps that were placed on agar plates. C. inopinata was not found on non-pollinating, parasitic Philotrypesis wasps. Finally, C. inopinata was only observed in F. septica figs among five Okinawan Ficus species sampled. CONCLUSION These are the first detailed field observations of C. inopinata, and they suggest a natural history where this species proliferates in early phase F. septica figs and disperses from late phase figs on Ceratosolen pollinating fig wasps. While consistent with other examples of nematode diversification in the fig microcosm, the fig and wasp host specificity of C. inopinata is highly divergent from the life histories of its close relatives and frames hypotheses for future investigations. This natural co-occurrence of the fig/fig wasp and C. inopinata study systems sets the stage for an integrated research program that can help to explain the evolution of interspecific interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gavin C Woodruff
- Forest Pathology Laboratory, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, Japan.
- Department of Biology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA.
| | - Patrick C Phillips
- Department of Biology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
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22
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Cooper GA, Levin SR, Wild G, West SA. Modeling relatedness and demography in social evolution. Evol Lett 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/evl3.69] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Guy A. Cooper
- Department of Zoology; University of Oxford; Oxford OX1 3PS United Kingdom
| | - Samuel R. Levin
- Department of Zoology; University of Oxford; Oxford OX1 3PS United Kingdom
| | - Geoff Wild
- Department of Applied Mathematics; University of Western Ontario; London Ontario N6A 3K7 Canada
| | - Stuart A. West
- Department of Zoology; University of Oxford; Oxford OX1 3PS United Kingdom
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23
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Harrison N, Lindholm AK, Dobay A, Halloran O, Manser A, König B. Female nursing partner choice in a population of wild house mice ( Mus musculus domesticus). Front Zool 2018; 15:4. [PMID: 29467798 PMCID: PMC5819181 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-018-0251-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2017] [Accepted: 01/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Communal nursing in house mice is an example of cooperation where females pool litters in the same nest and indiscriminately nurse own and other offspring despite potential exploitation. The direct fitness benefits associated with communal nursing shown in laboratory studies suggest it to be a selected component of female house mice reproductive behaviour. However, past studies on communal nursing in free-living populations have debated whether it is a consequence of sharing the same nest or an active choice. Here using data from a long-term study of free-living, wild house mice we investigated individual nursing decisions and determined what factors influenced a female's decision to nurse communally. RESULTS Females chose to nurse solitarily more often than expected by chance, but the likelihood of nursing solitarily decreased when females had more partners available. While finding no influence of pairwise relatedness on partner choice, we observed that females shared their social environment with genetically similar individuals, suggesting a female's home area consisted of related females, possibly facilitating the evolution of cooperation. Within such a home area females were more likely to nest communally when the general relatedness of her available options was relatively high. Females formed communal nests with females that were familiar through previous associations and had young pups of usually less than 5 days old. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that communal nursing was not a by-product of sharing the same nesting sites, but females choose communal nursing partners from a group of genetically similar females, and ultimately the decision may then depend on the pool of options available. Social partner choice proved to be an integrated part of cooperation among females, and might allow females to reduce the conflict over number of offspring in a communal nest and milk investment towards own and other offspring. We suggest that social partner choice may be a general mechanism to stabilize costly cooperation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Harrison
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Anna K. Lindholm
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Akos Dobay
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Olivia Halloran
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Andri Manser
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Barbara König
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
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24
