Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
7
Reproductive Regulation of
Division of Labor
h e view of the genetic, physiological, and behavioral mechanisms of
social organization has become progressively more detailed and com-
plex throughout Chapters 5 and 6. h e model is full of ingredients,
each apparently essential, but without an understanding of how they
interact to af ect the social phenotype, the l avor—not Mulligan stew,
but certainly no longer stone soup. I needed to look for a more simpli-
i ed explanation, one that can be more easily understood. In particular,
the phenotypic architecture of pollen hoarding needed an explanation.
Genetic mapping revealed an underlying genetic architecture where
multiple genes, in this case mapped as QTLs (see Chapter 6), interacted
with one another and had ef ects on multiple phenotypic traits. h is
suggested a broad, integrating regulatory network. But I was stumped.
It was a twist of fate that led to the discovery that the network of genes
and hormones that regulate reproduction had been hijacked and ex-
ploited by natural selection, and by me with high- and low-pollen-
hoarding selection, and used to regulate foraging behavior.
7.1 B a c k g r ou nd
In 2003, I was asked to be an opponent for the doctoral dissertation
defense of Gro Amdam at the Norwegian Life Sciences University. Uni-
versities in Scandinavian countries require that an external reviewer
take part in the i nal decision on the suitability of the work submitted
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