Data from: Resource allocation during ontogeny is influenced by genetic, developmental, and ecological factors in the horned beetle, Onthophagus taurus

Resource allocation trade-offs arise when developing organs are in
competition for a limited pool of resources to sustain growth and
differentiation. Such competition may constrain the maximal size to which
structures can grow and may force a situation in which the evolutionary
elaboration of one structure may only be possible at the expense of
another. However, recent studies have called into question both the
consistency and evolutionary importance of resource allocation trade-offs.
This study focuses on a well-described trade-off between the horns and
eyes of Onthophagus beetles and assesses the degree to which it is
influenced by genetic, developmental and ecological conditions. Contrary
to expectations, we observed that trade-off signatures (i) were mostly
absent within natural populations, (ii) mostly failed to match naturally
evolved divergences in horn investment among populations, (iii) were
subject to differential changes in F1 populations derived from divergent
field populations and (iv) remained largely unaffected by developmental
genetic manipulations of horn investment. Collectively, our results
demonstrate that populations subject to different ecological conditions
exhibit different patterns of, and differential plasticity in, resource
allocation. Further, variation in ecological conditions, rather than
canalized developmental mechanisms, may determine whether and to what
degree morphological structures engage in resource allocation trade-offs.