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2,291 results for “life history”
Data from: Evolutionary divergence in life history traits among populations of the Lake Malawi cichlid fish Astatotilapia calliptera
During the early stages of adaptive radiation, populations diverge in life history traits such as egg size and growth rates, in addition to eco-morphological and behavioral characteristics. However, there are few studies of life history divergence within ongoing adaptive radiations. Here, we studied Astatotilapia calliptera, a maternal mouthbrooding cichlid fish within the Lake Malawi haplochromine radiation. This species occupies a rich diversity of habitats, including the main body of Lake Malawi, as well as peripheral rivers and shallow lakes. We used common garden experiments to test for life history divergence among populations, focussing on clutch size, duration of incubation, egg mass, offspring size, and growth rates. In a first experiment, we found significant differences among populations in average clutch size and egg mass, and larger clutches were associated with smaller eggs. In a second experiment, we found significant differences among populations in brood size, duration of incubation, juvenile length when released, and growth rates. Larger broods were associated with smaller juveniles when released and shorter incubation times. Although juvenile growth rates differed between populations, these were not strongly related to initial size on release. Overall, differences in life history characters among populations were not predicted by major habitat classifications (Lake Malawi or peripheral habitats) or population genetic divergence (microsatellite-based FST). We suggest that the observed patterns are consistent with local selective forces driving the observed patterns of trait divergence. The results provide strong evidence of evolutionary divergence and covariance of life history traits among populations within a radiating cichlid species, highlighting opportunities for further work to identify the processes driving the observed divergence.
Data from: Seasonal time constraints reduce genetic variation in life history traits along a latitudinal gradient
1. Time constraints cause strong selection on life history traits, because populations need to complete their life cycles within a shorter time. We therefore expect lower genetic variation in these traits in high- than in low-latitude populations, since the former are more time constrained. 2. The aim was to estimate life history traits and their genetic variation in an obligately univoltine damselfly along a latitudinal gradient of 2,730 km. 3. Populations were grown in the laboratory at temperatures and photoperiods simulating those at their place of origin. In a complementary experiment individuals from the same families were grown in constant temperature and photoperiod that mimicked average conditions across the latitude. 4. Development time and size was faster and smaller, respectively, and growth rate was higher at northern latitudes. Additive genetic variance was very low for life history traits and estimates for egg development time and larval growth rate showed significant decreases towards northern latitudes. The expression of genetic effects in life history traits differed considerably when individuals were grown in constant rather than simulated and naturally variable conditions. 5. Our results support strong selection by time constraints. They also highlight the importance of growing organisms in their native environment for correct estimates of genetic variance at their place of origin. Our results also suggest that the evolutionary potential of life history traits is very low at northern compared to southern latitudes, but that changes in climate could alter this pattern.
Testing size-frequency distributions as a method of ontogenetic aging: a life history assessment of hadrosaurid dinosaurs from the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada, with implications for hadrosaurid paleoecology
<p class="MsoNoSpacing">Hadrosaurid dinosaurs, the dominant large-bodied terrestrial herbivores in most Laurasian Late Cretaceous ecosystems, have an exceptional fossil record consisting of many species known from partial ontogenetic series making them an ideal clade with which to conduct life history studies. Previous research considered the Dinosaur Park Formation (DPF) of Alberta as an attritional, or time-averaged, sample and interpreted size-frequency distribution of long bones collected from the DPF with three size classes to suggest that hadrosaurids from the DPF attained near-asymptotic body size in under three years. This conflicted with previously published osteohistological estimates of 6+ years for penecontemporaneous hadrosaurids from the Two Medicine Formation (TMF) of Montana suggesting either extreme variation in hadrosaurid growth rates or that size-frequency distributions and/or osteohistology and growth modeling inaccurately estimate ontogenetic age.</p> <p>We tested the validity of the previously proposed size-age relationship of hadrosaurids from the DPF by significantly increasing sample size and combining data from size-frequency distributions and osteohistology across multiple long bones elements. The newly constructed size-frequency distributions typically reveal four relatively distinct size-frequency peaks that, when integrated with the osteohistological data, aligned with growth marks. The yearling size class was heavily underrepresented in the size-frequency distribution. If not due to preservation, this suggests that either juvenile (< 2 years of age) hadrosaurids from the DPF had increased survivorship following an initially high nestling mortality rate, or that yearlings were segregated from adults. A growth curve analysis revealed asymptotic body size was attained in approximately 7 years, which is consistent with hadrosaurids from the TMF. The data suggest size-frequency distributions of attritional samples underestimate age and overestimate growth rates, but when paired with osteohistology can provide unique life history insights.</p>