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Heinze J. Life-history evolution in ants: the case of Cardiocondyla. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 284:rspb.2016.1406. [PMID: 28298341 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.1406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2016] [Accepted: 09/06/2016] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Ants are important components of most terrestrial habitats, and a better knowledge of the diversity of their life histories is essential to understand many aspects of ecosystem functioning. The myrmicine genus Cardiocondyla shows a wide range of colony structures, reproductive behaviours, queen and male lifespans, and habitat use. Reconstructing the evolutionary pathways of individual and social phenotypic traits suggests that the ancestral life history of Cardiocondyla was characterized by the presence of multiple, short-lived queens in small-sized colonies and a male polyphenism with winged dispersers and wingless fighters, which engage in lethal combat over female sexuals within their natal nests. Single queening, queen polyphenism, the loss of winged males and tolerance among wingless males appear to be derived traits that evolved with changes in nesting habits, colony size and the spread from tropical to seasonal environments. The aim of this review is to bring together the information on life-history evolution in Cardiocondyla and to highlight the suitability of this genus for functional genomic studies of adaptation, phenotypic plasticity, senescence, invasiveness and other key life-history traits of ants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jürgen Heinze
- Zoologie/Evolutionsbiologie, Universität Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany
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25
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Levin SR, West SA. Kin Selection in the RNA World. Life (Basel) 2017; 7:life7040053. [PMID: 29206171 PMCID: PMC5745566 DOI: 10.3390/life7040053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2017] [Revised: 11/17/2017] [Accepted: 11/30/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Various steps in the RNA world required cooperation. Why did life’s first inhabitants, from polymerases to synthetases, cooperate? We develop kin selection models of the RNA world to answer these questions. We develop a very simple model of RNA cooperation and then elaborate it to model three relevant issues in RNA biology: (1) whether cooperative RNAs receive the benefits of cooperation; (2) the scale of competition in RNA populations; and (3) explicit replicator diffusion and survival. We show: (1) that RNAs are likely to express partial cooperation; (2) that RNAs will need mechanisms for overcoming local competition; and (3) in a specific example of RNA cooperation, persistence after replication and offspring diffusion allow for cooperation to overcome competition. More generally, we show how kin selection can unify previously disparate answers to the question of RNA world cooperation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel R Levin
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
| | - Stuart A West
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
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26
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Liu PC, Wei JR, Tian S, Hao DJ. Male-male lethal combat in the quasi-gregarious parasitoid Anastatus disparis (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae). Sci Rep 2017; 7:11875. [PMID: 28928364 PMCID: PMC5605659 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-11890-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2017] [Accepted: 08/30/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Most animals employ aggressive behaviours to acquire resources such as food, territory and mates. Although mating is important for males, which typically exhibit competitive behaviours to gain mating opportunities, they generally tend to avoid conflict escalation; while extreme combat also occurs in some species and results in death. In this study, male-male lethal combat behaviour in Anastatus disparis was examined (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae) by investigating the characteristics of fighting and the factors that influence fighting intensity in this species. Male fight intensity in A. disparis increased with both competitor density and female presence, while it was not influenced by the relatedness among male competitors. By comparing the frequency of received attacks between injured and non-injured males, we found that the former were more vulnerable to attack. In contrast to death due to lethal attack, death that occurs as a result of A. disparis combat may be the cumulative effect of injuries sustained over repeated competitive encounters. Combined with the biological characters of A. disparis, we discuss potential factors contributing to the evolution of fatal conflict in this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng-Cheng Liu
- Center for the Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.,The College of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Jian-Rong Wei
- The College of Life Science, Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei Province, China
| | - Shuo Tian
- Center for the Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.,The College of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - De-Jun Hao
- Center for the Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China. .,The College of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.
