Iterative development and the scope for plasticity: contrasts among trait categories in an adaptive radiation.

ABSTRACT: Phenotypic plasticity can influence evolutionary change in a lineage, ranging from facilitation of population persistence in a novel environment to directing the patterns of evolutionary change. As the specific nature of plasticity can impact evolutionary consequences, it is essential to consider how plasticity is manifested if we are to understand the contribution of plasticity to phenotypic evolution. Most morphological traits are developmentally plastic, irreversible, and generally considered to be costly, at least when the resultant phenotype is mis-matched to the environment. At the other extreme, behavioral phenotypes are typically activational (modifiable on very short time scales), and not immediately costly as they are produced by constitutive neural networks. Although patterns of

SUBMITTER: Foster SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4815453 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature