̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Rebecca Kilner

Cuckoos evolve to look like their hosts - and form new species in the process

jg533 — Thu, 30 May 2024 18:05:07 +0000

̽��ֱ��theory of coevolution says that when closely interacting species drive evolutionary changes in each other this can lead to speciation - the evolution of new species. But until now, real-world evidence for this has been scarce.

Now a team of researchers has found evidence that coevolution is linked to speciation by studying the evolutionary arms race between cuckoos and the host birds they exploit.

Bronze-cuckoos lay their eggs in the nests of small songbirds. Soon after the cuckoo chick hatches, it pushes the host’s eggs out of the nest. ̽��ֱ��host not only loses all its own eggs, but spends several weeks rearing the cuckoo, which takes up valuable time when it could be breeding itself.

Each species of bronze-cuckoo closely matches the appearance of their host’s chicks, fooling the host parents into accepting the cuckoo.

̽��ֱ��study shows how these interactions can cause new species to arise when a cuckoo species exploits several different hosts. If chicks of each host species have a distinct appearance, and hosts reject odd-looking nestlings, then the cuckoo species diverges into separate genetic lineages, each mimicking the chicks of its favoured host. These new lineages are the first sign of new species emerging.

̽��ֱ��study is published today in the journal Science.

“This exciting new finding could potentially apply to any pairs of species that are in battle with each other. Just as we’ve seen with the cuckoo, the coevolutionary arms race could cause new species to emerge - and increase biodiversity on our planet,” said Professor Kilner in the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology, a co-author of the report.

̽��ֱ��striking differences between the chicks of different bronze-cuckoo lineages correspond to subtle differences in the plumage and calls of the adults, which help males and females that specialise on the same host to recognise and pair with each other.

“Cuckoos are very costly to their hosts, so hosts have evolved the ability to recognise and eject cuckoo chicks from their nests,’’ said Professor Naomi Langmore at the Australian National ̽��ֱ��, Canberra, lead author of the study.

She added: “Only the cuckoos that most resemble the host’s own chicks have any chance of escaping detection, so over many generations the cuckoo chicks have evolved to mimic the host chicks.”

̽��ֱ��study revealed that coevolution is most likely to drive speciation when the cuckoos are very costly to their hosts, leading to a ‘coevolutionary arms race’ between host defences and cuckoo counter-adaptations.

A broad scale analysis across all cuckoo species found that those lineages that are most costly to their hosts have higher speciation rates than less costly cuckoo species and their non-parasitic relatives.

“This finding is significant in evolutionary biology, showing that coevolution between interacting species increases biodiversity by driving speciation,” said Dr Clare Holleley at the Australian National Wildlife Collection within CSIRO, Canberra, senior author of the report.

̽��ֱ��study was made possible by the team’s breakthrough in extracting DNA from eggshells in historical collections, and sequencing it for genetic studies.

̽��ֱ��researchers were then able to combine two decades of behavioural fieldwork with DNA analysis of specimens of eggs and birds held in museums and collections.

̽��ֱ��study involved an international team of researchers at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, Australian National ̽��ֱ��, CSIRO (Australia’s national science agency), and the ̽��ֱ�� of Melbourne. It was funded by the Australian Research Council.

Reference: Langmore, N E et al: ‘Coevolution with hosts underpins speciation in brood-parasitic cuckoos.’ Science, May 2024. DOI: 10.1126/science.adj3210

Adapted from a press release by the Australian National ̽��ֱ��.

Two decades of cuckoo research have helped scientists to explain how battles between species can cause new species to arise

This exciting new finding could potentially apply to any pairs of species that are in battle with each other...the coevolutionary arms race could cause new species to emerge - and increase biodiversity on our planet

Rebecca Kilner

Mark Lethlean

Male wren (left) brings food to a cuckoo fledgling (right)

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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̽��ֱ��Royal Society announces election of new Fellows 2021

cg605 — Thu, 06 May 2021 10:48:11 +0000

Over 60 outstanding scientists from all over the globe have joined the Royal Society as Fellows and Foreign Members. ̽��ֱ��distinguished group of scientists consists of 52 Fellows, 10 Foreign Members and one Honorary Fellow and were all selected for their exceptional contributions to science.

