Does mother know best? Unifying proximate causation and ultimate explanation in mammalian sex allocation

妈妈最了解吗？

• 批准号: DP140103227
• 负责人: Prof Erik Wapstra
• 金额: $ 24.47万
• 依托单位: University of Tasmania
• 依托单位国家: 澳大利亚
• 项目类别: Discovery Projects
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 澳大利亚
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://dataportal.arc.gov.au/RGS/Web/Grants/DP140103227
• 关键词: Does; mother; know; best; Unifying

The study of parental effects is a fundamental area in evolutionary ecology, but is characterised by poor integration of theory (ultimate causation) and physiology (proximate causation). This is true in sex allocation research that focuses almost exclusively on ultimate causation without integrating the physiological mechanisms for sex ratio adjustment. Using a combination of experiments and modelling, the project addresses this gap in understanding mammalian sex allocation, specifically: the lack of known mechanism; the connection between proximate mechanistic explanation and adaptive fitness explanations; and, knowledge on constraints. This project argues that one mechanism, pre-implantation glucose levels, links adaptive hypotheses with proximate causation.

亲本效应的研究是进化生态学的一个基本领域，但其特点是理论（最终因果关系）和生理学（近因）的整合性差。这是真实的性别分配研究，几乎完全集中在最终的因果关系，而没有整合的生理机制，性别比例的调整。使用实验和建模相结合，该项目解决了这一差距，了解哺乳动物的性别分配，具体而言：缺乏已知的机制;近机械解释和适应性健身解释之间的联系;和，知识的限制。该项目认为，一种机制，植入前葡萄糖水平，链接适应性假设与近因。