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27
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Kramer J, Körner M, Diehl JMC, Scheiner C, Yüksel‐Dadak A, Christl T, Kohlmeier P, Meunier J. When earwig mothers do not care to share: Parent–offspring competition and the evolution of family life. Funct Ecol 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12915] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jos Kramer
- Zoological InstituteEvolutionary BiologyJohannes Gutenberg University Mainz Germany
- Department of Plant and Microbial BiologyUniversity of Zürich Zürich Switzerland
| | - Maximilian Körner
- Zoological InstituteEvolutionary BiologyJohannes Gutenberg University Mainz Germany
| | - Janina M. C. Diehl
- Zoological InstituteEvolutionary BiologyJohannes Gutenberg University Mainz Germany
| | - Christine Scheiner
- Zoological InstituteEvolutionary BiologyJohannes Gutenberg University Mainz Germany
| | - Aytül Yüksel‐Dadak
- Zoological InstituteEvolutionary BiologyJohannes Gutenberg University Mainz Germany
| | - Teresa Christl
- Zoological InstituteEvolutionary BiologyJohannes Gutenberg University Mainz Germany
| | - Philip Kohlmeier
- Zoological InstituteEvolutionary BiologyJohannes Gutenberg University Mainz Germany
| | - Joël Meunier
- Zoological InstituteEvolutionary BiologyJohannes Gutenberg University Mainz Germany
- Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'InsecteUMR 7261CNRS/Université François‐Rabelais Tours France
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28
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Explaining negative kin discrimination in a cooperative mammal society. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:5207-5212. [PMID: 28439031 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1612235114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Kin selection theory predicts that, where kin discrimination is possible, animals should typically act more favorably toward closer genetic relatives and direct aggression toward less closely related individuals. Contrary to this prediction, we present data from an 18-y study of wild banded mongooses, Mungos mungo, showing that females that are more closely related to dominant individuals are specifically targeted for forcible eviction from the group, often suffering severe injury, and sometimes death, as a result. This pattern cannot be explained by inbreeding avoidance or as a response to more intense local competition among kin. Instead, we use game theory to show that such negative kin discrimination can be explained by selection for unrelated targets to invest more effort in resisting eviction. Consistent with our model, negative kin discrimination is restricted to eviction attempts of older females capable of resistance; dominants exhibit no kin discrimination when attempting to evict younger females, nor do they discriminate between more closely or less closely related young when carrying out infanticidal attacks on vulnerable infants who cannot defend themselves. We suggest that in contexts where recipients of selfish acts are capable of resistance, the usual prediction of positive kin discrimination can be reversed. Kin selection theory, as an explanation for social behavior, can benefit from much greater exploration of sequential social interactions.
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29
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Chagnon NA, Lynch RF, Shenk MK, Hames R, Flinn MV. Cross-cousin marriage among the Yanomamö shows evidence of parent-offspring conflict and mate competition between brothers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:E2590-E2607. [PMID: 28289230 PMCID: PMC5380100 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1618655114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Marriage in many traditional societies often concerns the institutionalized exchange of reproductive partners among groups of kin. Such exchanges most often involve cross-cousins-marriage with the child of a parent's opposite-sex sibling-but it is unclear who benefits from these exchanges. Here we analyze the fitness consequences of marrying relatives among the Yanomamö from the Amazon. When individuals marry close kin, we find that (i) both husbands and wives have slightly lower fertility; (ii) offspring suffer from inbreeding depression; (iii) parents have more grandchildren; and (iv) siblings, especially brothers, benefit when their opposite-sex siblings marry relatives but not when their same-sex siblings do. Therefore, individuals seem to benefit when their children or opposite-sex siblings marry relatives but suffer costs when they, their parents, or same-sex siblings do. These asymmetric fitness outcomes suggest conflicts between parents and offspring and among siblings over optimal mating strategies. Parental control of marriages is reinforced by cultural norms prescribing cross-cousin marriage. We posit that local mate competition combined with parental control over marriages may escalate conflict between same-sex siblings who compete over mates, while simultaneously forging alliances between opposite-sex siblings. If these relationships are carried forward to subsequent generations, they may drive bilateral cross-cousin marriage rules. This study provides insights into the evolutionary importance of how kinship and reciprocity underlie conflicts over who controls mate choice and the origins of cross-cousin marriage prescriptions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Napoleon A Chagnon
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211-1440;
| | - Robert F Lynch
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211-1440
| | - Mary K Shenk
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211-1440
| | - Raymond Hames
- Department of Anthropology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588-0368
| | - Mark V Flinn
