Open AccessBuilding behavior does not drive rates of phenotypic evolution in spiders
Author(s) -
Jonas O. Wolff,
Kaja Wierucka,
Gabriele Uhl,
Marie E. Herberstein
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2102693118
Subject(s) - evolutionary biology , biology , morphology (biology) , natural selection , lineage (genetic) , clade , phenotype , biological evolution , artifact (error) , selection (genetic algorithm) , diversity (politics) , ecology , phylogenetics , zoology , genetics , gene , artificial intelligence , neuroscience , sociology , computer science , anthropology
Do animals set the course for the evolution of their lineage when manipulating their environment? This heavily disputed question is empirically unexplored but critical to interpret phenotypic diversity. Here, we tested whether the macroevolutionary rates of body morphology correlate with the use of built artifacts in a megadiverse clade comprising builders and nonbuilders—spiders. By separating the inferred building-dependent rates from background effects, we found that variation in the evolution of morphology is poorly explained by artifact use. Thus natural selection acting directly on body morphology rather than indirectly via construction behavior is the dominant driver of phenotypic diversity.