journal
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38320619/habitat-complexity-influences-neuron-number-in-six-species-of-puerto-rican-anolis
#21
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Levi Storks, Jessica Garcia, Christian A Perez-Martinez, Manuel Leal
Elucidating the selective forces shaping the diversity of vertebrate brains continues to be a major area of inquiry, particularly as it relates to cognition. Historically brain evolution was interpreted through the lens of relative brain size; however, recent evidence has challenged this approach. Investigating neuroanatomy at a finer scale, such as neuron number, can provide new insights into the forces shaping brain evolution in the context of information processing capacity. Ecological factors, such as the complexity of a species' habitat, place demands on cognition that could shape neuroanatomy...
February 2024: Biology Letters
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38290552/oriental-pied-hornbills-anthracoceros-albirostris-solve-invisible-displacement-tasks-in-a-test-of-piagetian-object-permanence
#22
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Ruitong Yao, Elias Garcia-Pelegrin
Object permanence, the ability to mentally represent objects even when they are not directly accessible to the senses, is of vital importance for the survival of both human and non-human animals. The Oriental pied hornbill ( Anthracoceros albirostris ) is an Asian species of hornbill displaying remarkable adaptability in various environments, yet little is known about their cognitive abilities. Their breeding behaviour is unique, as the female hornbill seals herself inside a cavity before laying eggs and the male feeds her and their offspring without visual contact, strongly suggesting the presence of object permanence to some degree...
January 2024: Biology Letters
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38290551/morphology-of-nares-associated-with-stereo-olfaction-in-baleen-whales
#23
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Conor Ryan, Maria C I Martins, Kevin Healy, Lars Bejder, Salvatore Cerchio, Fredrik Christiansen, John Durban, Holly Fearnbach, Sarah Fortune, Ari Friedlaender, William R Koski, Carolyn Miller, Fabian M Rodríguez-González, Paolo S Segre, Jorge Urbán R, Fabien Vivier, Caroline R Weir, Michael J Moore
The sensory mechanisms used by baleen whales (Mysticeti) for locating ephemeral, dense prey patches in vast marine habitats are poorly understood. Baleen whales have a functional olfactory system with paired rather than single blowholes (nares), potentially enabling stereo-olfaction. Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is an odorous gas emitted by phytoplankton in response to grazing by zooplankton. Some seabirds use DMS to locate prey, but this ability has not been demonstrated in whales. For 14 extant species of baleen whale, nares morphometrics (imagery from unoccupied aerial systems, UAS) was related to published trophic level indices using Bayesian phylogenetic mixed modelling...
January 2024: Biology Letters
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38290550/urban-tolerance-does-not-protect-against-population-decline-in-north-american-birds
#24
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Julianna A Petrenko, Paul R Martin, Rachel E Fanelli, Frances Bonier
Population declines of organisms are widespread and severe, but some species' populations have remained stable, or even increased. The reasons some species are less vulnerable to population decline than others are not well understood. Species that tolerate urban environments often have a broader environmental tolerance, which, along with their ability to tolerate one of the most human-modified habitats (i.e. cities), might allow them to persist in the face of diverse anthropogenic challenges. Here, we examined the relationship between urban tolerance and annual population trajectories for 397 North American bird species...
January 2024: Biology Letters
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38263882/uncovering-the-mosaic-evolution-of-the-carnivoran-skeletal-system
#25
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Chris J Law, Leslea J Hlusko, Z Jack Tseng
The diversity of vertebrate skeletons is often attributed to adaptations to distinct ecological factors such as diet, locomotion, and sensory environment. Although the adaptive evolution of skull, appendicular skeleton, and vertebral column is well studied in vertebrates, comprehensive investigations of all skeletal components simultaneously are rarely performed. Consequently, we know little of how modes of evolution differ among skeletal components. Here, we tested if ecological and phylogenetic effects led to distinct modes of evolution among the cranial, appendicular and vertebral regions in extant carnivoran skeletons...
January 2024: Biology Letters
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38263881/multisensory-integration-in-insect-flight-control
#26
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Sanjay P Sane, Ric Wehling, Tom Daniel
No abstract text is available yet for this article.