̽��ֱ��Royal Society is a self-governing Fellowship made up of the most eminent scientists, engineers and technologists from the UK and the Commonwealth. Its Foreign Members are drawn from the rest of the world.

̽��ֱ��Society’s fundamental purpose is to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity.

“ ̽��ֱ��global pandemic has demonstrated the continuing importance of scientific thinking and collaboration across borders,” said President of the Royal Society, Sir Adrian Smith.

“Each Fellow and Foreign Member bring their area of scientific expertise to the Royal Society and when combined, this expertise supports the use of science for the benefit of humanity.

“Our new Fellows and Foreign Members are all at the forefronts of their fields from molecular genetics and cancer research to tropical open ecosystems and radar technology. It is an absolute pleasure and honour to have them join us.”

̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge:

Professor Julie Ahringer FMedSci FRS

Director and a Senior Group Leader of the Gurdon Institute

Professor Ahringer has made wide-ranging contributions to molecular genetics through her work on the nematode C. elegans. She carried out the first systematic inactivation of all the genes in any animal, which pioneered genome-wide reverse genetic screening.

Her research has illuminated our understanding of the processes underlying cell polarity and gene expression. This includes showing that spindle positioning is controlled by heterotrimeric G protein signalling, discovering a connection between chromatin marking and mRNA splicing, and most recently revealing mechanisms and principles of genome organisation and gene expression regulation.

“I am honoured to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society,” said Ahringer. “Much of science today is done in teams, and this reflects the tremendous contributions of my past and present lab members.”

Professor Sadaf Farooqi FRCP FMedSci FRS

Wellcome Principal Research Fellow and Professor of Metabolism and Medicine, Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science

Professor Farooqi is distinguished for her discoveries of fundamental mechanisms that control human energy homeostasis and their disruption in obesity. Farooqi discovered that the leptin-melanocortin system regulates appetite and weight in people and that genetic mutations affecting this pathway cause severe obesity. Findings by her team have directly led to diagnostic testing for genetic obesity syndromes world-wide and enabled life-saving treatment for some people with severe obesity.

Farooqi said: “As a clinician scientist, I am absolutely delighted to be elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society. This prestigious honour recognises the work of many team members past and present, our network of collaborators across the world and the patients and their families who have contributed to our research.”

Professor Usha Goswami CBE FBA FRS

Professor of Cognitive Developmental Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, and Director of the Centre for Neuroscience in Education

Professor Goswami has pioneered the application of neuroscience to education. Her research investigates the sensory and neural basis of childhood disorders of language and literacy, which are heritable and found across languages. Goswami's research shows a shared sensory and neural basis in auditory rhythmic processing. ̽��ֱ��acoustic ‘landmarks’ for speech rhythm provide automatic triggers for aligning speech rhythms and brain rhythms, and Goswami has shown that this automatic process can be disrupted, thereby disrupting speech encoding for these children.

“It is a huge honour to be elected to the Royal Society and a wonderful acknowledgement of our research in the Centre for Neuroscience in Education,” said Goswami. “I have been interested in children's reading and language development since training as a primary school teacher, and we have used neuroscientific insights to understand the mechanisms underpinning developmental language disorders. It is fantastically rewarding for our work to be recognised in this way.”

Professor Rebecca Kilner FRS

Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Director of the ̽��ֱ�� Museum of Zoology

Professor Kilner researches the evolution of animal behaviour, and how this behaviour then affects the pace and scope of subsequent evolutionary change. Using experimental evolution, her current work investigates how quickly populations can adapt when environmental conditions change.

Kilner discovered novel ways in which social behaviour drives evolutionary change. She used elegant cross-fostering experiments in birds and insects to expose how family members exert selection on each other, and discovered hidden evolutionary conflicts between parents and their offspring, and among adults caring together for offspring.

Kilner said: “I’m astonished, honoured and delighted to be elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society. This honour is shared with everyone I have ever worked with. Science is a team effort and I’ve been incredibly lucky to collaborate with brilliant colleagues throughout my career.”