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211-1440
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30
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Orphan status, school attendance, and relationship to household head in Nigeria. DEMOGRAPHIC RESEARCH 2017. [DOI: 10.4054/demres.2017.36.22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
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31
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Carter GG, Wilkinson GS, Page RA. Food-sharing vampire bats are more nepotistic under conditions of perceived risk. Behav Ecol 2017. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arx006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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32
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Lejeune L, van de Pol M, Cockburn A, Louter M, Brouwer L. Male and female helper effects on maternal investment and adult survival in red-winged fairy-wrens. Behav Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arw121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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33
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Dugas MB, McCormack L, Gadau A, Martin RA. Choosy Cannibals Preferentially Consume Siblings with Relatively Low Fitness Prospects. Am Nat 2016; 188:124-31. [PMID: 27322127 DOI: 10.1086/686729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
When an individual can selfishly cannibalize a relative or altruistically set it free, the benefits of altruism will be positively associated with the relative's fitness prospects (the benefits it receives from altruism). We tested the prediction that altruism should be preferentially directed toward high-quality relatives using larvae of the New Mexican spadefoot toad (Spea multiplicata), a species in which tadpoles plastically express omnivore and carnivore ecomorphs. In a no-choice design, we presented carnivores with sibling or nonsibling omnivores varying in developmental stage, which is positively associated with survival in this toad's ephemeral larval environment. There was a significant interaction between relatedness and developmental stage on the probability of cannibalism: carnivores were overall more likely to cannibalize less developed omnivores, but this effect was exaggerated when the potential victim was a sibling. This evidence that altruists favor relatives with high fitness prospects highlights the numerous factors shaping altruism's payoffs.
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34
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Godoy I, Vigilant L, Perry SE. Cues to kinship and close relatedness during infancy in white-faced capuchin monkeys, Cebus capucinus. Anim Behav 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.03.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
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35
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36
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Kapranas A, Maher AMD, Griffin CT. Higher relatedness mitigates mortality in a nematode with lethal male fighting. J Evol Biol 2015; 29:344-51. [PMID: 26548351 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2015] [Accepted: 11/03/2015] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
According to kin selection theory, individuals show less aggression towards their relatives. Limited dispersal promotes interactions among relatives but also increases competition among them. The evolution of cooperation in viscous populations has been subject of mainly theoretical exploration. We investigated the influence of relatedness on aggression in males of entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema longicaudum that engage in lethal fighting. In a series of in vitro experiments, we found that both competitor male group size and relatedness influence male mortality rates. Higher relatedness led to progressively lower rates of male mortality. In experimentally infected insects, wherein large numbers of males and females interact, the proportion of dead and paralysed (= terminally injured) males was higher when infection was established by infective juveniles originating from a mixture of three lines than in those infected by a single line. The results collectively show that Steinernema longicaudum males recognize their kin and consequently male mortality rates are lower in groups consisting of more related males. Furthermore, this monotonic negative relationship between aggression and relatedness suggests that kin selection benefits are still substantial even under extreme competition. Our experiments also suggest that kin recognition in entomopathogenic nematodes has a genetic basis rather than being strictly based on environmental cues. We discuss our findings within the theoretical context of the evolution of altruistic/cooperative behaviour in structured populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Kapranas
- Department of Biology, Maynooth University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
| | - A M D Maher
- Department of Biology, Maynooth University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
| | - C T Griffin
- Department of Biology, Maynooth University, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland
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37
