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Review
. 2019 Aug:34:91-96.
doi: 10.1016/j.cois.2019.04.007. Epub 2019 Apr 26.

From phenotype to genotype: the precursor hypothesis predicts genetic influences that facilitate transitions in social behavior

Allen J Moore  1 , Kyle M Benowitz  2
Affiliations
Review

From phenotype to genotype: the precursor hypothesis predicts genetic influences that facilitate transitions in social behavior

Allen J Moore et al. Curr Opin Insect Sci. 2019 Aug.

Abstract

Parental care is expected to be one of the key evolutionary precursors to advanced social behavior. This suggests that there could be common genetic underpinnings to both parental care and sociality. However, little is known of the genetics underlying care. Here, we suggest that ethological predictions of behavioral precursors to care along with a genetic toolkit for behavior provide testable hypotheses and a defined approach to investigating genetics of sociality. We call this the 'precursor hypothesis'.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement

Nothing declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
One set of hypotheses regarding the evolution of care via precursors, and its relationship to social classification. The dashed arrow represents the hypothesis that cooperative brood care evolved directly from parental care. Although this figure concerns only parental care, similar paths could be drawn for other categories of social behavior that define subsocial and eusocial insects.
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