Asymmetry, developmental instability and natural selection in bats

Leandro MONTEIRO
Unversidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense, Campos dos Goytacazes, Brésil  lrmont@uenf.br

(Seminar in English)

The asymmetry of bilateral structures is an index of developmental instability (DI), measuring the inability of an organism to buffer their development against environmental or genetic disturbance. In organisms with bilateral symmetry, small differences in growth between sides are buffered during stable development, leading to a symmetric phenotype. The link of developmental instability and fitness is somewhat controversial, particularly whether it can be used as a signal of “good genes” in sexual selection. I will present new results from a long term project in my research group with a bat model species Carollia pespicillata, showing that asymmetry is a useful proxy for fitness (survival and reproductive potential) and discuss potential implications of this finding for the study of evolution and natural selection.

Some publications:

Manhães, I., M. R. Nogueira, L. R. Monteiro (2017). Bite force and evolutionary studies in phyllostomid bats: a meta-analysis and validation. Journal of Zoology. 302:288-297.

Monteiro, L. R., and M. R. Nogueira. (2011). Evolutionary patterns and processes in the radiation of phyllostomid bats. BMC Evolutionary Biology 11:137

Monteiro, L. R., and M. R. Nogueira. (2010). Adaptive radiations, ecological specialization, and the evolutionary integration of complex morphological structures. Evolution 64:724-744.

Nogueira, M. R., A. L. Peracchi, and L. R. Monteiro. (2009) Morphological correlates of bite force and diet in the skull and mandible of phyllostomid bats. Functional Ecology 23, 715-723.