Am Nat. 2024 Jul;204(1):30-42. doi: 10.1086/730145. Epub 2024 May 10.
AbstractPatterns in the correlated evolution of parental care and life history traits are long established but controversial. Although parental care is related to large egg size in many taxa, conflicting results have also been reported. To test the evolutionary relationships between parental care and life history traits, we performed phylogenetic comparative analyses using shield bugs (Heteroptera: Acanthosomatidae), in which maternal guarding of eggs and young has repeatedly evolved. Our analyses revealed that female body size affected reproductive resource allocation. Contrary to the expectations of current theories, the acquisition of maternal care was associated with small eggs, large clutches, and large egg resource allocation. There was a greater trade-off between egg size and clutch size in caring species than in noncaring species. Egg and hatchling developmental rates were not correlated with egg size but were slower in caring species than in noncaring species. Analyses of evolutionary transitions suggest that the establishment of large clutches, small eggs, and large egg resource allocation preceded the evolution of maternal care. To our knowledge, this is the first study clarifying the evolution of parental care linked with small eggs in invertebrates.
亲代抚育与生活史特征的相关性进化模式由来已久，但颇具争议。尽管在许多类群中，亲代抚育与大卵大小相关，但也有相互矛盾的结果报道。为了检验亲代抚育与生活史特征之间的进化关系，我们对盾蝽（半翅目：长蝽科）进行了系统发育比较分析，因为盾蝽中多次出现了雌性对卵和幼体的保护行为。我们的分析表明，雌性体型影响生殖资源分配。与当前理论的预期相反，获得亲代抚育与小卵、大卵窝和大卵资源分配相关。与无抚育物种相比，有抚育物种在卵大小和卵窝大小之间的权衡更大。卵和孵化后幼虫的发育速度与卵大小无关，但在有抚育物种中比在无抚育物种中更慢。进化过渡分析表明，大卵窝、小卵和大卵资源分配的建立先于亲代抚育的进化。据我们所知，这是首次阐明无脊椎动物中小卵与亲代抚育相关的进化的研究。
