Journal
SCIENCE ADVANCES
Volume 8, Issue 21, Pages -Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abn9580
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Funding
- Carlsberg Foundation
- Swedish Research Council [2016-03356, 2017-03880]
- Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation [2018.0138]
- Carl Tryggers grants [12:92, 19:71]
- Western Cape Agricultural Research Trust [0070/000VOLSTRUISE]
- Technology and Human Resources for Industry program of the South African National Research Foundation [TP14081390585]
- Swedish Research Council [2017-03880] Funding Source: Swedish Research Council
- Vinnova [2017-03880, 2016-03356] Funding Source: Vinnova
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Research suggests that ostriches have the evolutionary potential to cope with temperature fluctuations, but there is a negative genetic correlation between heat and cold tolerance, which limits their ability to adapt to fluctuating temperatures.
The evolutionary potential of species to cope with short-term temperature fluctuations during reproduction is critical to predicting responses to future climate change. Despite this, vertebrate research has focused on reproduction under high or low temperatures in relatively stable temperate climates. Here, we characterize the genetic basis of reproductive thermal tolerance to temperature fluctuations in the ostrich, which lives in variable environments in tropical and subtropical Africa. Both heat and cold tolerance were under selection and heritable, indicating the potential for evolutionary responses to mean temperature change. However, we found evidence for a negative, genetic correlation between heat and cold tolerance that should limit the potential for adaptation to fluctuating temperatures. Genetic constraints between heat and cold tolerance appear a crucial, yet underappreciated, factor influencing responses to climate change.
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