It has long been assumed that social animals, such as humans, are born with a brain system
that has evolved to support social affiliation. However, the evidence does not necessarily …

Indirect genetic effects (IGEs) are environmental influences on the phenotype of one
individual that are due to the expression of genes in a different, conspecific, individual …

Parents affect offspring fitness by propagule size and quality, selection of oviposition site,
quality of incubation, feeding of dependent young, and their defence against predators and …

One of the outstanding challenges for evolutionary biologists is to understand how
developmental plasticity can influence the evolutionary process. Developmental plasticity …

The timing of parturition is crucial for neonatal survival and infant health. Yet, its genetic
basis remains largely unresolved. We present a maternal genome-wide meta-analysis of …

As is the case with any metaphor, parental effects mean different things to different biologists—
from developmental induction of novel phenotypic variation to an evolved adaptation, and …

The use of regression analysis has been instrumental in allowing evolutionary biologists to
estimate the strength and mode of natural selection. Although directional and correlational …

Summary 1 Genetic and environmental maternal effects can play an important role in the
evolutionary dynamics of a population: they may have a substantial impact on the rate and …

The past 30 years of immunological research have revealed much about the proximate
mechanisms of maternal antibody transmission and utilization, but have not adequately …

Existing insight suggests that maternal effects have a substantial impact on evolution, yet
these predictions assume that maternal effects themselves are evolutionarily constant …