Professor David Rowitch FMedSci FRS

Professor and Head of the Department of Paediatrics, Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator

Professor Rowitch’s basic and translational research on glial cells, comprising 90% of cells in the human brain, has been transformative. Rowitch’s established how embryonic central nervous patterning specifies myelinating oligodendrocytes through essential functions of Olig2, a study that helped initiate genetic methodologies in glial biology, and how astrocyte functional diversification is critical for support of neural circuits in the spinal cord. He has applied a developmental neuroscience perspective to better understand human neonatal brain development and white matter injury in premature infants, multiple sclerosis and leukodystrophy.

Rowitch said: “It is a great honour to be elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society, joining many of my esteemed Cambridge, and other scientific, colleagues.”

Professor Richard Samworth FRS

Professor of Statistical Science and Director of the Statistical Laboratory

Professor Samworth has made fundamental contributions to the development of modern statistical methodology and theory. His research concerns the development of statistical methods and theory to address contemporary data challenges, often posed by the large volumes of data that are routinely collected in today's Big Data era.

“I was incredibly honoured when I found out I'd been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society,” said Samworth. “It's a real thrill to become a small part of such a respected institution.”

Professor Benjamin Simons FRS

Royal Society EP Abraham Professor, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics and Senior Group Leader of the Gurdon Institute

As a theorist, Professor Simons has contributed to a diverse range of fields, from quantum condensed matter physics to developmental and cancer biology. His research translates concepts and approaches from statistical physics to gain predictive insights in the collective dynamics of complex systems. In biology, his studies have revealed common mechanisms of stem cell regulation, and how these programmes become subverted during the early phase of tumour growth.

Simons said: “I am delighted to be elected to the Fellowship. I hope that my election may serve to emphasise the value of multidisciplinary research that stands at the interface between physics and the life sciences.”

Wellcome Sanger Institute:

Dr Peter Campbell FMedSci FRS, Head, Cancer, Ageing, and Somatic Mutations Programme, Wellcome Sanger Institute (and Wellcome-MRC Stem Cell Institute, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge).

MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology:

Dr Christopher Tate FRS, MRC Investigator, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology

Dr Sjors Scheres FRS, Group Leader, Structural Studies Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology

British Antarctic Survey:

Professor Dame Jane Francis DCMG FRS, Director, British Antarctic Survey

Professor Richard Horne FRS, Head, Space Weather and Atmosphere, British Antarctic Survey

Cambridge scientists are among the new Fellows announced today by the Royal Society.

Our new Fellows and Foreign Members are all at the forefronts of their fields from molecular genetics and cancer research to tropical open ecosystems and radar technology.

Sir Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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Connect to nature with '12 Days of Winter Wildlife'

jg533 — Mon, 30 Nov 2020 09:04:06 +0000

̽��ֱ��‘12 Days of Winter Wildlife 2020’ aims to encourage everyone to get involved in spotting wildlife over winter, and helping to look after it.

With fascinating facts, films and activities to do at home, the event - which runs from 1st to 12th December 2020 - is suitable for all ages. Experts will cover a range of topics including how to support garden birds and spot winter visitors, and how to find hibernating insects like butterflies and ladybirds.

“There’s so much we can do to help animals survive the coldest months of the year, and we hope this event will show people how they can enjoy playing their part,” said Professor Rebecca Kilner, Director of the Museum.

With activities such as how to make a winter insect hotel, and a test to find out whether your memory is as good as a squirrel, this celebration of winter wildlife will even share tips on creating animal-inspired gifts.

“There’s a lot more winter wildlife in the UK than you might expect – and we hope this event will not only be educational but a lot of fun,” said Dr Roz Wade, Senior Learning & Engagement Coordinator at the Museum of Zoology.

She added: “Lots of interesting birds can be spotted in the UK at this time of year - and for some, winter in the UK is an escape from much colder conditions further north. And despite some of our native animals going into hibernation, many others stay active through winter – from moths to water birds to foxes and squirrels. Not to mention what’s living in the compost heap.”