Data from: The underappreciated role of life history in mediating the functional consequences of biodiversity change
Biodiversity is changing on both global and local scales, motivating research to understand the consequences of these changes for how communities and ecosystems function. Here, we explore the role of life history strategies in mediating biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. In particular, we evaluate how the composition, biomass (% cover), and richness of perennial (persistence ≥ 1 year) and ephemeral (persistence < 1 year) species change along a gradient of increasing seaweed species richness on a rocky shoreline. We show that the majority of biomass is comprised of perennial species, especially where overall richness is low, whereas the majority of species are ephemeral, especially where overall richness is high. We then present and discuss the results of an 18-month field manipulation quantifying the factorial effects of tidal elevation, wave exposure, herbivore removals, thermal and desiccation stress amelioration, and nutrient additions on perennial vs. ephemeral species. In particular, the diversity of ephemeral species was strongly affected, relative to perennial species, by tidal elevation, wave exposure, and herbivory; herbivores reduced diversity of ephemeral species relative to perennials. Relative to perennial cover, ephemeral cover was greater higher on the shore, in more wave-exposed habitats, and where herbivores were removed, plots were unscreened, and/or nutrients were added. Thus, perennials and ephemerals responded differently to environmental context and experimental manipulation. We compared nitrate uptake and photosynthesis rates of ephemeral and perennial species and found that maximum nitrate uptake and photosynthesis rates of ephemerals were twice as high as those of perennials. These results highlight the disproportionate roles that ephemeral species play in mediating ecosystem-level processes. In combination with our comparisons of the diversity and cover of perennial and ephemeral species along a biodiversity gradient, these results demonstrate the utility of incorporating life history traits into our efforts to understand the functional consequences of biodiversity change.
Data from: Reasons for success: rapid evolution for desiccation resistance and life-history changes in the polyphagous fly Anastrepha ludens
Species that exhibit broad ranges of distribution may successfully navigate environmental changes by modifying some of their life history traits. Environmental humidity imposes a critical stress that organisms may overcome by increasing their resistance to desiccation. We used experimental evolution to investigate adaptation to desiccation in the tephritid Anastrepha ludens, a species with high fecundity, late maturation and long lifespan. We measured morphological, physiological, developmental as well as demographic changes involved in the adaptation to desiccation. Notwithstanding a low heritability (h2 = 0.237), desiccation resistance evolved extremely rapidly and few negative trade-offs were detected. Selected flies exhibited correlated increases in longevity, body size, the amount of body lipids and bulk water content, and in the duration of the pupal stage. Females further delayed sexual maturation, decreased daily fecundity but retained high lifetime reproductive potential. No differences in male mating competitiveness were found. Selected and control lines differed in longevity but not in total female fecundity, demonstrating that A. ludens flies have the capability for fast adaptation to desiccation without loosing their reproductive capability. Thus, it seems that a rapid evolutionary response to desiccation in this polyphagous insect works as a buffer for environmental variation and reduces the strength of selection on reproductive traits.
Data from: Quantifying individual heterogeneity and its influence on life-history trajectories: different methods for different questions and contexts
Heterogeneity among individuals influences the life-history trajectories we observe at the population level because viability selection, selective immigration and emigration processes, and ontogeny change the proportion of individuals with specific trait values with increasing age. Here, we review the two main approaches that have been proposed to account for these processes in life-history trajectories, contrasting how they quantify ontogeny and selection, and proposing ways to overcome some of their limitations. Nearly all existing approaches to model individual heterogeneity assume either a single normal distribution or a priori known groups of individuals. Ontogenetic processes, however, can vary across individuals through variation in life-history tactics. We show the usefulness of describing ontogenetic processes by modelling trajectories with a mixture model that focuses on heterogeneity in life-history tactics. Additionally, most methods examine individual heterogeneity in a single trait, ignoring potential correlations among multiple traits caused by latent common sources of individual heterogeneity. We illustrate the value of using a joint modelling approach to assess the presence of a shared latent correlation and its influence on life-history trajectories. We contrast the strengths and limitations of different methods for different research questions, and we exemplify the differences among methods using empirical data from long-term studies of ungulates.
