In evolutionary biology, fluctuating asymmetry (FA) is thought to reveal developmental instability (DI, inability to buffer development against perturbations), but its adaptive and genetic bases are being debated. In other fields, such as human clinical genetics, DI is being assessed as incidence of minor morphological abnormalities (MMAs) and used to predict certain fitness outcomes. Here, for...

Quality differences between offspring sired by the social and by an extra-pair partner are usually assumed to have a genetic basis, reflecting genetic benefits of female extra-pair mate choice. In the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), we identified a colour ornament that is under sexual selection and appears to have a heritable basis. Hence, by engaging in extra-pair copulations with highly or...

Male investment towards reproduction is substantial in some species, and this leads to the evolution of choosy males. Male choice is often directed towards female phenotypes that are good indicators of fecundity such as body size, age, or virgin status, and often acts in the same direction as fecundity selection. In insects, only a few examples exist where male choice is directed towards female...

This paper presents an automatic system for the detection of singleand multi-note ornaments in Irish traditional flute playing. This is a challenging problem because ornaments are notes of a very short duration. The presented ornament detection system is based on first detecting onsets and then exploiting the knowledge of musical ornamentation. We employed onset detection methods based on signa...

Testosterone underlies the expression of most secondary sexual traits, playing a key role in sexual selection. However, high levels might be associated with physiological costs, such as immunosuppression. Immunostimulant carotenoids underpin the expression of many red-yellow ornaments, but are regulated by testosterone and constrained by parasites. We manipulated testosterone and nematode burde...

We consider the history of certain modular elements: Op-tiles, Kufic tiles, and key-patterns, which occur as ornamental archetypes from Paleolithic times until the present. Paleolithic ornaments We have found that the oldest examples of ornamentation in Paleothic art were from Mezin (Ukraine) dated to 23 000 B.C. Note that 23 000 years is a time period ten times longer than the complete written...

Swordtail fish (Poeciliidae: genus Xiphophorus) are a paradigmatic case of sexual selection by sensory exploitation. Female preference for males with a conspicuous "sword" ornament is ancestral, suggesting that male morphology has evolved in response to a preexisting bias. The perceptual mechanisms underlying female mate choice have not been identified, complicating efforts to understand the se...

In 2019, excavations of the Nakhchivan Tepe settlement were found a Neolithic layer which characterized ceramic products with impression ornament. Finding allows reviewing connections between cultures Mill Plain, Karabakh and basin Lake Urmia. On basis research, it can be said that Plain Karabakh, are by ornament, contributed to formation Dalma culture. It assumed area culture covered territori...

In the last two decades the genetic and molecular research on floral development has advanced tremendously. Initially the research focused mostly on the two species of which the homeotic floral development mutants formed the basis for the ABC‐model: Arabidopsis and Antirrhinum. In recent years the importance of studying a wider range of species, especially in an ‘‘evo‐devo’’ context, has become...