Friedman Nicholas R, Lecroq Bennet Beatrice, Fischer Georg, Sarnat Eli M, Huang Jen-Pan, Knowles L Lacey Knowles, Economo Evan P
Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University Okinawa Japan.
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Zoology University of Michigan Ann Arbor MI USA.
Ecol Evol. 2020 Aug 18;10(17):9371-9383. doi: 10.1002/ece3.6623. eCollection 2020 Sep.
Phenotypic traits are often integrated into evolutionary modules: sets of organismal parts that evolve together. In social insect colonies, the concepts of integration and modularity apply to sets of traits both within and among functionally and phenotypically differentiated castes. On macroevolutionary timescales, patterns of integration and modularity within and across castes can be clues to the selective and ecological factors shaping their evolution and diversification. We develop a set of hypotheses describing contrasting patterns of worker integration and apply this framework in a broad (246 species) comparative analysis of major and minor worker evolution in the hyperdiverse ant genus . Using geometric morphometrics in a phylogenetic framework, we inferred fast and tightly integrated evolution of mesosoma shape between major and minor workers, but slower and more independent evolution of head shape between the two worker castes. Thus, workers are evolving as a mixture of intracaste and intercaste integration and rate heterogeneity. The decoupling of homologous traits across worker castes may represent an important process facilitating the rise of social complexity.
即一起进化的一组生物体部分。在社会性昆虫群落中，整合和模块性的概念适用于功能和表型分化的不同等级内部以及不同等级之间的性状组合。在宏观进化时间尺度上，不同等级内部和之间的整合和模块性模式可以为塑造其进化和多样化的选择和生态因素提供线索。我们提出了一组描述工蚁整合对比模式的假设，并将这个框架应用于对高度多样化的蚂蚁属中主要和次要工蚁进化的广泛（246个物种）比较分析。在系统发育框架中使用几何形态测量学，我们推断出主要和次要工蚁之间中体形状的快速且紧密整合的进化，但两个工蚁等级之间头部形状的进化较慢且更独立。因此，工蚁正在作为种内和种间整合以及速率异质性的混合体而进化。不同工蚁等级同源性状的解耦可能代表了一个促进社会复杂性增加的重要过程。
