evolutionary ecology – Functional Ecology: Plain Language Summaries

Category: evolutionary ecology

62 Posts

Leaving a bad taste in the mouth: How predators’ previous experience with toxins influences social information use

behavioural ecology, evolutionary ecology

Leaving a bad taste in the mouth: How predators’ previous experience with toxins influences social information use

July 2, 2019 — 0 Comments

Leptodactylus chaquensis

evolutionary ecology

Individual niche trajectories drive fitness variation

June 24, 2019 — 0 Comments

An orb web of Hawaiian endemic spider Tetragnatha stelarobusta, with a tape measure held in frame for scale. Photo by Susan Kennedy.

evolutionary ecology

Fine-scale dietary differences in a diverse group of closely related Hawaiian spiders

May 20, 2019 — 0 Comments

Successful genomic selection for timing of breeding in a wild songbird

evolutionary ecology

Successful genomic selection for timing of breeding in a wild songbird

May 15, 2019 — 0 Comments

While mimicry in animals is well-known, plants often also display adaptive resemblances. Here a male wasp pollinator is gripping a black outgrowth on the surface of an orchid flower. This outgrowth resembles its own wingless female, and astonishingly, produced the same sex pheromones as the female wasps when they are ready to mate. Male wasps are very sensitive to these sex pheromones and quickly locate the orchid, land on its flower, and attempt to mate with the black outgrowth in the hopes of producing their own offspring. In the process, male wasps remove the pollen from the flower. This pollen is then deposited on the next wasp-mimicking flower that manages to deceive a male, allowing orchids to exploit wasps to transport their pollen without providing any rewards in return. Photo credit: Rod Peakall

evolutionary ecology

Perspective: When does resemblance become mimicry?

April 16, 2019 — 0 Comments

A male and female eastern water dragon (Intellegama lesueurii) at study site CP3. Photo taken by Bethan Littleford-Colquhoun.

evolutionary ecology

Battle of the sexes: How sexual and natural selection influence body size dimorphism between males and females

April 4, 2019 — 0 Comments

evolutionary ecology

Males make females old, but only in some body functions

April 3, 2019 — 0 Comments