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I'm a doctoral student in evolutionary ecology; D & T is my personal 'blog, and my top topics are science, religion, and politics, with particular interest in the interface between science and religion.
Jeremy Yoder
161 posts
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- August 9, 2011
- 09:06 AM
- 2,189 views
Flowers stay open for pollinators, not daylight
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
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A honeybee explores the depths of a dandelion, one of the species used in Fründ et al.'s experiments. Photo by je-sa.If you've ever stopped to admire morning glory flowers opening first thing in the morning, then noticed they've closed by evening, you're at least dimly aware of one of the longest-established ideas in p........ Read more »
Ewusie, J., & Quaye, E. (1977) Diurnal periodicity in some common flowers. New Phytologist, 78(2), 479-485. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.1977.tb04854.x
Fründ, J., Dormann, C., & Tscharntke, T. (2011) Linné’s floral clock is slow without pollinators - flower closure and plant-pollinator interaction webs. Ecology Letters. DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01654.x
von Hase, A., Cowling, R., & Ellis, A. (2005) Petal movement in cape wildflowers protects pollen from exposure to moisture. Plant Ecology, 184(1), 75-87. DOI: 10.1007/s11258-005-9053-8
- July 26, 2011
- 09:53 AM
- 2,531 views
Of mice and men, making a living in rarefied air
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
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High-elevation populations of deer mice have evolved "stickier" hemoglobin to cope with the thin atmosphere. Photo via Animal Diversity Web.
It's easy to walk through the woods and fields of North America and never spot Peromyscus maniculatus, the deer mouse, but you've probably heard them scampering off through the le........ Read more »
Beall, C. (2004) Higher offspring survival among Tibetan women with high oxygen saturation genotypes residing at 4,000 m. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sciences USA, 101(39), 14300-14304. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0405949101
Beall, C. (2006) Andean, Tibetan, and Ethiopian patterns of adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 46(1), 18-24. DOI: 10.1093/icb/icj004
Beall, C. (2007) Two routes to functional adaptation: Tibetan and Andean high-altitude natives. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sciences USA, 104(S1), 8655-60. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0701985104
Storz, J. (2007) Hemoglobin function and physiological adaptation to hypoxia in high-altitude mammals. Journal of Mammalogy, 88(1), 24-31. DOI: 10.1644/06-MAMM-S-199R1.1
Storz, J., Runck, A., Sabatino, S., Kelly, J., Ferrand, N., Moriyama, H., Weber, R., & Fago, A. (2009) Evolutionary and functional insights into the mechanism underlying high-altitude adaptation of deer mouse hemoglobin. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sciences USA, 106(34), 14450-5. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0905224106
- July 19, 2011
- 11:29 AM
- 1,884 views
Post arising: Anole vs. anole vs. predators
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
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A brown anole, with dewlap extended. Photo by jerryoldnettel.Last June, I discussed a study with big ambitions: to experimentally compare the effects that competition and predators have on island populations of brown anoles, Anolis sagrei. Now the current issue of the journal that carried that study, Nature has a brief ........ Read more »
Calsbeek, R., & Cox, R. (2010) Experimentally assessing the relative importance of predation and competition as agents of selection. Nature, 465(7298), 613-616. DOI: 10.1038/nature09020
Calsbeek, R., & Cox, R. (2011) Calsbeek . Nature, 475(7355). DOI: 10.1038/nature10141
Losos, J., & Pringle, R. (2011) Competition, predation and natural selection in island lizards. Nature, 475(7355). DOI: 10.1038/nature10140
- July 12, 2011
- 09:05 AM
- 2,245 views
Choosing your partner is only as helpful as the partners you have to choose from
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
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Picking teammates. Original photo by humbert15.When you need partners for some sort of cooperative activity—say, teammates for a game of kickball—you'd probably like to have a choice among several candidates. That lets you weigh considerations about kicking strength and running speed—and who promised to give you h........ Read more »
