What are the determinants of parasite life-history evolution? Does lif
e-history evolution of parasitic species differ from their free-living
relatives? How and why do host and parasite life-history traits covar
y? Here, Serge Morand and Gabriele Sorci use recent comparative studie
s to investigate life-history evolution in nematodes which present bot
h parasitic and free-living groups. Application of life-history theory
to nematodes suggests that the conventional wisdom concerning the hig
h fecundity of parasitic species could simply be the result of the lar
ger body size of the latter when compared with free-living forms. The
authors also emphasize, with the use of examples, that in most cases p
arasite life-history evolution depends on host features.