Evolutionary stasis of a heritable morphological trait in a wild fish population despite apparent directional selection.

ABSTRACT: Comparing observed versus theoretically expected evolutionary responses is important for our understanding of the evolutionary process, and for assessing how species may cope with anthropogenic change. Here, we document directional selection for larger female size in Atlantic salmon, using pedigree-derived estimates of lifetime reproductive success as a fitness measure. We show the trait is heritable and, thus, capable of responding to selection. The Breeder's Equation, which predicts microevolution as the product of phenotypic selection and heritability, predicted evolution of larger size. This was at odds, however, with the observed lack of either phenotypic or genetic temporal trends in body size, a so-called "paradox of stasis." To investigate this paradox, we estimated the additive ge

SUBMITTER: O'Sullivan RJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6617767 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature