Brain size and evolutionary diversification in birds
Sayol, Ferran
Sol, Daniel, dir. (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Facultat de Biociències

Fecha:	2013
Descripción:	38 p.
Resumen:	The role of behavior in evolution remains controversial, despite that some ideas are over 100 years old. Changes in behavior are generally believed to enhance evolution by exposing individuals to new selective pressures and by facilitating range expansions. However, this hypothesis lacks firm empirical evidence. Moreover, behavioral changes can also inhibit evolution by hiding heritable variation from natural selection. Taking advantage of the complete phylogeny of extant birds, a new species-level measure of past diversification rate and the best existing measures of brain size (n = 1326 species), I show here that relative brain size is associated (albeit weakly) with diversification rates. Assuming that brain relative size reflects behavioral flexibility, an assumption well-supported by evidence, this finding supports the idea that behavior can enhance evolutionary diversification. This view is further supported by the discovery that the most important factor influencing diversification rates is ecological generalism, which is believed to require behavioral flexibility. Thus, behavioral changes that expose animals to a variety of environments can have played an important role in the evolution of birds.
Derechos:	L'accés als continguts d'aquest document queda condicionat a l'acceptació de les condicions d'ús establertes per la següent llicència Creative Commons:
Lengua:	Anglès
Colección:	Facultat de Biociències. Treballs de màster i postgrau. Màster en Ecologia Terrestre i Gestió de la Biodiversitat
Documento:	Treball de fi de postgrau
Materia:	Ocells ; Hàbits i conducta ; Evolució ; Anatomia

38 p, 1.3 MB

El registro aparece en las colecciones:
Documentos de investigación > Documentos de los grupos de investigación de la UAB > Centros y grupos de investigación (producción científica) > Ciencias > CREAF (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Documentos de investigación > Trabajos de investigación y proyectos de final de carrera > Biociencias. TFM