10.5061/DRYAD.H18931ZHS
Snell-Rood, Emilie
0000-0002-2972-5895
University of Minnesota
Swanson, Eli Matthew
University of Minnesota
Espeset, Anne
University of Minnesota
Jaumann, Sarah
University of Minnesota
Philips, Kinsey
University of Minnesota
Walker, Courtney
University of Minnesota
Semke, Brandon
University of Minnesota
Mori, Akira
Yokohama National University
Boenisch, Gerhard
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Kattge, Jens
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Seabloom, Eric
University of Minnesota
Borer, Elizabeth
University of Minnesota
Nutritional constraints on brain evolution: sodium and nitrogen limit
brain size
Dryad
dataset
2020
Plant-Insect Interaction
National Science Foundation
https://ror.org/021nxhr62
1306627
National Science Foundation
https://ror.org/021nxhr62
1354737
University of Minnesota System
https://ror.org/03grvy078
DIVERSITAS/Future Earth *
German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research*
DIVERSITAS/Future Earth
German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research
2020-08-20T00:00:00Z
2020-08-20T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.447sq
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2764
https://github.com/EMSwanson/Butterfly-Nutrition-and-life-history
https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.14072
66234 bytes
2
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Nutrition has been hypothesized as an important constraint on brain
evolution. However, it is unclear whether the availability of specific
nutrients or the difficulty of locating high quality diets limits brain
evolution, especially over long periods of time. We show that dietary
nutrient content predicted brain size across 42 species of butterflies.
Brain size, relative to body size, was associated with the sodium and
nitrogen content of a species’ diet. There was no evidence that host plant
apparency (measured by plant height) was related to brain evolution. The
timing of diet shifts varied from 3.5 to 90 million years ago, but
nutritional constraints did not lessen over time as species adapted to a
diet. While nutrition was linked to overall brain volume, there was no
evidence that nutrition was related to the relative size of individual
brain regions. Lab rearing experiments confirmed the underlying assumption
of most comparative studies that the majority of interspecific trait
variation stems from species differences rather than an individual’s
current developmental environment. This study highlights a novel role of
sodium and nitrogen in brain evolution, which is additionally interesting
given current anthropogenic change in the availability of these nutrients.
Brain volumes of 99 individuals of 42 species of butterflies collected
around the United States. Brain mass of lab-reared individuals from four
butterfly species. Please see methods of paper for additional details.
Please see tab in excel file describing each column heading.