Akçay, E., & Simms, E. (2011) Negotiation, sanctions, and context dependency in the legume-rhizobium mutualism. The American Naturalist, 178(1), 1-14. DOI: 10.1086/659997
Heath, K. (2010) Intergenomic epistasis and coevolutionary constraint in plants and rhizobia. Evolution. DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00913.x
Heath, K.D., Stock, A.J., & Stinchcombe, J.R. (2010) Mutualism variation in the nodulation response to nitrate. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 23(11), 2494-2500. DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.02092.x
- June 28, 2011
- 09:05 AM
- 3,468 views
Snake-eating opossums have evolved venom-resistant blood
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
.flickr-photo { }.flickr-framewide { float: right; text-align: left; margin-left: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; width:100%;}.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } The humble Virginia opossum can shrug off snakebites that would kill larger mammals. Photo by TexasEagle.If you were going to pick the traits of a single animal to confer on a superhero, you probably wouldn't pick the Virginia opossum. Possums are ubiquitous, scruffy, ratlike marsupials, their toothy grins giving the not e........ Read more »
Jansa, S., & Voss, R. (2011) Adaptive evolution of the venom-targeted vWF protein in opossums that eat pitvipers. PLoS ONE, 6(6). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0020997
Kilmon, J., Sr. (1976) High tolerance to snake venom by the Virginia opossum, Didelphis virginiana. Toxicon, 14(4), 337-40. DOI: 10.1016/0041-0101(76)90032-5
- June 22, 2011
- 12:00 PM
- 1,992 views
The intelligent homosexual's guide to natural selection and evolution, with a key to many complicating factors
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
.flickr-photo { }.flickr-framewide { float: right; text-align: left; margin-left: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; width:100%;}.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } San Francisco Pride, 2008. Photo by ingridtaylar.This is a cross-posting of my latest contribution to the Scientific American guest blog. Since the original went up at SciAm, P.Z. Myers has pointed out a few more complicating factors. If you read one paper to follow up on what I've written here, I'd suggest Nathan Bailey a........ Read more »
Bogaert, A. (2006) Biological versus nonbiological older brothers and men's sexual orientation. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sciences USA, 103(28), 10771-4. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0511152103
Bailey, N., & Zuk, M. (2009) Same-sex sexual behavior and evolution. Trends in Ecology , 24(8), 439-46. DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2009.03.014
Camperio-Ciani, A., Corna, F., & Capiluppi, C. (2004) Evidence for maternally inherited factors favouring male homosexuality and promoting female fecundity. Proc. Royal Soc. B, 2217-21. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2004.2872
Eller, E., Hawks, J., & Relethford, J.H. (2010) Local extinction and recolonization, species effective population size, and modern human origins. Human Biology, 805-24. DOI: 10.1353/hub.2005.0006
Futuyma, D.J. (2005) Celebrating diversity in sexuality and gender. Evolution, 1156-9. DOI: 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2005.tb01052.x
Gavrilets, S., & Rice, W.R. (2006) Genetic models of homosexuality: generating testable predictions. Proc. Royal Soc. B, 3031-8. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2006.3684
Haldane, J.B.S. (2008) A mathematical theory of natural and artificial selection. Part V: Selection and mutation. Mathematical Proc. Cambridge Phil. Soc., 23(07), 838. DOI: 10.1017/S0305004100015644
Hamer, D.H., Hu, S., Magnuson, V.L., Hu, N., & Pattatucci, A.M. (1993) A linkage between DNA markers on the X chromosome and male sexual orientation. Science, 321-7. DOI: 10.1126/science.8332896
Herbenick D., Reece M., Schick V., Sanders S.A., Dodge B., & Fortenberry J.D. (2010) Sexual behavior in the United States: results from a national probability sample of men and women ages 14-94. The journal of sexual medicine, 255-65. PMID: 21029383
Pillard RC, & Bailey JM. (1998) Human sexual orientation has a heritable component. Human Biology, 70(2), 347-65. PMID: 9549243
Rahman, Q., & Hull, M.S. (2005) An empirical test of the kin selection hypothesis for male homosexuality. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 461-7. DOI: 10.1007/s10508-005-4345-6
