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Evolutionary Origins and Patterns of Diversification in Animal Brood Parasitism
The American Naturalist
|August 2, 2023
Summary
Brood parasitism, the exploitation of host parental care, has 59 independent lineages, mostly in insects. This strategy generally has a neutral to negative impact on species diversification.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Behavioral Ecology
Background:
- Brood parasitism is defined as exploiting host parental care, distinct from direct resource extraction.
- Canonical brood parasites are obligate and parasitize noneusocial hosts, differentiating them from social parasitism.
Approach:
- A systematic literature survey identified 59 independently evolved brood parasitic lineages.
- Comparative analyses examined lineage-level effects of brood parasitism on species richness and diversification.
Key Points:
- Most brood parasitic lineages (49/59) originated in insects, particularly bees and wasps, with ancient origins (≥100 million years old).
- Brood parasitism typically evolves from species exhibiting parental care, often via exploitation of related species (Emery's rule in insects).
- The effect of brood parasitism on species richness and diversification is generally neutral to negative.
Conclusions:
- Brood parasitism is a widespread evolutionary strategy, predominantly found in insects.
- Further research is needed to understand the coevolutionary dynamics between brood parasites and their hosts.
Keywords:
brood parasitecomparative analysisdiversificationparasite evolutionparental carespecies richnessMore Related Videos
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