1 The evolution of life histories Outline: Life cycles Variation of life histories (inter- and intra-specific variation) Age / fecundity schedules, life tables and fitness (R 0 and r) Types of life histories Semelparous versus iteroparous Determinate versus indeterminate growth Trade-offs and constraints Experimental tests Directional and stabilising selection Phenotypic plasticity One trait in more detail: The evolution of ageing Part 3 of “Hauptvorlesung Evolutionsbiologie” • Prof. Dieter Ebert & Walter Salzburger • Kontakt: (Verantwortlicher Dozent): [email protected] • Evolutionsbiologie, Zoologisches Institut • Script download @ http://www.evolution.unibas.ch/teaching/index.htm 2 Life cycles The study of life-history evolution involves a quantitative assessment of development throughout the entire life. It mainly concerns aspects related to timing of events, body size, reproduction and survival. Demography plays a central role in our understanding of life history evolution. 3 There is strong variation among species and taxonomic groups in life history traits. Why? 4 There is also strong variation within clades in life history traits.