The development of genetically modified (GM) crops has precipitated the need for risk assessment and regulation of pollen–mediated gene flow. In response to this need we present a mathematical model to predict the spatial distribution of outcrossing ...

Animals may share food to gain immediate or delayed fitness benefits. Previous studies of sharing have concentrated on delayed benefits such as reciprocity, trade and punishment. This study tests an alternative model (the harassment or sharing–under–...

According to the antagonistic pleiotropy theory of ageing, natural selection has favoured genes conferring short–term benefits to the organism at the cost of deterioration in later life. The ‘disposable soma’ theory expresses this as a life–history ...

We have built a model to predict optimal age at first birth for women in a natural fertility population. The only existing fully evolutionary model, based on Ache hunter–gatherers, argues that as women gain weight, their fertility (rate of giving ...

In a stochastic environment, two distinct processes, namely nonlinear averaging and non–equilibrium dynamics, influence fitness. We develop methods for decomposing the effects of temporal variation in demography into contributions from nonlinear ...

Motion camouflage is a strategy whereby an aggressor moves towards a target while appearing stationary to the target except for the inevitable change in perceived size of the aggressor as it approaches. The strategy has been observed in insects, and ...

The diverse vocal performances of oscine songbirds are produced by the independent but coordinated patterns of activity in muscles controlling separate sound generators on the left and right sides of their duplex vocal organ, the syrinx. Species with ...

Avian malaria is caused by a diverse community of genetically differentiated parasites of the genera Plasmodium and Haemoproteus. Rapid seasonal and annual antigenic allele turnover resulting from selection by host immune systems, as observed in some ...

Infectious diseases present ecological and public health challenges that can be addressed with mathematical models. Certain pathogens, however, including the emerging West Nile virus (WN) in North America, exhibit a complex seasonal ecology that is ...

The intracellular bacterium Wolbachia is one of the most common symbionts in arthropods and, because of its manipulative effects on host reproduction, is assumed to be an important factor in several evolutionary processes. These bacteria are mainly ...

The toughness of bone is an important feature in preventing it from fracturing. We consider the notch sensitivity in impact, and the associations between brittleness, notch sensitivity and post–yield energy absorption of mammalian mineralized tissues. ...

Many studies have demonstrated the adaptive advantage of elaborate secondary sexual traits, but few if any have shown compelling evidence for the limits to the elaboration of these traits that must exist. We describe such evidence in the exaggerated ...

Ancient lakes are often collectively viewed as evolutionary hot spots of diversification. East Africa's Lake Tanganyika has long been the subject of scientific interest owing to dramatic levels of endemism in species as diverse as cichlid fishes, ...

Pentastomids are a small group of vermiform animals with unique morphology and parasitic lifestyle. They are generally recognized as being related to the Arthropoda; however, the nature of this relationship is controversial. We have determined the ...

Our analysis of the ND2 sequences revealed six clades within winter wrens (Troglodytes troglodytes). These clades corresponded to six geographical regions: western Nearctic, eastern Nearctic, eastern Asia, Nepal, Caucasus and Europe, and differed by 3–...