‘12 Days of Winter Wildlife’ launches at 4:30pm on 1st December 2020 with a YouTube Live event. Bird expert Rob Jaques from the British Trust for Ornithology will be on hand to answer questions from the public, and there will be a virtual tour of Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Botanic Garden wildlife.

To add to the fun, the launch includes a festive sing-along with a wildlife twist. Written by PhD student Kate Howlett and recorded by Museum volunteers, staff & friends, ‘ ̽��ֱ��12 Days of Critters’ will be making its debut at the event.

Films, animal facts, activities and more will be posted daily at 9am on the Museum’s blog.

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� Museum of Zoology, Cambridge is temporarily closed to visitors due to the current lockdown measures. Updates on its opening status will be posted on the Museum’s website and Twitter and Facebook pages.

̽��ֱ��Museum holds one of the largest and most important natural history collections in the UK, with an extraordinarily rich history dating back to 1814. In 2018 it reopened after a five-year, £4.1million redevelopment – including nearly £2 million from ̽��ֱ��National Lottery Heritage Fund – to reveal thousands of incredible specimens from across the animal kingdom, including whales, elephants, a giraffe, giant ground sloth, insects, corals as well as items collected by Charles Darwin.

Researchers and staff at the ̽��ֱ�� Museum of Zoology in Cambridge are getting ready to share their enthusiasm for winter wildlife in a special 12-day online event.

There’s a lot more winter wildlife in the UK than you might expect – and we hope this event will not only be educational but a lot of fun

Roz Wade

12 Days of Winter Wildlife Live Launch

Robin by TeeFarm on Pixabay

Yes

Mighty mites give scrawny beetles the edge over bigger rivals

sc604 — Wed, 06 Mar 2019 00:00:17 +0000

In a study featuring a miniature ‘gym’ for beetles (complete with beetle treadmills), researchers from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge found that beetles who consistently lose out to members of their own species have the most to gain by forming a mutually-beneficial cross-species partnership.

̽��ֱ��researchers studied the relationship between the burying beetle and the tiny mites that hitch a ride on their backs. ̽��ֱ��researchers found that mites function like a warm jacket on smaller beetles, and cause them to heat up when the beetles exercise. This made them more successful in face-offs with larger opponents.

For larger beetles, the mites actually reduced their level of fitness. They needed no help from mites to win ownership of a dead body and then lost out because the beetle larvae had to compete with mites for food. ̽��ֱ��results are reported in the journal Evolution Letters.

Relationships between two species where both benefit – such as flowering plants pollinated by insects – is known as mutualism. These relationships are widespread and are key to maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem function, but they are highly variable.

“When the costs of a mutualistic relationship start to outweigh the benefits, it will break down,” said Syuan-Jyun Sun, a PhD candidate in Cambridge’s Department of Zoology and the paper’s first author. “We wanted to find out if competition within species might be one of the reasons why we see such variety in mutualistic relationships.”

In competitions for food or a mate, there will inevitably be winners and losers. ̽��ֱ��Cambridge researchers wanted to test whether ‘losers’ might be more likely to have a mutualistic relationship with another species in order to gain an advantage over their stronger rivals. At the same time, ‘winners’ may not need any help to win battles, so a mutualistic relationship wouldn’t bring any advantage and might even break down into a form of parasitism.

̽��ֱ��researchers tested this idea with experiments on burying beetles and their mites. ̽��ֱ��mites Poecilochirus carabi are benign passengers on their host burying beetles Nicrophorus vespilloides. ̽��ֱ��beetle flies around, seeking out the bodies of freshly dead small animals like mice and birds. Both the beetle and the mites onboard use the dead body as food for their young.

However, beetles face fierce competition for the ownership of a carcass, such as a dead mouse, and smaller beetles often lose the territory to larger rivals. Since the beetles need the carcass to breed, how do smaller beetles manage to reproduce?

“We wondered whether mites could give these ‘losers’ a helping hand in fights over a carcass,” said Sun. In the lab of Professor Rebecca Kilner in Cambridge, the researchers staged contests over a dead mouse between two beetles that were matched in size. One carried mites, while the other did not. They filmed the fights with infrared thermography, and found that beetles with mites were hotter and more aggressive, and therefore more likely to win.

