An evolutionary switch from sibling rivalry to sibling cooperation, caused by a sustained loss of parental care.

ABSTRACT: Sibling rivalry is commonplace within animal families, yet offspring can also work together to promote each other's fitness. Here we show that the extent of parental care can determine whether siblings evolve to compete or to cooperate. Our experiments focus on the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides, which naturally provides variable levels of care to its larvae. We evolved replicate populations of burying beetles under two different regimes of parental care: Some populations were allowed to supply posthatching care to their young (Full Care), while others were not (No Care). After 22 generations of experimental evolution, we found that No Care larvae had evolved to be more cooperative, whereas Full Care larvae were more competitive. Greater levels of cooperation among larvae compensa

SUBMITTER: Rebar D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7007579 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature