Meeting Abstract
Individuals of many species have evolved alternate morphologies, thus enabling individuals to conditionally match behavioral strategies that are favorable for reproductive success. Examples of this phenomenon include sexual dimorphism, alternative reproductive strategies, and social insect castes. Here, we use the concept of morphological integration to examine the extent to which a trait, belonging to two different ant castes or bird sexes, evolves in a correlated fashion. In the case of social insects, we examine an ant genus in which workers have major and minor worker subcastes that perform different behavioral repertoires in and around the nest. In the case of birds, we examine a family of songbirds that exhibits plumage coloration that can differ greatly between males and females, with apparently independent changes in each sex.
