Genomics: moving behavioural ecology beyond the phenotypic gambit.

Special Issue: Kin Selection Genomics: moving behavioural ecology beyond the phenotypic gambit

Beyond the phenotypic gambit: molecular behavioural ecology and the evolution of genetic architecture.

Most studies of behaviour examine traits whose proximate causes include sensory input and neural decision-making, but conflict and collaboration in biological systems began long before brains or sensory systems evolved. Many behaviours result from non-neural mechanisms such as direct physical contact between recognition proteins or modifications of development that coincide with altered behavio...

Global Health in the Anthropocene: Moving Beyond Resilience and Capitalism; Comment on “Health Promotion in an Age of Normative Equity and Rampant Inequality”

There has been much reflection on the need for a new understanding of global health and the urgency of a paradigm shift to address global health issues. A crucial question is whether this is still possible in current modes of global governance based on capitalist values. Four reflections are provided. (1) Ecological–centered values must become central in any future global health framework. (2) ...

Experimental evolution, behavior and genetics: Associative learning as a case study

The evolutionary dynamics of behavioral traits reflect phenotypic and genetic changes. Methodological difficulties in analyzing the genetic dynamics of complex traits have left open questions on the mechanisms that have shaped complex behaviors and cognitive abilities. A strategy to investigate the change of behavior across generations is to assume that genetic constraints have a negligible rol...

Exploring the genetics of nestling personality traits in a wild passerine bird: testing the phenotypic gambit

When several personality traits covary, they form a behavioral syndrome. Understanding the evolutionary dynamics of a behavioral syndrome requires knowledge of its genetic underpinning. At present, our understanding of the genetic basis of behavioral syndromes is largely restricted to domestic and laboratory animals. Wild behavioral syndromes are mostly inferred on the basis of phenotypic corre...