Data from: Hermaphrodite life history and the maintenance of partial selfing in experimental populations of Caenorhabditis elegans
Background: Classic population genetics theory predicts that mixed reproductive systems, where self reproduction (selfing) and outcrossing co-exist, should not be as common as they are in nature. One means of reconciling theory with observations is to recognize that sexual conflict between males and hermaphrodites and/or constraints in the allocation of resources towards sex functions in hermaphrodites can balance the fitness components of selfing and outcrossing. Results: Using experimental evolution in Caenorhabditis elegans, we test whether the adaptive maintenance of partial selfing is due to sexual conflict and/or to the evolution of sex allocation towards male function in hermaphrodites. For this, we characterized the reproductive schedule and longevity patterns in hermaphrodites under selfing and under outcrossing with naïve males that did not have the opportunity to evolve with them. A shift in reproductive schedule towards earlier reproduction would be indicative of adaptation in our imposed life-cycle, while longevity is expected to evolve as a response to the harm that males impinge on hermaphrodites upon mating. To determine adaptation in the absence of constraints in sex allocation, we also characterized the life history of females that reproduced during experimental evolution through obligate mating with males. As expected with adaptation, we find that after 100 generations of experimental evolution, selfing hermaphrodites and females showed improved reproduction at earlier ages. We did not observe similar reproductive shifts in outcrossed hermaphrodites. We further find increased longevity in outcrossed females after evolution but not in outcrossed hermaphrodites, a result that indicates that sexual conflicts were likely more prevalent under male-female evolution than under male-hermaphrodite evolution. Conclusions: Taken together, our findings suggest that the adaptive maintenance of partial selfing during C. elegans experimental evolution resulted from the evolution of sex allocation towards male function in hermaphrodites.
Data from: Temperature effects on life-history trade-offs, germline maintenance and mutation rate under simulated climate warming
Mutation has a fundamental influence over evolutionary processes, but how evolutionary processes shape mutation rate remain less clear. In asexual unicellular organism, increased mutation rates have been observed in stressful environments and the reigning paradigm ascribes this increase to selection for evolvability. However, this explanation does not apply in sexually reproducing species, where little is known about how the environment affects mutation rate. Here we challenged experimental lines of seed beetle, evolved at ancestral temperature or under simulated climate warming, to repair induced mutations at ancestral and stressful temperature. Results show that temperature stress causes individuals to pass on a greater mutation load to their grand-offspring. This suggests that stress-induced mutation rates, in unicellular and multicellular organisms alike, can result from compromised germline DNA repair in low condition individuals. Moreover, lines adapted to simulated climate warming had evolved increased longevity at the cost of reproduction, and this allocation decision improved germline repair. These results suggest that mutation rates can be modulated by resource allocation trade-offs encompassing life-history traits and the germline and have important implications for rates of adaptation and extinction as well as our understanding of genetic diversity in multicellular organisms.
Data from: Antagonistic pleiotropy in species with separate sexes, and the maintenance of genetic variation in life-history traits and fitness
Antagonistic pleiotropy (AP) – where alleles of a gene increase some components of fitness at a cost to others – can generate balancing selection, and contribute to the maintenance of genetic variation in fitness traits, such as survival, fecundity, fertility, and mate competition. Previous theory suggests that AP is unlikely to maintain variation unless antagonistic selection is strong, or AP alleles exhibit pronounced differences in genetic dominance between the affected traits. We show that conditions for balancing selection under AP expand under the likely scenario that the strength of selection on each fitness component differs between the sexes. Our model also predicts that the vast majority of balanced polymorphisms have sexually antagonistic effects on total fitness, despite the absence of sexual antagonism for individual fitness components. We conclude that AP polymorphisms are less difficult to maintain than predicted by prior theory, even under our conservative assumption that selection on components of fitness is universally sexually concordant. We discuss implications for the maintenance of genetic variation, and for inferences of sexual antagonism that are based on sex-specific phenotypic selection estimates – many of which are based on single fitness components.