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Rodrigues AMM, Gardner A. The constant philopater hypothesis: a new life history invariant for dispersal evolution. J Evol Biol 2015; 29:153-66. [PMID: 26431821 PMCID: PMC4738439 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2015] [Revised: 09/25/2015] [Accepted: 09/28/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Surprising invariance relationships have emerged from the study of social interaction, whereby a cancelling‐out of multiple partial effects of genetic, ecological or demographic parameters means that they have no net impact upon the evolution of a social behaviour. Such invariants play a pivotal role in the study of social adaptation: on the one hand, they provide theoretical hypotheses that can be empirically tested; and, on the other hand, they provide benchmark frameworks against which new theoretical developments can be understood. Here we derive a novel invariant for dispersal evolution: the ‘constant philopater hypothesis’ (CPH). Specifically, we find that, irrespective of variation in maternal fecundity, all mothers are favoured to produce exactly the same number of philopatric offspring, with high‐fecundity mothers investing proportionally more, and low‐fecundity mothers investing proportionally less, into dispersing offspring. This result holds for female and male dispersal, under haploid, diploid and haplodiploid modes of inheritance, irrespective of the sex ratio, local resource availability and whether mother or offspring controls the latter's dispersal propensity. We explore the implications of this result for evolutionary conflict of interests – and the exchange and withholding of contextual information – both within and between families, and we show that the CPH is the fundamental invariant that underpins and explains a wider family of invariance relationships that emerge from the study of social evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- A M M Rodrigues
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.,Wolfson College, Cambridge, UK
| | - A Gardner
- School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
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38
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Hadley C. The costs and benefits of kin : Kin networks and children's health among the Pimbwe of Tanzania. HUMAN NATURE-AN INTERDISCIPLINARY BIOSOCIAL PERSPECTIVE 2015; 15:377-95. [PMID: 26189413 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-004-1015-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2003] [Revised: 01/28/2004] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In this paper data from a Tanzanian horticultural population are used to assess whether mother's kin network size predicts several measures of children's health and well-being, and whether any kin effects are modified by household socioeconomic status. This hypothesis is further tested with a questionnaire on maternal attitudes towards kin. Results show small associations between measures of maternal kin network size and child mortality and children's growth performance. Together these results suggest that kin positively influence child health, but the effects are small and it is unlikely that the high prevalence of undernutrition observed in this setting is influenced by the availability of kin.
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39
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Kramer J, Thesing J, Meunier J. Negative association between parental care and sibling cooperation in earwigs: a new perspective on the early evolution of family life? J Evol Biol 2015; 28:1299-308. [DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2015] [Revised: 02/24/2015] [Accepted: 03/23/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- J. Kramer
- Department of Evolutionary Biology; Institute of Zoology; Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz; Mainz Germany
| | - J. Thesing
- Department of Evolutionary Biology; Institute of Zoology; Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz; Mainz Germany
| | - J. Meunier
- Department of Evolutionary Biology; Institute of Zoology; Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz; Mainz Germany
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40
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Walsh JT, Iyengar VK. Win, Lose, or Draw: Effects of Residency, Size, Sex, and Kinship on High-Stakes Larval Contests in a Moth. Ethology 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Justin T. Walsh
- Department of Biology; Villanova University; Villanova PA USA
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41
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew G. Zink
- Department of Biology; San Francisco State University; San Francisco CA USA
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42
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Fernandes WPA, Griffiths SW, Ibbotson AT, Bruford MW, Riley WD. The role of density and relatedness in wild juvenile Atlantic salmon growth. J Zool (1987) 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- W. P. A. Fernandes
- Cardiff University; Cardiff School of Biosciences; The Sir Martin Evans Building, Museum Avenue Cardiff Wales CF10 3AX UK
- Centre for Ecology and Hydrology; Wallingford Oxford DT2 8ZD UK
- The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science; Lowestoft Laboratory; Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 0HT UK
| | - S. W. Griffiths
- Cardiff University; Cardiff School of Biosciences; The Sir Martin Evans Building, Museum Avenue Cardiff Wales CF10 3AX UK
| | - A. T. Ibbotson
- Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust; Salmon and Trout Research Centre; The River Laboratory; East Stoke Wareham Dorset BH20 6BB UK
| | - M. W. Bruford
- Cardiff University; Cardiff School of Biosciences; The Sir Martin Evans Building, Museum Avenue Cardiff Wales CF10 3AX UK
| | - W. D. Riley
- The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science; Lowestoft Laboratory; Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 0HT UK
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43
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Peng YQ, Zhang Y, Compton SG, Yang DR. Fig wasps from the centre of figs have more chances to mate, more offspring and more female-biased offspring sex ratios. Anim Behav 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.09.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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44
