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Evolutionary ecology and behaviour

This section considers studies in the areas of evolutionary behaviour and ecology including sexual conflict and selection.

Page 1 of 4

  1. Content type: Research article

    Tamquammys has been considered one of the basal ctenodactyloid rodents, which has been documented in the earliest to middle Eocene (~ 56.0–48.5 Ma) in China. It was the most abundant and widespread rodent genus i...

    Authors: Łucja Fostowicz-Frelik, Qian Li and Xijun Ni

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:150

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  2. Content type: Research article

    Adaptation to new hosts in phytophagous insects often involves mechanisms of host recognition by genes of sensory pathways. Most often the molecular evolution of sensory genes has been explained in the context...

    Authors: Fernando Diaz, Carson W. Allan and Luciano M. Matzkin

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:144

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  3. Content type: Research article

    Sexual selection continues after copulation via either sperm competition or cryptic female choice, and favors sperm traits that maximize sperm competitiveness. Both sperm swimming velocity and longevity are im...

    Authors: Alfonso Rojas Mora, Magali Meniri, Sabrina Ciprietti and Fabrice Helfenstein

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:142

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  4. Content type: Research article

    While the communities constituted by phytophageous insects and their parasites may represent half of all terrestrial animal species, understanding their diversification remains a major challenge. A neglected i...

    Authors: Hui Yu, Dan Liang, Enwei Tian, Linna Zheng and Finn Kjellberg

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:134

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  5. Content type: Research article

    The zooplanktonic cladocerans Daphnia, present in a wide range of water bodies, are an important component of freshwater ecosystems. In contrast to their high dispersal capacity through diapausing eggs carried by...

    Authors: Mingbo Yin, Xiaoyu Wang, Xiaolin Ma, Sabine Gießler, Adam Petrusek, Johanna Griebel, Wei Hu and Justyna Wolinska

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:130

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  6. Content type: Research article

    Spatial isolation, diverging environmental conditions and social structures may lead to the differentiation of various traits, e.g. molecules, morphology and behaviour. Bird calls may provide important informa...

    Authors: Jan Christian Habel, Martin Husemann and Werner Ulrich

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:112

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  8. Content type: Research article

    The maintenance of considerable genetic variation in sexually selected traits (SSTs) is puzzling given directional selection expected to act on these traits. A possible explanation is the existence of a genoty...

    Authors: Agata Plesnar-Bielak, Anna Maria Skwierzyńska, Kasper Hlebowicz and Jacek Radwan

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:109

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  9. Content type: Research article

    Symbiosis is a major source of evolutionary innovation and, by allowing species to exploit new ecological niches, underpins the functioning of ecosystems. The transition from free-living to obligate symbiosis ...

    Authors: Ewan J. A. Minter, Chris D. Lowe, Megan E. S. Sørensen, A. Jamie Wood, Duncan D. Cameron and Michael A. Brockhurst

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:108

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  10. Content type: Research article

    Along with sperm, in many taxa ejaculates also contain large numbers of seminal fluid proteins (SFPs). SFPs and sperm are transferred to the mating partner, where they are thought to play key roles in mediatin...

    Authors: Michael Weber, Julia Wunderer, Birgit Lengerer, Robert Pjeta, Marcelo Rodrigues, Lukas Schärer, Peter Ladurner and Steven A. Ramm

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:81

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  11. Content type: Research article

    Understanding genomic and phenotypic diversity among cryptic pest taxa has important implications for the management of pests and diseases. The diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella L., has been intensively studi...

    Authors: Kym D. Perry, Gregory J. Baker, Kevin J. Powis, Joanne K. Kent, Christopher M. Ward and Simon W. Baxter

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:77

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  12. Content type: Research article

    If a parasite is able to transmit horizontally or vertically, which transmission mode will it choose? We investigated how the growth conditions and the genotype of the mosquito Aedes aegypti affect the transmissi...

    Authors: Giacomo Zilio, Kevin Thiévent and Jacob C. Koella

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:59

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  13. Content type: Research article

    Energy (resources) acquired by animals should be allocated towards competing demands, maintenance, growth, reproduction and fat storage. Reproduction has the second lowest priority in energy allocation and onl...

    Authors: Lin Zhang, Kun Guo, Guang-Zheng Zhang, Long-Hui Lin and Xiang Ji

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:45

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  14. Content type: Research article

    Understanding the genetic and environmental mechanisms governing variation in morphology or phenology in wild populations is currently an important challenge. While there is a general consensus that selection ...