Data from: Do microplastic particles affect Daphnia magna at the morphological, life history and molecular level?
Microplastic particles are ubiquitous not only in marine but also in freshwater ecosystems. However, the impacts of microplastics, consisting of a large variety of synthetic polymers, on freshwater organisms remains poorly understood. We examined the effects of two polymer mixtures on the morphology, life history and on the molecular level of the waterflea Daphnia magna (three different clones). Microplastic particles of ~40 µm were supplied at a low concentration (1% of the food particles) leading to an average of ~30 particles in the digestive tract which reflects a high microplastic contamination but still resembles a natural situation. Neither increased mortality nor changes on the morphological (body length, width and tail spine length) or reproductive parameters were observed for adult Daphnia. The analyses of juvenile Daphnia revealed a variety of small and rather subtle responses of morphological traits (body length, width and tail spine length). For adult Daphnia, alterations in expression of genes related to stress responses (i.e. HSP60, HSP70 & GST) as well as of other genes involved in body function and body composition (i.e. SERCA) were observed already 48h after exposure. We anticipate that the adverse effects of microplastic might be influenced by many additional factors like size, shape, type and even age of the particles and that the rather weak effects, as detected in a laboratory, may lead to reduced fitness in a natural multi-stressor environment.
Data from: The effects of life history and sexual selection on male and female plumage colouration
Classical sexual selection theory provides a well-supported conceptual framework for understanding the evolution and signalling function of male ornaments. It predicts that males obtain greater fitness benefits than females through multiple mating because sperm are cheaper to produce than eggs. Sexual selection should therefore lead to the evolution of male-biased secondary sexual characters. However, females of many species are also highly ornamented. The view that this is due to a correlated genetic response to selection on males was widely accepted as an explanation for female ornamentation for over 100 years and current theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that genetic constraints can limit sex-specific trait evolution. Alternatively, female ornamentation can be the outcome of direct selection for signalling needs. Since few studies have explored interspecific patterns of both male and female elaboration, our understanding of the evolution of animal ornamentation remains incomplete, especially over broad taxonomic scales. Here we use a new method to quantify plumage colour of all ~6,000 species of passerine birds to determine the main evolutionary drivers of ornamental colouration in both sexes. We found that conspecific male and female colour elaboration are strongly correlated, suggesting that evolutionary changes in one sex are constrained by changes in the other sex. Both sexes are more ornamented in larger species and in species living in tropical environments. Ornamentation in females (but not males) is increased in cooperative breeders—species in which female–female competition for reproductive opportunities and other resources related to breeding may be high. Finally, strong sexual selection on males has antagonistic effects, causing an increase in male colouration but a considerably more pronounced reduction in female ornamentation. Our results indicate that although there may be genetic constraints to sexually independent colour evolution, both female and male ornamentation are strongly and often differentially related to morphological, social and life-history variables.
Data from: The plastic fly: the effect of sustained fluctuations in adult food supply on life history traits
Many adult traits in Drosophila melanogaster show phenotypic plasticity, and the effects of diet on traits such as lifespan and reproduction are well explored. Although plasticity in response to food is still present in older flies, it is unknown how sustained environmental variation affects life-history traits. Here, we explore how such life-long fluctuations of food supply affect weight and survival in groups of flies and affect weight, survival and reproduction in individual flies. In both experiments, we kept adults on constant high or low food and compared these to flies that experienced fluctuations of food either once or twice a week. For these 'yoyo' groups, the initial food level and the duration of the dietary variation differed during adulthood, creating four 'yoyo' fly groups. In groups of flies, survival and weight were affected by adult food. However, for individuals, survival and reproduction, but not weight, were affected by adult food, indicating that single and group housing of female flies affects life-history trajectories. Remarkably, both the manner and extent to which life-history traits varied in relation to food depended on whether flies initially experienced high or low food after eclosion. We therefore conclude that the expression of life-history traits in adult life is affected not only by adult plasticity, but also by early adult life experiences. This is an important but often overlooked factor in studies of life-history evolution and may explain variation in life-history experiments.
