Beyond genes-for-behaviour: The potential for genomics to resolve long-standing questions in avian brood parasitism.

ABSTRACT: Behavioural ecology by definition of its founding 'Tinbergian framework' is an integrative field, however, it lags behind in incorporating genomic methods. 'Finding the gene/s for a behaviour' is still rarely feasible or cost-effective in the wild but as we show here, genomic data can be used to address broader questions. Here we use avian brood parasitism, a model system in behavioural ecology as a case study to highlight how behavioural ecologists could use the full potential of state-of-the-art genomic tools. Brood parasite-host interactions are one of the most easily observable and amenable natural laboratories of antagonistic coevolution, and as such have intrigued evolutionary biologists for decades. Using worked examples, we demonstrate how genomic data can be used to study the caus

SUBMITTER: Ronka K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11581780 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature