Abstract
The pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis predicts associations between life history and 'risky' behaviours. Individuals with 'fast' lifestyles should develop faster, reproduce earlier, exhibit more risk-prone behaviours, and die sooner than those with 'slow' lifestyles. While support for POLS has been equivocal to date, studies have relied on individual-level (phenotypic) patterns in which genetic trade-offs may be masked by environmental effects on phenotypes. We estimated genetic correlations between life history (development, lifespan, size) and risky behaviours (exploration, aggression) in a pedigreed population of Mediterranean field crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus). Path analyses showed that behaviours mediated some genetic relationships between life history traits, though not those involved in trade-offs. Thus, while specific predictions of POLS theory were not supported, genetic integration of behaviour and life history was present. This implies a major role for risky behaviours in life history evolution.
Item Type: | Journal article |
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Faculties: | Biology > Department Biology II |
Subjects: | 500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology |
ISSN: | 0962-8452 |
Language: | English |
Item ID: | 54713 |
Date Deposited: | 14. Jun 2018, 09:57 |
Last Modified: | 04. Nov 2020, 13:34 |