ALLEN, J.D.; ZAKAS, C.; PODOLSKY, R.D.; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Testing the consequences of an egg size reduction for a species with facultatively feeding larvae In free-spawning marine invertebrates, larval development typically proceeds by one of two common modes: planktotrophy (obligate feeding) or lecithotrophy (obligate non-feeding). In a rare third developmental mode, […]

PODOLSKY, Robert; ALLEN, Jonathan; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill: Egg size and the evolutionary transition to non-feeding development in Macrophiothrix brittlestars Marine invertebrates exhibit broad diversity in developmental form and life-history mode. Efforts to understand the origins of this diversity have focused on processes that underlie transitions between […]

MCALISTER, J.S.; PODOLSKY, R.D.; UNC-Chapel Hill; UNC-Chapel Hill: Costs and limits of phenotypic plasticity during development of Lytechinus variegatus Theoretical models predict that the evolution of phenotypic plasticity, differential phenotypic expression in heterogeneous environments, may be constrained by costs and limits. Despite careful empirical studies in several biological systems, significant costs and/or limits of adaptive […]

KUPRIYANOVA, E.K.; University of Adelaide, Australia: Browsing through old journals: lessons learned from earlier fecundity-time models In 1973 Vance published a model that explains differences in reproductive strategies in marine invertebrates. The original model (Vance 1973a) resulted in a concave fitness function suggesting that only extremes of egg provisioning (referred to as egg size) are […]

MILES, Cecelia M.; WAYNE, Marta L.; University of Florida; University of Florida: Artificial selection on egg size in the polychaete worm Hydroides elegans Life histories in marine invertebrates are very diverse, and the topic of the transition between obligate feeding larvae and non-feeding larval forms has been a recurrent theme. One theory regarding the transition […]

MOLLENHAUER, M.A.; BIESIOT, P.M.*; PERRY, H.M.; Univ. Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg; Univ. Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg; USM’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, MS: A Biochemical Analysis of Developing Eggs and Larvae of the American Horseshoe Crab Limulus polyphemus from Delaware Bay and the Gulf of Mexico The American horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus ranges along the Atlantic […]

ALLEN, B.J.*; LEVINTON, J.S.; Stony Brook University; Stony Brook University: The paradox of the weakening combatant: trade-off between closing force and gripping speed in a sexually selected combat structure Previous evidence demonstrates that closing force decreases proportionally as fiddler crab claw size increases. Larger crabs do have greater absolute closing force, but less than would […]

FERNANDEZ, A. F.*; MORRIS, M. R.; Ohio University: The importance of sexual selection in the maintenance of primate trichromatic vision. Foraging efficiency theory has dominated the literature on the evolution of primate trichromatic color vision over the past twenty years; however, recent empirical studies propose that its implications may have been over stated. Our analyses […]

MCGLOTHLIN, J. W.; GAUDIOSO, J. M.; KETTERSON, E. D.; Indiana University, Bloomington; Providence College, RI; Indiana University, Bloomington: Relationships between sexually selected traits and parental quality in dark-eyed juncos Sexually selected traits are often related to some aspect of male quality, enabling females to choose higher-quality males as mates. In species with biparental care, elaboration […]

LEE, DN; LUIS HURTADO, J; TANG-MARTINEZ, Z; Univ. of Missouri – St. Louis; Univ. of Missouri – St. Louis; Univ. of Missouri – St. Louis: Pretty Boy Hypothesis: The Risk of Contracting Sexually Transmitted Diseases from Attractive Males The discussion concerning sexually transmitted diseases has been primarily centered on the costs and benefits of multiple […]