Ramagopalan, S., Dyment, D.A., Handunnetthi, L., Rice, G.P., & Ebers, G.C. (2010) A genome-wide scan of male sexual orientation. Journal of Human Genetics, 131-2. DOI: 10.1038/jhg.2009.135
Roach, J., Glusman, G., Smit, A., Huff, C., Hubley, R., Shannon, P., Rowen, L., Pant, K., Goodman, N., Bamshad, M.... (2010) Analysis of genetic inheritance in a family quartet by whole-genome sequencing. Science, 328(5978), 636-9. DOI: 10.1126/science.1186802
Rice, G. (1999) Male homosexuality: Absence of linkage to microsatellite markers at Xq28. Science, 284(5414), 665-7. DOI: 10.1126/science.284.5414.665
Takahata, N. (1993) Allelic genealogy and human evolution. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 2-22. info:/8450756
Tenesa, A., Navarro, P., Hayes, B.J., Duffy, D.L., Clarke, G.M., Goddard, M.E., & Visscher, P.M. (2007) Recent human effective population size estimated from linkage disequilibrium. Genome Research, 520-6. DOI: 10.1101/gr.6023607
Xu, L., Chen, H., Hu, X., Zhang, R., Zhang, Z., & Luo, Z.W. (2006) Average gene length is highly conserved in prokaryotes and eukaryotes and diverges only between the two kingdoms. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 1107-8. DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msk019
- June 7, 2011
- 09:05 AM
- 2,428 views
Freeloading caterpillars get in the way of plant-ant mutualism
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
.flickr-photo { }.flickr-framewide { float: right; text-align: left; margin-left: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; width:100%;}.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Cecropia obtusifolia provides food for ants that come and protect it—unless caterpillars get there first. Photo by wallygroom.Imagine you need a team of security guards. To find them, you decide not to place an ad in the local paper or on Craigslist. Instead, you build an apartment complex next to your home, complete wit........ Read more »
Roux, O., Céréghino, R., Solano, P.J., & Dejean, A. (2011) Caterpillars and fungal pathogens: Two co-occurring parasites of an ant-plant mutualism. PLoS ONE. info:/10.1371/journal.pone.0020538
- May 31, 2011
- 09:05 AM
- 3,146 views
Passive aggression: Parasitic wasp larvae interfere with each other via their host's host plant
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
.flickr-photo { }.flickr-framewide { float: right; text-align: left; margin-left: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; width:100%;}.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } A large white butterfly caterpillar weaves a cocoon around the wasp larvae infesting its body. Photo by EntomoAgricola.I'm embarrassed to admit that I've only just gotten around to picking up Carl Zimmer's book Parasite Rex. It's turned out to be a wonderful compendium of all the peculiar ways parasites evade, confound, an........ Read more »
Agrawal, A., Conner, J., Johnson, M., & Wallsgrove, R. (2002) Ecological genetics of an induced plant defense against herbivores: Additive genetic variance and costs of phenotypic plasticity. Evolution, 56(11), 2206-2213. DOI: 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2002.tb00145.x
Poelman, E., Gols, R., Snoeren, T., Muru, D., Smid, H., & Dicke, M. (2011) Indirect plant-mediated interactions among parasitoid larvae. Ecology Letters. DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01629.x
- May 24, 2011
- 09:05 AM
- 2,575 views
Pesticides and parasites add up to an evolutionary Catch-22
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
.flickr-photo { }.flickr-framewide { float: right; text-align: left; margin-left: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; width:100%;}.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } When Daphnia evolve resistance to pesticides, they become more vulnerable to bacterial parasites. Photo by Chantal Wagner.If you haven't read Joseph Heller's classic Catch-22, cancel your plans for next weekend and spend the time with a copy from the nearest library. It's a hilarious, bracingly bleak satire of military bur........ Read more »
Coors, A., & De Meester, L. (2008) Synergistic, antagonistic and additive effects of multiple stressors: predation threat, parasitism and pesticide exposure in Daphnia magna. . Journal of Applied Ecology, 45(6), 1820-8. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2008.01566.x
Jansen, M., Stoks, R., Coors, A., van Doorslaer, W., & de Meester, L. (2011) Collateral damage: Rapid exposure-induced evolution of pesticide resistance leads to increased susceptibility to parasites. Evolution. DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01331.x
- May 10, 2011
- 09:05 AM
- 2,033 views
When does a beneficial mutation fail to benefit?
