Consequences of Evolutionary Transitions in Changing Photic Environments
bs_bs_banner Austral Entomology (2017) 56,23–46 Review Consequences of evolutionary transitions in changing photic environments Simon M Tierney,1* Markus Friedrich,2,3 William F Humphreys,1,4,5 Therésa M Jones,6 Eric J Warrant7 and William T Wcislo8 1School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia. 2Department of Biological Sciences, Wayne State University, 5047 Gullen Mall, Detroit, MI 48202, USA. 3Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Wayne State University, School of Medicine, 540 East Canfield Avenue, Detroit, MI 48201, USA. 4Terrestrial Zoology, Western Australian Museum, Locked Bag 49, Welshpool DC, WA 6986, Australia. 5School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA 6907, Australia. 6Department of Zoology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic. 3010, Australia. 7Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 35, S-22362 Lund, Sweden. 8Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PO Box 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panamá. Abstract Light represents one of the most reliable environmental cues in the biological world. In this review we focus on the evolutionary consequences to changes in organismal photic environments, with a specific focus on the class Insecta. Particular emphasis is placed on transitional forms that can be used to track the evolution from (1) diurnal to nocturnal (dim-light) or (2) surface to subterranean (aphotic) environments, as well as (3) the ecological encroachment of anthropomorphic light on nocturnal habitats (artificial light at night). We explore the influence of the light environment in an integrated manner, highlighting the connections between phenotypic adaptations (behaviour, morphology, neurology and endocrinology), molecular genetics and their combined influence on organismal fitness.
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