Rotifer Experimental Evolution Data on Plasticity and Persistence

33 clonal lines of rotifers were exposed to over 20 novel environments for up to 40 overlapping generations in an experimental evolution study. The dataset, created by Emily Harmon and last updated in May 2026, directly links phenotypic plasticity to population persistence and subsequent evolution. It contains data on morphological and life-history traits, fitness, and extinction events.

Use Cases

• Modeling the relationship between phenotypic plasticity and population persistence based on trait and extinction data.
• Analyzing evolutionary change in fitness and phenotypes across multiple novel environments.
• Testing theories of evolutionary rescue using experimental data on clonal populations.

Strengths

• Data from a direct experimental test involving 33 clonal lines and over 20 novel environments.
• Tracks populations for up to 40 overlapping generations, providing a longitudinal view of evolution.
• Explicitly measures multiple traits, including morphological and life-history characteristics.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale analyses.
• The dataset is relatively small at 567.9 KB, indicating limited scope.

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Experimental evolution approach with replicate populations.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 17:04:59; freshness should be verified.