R. M. Kilner

Nest construction and its effect on post-hatching family life in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides

This study investigates how nest construction affects post-hatching care in burying beetles, finding little evidence of divergent evolution in nest traits influencing parental investment.

Competition among host-specific lineages of Poecilochirus carabi mites influences the extent of co-adaptation with their Nicrophorus vespilloides burying beetle hosts

The paper investigates how competition among mite lineages affects co-adaptation between Nicrophorus vespilloides beetles and their Poecilochirus carabi mites in different woodlands.

Sexual dimorphism in head size in wild burying beetles (Nicrophorus vespilloides)

The paper reveals sexual dimorphism in head size among wild burying beetles, showing males have wider heads than females for a given body size, with different scaling relationships between head width and body size.

Previous breeding success and carrion substrate together influence subsequent carrion choice by adult Nicrophorus vespilloides

This study shows burying beetles adjust their carrion choice based on past breeding success and previous carrion type.

Parental care drives the evolution of molecular genetic variation

This study shows parental care maintains genetic variation in Nicrophorus vespilloides, while its absence leads to reduced genetic diversity and divergence at specific loci.

Can recent evolutionary history promote resilience to environmental change?

The paper tests if evolutionary history predicts resilience to environmental change by comparing burying beetles evolved with or without parental care under heat stress.

Selection on the joint actions of pairs leads to divergent adaptation and coadaptation of care-giving parents during pre-hatching care

The paper investigates how joint nest preparation behaviors evolve in burying beetles under different care regimes, finding that males adapt first and females coadapt secondarily.

The evolutionary demise of a social interaction: social partners differ in the rate at which interacting phenotypes are lost

This study investigates how long social traits persist when not expressed, finding that offspring care demands decay faster than parental supply and male care decays more than female care in burying beetles.

Evolved changes in DNA methylation in response to the sustained loss of parental care in the burying beetle

This study shows that loss of parental care in burying beetles leads to changes in DNA methylation and gene expression, shifting from stress-related pathways to growth and brain development after 30 generations.

Mutualistic interactions with phoretic mites Poecilochirus carabi expand the realised thermal niche of the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides

This study shows that phoretic mites expand the thermal niche of burying beetles by reducing competition with blowflies, allowing beetles to reproduce across a wider temperature range.

Competition within species determines the value of a mutualism between species

The paper shows that social interactions within a species determine whether interspecies interactions are mutualistic or parasitic.

Superior stimulation of female fecundity by subordinate males provides a mechanism for telegony

The paper shows that subordinate males in burying beetles stimulate female fecundity more effectively than dominant males, leading to non-genetic inheritance of offspring body size and supporting telegony.

Social interactions within the family enhance the capacity for evolutionary change

The paper shows that social interactions in burying beetles affect evolutionary responses to selection, with care enhancing increases in size and conflict limiting it.