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Types of Selection01:46

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Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...
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Migration is long-range, seasonal movement from one region or habitat to another. This common strategy, carried out by many different organisms around the world, is an adaptive response that typically corresponds to changes in an organism’s environment, like resource availability or climate. Migrations can involve huge groups of thousands of animals as well as single individuals traveling alone and can range from thousands of kilometers to just a few hundred meters.
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Although the genetic makeup of an organism plays a major role in determining the phenotype, there are also several environmental factors, such as temperature, oxygen availability, presence of mutagens, that can alter an organism’s phenotype.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 10, 2025

Induction and Evaluation of Inbreeding Crosses Using the Ant, Vollenhovia Emeryi
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Induction and Evaluation of Inbreeding Crosses Using the Ant, Vollenhovia Emeryi

Published on: October 5, 2018

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Temperature drives caste-specific morphological clines in ants.

François Brassard1, André Francoeur2, Jean-Philippe Lessard1

  • 1Department of Biology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.

The Journal of Animal Ecology
|August 29, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Ant morphology, including body size and shape, is influenced by climate, particularly temperature. This effect varies between reproductive castes and workers, highlighting the importance of reproductive ant ecology for understanding species distribution limits.

Keywords:
Bergmann's ruleFormicidaeclimateenvironmental gradientsfunctional traitsmorphospace

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Zoology

Background:

  • Organismal morphology is linked to life history and ecology, offering insights into species distribution limits.
  • Eusocial insects like ants display complex morphology with distinct castes (reproductive and worker).
  • Understanding caste-specific environmental selection on ant morphology is crucial for explaining distribution patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between ant morphology (shape and body size) and climate across North America.
  • To determine if climatic influences on morphology differ between ant castes.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized 26,472 georeferenced morphometric measurements from 2,206 ants across 32 species in the genus Formica.
  • Assessed correlations between ant morphology and geographic variations in abiotic factors, primarily temperature, precipitation, and seasonality.

Main Results:

  • Temperature was the strongest predictor of ant morphology, with body size positively correlating with temperature (smaller ants in colder climates).
  • The influence of temperature on body size was more pronounced in reproductive castes (queens and males) than in workers.
  • Worker and male ant shapes also varied with climate; workers exhibited temperature-dependent appendage lengths, while males showed seasonal influences on head and thorax size.

Conclusions:

  • Geographic variation in ambient temperature significantly impacts ant morphology, with caste-specific differences in this relationship.
  • Future research on ant ecology and species distribution must incorporate the ecological roles and morphological adaptations of reproductive castes, not solely workers.