Evolutionary deconstruction of C.elegans aggregation behaviour: environmental and genetic correlates of aggregation behaviour and its individual and interaction components

Studies of animal behaviour have increasingly expanded its focus towards the evolutionary explanations behind various behaviours. Albeit the challenges in conceptualisation, some evolutionary models have successfully inferred the ontogeny or potential adaptations of behaviours in different animal systems. Studies on collective behaviour have yet more challenges to overcome due to increased dimensionality in the system. Even though the endeavors have been facing difficulties in precisely quantifying and representing the complexity of the collectives, recent developments in technologies have advanced the field greatly. With the advanced tracking and imaging technologies and theoretical tools on evolution, studying animal collective behaviour from an evolutionary perspective is becoming more tractable.
In an attempt to contribute to such efforts, my thesis focused on investigating the evolutionary explanations of the natural variation in aggregation behaviour across the wild populations of C. elegans nematodes, a famous model organism in the field of biology. This species has a rich database and resources on natural diversity and genomic information as well as a well-characterised behaviour repertoires. With abundant resources and conceptual knowledge readily available to this species, I asked if the aggregation behaviour in this species naturally diverged in the wild populations, and if the variation pattern could suggest a potential adaptation to different environments via natural genetic variations.