To investigate how such thermal benefits arose, the researchers built a ‘gym’ for beetles and exercised them on custom treadmills. Beetles either carried mites, or a weight that was equivalent to the mites, or they carried nothing.

“We found that carrying extra weight caused beetles to generate extra heat as they exercised,” said Sun. “We also discovered that this heat was trapped by the mites because the mites form an insulating layer when travelling on beetles.”

These effects were most pronounced for smaller beetles because mites covered a relatively larger surface area than on large beetles, suggesting that mites are likely to be disproportionally beneficial to smaller beetles.

To test this idea directly, the researchers again staged fights between two beetles over a dead mouse. This time, the two rivals differed in body size. They also let beetles lay their eggs on a mouse, with and without mites.

̽��ֱ��researchers found that small beetles were much more likely to win a fight for a carcass when they were carrying mites. However, the mites slightly reduced the beetles’ reproductive success, because they competed with beetle larvae for carrion. Nevertheless, the huge benefits of acquiring a carcass for reproduction outweighed these small costs. For smaller ‘loser’ beetles, mites are mutualists because they increase beetle fitness.

̽��ֱ��findings were different for larger beetles. They needed no help to win a carcass, so they gained nothing from associating with mites. To make matters worse, they then lost fitness to the mites when they bred alongside each together on the carcass. For larger ‘winner’ beetles, mites are antagonistic rather than mutualistic because they reduce beetle fitness.

̽��ֱ��research was funded in part by the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, the Royal Society and the European Research Council.

Reference:
Syuan-Jyun Sun et al. ‘Conflict within species determines the value of a mutualism between species.’ Evolution Letters (2019). DOI:10.1002/evl3.109

Smaller beetles who consistently lose fights over resources can gain a competitive advantage over their larger rivals by teaming up with another species.

When the costs of a mutualistic relationship start to outweigh the benefits, it will break down

Syuan-Jyun Sun

Burying beetle (Nicrophorus vespilloides) with mites (Poecilochirus carabi)

Yes

Neglected baby beetles evolve greater self-reliance

ta385 — Fri, 28 Sep 2018 09:01:00 +0000

In gardens, parks and woods across the UK, the Sexton burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides quietly buries dead mice and other small vertebrates to create edible nests for its young.

Most parents remove the animal’s hair and slash the flesh of the carcass to help their newly-hatched larvae crawl inside. Typically they also stay on to defend and feed them, but levels of care vary and larvae can survive without their parents.

In a laboratory in Cambridge’s Zoology Department, researchers exploited the insect’s unusual natural history to establish two starkly different experimental populations and explore how parental behaviour drives evolution.

̽��ֱ��study, published today in the journal Nature Communications shows that larvae evolve distinctive adaptations in response to the different levels of parental care.

̽��ֱ��scientists behind the research exposed hundreds of beetles to two levels of parental care, over 13 generations. In a No Care environment, parents were removed as soon as they had prepared their mouse carcass nest but before their larvae had hatched. By contrast, in the Control environment, the parents were allowed to care for their young until they were ready to leave home.

̽��ֱ��researchers found that when parents fed meat to their babies’ mouth-to-mouth, the larvae evolved relatively smaller mandibles. These horizontally-aligned bladelike jaws play a vital role in the larva’s life, enabling them to enter the carcass and feed on the flesh once inside, but they are less important when parents help their young to feed.

“By contrast, when the parents were removed from their young and larvae were forced to self-feed, the larvae evolved significantly larger jaws to compensate for the lack of help,” said Benjamin Jarrett, who led the study.

Many previous studies have shown that social interactions in animals can drive evolutionary change through arms races which cause traits to become increasingly exaggerated. But animals also cooperate and it has been argued that when one individual contributes more, this can diminish traits in the less active social partner. Rarely, however, has direct evidence of this process been obtained.

So what are the larval mandibles like in natural populations, where the level of parental care is very variable from family to family? Here the researchers found that larval jaws are consistently large on average, regardless of the size of the larva.

“They seem to be anticipating the worst possible scenario of receiving no help at all. This looks like a conservative bet-hedging strategy for survival,” said Jarrett.

