The Costs and Benefits of Paternal Care in Fish: A Meta-analysis
Rebecca L. Goldberg, Philip A. Downing, Ashleigh S. Griffin and Jonathan P. Green (2020) Male-only parental care, while rare in most animals, is a widespread strategy within teleost fish. The costs and benefits to males of acting as sole carer are highly variable among fish species making it challenging to determine the selective pressures driving the evolution of male-only care to such a high prevalence. We conducted a phylogenetic meta-analysis to examine the costs and benefits of paternal care across fish species. [Image: Figure 5 from the paper.] Read the paper here: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2020.1759 |
Evolution of Vector Transmitted Parasites by Host Switching Revealed through Sequencing of Haemoproteus Parasite Mitochondrial Genomes
Arif Ciloglu, Vincenzo A. Ellis, Mélanie Duc, Philip A. Downing, Abdullah Inci, Staffan Bensch (2020) Vector transmitted parasites are expected to speciate by host switching, but confirming this hypothesis has proved challenging. We studied speciation in vector transmitted avian haemosporidian parasites in the genus Haemoproteus and their warbler hosts (family Acrocephalidae). [Image: Figure 2 from the paper.] Read the paper here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790320302190?via%3Dihub |
Predictable Evolution Towards Larger Brains in Birds Colonizing Oceanic Islands
Ferran Sayol, Philip A. Downing, Andrew N. Iwaniuk, Joan Maspons and Daniel Sol (2018) Theory and evidence suggest that some selective pressures are more common on islands than in adjacent mainland habitats, leading evolution to follow predictable trends. We use brain size measurements of >1900 avian species to reveal the existence of one such trend: increased brain size in island dwellers. [Image: Figure 2a from the paper.] Read the paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-05280-8 Blog post here: natureecoevocommunity.nature.com/posts/37151-island-life-is-a-smart-decision |
Cooperation Facilitates the Colonization of Harsh Environments
Charlie K. Cornwallis, Carlos A. Botero, Dustin R. Rubenstein, Philip A. Downing, Stuart A. West and Ashleigh S. Griffin (2017) Animals living in harsh environments are more likely to breed in cooperative groups. As a result, harsh environmental conditions have been accepted as a key factor explaining the evolution of cooperation. However, this is based on evidence that has not investigated the order of evolutionary events, so the inferred causality could be incorrect. We resolved this problem using phylogenetic analyses of 4,707 bird species. [Image: Figure 5 from the paper.] Read the paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s41559-016-0057 Blog post here: natureecoevocommunity.nature.com/posts/14618-cooperation-in-the-face-of-adversity |
Mixed-species Associations Can Arise Without Heterospecific Attraction
Damien R. Farine, Charles P. Downing Philip A. Downing (2014) Despite widespread research on the interaction rules that drive group-living behavior in animals, little is known about the spatial self-organization of individuals in heterospecific groups. In order to gain an insight into the decision-making process that might generate patterns of heterospecific associations, we collected data on the number and distribution of nests in breeding colonies that contained 3 species of weaverbird. [Image: Figure 1 from the paper.] Read the paper here: academic.oup.com/beheco/article/25/3/574/513119 |