    Authors: E. Quéméré, J. M. Gaillard, M. Galan, C. Vanpé, I. David, M. Pellerin, P. Kjellander, A. J. M. Hewison and J. M. Pemberton

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:39

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  15. Content type: Research article

    The maternally inherited endosymbiont Wolbachia is widespread in arthropods and nematodes and can play an important role in the ecology and evolution of its host through reproductive manipulation. Here, we survey...

    Authors: Hannes Schuler, Scott P. Egan, Glen R. Hood, Robert W. Busbee, Amanda L. Driscoe and James R. Ott

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:37

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  18. Content type: Research article

    Species recognition, i.e., the ability to distinguish conspecifics from heterospecifics, plays an essential role in reproduction. The role of facial cues for species recognition has been investigated in severa...

    Authors: Hanitriniaina Rakotonirina, Peter M. Kappeler and Claudia Fichtel

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:19

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  19. Content type: Research article

    The breeding consequences of virus infections have rarely been studied in avian natural breeding populations. In this paper we investigated the links between humoral immunity following a natural flavivirus inf...

    Authors: Tanja M. Strand, Åke Lundkvist, Björn Olsen and Lars Gustafsson

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:13

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  20. Content type: Research article

    Tracking newly emergent virulent populations in agroecosystems provides an opportunity to increase our understanding of the co-evolution dynamics of pathogens and their hosts. On the one hand host plants exert...

    Authors: Monika Michalecka, Sylwester Masny, Thibault Leroy and Joanna Puławska

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:5

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  21. Content type: Research article

    Parental care, while increasing parental fitness through offspring survival, also bears cost to the care-giving parent. Consequentially, trade offs between parental care and other vitally important traits, suc...

    Authors: Isabel S. Keller, Walter Salzburger and Olivia Roth

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:264

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  22. Content type: Research article

    Although most extant animals have separate sexes, simultaneous hermaphrodites can be found in lineages throughout the animal kingdom. However, the sexual modes of key ancestral nodes including the last common ...

    Authors: Daniel A. Sasson and Joseph F. Ryan

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:242

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  23. Content type: Research article

    The oviparity-viviparity transition is a major evolutionary event, likely altering the reproductive process of the organisms involved. Residual yolk, a portion of yolk remaining unutilized at hatching or birth...

    Authors: Yan-Qing Wu, Yan-Fu Qu, Xue-Ji Wang, Jian-Fang Gao and Xiang Ji

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:235

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  25. Content type: Research article

    Diet composition (yeast:carbohydrate ratio) is an important determinant of growth, development, and reproduction. Recent studies have shown that decreased yeast intake elicits numerous transcriptomic changes a...

    Authors: Er-Hu Chen, Qiu-Li Hou, Dan-Dan Wei, Hong-Bo Jiang and Jin-Jun Wang

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:194

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  27. Content type: Research article

    The performance and fitness of social societies mainly depends on the efficiency of interactions between reproductive individuals and helpers. Helpers need to react to the group’s requirements and to adjust th...

    Authors: Julia Giehr, Jürgen Heinze and Alexandra Schrempf

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:173

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  28. Content type: Research article

    Predation is ubiquitous in nature. One form of predation is cannibalism, which is affected by many factors such as size structure and resource density. However, cannibalism may also be influenced by abiotic fa...

    Authors: Szymon Sniegula, Maria J. Golab and Frank Johansson

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:167

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  29. Content type: Research article

    Quantifying morphological diversity across taxa can provide valuable insight into evolutionary processes, yet its complexities can make it difficult to identify appropriate units for evaluation. One of the cha...

    Authors: Marta Vidal-García and J. Scott Keogh

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:165

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  30. Content type: Research article

    Adaptive plasticity is essential for many species to cope with environmental heterogeneity. In particular, developmental plasticity allows organisms with complex life cycles to adaptively adjust the timing of ...

    Authors: Pablo Burraco, Ana Elisa Valdés, Frank Johansson and Ivan Gomez-Mestre

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:164

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  31. Content type: Research article

    Evidence for the transmission of non-genetic information from father to offspring is rapidly accumulating. While the impact of chemical and physical factors such as toxins or diet on the fitness of the parents...

    Authors: Susanne Zajitschek, James E. Herbert-Read, Nasir M. Abbasi, Felix Zajitschek and Simone Immler

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:157

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  34. Content type: Research article

    On-going global climate change poses a serious threat for natural populations unless they are able to evolutionarily adapt to changing environmental conditions (e.g. increasing average temperatures, occurrence...

    Authors: Katja Leicht, Katri Seppälä and Otto Seppälä

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:140

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  35. Content type: Research article

    The combination of model-based comparative techniques, disparity analyses and ecomorphological correlations constitutes a powerful method to gain insight into the evolutionary mechanisms that shape morphologic...