“Whether parents eventually decide to stay or go, the larva are equipped with large jaws and so can fend for themselves if necessary.”

̽��ֱ��laboratory’s experimental populations of beetles are continuing to evolve and are now in the 35th generation of experiencing different levels of parental care.

“Our ongoing research investigates the importance of the social environment in evolution. We are watching the way that evolution unfolds in these experimental populations and they constantly teach and surprise us,” said Professor Rebecca Kilner, senior author of the paper.

“ ̽��ֱ��better our understanding of how evolution works, the better able we are to predict how animals will evolve in a changing world”.

Reference:
Benjamin Jarrett et al. 'A sustained change in the supply of parental care causes adaptive evolution of offspring morphology.' Nature Communications (2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06513-6

A new study reveals that when burying beetle larvae are denied parental support, they evolve bigger jaws to compensate.

Our ongoing research investigates the importance of the social environment in evolution

Rebecca Kilner

Courtesy of tomhouslay.com

Sexton beetle and larva

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Conservationists gather to mark International Women's Day

ed515 — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 16:08:16 +0000

̽��ֱ��event, jointly organised by the Museum and the Cambridge Conservation Forum’s Women in Conservation Leadership Network, was held to mark International Women’s Day and included a keynote lecture by Professor Rebecca Kilner from Cambridge’s Department of Zoology.

Kilner said; “Events like this are important for showing the next generation that anyone with a spark for science can work in science subjects. They are designed to excite and encourage young people to pursue their interests - and not to be held back by their gender, race or background.”

̽��ֱ��Museum welcomed over 100 visitors to the event, which included ‘meet the scientist’ stalls, a poster exhibition, and a sneak-peek at the newly refurbished Whale Hall.

More than 30 women working in different scientific fields took part, from organisations including the United Nations’ Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre, the RSPB and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. They were joined by staff and volunteers from the museum, and Cambridge postgraduate students.

Dr Rosalyn Wade, the Museum’s Interpretation and Learning Officer, helped to coordinate the event. She said; “A key role for the Museum is engaging with the public and raising awareness of work in biological and environmental sciences.

“It’s important to raise awareness of the different kinds of careers available in scientific fields. A number of our visitors were GCSE and A-Level students, and it was a great opportunity for them to see the range of roles that might be available to them in the future.

“We also had lots of new mums who are thinking about a career change and were interested to learn more about different areas. It was great to see such a diverse range of people.”

̽��ֱ��Museum has undergone a massive redevelopment, and will officially re-open to the public on 23 June.

Scientists from around the world gathered at the Museum of Zoology yesterday to celebrate and promote the work of women in conservation.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

Yes

Speed of animal evolution enhanced by cooperative behaviour

sjr81 — Fri, 26 May 2017 15:00:16 +0000

Cooperative behaviour is a key part of animal family life: parents help offspring by supplying them with food, and siblings can also work together to acquire food. ̽��ֱ��Cambridge study, published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution, looked at the burying beetle – unusual in the insect world as the parents feed their offspring.

Larvae in small broods are well supplied with food by their parents and grow large. In the parents’ absence, larvae can also help each other to forage for food. However, in the absence of their parents, small broods of larvae are less effective at helping each other and can never grow as big.

“For our study, we played the role of natural selection. In some experimental beetle populations, we chose only the largest beetles to breed at each generation and in some we chose only the smallest beetles,” said Benjamin Jarrett from the Department of Zoology at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, who led the study.

“Crucially, we also changed the social conditions within beetle families. In some populations, we allowed parents to help their offspring, but in other populations we removed the parents, and larvae had to help each other. We found that the social conditions made a big difference to how quickly beetle body size evolves over generations.”

Beetles only evolved a larger body size when parents were present to help rear their young. In stark contrast, smaller body size only evolved when beetle parents were removed, and there were too few larvae to help each other.

̽��ֱ��experiment helps explain how different species of burying beetle might have evolved their different body sizes. In general, larger species of beetle have more diligent parents than smaller species.

