In search of genetic constraints limiting the evolution of egg size: direct and correlated responses to artificial selection on a prenatal maternal effector.

Abstract excerpt

Maternal effects are an important force in nature, but the evolutionary dynamics of the traits that cause them are not well understood. Egg size is known to be a key mediator of prenatal maternal effects with an established genetic basis. In contrast to theoretical expectations for fitness-related traits, there is a large amount of additive genetic variation in egg size observed in natural populations. One...

Topics

• Animals
• Biological Evolution
• Body Size
• Coturnix
• Female
• Fertility
• Male
• Ovum
• Phenotype
• Selection, Genetic