Trait-fitness associations do not predict within-species phenotypic evolution over 2 million years.

ABSTRACT: Long-term patterns of phenotypic change are the cumulative results of tens of thousands to millions of years of evolution. Yet, empirical and theoretical studies of phenotypic selection are largely based on contemporary populations. The challenges in studying phenotypic evolution, in particular trait-fitness associations in the deep past, are barriers to linking micro- and macroevolution. Here, we capitalize on the unique opportunity offered by a marine colonial organism commonly preserved in the fossil record to investigate trait-fitness associations over 2 Myr. We use the density of female polymorphs in colonies of Antartothoa tongima as a proxy for fecundity, a fitness component, and investigate multivariate signals of trait-fitness associations in six time intervals on the backd

SUBMITTER: Di Martino E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7893266 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature