Behavioural vs. physiological adaptation: which contributes more to the evolution of complex traits in a warming climate?

Through behavioural adaptation, organisms can alter their environment, and consequently, their exposure to selective pressures. In contrast, physiological traits adapt by accommodating environmental influences. Here, we examine how the coevolution of behavioural and physiological traits is shaped by their different relationships to the environment by modelling the adaptation of species with temperature-dependent sex determination to climate change. In these species, pivotal temperature and maternal nesting behaviour can evolve in response to rising temperatures that destabilise sex ratios. We used individual-based simulation modelling to ascertain the relative response to selection of these traits and determine how temperature-dependent embryonic survival and behavioural plasticity influence their coevolution. We found that pivotal temperature evolved to ameliorate sex-ratio bias more readily than nesting behaviour, though behaviour played an important role in adaptation to extreme envi..., This dataset contains the output of an individual-based simulation model comparing the evolution of behavioural and physiological responses to sex ratio selection in species with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD)., , # Behavioural vs. physical adaptation: which contributes more to the evolution of complex traits in a warming climate?

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.7pvmcvf38](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.7pvmcvf38)

## Description of the data and file structure

This dataset contains the output of an individual-based simulation model comparing the evolution of behavioural and physiological responses to sex ratio selection in species with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD).

This data is analysed in the manuscript \"Behavioural vs. physical adaptation: which contributes more to the evolution of complex traits in a warming climate?\" published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology.

### Files and variables

#### File: Behavioural\_Evolution\_Model\_Simulation\_Data\_2024\_01\_16.csv.csv

**Description:** Final values of fluctuating parameters for each iteration of a simulation model examining the evolution of nesting behaviour and pivotal temperature in species with TSD.

##### Variables

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