Characterizing the Roles of Coevolution and Convergence in the Evolution of Venom Resistance in Mammals

Abstract

Though the study of coevolutionary relationships has been a focus of evolutionary biology, demonstrating true reciprocity at the molecular and functional level in a natural system has remained elusive. Convergent evolution, though a seemingly disjunct phenomenon, has been found to be a fundamental aspect of coevolution particularly in species-rich interactions. While theoretical frameworks have shown that these two processes are intertwined, few empirical examples exist which demonstrate how these processes correlate in a natural system, and none have demonstrated the mode of both molecular and functional evolution in a coevolving trait. In this work I comprehensively review venom resistance as a trait ideal for understanding the biophysical and evolutionary dynamics of coevolution. Subsequently, I use this framework to examine the roles of molecular and biophysical convergence in two such systems hypothesized to be coevolving. Finally, I develop an experimental system which explicitly maps the biophysical and molecular evolution of a trait via direct testing of ancestral phenotypes, to begin to unveil the true mode of evolution as well as the roll of convergent evolution in a trait hypothesized to be coevolving.