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
.flickr-photo { }.flickr-framewide { float: right; text-align: left; margin-left: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; width:100%;}.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Beneficial mutations, according to Hollywood, include the superpowered ability to make San Francisco Bay foggy. Photo via Comics Contiuum.Every time a cell divides is an opportunity for mutation, creating new genetic variation that may be beneficial, may be harmful, or may make no difference at all. In sexually reproducing........ Read more »
Lang, G., Botstein, D., & Desai, M. (2011) Genetic variation and the fate of beneficial mutations in asexual populations. Genetics. DOI: 10.1534/genetics.111.128942
Lang, G., Murray, A., & Botstein, D. (2009) The cost of gene expression underlies a fitness trade-off in yeast. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sciences USA, 106(14), 5755-60. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0901620106
- May 3, 2011
- 09:05 AM
- 2,169 views
Released from predators, guppies reshape themselves—and their environment
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
.flickr-photo { }.flickr-framewide { float: right; text-align: left; margin-left: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; width:100%;}.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } A (domestic) male guppy. Photo by gartenfreuden.Consider a population of guppies living in the Aripo River in Trinidad. They have a happy existence, as far as guppies can be happy, but their lives are shaped by the constant threat of larger, predatory fish. The river runs clear over a colorful gravel bed, and guppies who s........ Read more »
Bassar, R., Marshall, M., Lopez-Sepulcre, A., Zandona, E., Auer, S., Travis, J., Pringle, C., Flecker, A., Thomas, S., Fraser, D.... (2010) Local adaptation in Trinidadian guppies alters ecosystem processes. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sciences USA, 107(8), 3616-21. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0908023107
Endler, J. (1980) Natural selection on color patterns in Poecilia reticulata. Evolution, 34(1), 76-91. DOI: 10.2307/2408316
Palkovacs, E., Wasserman, B., & Kinnison, M. (2011) Eco-evolutionary trophic dynamics: Loss of top predators drives trophic evolution and ecology of prey. PLoS ONE, 6(4). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0018879
- April 26, 2011
- 09:05 AM
- 2,180 views
Deprived of pollinators, flowers evolve to do without
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
.flickr-photo { }.flickr-framewide { float: right; text-align: left; margin-left: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; width:100%;}.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Who needs pollinators? Not monkeyflowers—at least not after a few generations of evolution. Photo by Brewbooks.The loss of animal pollinators poses a potentially big problem for plants. However, many plant species that rely on animals to move pollen from anther to stigma have the capacity to make due if that service goes........ Read more »
Bodbyl Roels, S., & Kelly, J. (2011) Rapid evolution caused by pollinator loss in Mimulus guttatus. Evolution. DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01326.x
- April 5, 2011
- 09:05 AM
- 2,303 views
How can you tell if a plant is carnivorous? Feed it!
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
.flickr-photo { }.flickr-framewide { float: right; text-align: left; margin-left: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; width:100%;}.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } A Venus flytrap closes on an unfortunate spider. Photo by cheesy42.Plants that eat animals offend our trophic sensibilities. Those of us who can move independently are supposed to eat those of us who can make sugar from sunlight—that's just the way the food chain works, right?
Well, not really. From a certain perspectiv........ Read more »
Shaw, P., & Shackleton, K. (2011) Carnivory in the teasel Dipsacus fullonum — The effect of experimental feeding on growth and seed set. PLoS ONE, 6(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0017935
Spomer, G. (1999) Evidence of protocarnivorous capabilities in Geranium viscosissimum and Potentilla arguta and other sticky plants. Int. J. Plant Sci., 160(1), 98-101. DOI: 10.1086/314109
- March 29, 2011
- 09:05 AM
- 2,270 views
Moths that pass in the night: Reproductive isolation due to pickiness, or just bad timing?
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
On a summer night in a Florida corn field, a female armyworm moth emerges from her underground cocoon and spreads her wings to dry in the humid air. Over the next few weeks, she will fly miles away in search of a mate, and a likely-looking patch of host plants on which to lay her eggs.