Data from: Exploring the relationships between mutation rates, life history, genome size, environment and species richness in flowering plants
A new view is emerging of the interplay between mutation at the genomic level, substitution at the population level, and diversification at the lineage level. Many studies have suggested that rate of molecular evolution is linked to rate of diversification, but few have evaluated competing hypotheses. By analyzing sequences from 130 families of angiosperms, we show that variation in the synonymous substitution rate is correlated among genes from the mitochondrial, chloroplast, and nuclear genomes and linked to differences in traits among families (average height and genome size). Within each genome, synonymous rates are correlated to nonsynonymous substitution rates, suggesting that increasing the mutation rate results in a faster rate of genome evolution. Substitution rates are correlated with species richness in protein-coding sequences from the chloroplast and nuclear genomes. These data suggest that species traits contribute to lineage-specific differences in the mutation rate that drive both synonymous and nonsynonymous rates of change across all three genomes, which in turn contribute to greater rates of divergence between populations, generating higher rates of diversification. These observations link mutation in individuals to population-level processes and to patterns of lineage divergence.
Data from: Life-history evolution in response to changes in metapopulation structure in an arthropod herbivore
The persistence and dynamics of populations largely depends on the way they are configured and integrated into space and the ensuing eco-evolutionary dynamics. We manipulated spatial and temporal variation in patch size in replicated experimental metapopulations of the herbivore mite Tetranychus urticae and followed evolutionary dynamics over approximately 30 generations. A significant divergence in life history traits, physiological endpoints and gene expression was recorded in the spatially and spatiotemporally variable metapopulation, but also a remarkable convergence relative to the stable reference metapopulation in traits related to size and fecundity and in its transcriptional regulation. The observed evolutionary dynamics are tightly linked to demographic changes, more specifically frequent episodes of resource shortage that increased the reproductive performance of mites on tomato, a challenging host plant. This points towards a general, adaptive stress response in stable spatial variable and spatiotemporal variable metapopulations that pre-adapts a herbivore arthropod to novel environmental stressors.
Data from: Life‐history correlations change under coinfection leading to higher pathogen load
The ability of a parasite strain to establish and grow on its host may be drastically altered by simultaneous infection by other parasite strains. However, we still lack an understanding of how life‐history allocations may change under coinfection, although life‐history correlations are a critical mechanism restricting the evolutionary potential and epidemiological dynamics of pathogens. Here, we study how life‐history stages and their correlations change in the obligate fungal pathogen Podosphaera plantaginis under single infection and coinfection scenarios. We find increased pathogen loads under coinfection, but this is not explained by an enhanced performance at any of the life‐history stages that constitute infections. Instead, we show that under coinfection the correlation between timing of sporulation and final pathogen load becomes positive. The changes in pathogen life‐history allocations leading to more severe infections under coinfection can have far‐reaching epidemiological consequences, as well as implication for our understanding of the evolution of virulence.
Data from: Optimal management strategy of insecticide resistance under various insect life histories: heterogeneous timing of selection and inter-patch dispersal
Although theoretical studies have shown that the mixture strategy, which uses multiple toxins simultaneously, can effectively delay the evolution of insecticide resistance, whether it is the optimal management under different insect life histories and insecticide types remains unknown. To test the robustness of the management strategy over the life histories, we developed a series of simulation models which cover almost all the diploid insect types and have the same basic structure describing pest population dynamics and resistance evolution with discrete time-steps. For each of two insecticidal toxins, one-locus two-allele autosomal inheritance of resistance was assumed. The simulations demonstrated the optimality of the mixture strategy either when insecticide efficacy was incomplete or when some part of the population disperses between patches before mating. The rotation strategy, which uses one insecticide on one pest generation and a different one on the next, did not differ from sequential usage in the time to resistance, except when dominance was low. It was the optimal strategy when insecticide efficacy was high and pre-mating selection and dispersal occur.
