Direct and Indirect Genetic Effects of Parental Care

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NONTECHNICAL ABSTRACTProposal Number: 9808629PI: Rauter, Claudia Title: Direct and Indirect Genetic Effects of Parental CareParental care, where either one or both parents provide resources or protection of their offspring, is widespread among nearly all animal tax. There is a large literature within behavioral ecology on the importance and consequences of parental care behavior. Not all individuals perform parental care in the same way. Environmental causes of differences in parental care behavior among individuals in a species have been extensively studied. However, less well studied are genetic components of such variation in parental care behavior. This research will provide empirical data on the extent to which genetic effects are responsible for variation in parental care in a burying beetle, Nicrophorus oricollis. These data will permit estimation of evolvability of parental care; i.e. they will provide information on the extent of evolutionary change that is possible in parental care behavior in this beetle species. Further these data will provide information genetic influences on traits that may be correlated with the behavioral variables, such as morphological, physiological and life historical characters. Such genetic correlations can reflect functional groups of traits and will provide insights into any traits, other than behavior, associated with parental care. The research will foster our understanding of the evolution of parental care and why parental care may vary among individuals in a species.