January 2024: Biology Letters
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38263880/flatworm-cocoons-in-the-abyss-same-plan-under-pressure
#27
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Keiichi Kakui, Aoi Tsuyuki
While knowledge of early ontogeny in abyssal animals is highly limited in general, it was completely lacking for abyssal, free-living platyhelminths. We discovered flatworm egg capsules (or 'cocoons') on rocks collected at depths of 6176-6200 m on the abyssal slope of the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench, northwestern Pacific. The egg capsules were black and spherical, around 3 mm in diameter, and contained three to seven individuals ( n = 4) at the same developmental stage, either the spherical (putative early embryo) or vermiform (putative late embryo) stages...
January 2024: Biology Letters
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38229556/ecological-structure-of-diversity-dependent-diversification-in-phanerozoic-marine-bivalves
#28
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Michael Foote, Stewart M Edie, David Jablonski
Rigorous analysis of diversity-dependence-the hypothesis that the rate of proliferation of new species is inversely related to standing diversity-requires consideration of the ecology of the organisms in question. Differences between infaunal marine bivalves (living entirely within the sediment) and epifaunal forms (living partially or completely above the sediment-water interface) predict that these major ecological groups should have different diversity dynamics: epifaunal species may compete more intensely for space and be more susceptible to predation and physical disturbance...
January 2024: Biology Letters
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38229555/phenotypic-plasticity-of-a-winter-diapause-mechanism-copes-with-the-effects-of-summer-global-warming-in-an-ectothermic-predator
#29
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Hugo Alejandro Álvarez, Francisca Ruano
To adapt to changes in temperature, animals tend to invest more energy in thermal tolerance to enhance survival, which can have simultaneous costs on plastic traits. Would a decrease in genetic variability, due to global warming, affect the ability of populations with existing metabolic regulatory mechanisms to cope with extreme temperatures? To address this question, we conducted a series of experiments based on the A1B scenario of global warming, assessing within-population genetic variance in (a) morphological traits, (b) metabolic rate allometries, and (c) survival of a winter-diapausing predator ectotherm...
January 2024: Biology Letters
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38229554/why-do-dogs-wag-their-tails
#30
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Silvia Leonetti, Giulia Cimarelli, Taylor A Hersh, Andrea Ravignani
Tail wagging is a conspicuous behaviour in domestic dogs ( Canis familiaris ). Despite how much meaning humans attribute to this display, its quantitative description and evolutionary history are rarely studied. We summarize what is known about the mechanism, ontogeny, function and evolution of this behaviour. We suggest two hypotheses to explain its increased occurrence and frequency in dogs compared to other canids. During the domestication process, enhanced rhythmic tail wagging behaviour could have (i) arisen as a by-product of selection for other traits, such as docility and tameness, or (ii) been directly selected by humans, due to our proclivity for rhythmic stimuli...
January 2024: Biology Letters
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38228188/noise-constrains-heterospecific-eavesdropping-more-than-conspecific-reception-of-alarm-calls
#31
JOURNAL ARTICLE
You Zhou, Andrew N Radford, Robert D Magrath
Many vertebrates eavesdrop on alarm calls of other species, as well as responding to their own species' calls, but eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm calls might be harder than conspecific reception when environmental conditions make perception or recognition of calls difficult. This could occur because individuals lack hearing specializations for heterospecific calls, have less familiarity with them, or require more details of call structure to identify calls they have learned to recognize. We used a field playback experiment to provide a direct test of whether noise, as an environmental perceptual challenge, reduces response to heterospecific compared to conspecific alarm calls...
January 2024: Biology Letters
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38228187/catch-up-growth-and-overweight-adults-in-the-offspring-of-young-gecko-mothers-resembling-low-birth-weight-infants
#32
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Zuzana Starostová, Veronika Píchová, Anna Bauerová, Lukáš Kubička, Lukáš Kratochvíl
Endothermic and ectothermic amniotes differ in the timing of reproductive onset, with reptiles initiating reproduction before reaching final body size. Long-term consequences of maternal effect for early reptile offspring are poorly explored. We conducted growth experiments to compare the growth of offspring produced by young and older females of gecko Paroedura picta . Young, not fully grown females lay smaller eggs leading to production of smaller offspring. These offspring undergo accelerated growth and ultimately reach a comparable sex-specific final body length as do offspring of older females...