Her brief adult life will be shaped in many ways by the life she led as a larva, feeding on domestic corn. She could easily find other grasses to feed her offspring, but she'll probably seek out another cornfield........ Read more »
Prowell, D., McMichael, M., & Silvain, J. (2004) Multilocus genetic analysis of host use, introgression, and speciation in host strains of fall armyworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Annals Entomol. Soc. America, 97(5), 1034-44. DOI: 10.1603/0013-8746(2004)097[1034:MGAOHU]2.0.CO;2
Schöfl, G., Dill, A., Heckel, D., & Groot, A. (2011) Allochronic separation versus mate choice: Nonrandom patterns of mating between fall armyworm host strains. The American Naturalist, 177(4), 470-85. DOI: 10.1086/658904
- March 28, 2011
- 12:40 PM
- 2,260 views
In which I try to explain why "heritability" is not quite the same thing as "heritable"
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
Robert Kurzban responds in the ongoing "adaptive" homophobia kerfuffle (henceforth, the O.A.H.K.) with continued confusion about how biologists identify possible adaptations and test to see whether natural selection is responsible for them. He notes that one effect of natural selection is to remove heritable variation in traits under selection, so that many traits which are probably adaptations—arguably, sometimes the best-adapted traits—actually have zero heritability.
This is true. But it........ Read more »
Godsoe, W., Yoder, J.B., Smith, C.I., Drummond, C., & Pellmyr, O. (2010) Absence of population-level phenotype matching in an obligate pollination mutualism. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 23(12), 2739-2746. DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.02120.x
Verweij, K., Shekar, S., Zietsch, B., Eaves, L., Bailey, J., Boomsma, D., & Martin, N. (2008) Genetic and environmental influences on individual differences in attitudes toward homosexuality: An Australian twin study. Behavioral Genetics, 38(3), 257-265. DOI: 10.1007/s10519-008-9200-9
- March 23, 2011
- 09:05 AM
- 1,856 views
In which several evolutionary psychologists still don't understand evolution
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
Jesse Bering has responded to criticism—by me, Jon Wilkins, and P.Z. Meyers, among others—of his post about Gordon Gallup's hypothesis that fear of homosexuals is favored by natural selection, in the form of an interview with Gallup. The result is informative, but probably not in the way intended.
To recap: Gallup proposed that homophobia could be adaptive if it prevented gay and lesbian adults from contacting a homophobic parent's children and—either through actual sexual abuse or some ........ Read more »
Arden, N., & Spector, T. (1997) Genetic influences on muscle strength, lean body mass, and bone mineral density: A twin study. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 12(12), 2076-2081. DOI: 10.1359/jbmr.1997.12.12.2076
Berenbaum, M., & Zangerl, A. (1992) Genetics of physiological and behavioral resistance to host furanocoumarins in the parsnip webworm. Evolution, 46(5), 1373-84. DOI: 10.2307/2409943
Young, K. (2004) How the horned lizard got its horns. Science, 304(5667), 65. DOI: 10.1126/science.1094790
Campbell, D. (1996) Evolution of floral traits in a hermaphroditic plant: Field measurements of heritabilities and genetic correlations. Evolution, 50(4), 1442-53. DOI: 10.2307/2410882
Gallup, G. (1995) Have attitudes toward homosexuals been shaped by natural selection?. Ethology and Sociobiology, 16(1), 53-70. DOI: 10.1016/0162-3095(94)00028-6
Mousseau, T., & Roff, D. (1987) Natural selection and the heritability of fitness components. Heredity, 59(2), 181-97. DOI: 10.1038/hdy.1987.113
- March 22, 2011
- 09:05 AM
- 2,371 views
Parasitism of a different color
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
The common cuckoo is such a lazy parent that brood parasitism—laying its eggs in the nests of other birds—is built into its biology.
