Animal Behavior and Reproduction

Genetic and environmental sources of behavioral individuality: a test of the standard model

The paper tests the standard model of behavioral individuality by comparing among-individual variation in inbred and outbred crickets, finding greater variance in outbred lines.

Plasticity Associated with Adoption of Social Roles in Clown Anemonefish

This study shows that social context in clownfish affects growth, feeding behavior, aggression, and gene expression, reinforcing social role differentiation during hierarchy formation.

Social relationships promote access to food and information in wild jackdaws

This study shows that social relationships in wild jackdaws influence foraging decisions and outcomes, with both benefits and costs associated with maintaining close bonds.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Carotenoid-based ornaments predict survival in male but not female birds: a meta-analysis

This study finds that carotenoid-based ornaments in male birds are linked to survival, but not in females, through a meta-analysis of existing data.

Predator decision-making shapes the dynamics and stability of mimicry systems

The paper studies how predator recognition processes affect mimicry system dynamics, showing that intermediate mimic similarity and abundance-dependent recognition promote stability.

Reef fish escape responses selectively match predator attack speeds

This study shows reef fish escape responses match predator attack speeds, with species-specific strategies and no social context effects.

A genetic model of copulatory wounding in Drosophila melanogaster

This study shows that overexpressing Hayan in Drosophila melanogaster induces copulatory wounds, which heal via polyploid cell formation, suggesting a role for wound-induced polyploidization in resolving sexual conflict injuries.

Animal Social Network Structures Across the Fast-Slow Continuum

This study develops a mathematical model to show that faster demographic replacement constrains social network structures, with longer generation times relying on social preferences and shorter ones on social inheritance.

Sexual Selection as a Mechanism of Evolutionary Information Preservation

This study proposes sexual selection as a mechanism for long-term evolutionary information preservation and tests it using agent-based simulations showing that female choosiness better maintains historically adaptive traits than random mating.

Local resource heterogeneity drives density-dependent dispersal expression in a phoretic mite

This study shows that local environmental heterogeneity increases dispersal expression in high-density populations of bulb mites but not in low-density ones.

Socio-sexual environment influences fecundity, but not response to bacterial infection, in Drosophila melanogaster females

This study examines how the socio-sexual environment of Drosophila melanogaster females affects their fecundity and response to bacterial infection, finding no effect on infection response but changes in baseline reproductive effort.

Pair-Living Emerged Early in Placental Mammals

The paper challenges the assumption that early placental mammals were solitary by showing ancestral social organization included pair-living and intraspecific variation.

Not all sexual monomorphisms evolve equally: female and male ornamentation in Tyranni passerines

The paper examines female and male ornamentation in Tyranni passerines, finding that ornamentation patterns correlate with sociosexual selection pressures and mating systems.

Repeated evolution of convergent iridescence in closely-related species of Morpho butterflies living in sympatry

This study examines how sympatry influences the evolution of iridescence in Morpho butterflies, finding evidence of convergence due to evasive mimicry and sexual dimorphism in selective pressures.

Personality predicts dispersal and settlement in a novel habitat - a mesocosm experiment

The paper tests if personality traits influence dispersal and settlement in sticklebacks using a mesocosm experiment, finding a dispersal syndrome but no phenotype-environment correlations.

Quantitative genetics of lifetime growth curves in a lizard

The paper studies growth curves in lizards, decomposing heritability into intrinsic size and shape, finding differences between populations and sexes.

Novel female reproductive organ differentiates postmating transcriptional response to insemination versus arrival of sperm in bedbugs

The paper investigates postmating transcriptional responses in bedbugs, showing the mesospermalege processes ejaculate and expresses male seminal fluid genes, while the lower tract delays its response until sperm arrives.

Interspecific variation in cleaning behaviour and cheating among coral reef cleaner fishes

This study examines cheating behavior in coral reef cleaner fishes using standardized experiments, finding interspecific variation in interaction patterns and context-dependent behavioral responses.

Ontogenetic sequence of differential gene expression in predator-induced Daphnia pulex

The paper investigates gene expression changes in Daphnia pulex during predator-induced defense development across juvenile stages, identifying key genes and showing similar expression patterns between natural and synthetic kairomones.

A century of allopatry: plasticity and rapid selection shape phenotypic trait variability under contrasting environments.

The paper examines phenotypic divergence in Arctic charr populations under contrasting environments, finding rapid changes in morphology, growth, and metabolism driven by plasticity and selection.

Environment dependent benefits of sociality in Soay sheep

The paper uses network analysis of 37 years of social association data in Soay sheep to show that social connections affect survival, with the importance of quantity versus quality depending on overwinter weather conditions.

Mating strategies in Caenorhabditis elegans populations are determined by male developmental history

The paper shows that developmental history in Caenorhabditis elegans affects mating strategies, with postdauer males showing increased pheromone detection and outcrossing.