Human behavioral ecology, phenotypic (developmental) plasticity, and agricultural origins: insights from the emerging evolutionary synthesis

Current Anthropology
Kristen J Gremillion, Dolores R Piperno

Abstract

The fields of human behavioral ecology (HBE) and evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) both stand to make significant contributions to our understanding of agricultural origins. These two approaches share a concern with phenotypic-plasticity and its evolutionary significance. HBE considers the adaptive plasticity of the human phenotype in response to resource distribution in time and space and has helped to advance understanding of the economic costs and benefits of food production. However, evo-devo and the associated subject of phenotypic (developmental) plasticity have so far been largely neglected as sources of insight into the domestication of plants, despite growing evidence for their evolutionary importance in nature and their roles in the origins of novel traits. We argue that it is important to consider environmentally induced phenotypic variation resulting directly from both natural- and human-induced ecological change as a source of the distinctive morphologies of domesticated plants.

Citations

Apr 24, 2014·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Greger LarsonDorian Q Fuller
Jun 4, 2017·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Dolores R Piperno
Jul 22, 2015·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Isaac I T UllahJacob Freeman
Oct 19, 2014·American Journal of Botany·BrieAnna S LanglieGayle J Fritz

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