Selection on the morphology-physiology-performance nexus: Lessons from freshwater stickleback morphs.

ABSTRACT: Conspecifics inhabiting divergent environments frequently differ in morphology, physiology, and performance, but the interrelationships amongst traits and with Darwinian fitness remains poorly understood. We investigated population differentiation in morphology, metabolic rate, and swimming performance in three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.), contrasting a marine/ancestral population with two distinct freshwater morphotypes derived from it: the "typical" low-plated morph, and a unique "small-plated" morph. We test the hypothesis that similar to plate loss in other freshwater populations, reduction in lateral plate size also evolved in response to selection. Additionally, we test how morphology, physiology, and performance have evolved in concert as a response to dif

SUBMITTER: Morozov S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5773335 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature