Animal Behavior and Reproduction

Canalization masks high levels of cryptic epigenetic and transcriptional plasticity in butterflies

The paper shows that a canalized butterfly population has higher transcriptional and chromatin plasticity than a seasonally plastic population, suggesting chromatin remodeling masks genetic variation.

Context and Identity Cues Mediate Individual Recognition in a Highly Social Cichlid Fish

This study shows that spatial context and identity cues influence individual recognition in Astatotilapia burtoni, affecting aggression and threat assessment.

Genetic backgrounds and sex modulate indirect genetic effects of Epha4 in laboratory mice

This study shows that genetic background and sex influence the indirect genetic effects of Epha4 in mice, revealing context-dependent social epistasis.

Anisogamy drives diverse patterns of sex-role divergence

This paper develops mathematical models showing anisogamy drives sex-role divergence through different evolutionary trajectories depending on ecological context and competition type.

Evolution and adaptations of the seminal proteome in an insect with traumatic insemination

The paper characterizes the sperm and seminal fluid proteome of bedbugs, revealing evolutionary adaptations linked to traumatic insemination and identifying expanded S-Laps with potential catalytic activity.

Brinkmanship and the sensory-motor limits of pursuit predation

The paper shows that prey evade predators by exploiting sensory-motor delays rather than superior maneuverability, achieving high evasion success rates.

Genomic evidence for facultative selfing in the cichlid fish Cyphotilapia frontosa

The paper uses whole-genome sequencing to identify selfing in a cichlid fish, revealing genomic patterns consistent with self-fertilization rather than parthenogenesis or inbreeding.

CONSERVED LIFE HISTORY PHENOTYPES AMONG HISTORICALLY ISOLATED CLADES IN THE CHIRAL LIVEBEARER FISH OF LOWER CENTRAL AMERICA

The paper examines life history traits across four clades of the chiral livebearer fish Xenophallus umbratilis to assess conservation needs and adaptive evolution.

Geographical variation in plasma bactericidal ability of breeding tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor)

This study examines geographical variation in plasma bactericidal ability (BKA) among tree swallow populations, finding lower BKA in northern populations and during incubation, suggesting trade-offs between reproduction and immunity.

Individual variation in glucocorticoid plasticity to temperature is not associated with reproductive success in a wild songbird population

The study examines if individual variation in glucocorticoid plasticity to temperature affects reproductive success in wild great tits, finding no association.

Evidence of parental care as a novel reproductive isolating mechanism

This study shows that dysregulated parental care in hybrid stickleback fish leads to reduced offspring survival, suggesting it acts as a postzygotic reproductive isolating mechanism.

Phenotype-dependent schooling behaviour across hierarchical levels in three-spined sticklebacks

This study examines how schooling behavior in three-spined sticklebacks varies between populations and among individuals, showing that migration-related behaviors can disappear post-isolation and individual sociability influences collective behavior.

Strength of developmental carry-over varies continuously with environmental conditions in a wild bird population

The paper shows that the strength of developmental carry-over from natal to adult body mass in great tits varies with environmental conditions, driven by non-genetic factors rather than gene-by-environment interactions.

Phylogenetic Mosaic of an Arms Race with Asymmetrical Sexual Conflict and Its Macroevolutionary Consequences in a Lineage of Small Water Striders

The paper examines the macroevolutionary consequences of asymmetrical sexual conflict in water striders, finding that male-driven trait evolution drives diversification while female resistance traits show greater flexibility.

Fixed Players, Fluid Moves: Refining Strategy While Preserving Identity in Free-Ranging Dogs

This study shows that free-ranging dogs maintain stable behavioral traits despite repeated exposure to aversive food, with only specific behaviors changing over time.

Wild great tits show social resilience in response to partner loss

This study shows that wild great tits exhibit social resilience by quickly recovering from the loss of their breeding partner through social flexibility.

Group-level phenotypes are idiosyncratic yet unpredictable over development in a clonal fish

The paper tracks group-level behavioral changes in genetically identical Amazon molly fish over 55 days, finding predictable early patterns and unstable later differences due to social feedback.

Snails show their true colours: rate of evolutionary divergence in the shell colour polymorphism of Cepaea nemoralis

This study examines the rate of evolutionary divergence in shell colour polymorphism of Cepaea nemoralis over 95 to 325 years, finding increased divergence with age but no equilibrium.

Mating allows asexual female wasps to produce offspring both sexually and asexually, but their sexual daughters have reduced fecundity

This study shows that facultative sex in wasps leads to reduced fecundity and selection against mixed sexual-asexual genotypes, suggesting costs that limit the persistence of facultative sex.

Genetic drift decouples Fisherian trait-preference coevolution from genetic correlations in finite populations

This study shows that genetic drift in finite populations can decouple trait-preference genetic correlations from coevolution in Fisherian sexual selection, explaining weak empirical correlations.

Tail Flaring During Agonism in Hummingbirds

The paper examines tail flaring in hummingbirds during male-male fights, finding greater tail flare angles during fights compared to non-aggressive maneuvers and field observations show tail flaring is common in contests.

House fly proto-Y chromosomes differentially affect courtship success regardless of social context and female type

The study investigates how genetic variation in male reproductive traits is maintained in house flies by testing genotype-by-environment interactions, female preference, and male age effects.

Lunar Reproductive Timing Acts as a Magic Trait and May Recruit Additional Isolating Barriers in Sympatric Marine Midge Populations

The paper shows lunar reproductive timing in marine midges acts as a magic trait, driving reproductive isolation and recruiting additional barriers in sympatric populations.

Accounting for the life history structure of fitness in tests for adaptive reproductive acceleration

The paper tests a hypothesis about reproductive acceleration in response to early adversity using baboon data, finding no evidence for the hypothesis.

Differing components of plasticity in quantitative genetic threshold traits cause diverging eco-evolutionary responses to spatio-seasonal environmental deterioration

The paper models how different plasticity components in a quantitative genetic threshold trait affect eco-evolutionary responses to environmental deterioration.

No evidence sex-specific senescence varies with resource competition in Soay sheep

The study examines whether resource competition accelerates senescence in Soay sheep, finding no evidence of sex-specific variation in age-related decline under increased population density.

Cue reliability and the evolution of adaptive plasticity in maternal traits

This study shows that maternal traits evolve adaptively only when maternal environments provide reliable cues predicting offspring selection environments.

Sexual size dimorphism increases with body size at the intraspecific level in Drosophila melanogaster

This study examines sexual size dimorphism in Drosophila melanogaster and finds that SSD increases with body size, reversing Rensch's rule, driven by female growth rates and temperature effects.

Heritable morphology-environment correlations among lake populations of threespine stickleback

The paper reared stickleback embryos from 27 lake populations in a lab to determine if trait-environment correlations reflect heritable evolution or plasticity, finding both heritable and plastic traits.

The role of animal personality in behavioural welfare diagnostics: a case study in Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus)

This study examines how environmental complexity affects personality traits and functional phenotypes in Arctic charr, finding that complex environments promote stable behavioral expression while plain environments may suppress personality.