    Authors: Vicente García-Navas, Víctor Noguerales, Pedro J. Cordero and Joaquín Ortego

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:109

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  36. Content type: Research article

    The ability to form a cellular memory and use it for cellular decision-making could help bacteria to cope with recurrent stress conditions. We analyzed whether bacteria would form a cellular memory specificall...

    Authors: Roland Mathis and Martin Ackermann

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:73

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  37. Content type: Research article

    The evolution of reproductive isolation between herbivorous insect populations is often initiated by shifts to novel host-plants, a process that underlies some of the best examples of ecological speciation. Ho...

    Authors: Willem J. Augustyn, Bruce Anderson, Jeroen F. van der Merwe and Allan G. Ellis

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:72

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  38. Content type: Research article

    Comparative studies suggest that sperm competition exerts stabilizing selection towards an optimal sperm design – e.g., the relative size and covariation of different sperm sections or a quantitative measure o...

    Authors: Alfonso Rojas Mora, Magali Meniri, Sabrina Ciprietti and Fabrice Helfenstein

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:66

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  39. Content type: Research article

    Developmental plasticity is thought to have profound macro-evolutionary effects, for example, by increasing the probability of establishment in new environments and subsequent divergence into independently evo...

    Authors: Erik van Bergen, Dave Osbaldeston, Ullasa Kodandaramaiah, Oskar Brattström, Kwaku Aduse-Poku and Paul M. Brakefield

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:59

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  40. Content type: Research article

    Phenotypic changes in response to environmental influences can persist from one generation into the next. In many systems parental parasite experience influences offspring immune responses, known as transgener...

    Authors: Anne Beemelmanns and Olivia Roth

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:44

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  41. Content type: Research article

    Males and females often have opposing strategies for increasing fitness. Males that out-compete others will acquire more mating opportunities and thus have higher lifetime reproductive success. Females that ma...

    Authors: Trinh T. X. Nguyen and Amanda J. Moehring

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:41

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  42. Content type: Research article

    Both natural and sexual selection may drive the evolution of plumage colouration in birds. This can lead to great variation in plumage not only across species, but also between sexes within species. Australasi...

    Authors: Iliana Medina, Kaspar Delhey, Anne Peters, Kristal E. Cain, Michelle L. Hall, Raoul A. Mulder and Naomi E. Langmore

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:35

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  43. Content type: Research article

    Many diurnal animals exhibit a mid-day ‘siesta’, generally thought to be an adaptive response aimed at minimizing exposure to heat on warm days, suggesting that in regions with cooler climates mid-day siestas ...

    Authors: Weihuan Cao and Isaac Edery

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:32

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  44. Content type: Research article

    Quantifying the conspicuousness of objects against particular backgrounds is key to understanding the evolution and adaptive value of animal coloration, and in designing effective camouflage. Quantifying detec...

    Authors: Jolyon Troscianko, John Skelhorn and Martin Stevens

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:7

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  45. Content type: Research article

    Aposematic species advertise their unpalatability using warning signals such as striking coloration. Given that predators need to sample aposematic prey to learn that they are unprofitable, prey with similar w...

    Authors: Mónica Arias, Aimilia Meichanetzoglou, Marianne Elias, Neil Rosser, Donna Lisa de-Silva, Bastien Nay and Violaine Llaurens

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2016 16:272

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  47. Content type: Research article

    Domestication of Atlantic salmon for commercial aquaculture has resulted in farmed salmon displaying substantially higher growth rates than wild salmon under farming conditions. In contrast, growth differences...

    Authors: Alison Catherine Harvey, Monica Favnebøe Solberg, Eva Troianou, Gary Robert Carvalho, Martin Ian Taylor, Simon Creer, Lise Dyrhovden, Ivar Helge Matre and Kevin Alan Glover

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2016 16:264

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  49. Content type: Research article

    Genital diversity may arise through sexual conflict over polyandry, where male genital features function to manipulate female mating frequency against her interest. Correlated genital evolution across animal g...

    Authors: Matjaž Kuntner, Ren-Chung Cheng, Simona Kralj-Fišer, Chen-Pan Liao, Jutta M. Schneider and Mark A. Elgar

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2016 16:242

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  50. Content type: Research article

    Colour and shape polymorphisms are important features of many species and may allow individuals to exploit a wider array of habitats, including through behavioural differences among morphs. In addition, differ...

    Authors: Rafael C. Duarte, Martin Stevens and Augusto A. V. Flores

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2016 16:218

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