title: Evolution of elaborate parental care: phenotypic and genetic correlations between parent and offspring traits.
abstract: The evolution of elaborate forms of parental care is an important topic in behavioral ecology, yet the factors shaping the evolution of complex suites of parental and offspring traits are poorly understood. Here, we use a multivariate quantitative genetic approach to study phenotypic and genetic correlations between parental and offspring traits in the burying beetleNicrophorus vespilloides. To this end, we recorded 2 prenatal traits (clutch size and egg size), 2 postnatal parental behaviors (direct care directed toward larvae and indirect care directed toward resource maintenance), 1 offspring behavior (begging), and 2 measures of breeding success (larval dispersal mass and number of dispersing larvae). Females breeding on larger carcasses provided less direct care but produced larger larvae than females breeding on smaller carcasses. Furthermore, there were positive phenotypic correlations between clutch size, direct, and indirect care. Both egg size and direct care were positively correlated with dispersal mass, whereas clutch size was negatively correlated with dispersal mass. Clutch size and number of dispersed larvae showed genetic variance both in terms of differences between populations of origin and significant heritabilities. However, we found no evidence of genetic variance underlying other parental or offspring traits. Our results suggest that correlations between suites of parental traits are driven by variation in individual quality rather than trade-offs, that some parental traits promote offspring growth while others increase the number of offspring produced, and that parental and offspring traits might respond slowly to selection due to low levels of additive genetic variance.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Charlotte Auerbach Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK,; Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK, and.
authors.forename: Clare P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Andrews
authors.affiliation: Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Charlotte Auerbach Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK,; Division of Ecology, Evolution and Genetics, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
authors.forename: Loeske E B
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Kruuk
authors.affiliation: Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh , Charlotte Auerbach Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FL , UK.
authors.forename: Per T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Smiseth
keywords: Nicrophorus vespilloides; heritability; multivariate analysis; parental quality; trade-offs.