Parallel trait adaptation across opposing thermal environments in experimental Drosophila melanogaster populations

Thermal stress is a pervasive selective agent in natural populations that impacts organismal growth, survival, and reproduction. Drosophila melanogaster exhibits a variety of putatively adaptive phenotypic responses to thermal stress in natural and experimental settings; however, accompanying assessments of fitness are typically lacking. Here, we quantify changes in fitness and known thermal tolerance traits in replicated experimental D. melanogaster populations following more than 40 generations of evolution to either cyclic cold or hot temperatures. By evaluating fitness for both evolved populations alongside a reconstituted starting population, we show that the evolved populations were the best adapted within their respective thermal environments. More strikingly, the evolved populations exhibited increased fitness in both environments and improved resistance to both acute heat and cold stress. This unexpected parallel response appeared to be an adaptation to the rapid temperature ch..., , # Parallel trait adaptation across opposing thermal environments in experimental Drosophila melanogaster populations

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.rn8pk0pp5](10.5061/dryad.rn8pk0pp5)

## Description of the data and file structure

This dataset contains data from phenotypic assays conducted in Drosophila melanogaster experimental evolution populations. A Drosophila melanogaster natural population had been exposed to two opposing thermal environments with daily cycling between either 28/18°C (hot) or 20/10°C (cold) and evolved in the laboratory for more than 40 generations. Data for several traits (fitness, thermal stress resistance, body size, and developmental time) were collected from both evolved populations in parallel to a reconstituted starting population. The assays were conducted at two different evolutionary timepoints in shared common garden environments.

### Files and variables

#### File: DRYAD\_Evolution\_ms\_data.zip

**Description:** The compressed archive DRYAD_Evolution_...,