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

亲代效应的研究是进化生态学的一个基础领域，但其特点是理论（最终因果关系）和生理学（近因关系）缺乏整合。这在性别分配研究中是正确的，它几乎只关注最终的因果关系，而没有整合性别比例调整的生理机制。通过实验和建模的结合，该项目解决了在理解哺乳动物性别分配方面的差距，特别是：缺乏已知的机制；近似机制解释与适应适应度解释的关系关于约束的知识。该项目认为一种机制，即植入前血糖水平，将适应性假设与直接因果关系联系起来。

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.