No bird will willingly adopt cuckoo chicks, which usually out-compete, and sometimes kill, their adoptive siblings. Given any hint that one of the eggs in her nest isn't hers, a bird will eject the intruder. So cuckoos have evolved eggs that mimic the coloring of their hosts' eggs—dividing the species into "host races" that specialize on a single host speci........ Read more »
Stoddard, M., & Stevens, M. (2011) Avian vision and the evolution of egg color mimicry in the common cuckoo. Evolution. DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01262.x
- March 10, 2011
- 04:57 AM
- 1,571 views
An adaptive fairytale with no happy ending
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
The evolution of human traits and behaviors is, as I've noted before, a contentious and personal subject. This is enough of a problem when there's some data to inform the contentiousness. In the absence of meaningful data, it's downright dangerous.
Take, for instance, Jesse Bering's recent post about the evolution of homophobia, which Steve Silberman just pointed out to me.
.flickr-photo { }.flickr-framewide { float: right; text-align: left; margin-left: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; width:100%;}........ Read more »
Ellstrand, N. (1983) Why are juveniles smaller than their parents?. Evolution, 37(5), 1091-4. DOI: 10.2307/2408423
Gallup GG Jr, & Suarez SD. (1983) Homosexuality as a by-product of selection for optimal heterosexual strategies. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 26(2), 315-22. PMID: 6844119
Gallup, G. (1995) Have attitudes toward homosexuals been shaped by natural selection?. Ethology and Sociobiology, 16(1), 53-70. DOI: 10.1016/0162-3095(94)00028-6
Gallup, G. (1996) Attitudes toward homosexuals and evolutionary theory: The role of evidence. Ethology and Sociobiology, 17(4), 281-284. DOI: 10.1016/0162-3095(96)00042-8
Gould, S., & Lewontin, R. (1979) The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: A critique of the adaptationist programme. Proc. Royal Soc. B, 205(1161), 581-98. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.1979.0086
Wilson, H., & Widom, C. (2010) Does physical abuse, sexual abuse, or neglect in childhood increase the likelihood of same-sex sexual relationships and cohabitation? A prospective 30-year follow-up. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39(1), 63-74. DOI: 10.1007/s10508-008-9449-3
Young, K., Brodie, E.D., Jr., & Brodie, E.D., III. (2004) How the horned lizard got its horns. Science, 304(5667), 65. DOI: 10.1126/science.1094790
- March 8, 2011
- 09:05 AM
- 2,211 views
One snout to rule them all: Does migrating help weevils win the arms race of coevolution?
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
Natural selection and gene flow have a sort of love-hate relationship. Natural selection acts, on average, to make a population better fit to its environment. Gene flow, the movement of individuals and their genes, can counter the optimizing effect of selection if it introduces less-fit individuals from somewhere a different environment. On the other hand, not all new immigrants are necessarily less fit—sometimes they're better suited to their new environment than the locals.
This gets more c........ Read more »
Toju, H. (2008) Fine-scale local adaptation of weevil mouthpart length and camellia pericarp thickness: Altitudinal gradient of a putative arms race. Evolution, 62(5), 1086-102. DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2008.00341.x
Toju, H., Ueno, S., Taniguchi, F., & Sota, T. (2011) Metapopulation structure of a seed-predator weevil and its host plant in arms race coevolution. Evolution. DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01243.x
- March 1, 2011
- 09:05 AM
- 3,142 views
Pollinating birds leave plants in the lurch
by Jeremy Yoder in Denim and Tweed
Plants' ancient relationship with animal pollinators is pretty crazy, when you think about it. On the one hand, it gives plants access to mates they can't go find on their own, and it's more efficient than making scads of pollen and hoping the wind blows some onto another member of your species. On the other hand, it can leave a plant totally dependent upon another species for its reproduction.
This catch is probably why lots of plants still use wind pollination strategies, or reserve the opti........ Read more »
Anderson, S., Kelly, D., Ladley, J., Molloy, S., & Terry, J. (2011) Cascading effects of bird functional extinction reduce pollination and plant density. Science, 331(6020), 1068-1071. DOI: 10.1126/science.1199092
Sekercioglu, C. (2011) Functional extinctions of bird pollinators cause plant declines. Science, 331(6020), 1019-20. DOI: 10.1126/science.1202389
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