Relaxed risk of predation drives parallel evolution of stickleback behavior.

ABSTRACT: The occurrence of similar phenotypes in multiple independent populations derived from common ancestral conditions (viz. parallel evolution) is a testimony of evolution by natural selection. Parallel evolution implies that populations share a common phenotypic response to a common selection pressure associated with habitat similarity. Examples of parallel evolution at genetic and phenotypic levels are fairly common, but the driving selective agents often remain elusive. Similarly, the role of phenotypic plasticity in facilitating early stages of parallel evolution is unclear. We investigated whether the relaxation of predation pressure associated with the colonization of freshwater ponds by nine-spined sticklebacks (Pungitius pungitius) likely explains the divergence in complex behaviors be

SUBMITTER: Fraimout A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9827860 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature