Evidence for egg discrimination preceding failed rejection attempts in a small cuckoo host.

abstract：:The ability to perceive the Earth's magnetic field, or magnetoreception, exists in numerous animals. Although the mechanism underlying magnetoreception has not been clearly established in any species, in salmonid fish, it is hypothesized to occur by means of crystals of magnetite associated with nervous tissue such as...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Fitak RR,Schweikert LE,Wheeler BR,Ernst DA,Lohmann KJ,Johnsen S

更新日期：2018-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The phenomenon of endocrine disruption is currently a source of growing concern. Feminization of male fish in UK rivers has been shown to occur extensively and has been linked with exposure to endocrine-disrupting compounds present in the environment. Much less is known of the extent and scale of endocrine disruption ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Chesman BS,Langston WJ

更新日期：2006-09-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Although the adaptive value of flight may seem obvious, it is the most difficult behaviour of birds to monitor. Here, we describe a technique to quantify the frequency and the duration of flights over several months by implanting a data logger that records heart rate (fH), hydrostatic pressure (diving depth) and the b...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Pelletier D,Guillemette M,Grandbois JM,Butler PJ

更新日期：2007-08-22 00:00:00

abstract：:The symposium 'What is Macroecology?' was held in London on 20 June 2012. The event was the inaugural meeting of the Macroecology Special Interest Group of the British Ecological Society and was attended by nearly 100 scientists from 11 countries. The meeting reviewed the recent development of the macroecological agen...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Keith SA,Webb TJ,Böhning-Gaese K,Connolly SR,Dulvy NK,Eigenbrod F,Jones KE,Price T,Redding DW,Owens IP,Isaac NJ

更新日期：2012-12-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Migratory decisions in birds are closely tied to environmental cues and fat stores, but it remains unknown if the same variables trigger bat migration. To learn more about the rare phenomenon of bat migration, we studied departure decisions of female common noctules (Nyctalus noctula) in southern Germany. We did not f...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Dechmann DKN,Wikelski M,Ellis-Soto D,Safi K,O'Mara MT

更新日期：2017-09-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Numerous species undergo impressive movements, but due to massive changes in land use, long distance migration in terrestrial vertebrates has become a highly fragile ecological phenomenon. Uncertainty about the locations of past migrations and the importance of current corridors hampers conservation planning. Using ar...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Berger J,Cain SL,Berger KM

更新日期：2006-12-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Plants have evolved numerous herbivore defences that are resistance- or tolerance-based. Resistance involves physical and chemical traits that deter and/or harm herbivores whereas tolerance minimizes fitness costs of herbivory, often via compensatory growth. The Poaceae frequently accumulate large amounts of silicon (...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Johnson SN,Reynolds OL,Gurr GM,Esveld JL,Moore BD,Tory GJ,Gherlenda AN

更新日期：2019-07-26 00:00:00

abstract：:Negative effects of inbreeding are well documented in a wide range of animal taxa. Hatching success and survival of inbred offspring is reduced in many species and inbred progeny are often less attractive to potential mates. Thus, individuals should avoid mating with close kin. However, experimental evidence for inbre...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Frommen JG,Bakker TC

更新日期：2006-06-22 00:00:00

abstract：:The direct effects of CO2 level changes on plant water availability are usually ignored in plant habitat models. We compare traditional proxies for water availability with changes in soil water (fAWC) predicted by a process-based ecosystem model, which simulates changes in vegetation structure and functioning, includi...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Rickebusch S,Thuiller W,Hickler T,Arau Jo MB,Sykes MT,Schweiger O,Lafourcade B

更新日期：2008-10-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Male sand lizards (Lacerta agilis) with a specific restriction fragment length polymorphism fragment in their major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genotype ('O-males') are more resistant to ectoparasites (a tick, Ixodes ricinus) than are males that lack this fragment ('NO-males'). However, emerging evidence suggests...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Olsson M,Wapstra E,Madsen T,Ujvari B,Rugfelt C

更新日期：2005-09-22 00:00:00

abstract：:About 10 per cent of birds' eggs fail to hatch, but the incidence of failure can be much higher in endangered species. Most studies fail to distinguish between infertility (due to a lack of sperm) and embryo mortality as the cause of hatching failure, yet doing so is crucial in order to understand the underlying probl...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Hemmings N,West M,Birkhead TR

更新日期：2012-12-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Locomotion and feeding in marine animals are intimately linked to the flow dynamics created by specialized body parts. This interaction is of particular importance during ontogeny, when changes in behaviour and scale challenge the organism with shifts in fluid regimes and altered functionality. Previous studies have i...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Nawroth JC,Feitl KE,Colin SP,Costello JH,Dabiri JO

更新日期：2010-06-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Two non-coding DNA classes, introns and intergenic regions, of Drosophila melanogaster exhibit contrasting evolutionary patterns. GC content is significantly higher in intergenic regions and affects their degree of nucleotide variability. Divergence is positively correlated with recombination rate in intergenic region...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Ometto L,De Lorenzo D,Stephan W

更新日期：2006-12-22 00:00:00

abstract：:On the steep surfaces that are common in arboreal environments, many types of animals without claws or adhesive structures must use muscular force to generate sufficient normal force to prevent slipping and climb successfully. Unlike many limbed arboreal animals that have discrete gripping regions on the feet, the elo...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Byrnes G,Jayne BC

