Presentation Details
| Citizen science reveals parental care evolution in harvestmen Laís A.Grossel1, Glauco Machado2. 1Programa de Pós-graduação em Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.2LAGE do Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil |
Abstract
Citizen-science platforms have become powerful tools for documenting natural history, but their potential for reconstructing behavioral evolution remains largely unexplored. Here, we combine field and laboratory records with a systematic survey of iNaturalist observations to investigate the evolution of parental care in Opiliones. We report 85 new records of parental behavior, and together with all published information, they were mapped onto a newly assembled supertree of 165 species spanning nine families. Character mapping revealed that maternal care arises exclusively from ancestors without care, whereas paternal care evolves through two routes—from no care and from maternal care—suggesting distinct selective pressures underlying its repeated origins. Transitions from parental care back to no care are frequent in both sexes, suggesting that alternative egg-protection strategies may compensate for the absence of parental attendance while avoiding the costs of prolonged care. Our findings highlight the remarkable evolutionary lability of parental care in Gonyleptoidea and demonstrate that citizen-science data can substantially accelerate macroevolutionary research.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
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