Burying beetles use the dead body of a small animal, like a mouse or bird, for reproduction. ̽��ֱ��parents shave and bury the carcass, to make it into an edible nest for their larvae. ̽��ֱ��larvae can feed themselves on the carrion, but the parent beetles also regurgitate partly digested food to them. ̽��ֱ��species used in this study has quite variable levels of parental care: occasionally larvae have to fend for themselves on the carcass because they have been abandoned by their parents.

“Previous work has focused on the puzzle of how cooperative behaviour evolves, because natural selection seems to favour animals that are selfish,” said Professor Rebecca Kilner, who is senior author of this paper. “We have shown that what happens next, in evolutionary terms, is just as interesting. Once cooperation has evolved, it can change the way in which evolution then unfolds.”

̽��ֱ��researchers now hope to uses experimental evolution to understand what happens across many generations when changing the extent of parental care.

“We can remove parents from caring for their offspring in one generation, and we do this to their offspring too, and their grandoffspring, and so on,” added Jarrett. “We currently have populations of beetles that have not had parents looking after them as they grow up for 25 generations.

“What this does is change what evolution is working on. Natural selection is usually acting on the combination of parents and offspring, and now, by removing parents, we have changed the traits on which evolution acts.”

̽��ֱ��paper Cooperative interactions within the family enhance the capacity for evolutionary change in body size, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, can be found here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/241559-017-0178

A study by scientists from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge has revealed how cooperative behaviour between insect family members changes how rapidly body size evolves – with the speed of evolution increasing when individual animals help one another.

In some populations, we allowed parents to help their offspring, but in other populations we removed the parents.

Benjamin Jarrett

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

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Burying beetles: could being a good father send you to an early grave?

fpjl2 — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 05:06:54 +0000

When a good insect father pairs with a bad mother, he risks being exploited by her for childcare and could bear the ultimate cost by dying young.

A new study carried out with burying beetles also shows that bad parenting creates bad parents-to-be, while well-cared for larvae mature into high quality parents.

̽��ֱ��research is published today in the open access journal eLife.

“Parents obviously play a huge role in determining the characteristics of their offspring,” said lead researcher Professor Rebecca Kilner from the Department of Zoology at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

“ ̽��ֱ��aim of our study was to investigate non-genetic ways that parents achieve this.”

This is important because non-genetic inheritance could speed up the rate at which animal behaviour evolves and adapts in a rapidly changing world

Whether examining mothers or fathers, the research team found that individuals that received no care as larvae were less effective at raising a large brood as parents, and died younger. In contrast, high quality care not only produces a larger brood, but individual offspring with a higher mass. This is consistent with previous studies.

“We found that parental care provides a mechanism for non-genetic inheritance. Good quality parents produce offspring that become good parents themselves, while offspring that receive poor parenting then become low quality parents. Our experiments show how parental care allows offspring to inherit characteristics of their parents, but non-genetically,” Kilner said.

However, the team also found that offspring pay a cost for receiving high quality care, because it makes them vulnerable to exploitation if they pair up with a lower quality partner. This may explain why animals often choose a mate that is willing to put in a similar amount of effort as them as a parent. In this way, they are less vulnerable to exploitation.

̽��ֱ��burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides, uses the carcass of a small vertebrate such as a mouse as an edible nest for its young. As its name suggests, a breeding pair buries the carcass and preserves it with an antibacterial secretion. ̽��ֱ��mother lays eggs nearby in the soil, and the larvae crawl to the carcass when they hatch. Although the larvae can feed themselves, they also beg both parents for partly-digested food from the carcass.

In the current study, when males were paired with females that had received no post-hatching care as larvae, they had significantly shorter lives than those whose partners had received more care. ̽��ֱ��most likely explanation is that males with low quality partners put more effort into parental duties to compensate for the shortcomings of their mate, and paid the price by dying younger.

Story taken from an eLife press release.

New research shows beetles that received no care as larvae were less effective at raising a large brood as parents. Males paired with ‘low quality’ females - those that received no care as larvae - paid the price by dying younger, researchers found.

Our experiments show how parental care allows offspring to inherit characteristics of their parents, but non-genetically

Rebecca Kilner

Tom Houslay

Female burying beetle with offspring.

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Yes