更新日期：2014-08-01 00:00:00

abstract：:This study tests the hypothesis that vertical habitat preferences of different monkey species inhabiting closed canopy rainforest are reflected in oxygen isotopes. We sampled bone from seven sympatric cercopithecid species in the Taï forest, Côte d'Ivoire, where long-term study has established taxon-specific patterns ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Krigbaum J,Berger MH,Daegling DJ,McGraw WS

更新日期：2013-07-10 00:00:00

abstract：:Most mammals and approximately 20% of squamates (lizards and snakes) are viviparous, whereas all crocodilians, birds and turtles are oviparous. Viviparity evolved greater than 100 times in squamates, including multiple times in Mabuyinae (Reptilia: Scincidae), making this group ideal for studying the evolution of nutr...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Metallinou M,Weinell JL,Karin BR,Conradie W,Wagner P,Schmitz A,Jackman TR,Bauer AM

更新日期：2016-08-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Understanding the effects of parasites on host behaviour, of host behaviour on parasite infection, and the reciprocal interactions between these processes is vital to improving our understanding of animal behaviour and disease dynamics. However, behaviour and parasite infection are both highly variable within and betw...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Stephenson JF

更新日期：2019-11-29 00:00:00

abstract：:Animal locomotion arises from complex interactions among sensory systems, processing of sensory information into patterns of motor output, the musculo-skeletal dynamics that follow motor stimulation, and the interaction of appendages and body parts with the environment. These processes conspire to produce motions and ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Biewener A,Daniel T

更新日期：2010-06-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Coral-associated invertebrates are the most significant contributors to the diversity of reef ecosystems, but no studies have examined how larvae manage to settle and grow in their coral hosts. Video recordings were used to document this process in the coral barnacle Darwiniella angularis associated with the coral Cyp...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Liu JC,Høeg JT,Chan BK

更新日期：2016-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Historically, bird song has been regarded as a sex-specific signalling trait; males sing to attract females and females drive the evolution of signal exaggeration by preferring males with ever more complex songs. This view provides no functional role for female song. Historic geographical research biases generalized p...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Riebel K,Odom KJ,Langmore NE,Hall ML

更新日期：2019-04-26 00:00:00

abstract：:Evenness is a key measure of community structure. Here, we examine the relationship between evenness and size-abundance distributions for both individuals and species using data gathered from Amazonian fish assemblages. We show that evenness increases as the fraction of numerically abundant species in larger body-size...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Magurran AE,Queiroz HL,Hercos AP

更新日期：2013-12-11 00:00:00

abstract：:Telomeres are regarded as markers of biological or cellular ageing because they shorten with the degree of stress exposure. Accordingly, telomere lengths should show different rates of change when animals are faced with different intensities of environmental challenges. However, a relationship between telomere length ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Mizutani Y,Tomita N,Niizuma Y,Yoda K

更新日期：2013-08-14 00:00:00

abstract：:Climate change is already affecting species worldwide, yet existing methods of risk assessment have not considered interactions between demography and climate and their simultaneous effect on habitat distribution and population viability. To address this issue, an international workshop was held at the University of A...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Brook BW,Akçakaya HR,Keith DA,Mace GM,Pearson RG,Araújo MB

更新日期：2009-12-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Strong social bonds can make an important contribution to individual fitness, but we still have only a limited understanding of the temporal period relevant to the adjustment of social relationships. While there is growing recognition of the importance of strong bonds that persist for years, social relationships can a...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Sick C,Carter AJ,Marshall HH,Knapp LA,Dabelsteen T,Cowlishaw G

更新日期：2014-07-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Eavesdropping on communication is widespread among animals, e.g. bystanders observing male-male contests, female mate choice copying and predator detection of prey cues. Some animals also exhibit signal matching, e.g. overlapping of competitors' acoustic signals in aggressive interactions. Fewer studies have examined ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Clark DL,Roberts JA,Uetz GW

更新日期：2012-06-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Waterfowl undergo an annual simultaneous flight-feather moult that renders them flightless for the duration of the regrowth of the flight feathers. In the wild, this period of flightlessness could restrict the capacity of moulting birds to forage and escape predation. Selection might therefore favour a short moult, bu...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Portugal SJ,White CR,Green JA,Butler PJ

更新日期：2018-11-28 00:00:00

abstract：:The response to intradermally injected phytohaemagglutinin (PHA-response) is a commonly used quantification of avian immunocompetence (the ability to resist pathogens). Parasite-mediated sexual selection requires heritable immunocompetence, but evidence for heritability of PHA-response in birds largely stems from full...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Pitala N,Gustafsson L,Sendecka J,Brommer JE

更新日期：2007-08-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Conventional row crop agriculture for both food and fuel is a source of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) to the atmosphere, and intensifying production on agricultural land increases the potential for soil C loss and soil acidification due to fertilizer use. Enhanced weathering (EW) in agricultural soils-a...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Kantola IB,Masters MD,Beerling DJ,Long SP,DeLucia EH

更新日期：2017-04-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Learning is an important form of phenotypic plasticity that allows organisms to adjust their behaviour to the environment. An individual's learning performance can be affected by its mother's environment. For example, mothers exposed to stressors, such as restraint and forced swimming, often produce offspring with imp...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Roche DP,McGhee KE,Bell AM

更新日期：2012-12-23 00:00:00

abstract：:The fitness landscape-the function that relates genotypes to fitness-and its role in directing evolution are a central object of evolutionary biology. However, its huge dimensionality precludes understanding of even the basic aspects of its shape. One way to approach it is to ask a simpler question: what are the prope...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Bazykin GA

更新日期：2015-10-01 00:00:00