Eukaryotes show extraordinary diversity in form, function, and behavior, underpinned by a vast range of life history strategies shaped by selection, ancestry, and ecological constraints. Life history theory explains how organisms allocate limited energy and time to survival, growth, and reproduction. Finite resources impose unavoidable trade-offs, preventing the evolution of any single universally optimal life history strategy. Instead, eukaryotes have evolved manifold approaches to solve the problem of persistence. This review explores life history variation across eukaryotes, tracing key developments in life history theory. We synthesize core concepts including trade-offs, environmental variability, and major evolutionary innovations, including multicellularity, sexual reproduction, and life-cycle compartmentalization. To conclude, we highlight critical knowledge gaps and propose future research directions, emphasizing the value of comparative and experimental approaches that more fully span eukaryotic diversity. Integrating micro- and macroevolutionary perspectives, our review provides a concise synthesis of the principles governing life history variation in eukaryotes.
原文链接
分享
引用