January 2024: Biology Letters
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38195058/basicranial-evidence-suggests-picrodontid-mammals-are-not-stem-primates
#33
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Jordan W Crowell, John R Wible, Stephen G B Chester
The Picrodontidae from the middle Palaeocene of North America are enigmatic placental mammals that were allied with various mammalian groups but are generally now considered to have close affinities to paromomyid and palaechthonid plesiadapiforms based on proposed dental synapomorphies. The picrodontid fossil record consists entirely of dental and gnathic remains except for one partial cranium of Zanycteris paleocenus (AMNH 17180). Here, we use µCT technology to unveil previously undocumented morphology in AMNH 17180, describe and compare the basicranial morphology of a picrodontid for the first time, and incorporate these new data into cladistic analyses...
January 2024: Biology Letters
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38195057/group-phenotypic-composition-drives-task-performances-in-ants
#34
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Rayanne Martin, Chloé Leroy, István Maák, Patrizia d'Ettorre
Differences in individual behaviour within a group can give rise to functional dissimilarities between groups, particularly in social animals. However, how individual behavioural phenotypes translate into the group phenotype remains unclear. Here, we investigate whether individual behavioural type affects group performance in a eusocial species, the ant Aphaenogaster senilis . We measured individual behavioural traits and created groups of workers with similar behavioural type, either high-exploratory or low-exploratory workers...
January 2024: Biology Letters
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38195056/females-counter-sing-but-response-to-male-song-differs-by-sex-in-alston-s-singing-mouse
#35
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Joel A Tripp, Steven M Phelps
Vocal display behaviours are common throughout the animal kingdom, play important roles in both courtship and aggression, and are frequent subjects of behavioural research. Although females of many species vocalize, an overwhelming fraction of behavioural research has focused on male display. We investigated vocal display behaviours in female singing mice ( Scotinomys teguina ), small muroid rodents in which both sexes produce songs consisting of trills of rapid, downward frequency sweeps. Previous research established that male singing mice increase song production and engage in precisely timed counter-singing behaviour in response to playback of conspecific male song...
January 2024: Biology Letters
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38166416/selection-for-evasive-mimicry-imposed-by-an-arthropod-predator
#36
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Karl Loeffler-Henry, Thomas N Sherratt
It has long been hypothesized that a species that is relatively easy to catch by predators may face selection to resemble a species that is harder to catch. Several experiments using avian predators have since supported this 'evasive mimicry' hypothesis. However, the sudden movement of artificial evasive prey in each of the above experiments may have startled the predators, generating an avoidance response unrelated to difficulty of capture. Additionally in the above experiments the catchability of prey was all or nothing, while in nature predators may occasionally catch evasive prey or fail to catch slower species, which might inhibit learning...
January 2024: Biology Letters
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38115747/the-rediscovery-of-the-putative-ant-social-parasite-manica-parasitica-syn-nov-hymenoptera-formicidae-reveals-an-unexpected-endoparasite-syndrome
#37
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Matthew Prebus, Boyko B Georgiev, Thomas van de Kamp, Elias Hamann, Iyla Baker, Christian Rabeling
Parasitism is ubiquitous across the tree of life, and parasites comprise approximately half of all animal species. Social insect colonies attract many pathogens, endo- and ectoparasites, and are exploited by social parasites, which usurp the social environment of their hosts for survival and reproduction. Exploitation by parasites and pathogens versus social parasites may cause similar behavioural and morphological modifications of the host. Ants possess two overlapping syndromes: the endo- and social parasite syndromes...
December 2023: Biology Letters
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38115746/asian-elephants-distinguish-sexual-status-and-identity-of-unfamiliar-elephants-using-urinary-odours
#38
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Chase A LaDue, Rebecca J Snyder
Despite the ubiquity of odours in mammals, few studies have documented the natural olfactory abilities of many 'non-model' species such as the Asian elephant. As Asian elephants are endangered, we may apply odours to more effectively manage threatened populations. We implemented a habituation-discrimination paradigm for the first time in Asian elephants to test the ability of elephants to discriminate between unfamiliar male elephant urine, hypothesizing that elephants would successfully distinguish non-musth from musth urine and also distinguish identity between two closely related individuals...
December 2023: Biology Letters
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38098434/correction-a-unified-theory-for-the-energy-cost-of-legged-locomotion-2016-by-pontzer
#39
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Herman Pontzer
No abstract text is available yet for this article.
December 2023: Biology Letters
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38087943/correction-strength-of-the-island-rule-in-birds-is-positively-associated-with-absence-of-avian-predators-2023-by-ponti-et-al
#40
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Raquel Ponti, Claire Doutrelant, Rita Covas
No abstract text is available yet for this article.
December 2023: Biology Letters
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