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Pizzari T, Biernaskie JM, Carazo P. Inclusive fitness and sexual conflict: how population structure can modulate the battle of the sexes. Bioessays 2014; 37:155-66. [PMID: 25389109 DOI: 10.1002/bies.201400130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Competition over reproductive opportunities among members of one sex often harms the opposite sex, creating a conflict of interest between individual males and females. Recently, this battle of the sexes has become a paradigm in the study of intersexual coevolution. Here, we review recent theoretical and empirical advances suggesting that - as in any scenario of intraspecific competition - selfishness (competitiveness) can be influenced by the genetic relatedness of competitors. When competitors are positively related (e.g. siblings), an individual may refrain from harming its competitor(s) and their mate(s) because this can improve the focal individual's inclusive fitness. These findings reveal that population genetic structure might be of paramount importance when studying the battle of the sexes. We conclude by identifying some new lines of research at the interface of sexual selection and social evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tommaso Pizzari
- Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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45
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Dunn DW, Jander KC, Lamas AG, Pereira RAS. Mortal combat and competition for oviposition sites in female pollinating fig wasps. Behav Ecol 2014. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/aru191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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46
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47
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Wealth modifies relationships between kin and women's fertility in high-income countries. Behav Ecol 2014. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/aru059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
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48
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Bourke AFG. Hamilton's rule and the causes of social evolution. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2014; 369:20130362. [PMID: 24686934 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2013.0362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 95] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Hamilton's rule is a central theorem of inclusive fitness (kin selection) theory and predicts that social behaviour evolves under specific combinations of relatedness, benefit and cost. This review provides evidence for Hamilton's rule by presenting novel syntheses of results from two kinds of study in diverse taxa, including cooperatively breeding birds and mammals and eusocial insects. These are, first, studies that empirically parametrize Hamilton's rule in natural populations and, second, comparative phylogenetic analyses of the genetic, life-history and ecological correlates of sociality. Studies parametrizing Hamilton's rule are not rare and demonstrate quantitatively that (i) altruism (net loss of direct fitness) occurs even when sociality is facultative, (ii) in most cases, altruism is under positive selection via indirect fitness benefits that exceed direct fitness costs and (iii) social behaviour commonly generates indirect benefits by enhancing the productivity or survivorship of kin. Comparative phylogenetic analyses show that cooperative breeding and eusociality are promoted by (i) high relatedness and monogamy and, potentially, by (ii) life-history factors facilitating family structure and high benefits of helping and (iii) ecological factors generating low costs of social behaviour. Overall, the focal studies strongly confirm the predictions of Hamilton's rule regarding conditions for social evolution and their causes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew F G Bourke
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, , Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
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49
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Mesterton-Gibbons M, Heap SM. Variation between Self- and Mutual Assessment in Animal Contests. Am Nat 2014; 183:199-213. [DOI: 10.1086/674443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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50
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Abstract
Abstract
Inclusive fitness theory predicts that cannibalism should be more likely to arise if close relatives can be avoided, suggesting that cannibalistic species will possess mechanisms for minimizing predation on kin. Juvenile Miomantis caffra are good candidates for the possession of such traits because; (1) groups of siblings hatch together into the same locale, (2) they are aggressive hunters, and (3) they are strongly cannibalistic. In this study, the possibility of kin recognition or avoidance in M. caffra is investigated by laboratory comparison of cannibalism rates between groups of differing relatedness. In order to examine the likelihood of encounters between early instar siblings, the extent of dispersal away from the ootheca in the days following hatching is also observed. Nymphs did not rapidly disperse after hatching, so the chances of full siblings encountering one another in the wild appear to be high. Despite this, cannibalism was equally high in groups of full siblings and groups of mixed parenthood. We suggest that for M. caffra, a generalist ambush predator, the benefits of indiscriminate aggression may outweigh any inclusive fitness benefits that would be gained from kin discrimination.
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