Data from: Life history determines biogeographical patterns of soil bacterial communities over multiple spatial scales
The extent to which the distribution of soil bacteria is controlled by local environment versus spatial factors (e.g., dispersal, colonisation limitation, evolutionary events) is poorly understood and widely debated. Our understanding of biogeographic controls in microbial communities is likely hampered by the enormous environmental variability encountered across spatial scales and the broad diversity of microbial life histories. Here we constrained environmental factors (soil chemistry, climate, above-ground plant community) to investigate the specific influence of space, by fitting all other variables first, on bacterial communities in soils over distances from m to 102 km. We found strong evidence for a spatial component to bacterial community structure that varies with scale and organism life history (dispersal and survival ability). Geographic distance had no influence over community structure for organisms known to have survival stages, but the converse was true for organisms thought to be less hardy. Community function (substrate utilisation) was also shown to be highly correlated to community structure, but not to abiotic factors, suggesting non-stochastic determinants of community structure are important Our results support the view that bacterial soil communities are constrained by both edaphic factors and geographic distance, and further show that the relative importance of such constraints depends critically on the taxonomic resolution used to evaluate spatio-temporal patterns of microbial diversity, as well as life-history of the groups being investigated, much as is the case for macro-organisms.
Data from: Life-history multistability caused by size-dependent mortality
Body size is a key determinant of mortality risk. In natural populations, a broad range of relationships are observed between body size and mortality, including positive and negative correlations. Previous evolutionary modelling has shown that negatively size-dependent mortality can result in life-history bistability, with early maturation at small size and late maturation at large size representing alternative fitness optima. Here we present a general analysis of conditions under which such life-history bistabilities can occur, reporting the following findings. First, alternative fitness optima can be found for any arbitrarily chosen forms of mortality functions, including functions according to which mortality smoothly declines with size. Second, while bistabilities occur more readily under negatively size-dependent mortality, our analysis reveals that they can also emerge under positively size-dependent mortality, a feature missed in earlier work. Third, any sharp drop of mortality with size facilitates bistability. Fourth, if the mortality regime involves more than one such sharp drop, multistable life histories can occur, with alternative fitness optima straddling each of the drops. Paradoxically, our findings imply that, fifth, a species-poor predator community capable of creating a 'rugged' mortality regime is conducive to evolutionary multistability, which could act as a stepping stone toward prey life-history diversification, whereas a species-rich predator community that results in a smoothly varying mortality regime may prevent diversification through this pathway.
Data from: Maternal age at birth shapes offspring life-history trajectory across generations in long-lived Asian elephants
1. Advanced maternal age at birth can have pronounced consequences for offspring health, survival and reproduction. If carried over to the next generation, such fitness effects could have important implications for population dynamics and the evolution of ageing, but these remain poorly understood. While many laboratory studies have investigated maternal age effects, relatively few studies have been conducted in natural populations, and they usually only present a "snapshot" of an offspring's lifetime. 2. In the present study, we focus on how maternal age influences offspring life-history trajectories and performance in a long-lived mammal. 3. We use a multigenerational demographic dataset of semi-captive Asian elephants to investigate maternal age effects on several offspring life-history traits: condition, reproductive success, and overall survival. 4. We show that offspring born to older mothers display reduced overall survival but higher reproductive success, and reduced survival of their own progeny. Our results show evidence of a persistent effect of maternal age on fitness across generations in a long-lived mammal. 5. By highlighting transgenerational effects on the fitness of the next generation associated with maternal age, the present study helps increase our understanding of factors contributing to individual variation in ageing rates and fitness.
Data from: Life history strategy and everyday word use
Research by Sherman et al. (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105, 873–888, 2013) has shown that, in speech during clinical-style interviews, life history strategy (LHS) was correlated with variation in the use of 16–19 word categories from the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count program. However, links between individual difference variables and word use have been shown to vary as a function of communication context. Therefore, I sought to replicate their results using speech recorded during participants' daily life via the Electronically Activated Recorder. I also used (1) observer ratings rather than self-ratings of the California Adult Q-Sort (CAQ) items as a measure of LHS, (2) the self-report Arizona Life History Battery (ALHB) as an additional measure of LHS, and (3) Bayesian multi-level aggregated binomial regressions as a complementary analytical technique to conventional correlations. In general, the Sherman et al. results were replicated, particularly with respective to distinctive (corrected for normativeness) LHS. People pursuing a slower distinctive LHS produced proportionately fewer swear words, sexual words, and affect words (particularly negative emotion and anger words), and more work-related words. They also produced fewer words overall. After controlling for distinctive LHS, women were more talkative than men. Associations between the ALHB and word use were weaker than those between the CAQ and word use.
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Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
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