“In each individual a dance occurs between environment and biology – social scientists shouldn’t be afraid to acknowledge that.”

Interview with Rosemary Hopcroft, Specialty Chief Editor of the Evolutionary Sociology and Biosociology section of Frontiers in Sociology

Neuroscience

20 Oct 2017

Scientists pinpoint jealousy in the monogamous brain

Jealousy activates brain areas associated with social pain and pair bonding, reports a study in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

Life sciences

05 Aug 2016

Butterflies use differences in leaf shape to distinguish between plants

The preference of Heliconius butterflies for certain leaf shapes is innate, but can be reversed through learning, says a study in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. These results support a decades-old theory for explaining the evolution of the exceptional diversity of leaf shapes in passionflowers. The tropical butterfly Heliconius eratodistinguishes between shapes, and uses them as a cue for choosing the plants on which to feed and lay eggs, shows new research by scientists from the University of Cambridge and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. The butterfly has an innate preference for passionflowers with particular leaf shapes, but can learn to overcome this preference in favor of other shapes, especially those that are the most abundant in the local flora. These preferences can promote the evolution of plant biodiversity. Heliconius erato, the red passionflower butterfly, is a large (5 to 8 cm wingspan), white-red-black butterfly that occurs throughout Central America and tropical South America. Females lay their eggs on passionflowers (Passiflora), a genus of tropical vines with extreme variation in leaf shape, both between and within species. For example, related species can have triangular, elongated, elliptic, lobed, or spear-shaped leaves, while even on the same plant leaf shape may vary […]