Stress hormone dynamics: an adaptation to migration?

abstract：:The mid-domain effect (MDE), a bias in species richness towards the midpoint of a given geographical dimension, has been used as a null model in macro-ecological studies. Departures from a MDE are often thought of as interesting. The MDE is a product of the interaction between geometric boundaries and range locations,...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Davies TJ,Grenyer R,Gittleman JL

更新日期：2005-06-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Plain-tailed wrens (Thryothorus euophrys) live in groups that sing synchronized choruses, the contributions of females and males alternating with each other in cycles, within which each sex sings two of the four parts, the whole achieving near perfect synchrony. As each bird has a repertoire of ca 20 phrases of each t...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Mann NI,Dingess KA,Slater PJ

更新日期：2006-03-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Species response to environmental change may vary from adaptation to the new conditions, to dispersal towards territories with better ecological settings (known as habitat tracking), and to extinction. A phylogenetically explicit analysis of habitat tracking in Caenozoic large mammals shows that species moving over lo...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Raia P,Passaro F,Fulgione D,Carotenuto F

更新日期：2012-02-23 00:00:00

abstract：:In group-living vertebrates, reliable social allies play a decisive role in dealing with stressors. For example, support by social allies is known to dampen glucocorticoid responses. It remains unknown, however, how social embedding affects the sympatho-adrenergic axis as indicated by heart rate (HR) in non-human anim...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Wascher CA,Weiß BM,Arnold W,Kotrschal K

更新日期：2012-06-23 00:00:00

abstract：:With an increasing amount of data becoming available, comparative analyses have called attention to the associations between cooperative breeding, monogamy and relatedness. We focus here upon the association between allomaternal care and relatedness among females within a social unit. Previous studies found a positive...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Briga M,Pen I,Wright J

更新日期：2012-08-23 00:00:00

abstract：:To make sensible decisions, both humans and other animals must compare the available options against a reference point-either other options or previous experience. Options of higher quality than the reference are considered good value. However, many perceptible attributes of options are value-neutral, such as flower s...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Oberhauser FB,Czaczkes TJ

更新日期：2018-09-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Tropical forests are experiencing structural changes that may reduce carbon storage potential. The recent increase in liana abundance and biomass is one such potential change. Lianas account for approximately 25 per cent of woody stems and may have a strong impact on tree dynamics because severe liana infestation redu...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Durán SM,Gianoli E

更新日期：2013-06-19 00:00:00

abstract：:Sperm whales use their gigantic nose to produce the most powerful sounds in the animal kingdom, presumably to echolocate deep-sea prey at long ranges and possibly to debilitate prey. To test these hypotheses, we deployed sound recording tags (DTAG-4) on the tip of the nose of three sperm whales. One of these recording...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Tønnesen P,Oliveira C,Johnson M,Madsen PT

更新日期：2020-08-01 00:00:00

abstract：:White-nose syndrome is devastating North American bat populations but we lack basic information on disease mechanisms. Altered blood physiology owing to epidermal invasion by the fungal pathogen Geomyces destructans (Gd) has been hypothesized as a cause of disrupted torpor patterns of affected hibernating bats, leadin...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Warnecke L,Turner JM,Bollinger TK,Misra V,Cryan PM,Blehert DS,Wibbelt G,Willis CK

更新日期：2013-05-29 00:00:00

abstract：:Anthropogenic impacts are believed to be the primary threats to the eastern Australian population of grey nurse sharks (Carcharias taurus), which is listed as critically endangered, and the most threatened population globally. Analyses of 235 polymorphic amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) loci and 700 base...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Stow A,Zenger K,Briscoe D,Gillings M,Peddemors V,Otway N,Harcourt R

更新日期：2006-06-22 00:00:00

abstract：:While ageing is commonly associated with exponential increase in mortality with age, mortality rates paradoxically decelerate late in life resulting in distinct mortality plateaus. Late-life mortality plateaus have been discovered in a broad variety of taxa, including humans, but their origin is hotly debated. One hyp...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Chen HY,Zajitschek F,Maklakov AA

更新日期：2013-10-02 00:00:00

abstract：:Partial migration occurs in many taxa and ecosystems and may confer survival benefits. Here, we use otolith chemistry data to determine whether fish from a large estuarine system were resident or migratory, and then examine whether contingents display differences in modelled growth based on changes in width of otolith...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Gillanders BM,Izzo C,Doubleday ZA,Ye Q

更新日期：2015-03-01 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：: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：:Mountainous areas contain a substantial part of the world species richness, but the evolutionary origins and diversification of this biodiversity remain elusive. Diversification may result from differences in clade age (longer time to diversify), net diversification rates (faster speciation rate) or carrying capacitie...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Condamine FL

更新日期：2018-03-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Human-induced environmental change is occurring at an unprecedented rate and scale. Many freshwater habitats, in particular, have been degraded as a result of increased salinity. Little is known about the effects of anthropogenic salinization on freshwater organisms, especially at sublethal concentrations, where subtl...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Squires ZE,Bailey PC,Reina RD,Wong BB

更新日期：2008-08-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Muscles are commonly assumed to have uniform activations across their bellies. Yet animal studies have shown that different regions across a muscle can vary in their architecture, fibre type, levels of activation and the transfer of forces to the bones and tendons. The purpose of this study was to test whether regiona...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Wakeling JM

更新日期：2009-02-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Recent evidence for feathers in theropods has led to speculations that the largest tyrannosaurids, including Tyrannosaurus rex, were extensively feathered. We describe fossil integument from Tyrannosaurus and other tyrannosaurids (Albertosaurus, Daspletosaurus, Gorgosaurus and Tarbosaurus), confirming that these large...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Bell PR,Campione NE,Persons WS 4th,Currie PJ,Larson PL,Tanke DH,Bakker RT

更新日期：2017-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Male-biased susceptibility to parasites is common in dioecious plants. However, why males have higher parasite loads than females is unclear. Unlike males, females must subsidize post-fertilization costs of reproduction (e.g. seed and fruit development). As a result, females may have smaller pools of resources potenti...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Yule KJ,Burns KC

更新日期：2019-03-29 00:00:00

abstract：:Ejaculate attributes are important factors driving the probability of fertilizing eggs. When females mate with several males, competition between sperm to fertilize eggs should accentuate selection on ejaculate attributes. We tested this hypothesis in the North African houbara bustard ( Chlamydotis undulata undulata) ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Vuarin P,Hingrat Y,Lesobre L,Jalme MS,Lacroix F,Sorci G

更新日期：2019-03-29 00:00:00

abstract：:Although over 50 twin and adoption studies have been performed on the genetic architecture of antisocial behaviour, far fewer studies have investigated prosocial behaviour, and none have done so on a non-western population. The present study examined mothers' ratings of prosocial behaviour in 514 pairs of 2- to 9-year...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Hur YM,Rushton JP

更新日期：2007-12-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Inbreeding causes increases in homozygosity and is commonly associated with reductions in fertility and embryogenesis. Although the mechanisms underlying such effects are unknown, recent work has suggested that inbred males may suffer impaired ejaculate quality, thus providing a functional explanation for reductions i...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Fitzpatrick JL,Evans JP

更新日期：2009-06-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Lateralization is a well-described phenomenon in humans and other vertebrates and there are interesting parallels across a variety of different vertebrate species. However, there are only a few studies of lateralization in invertebrates. In a recent report, we showed lateralization of olfactory learning in the honeybe...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Letzkus P,Boeddeker N,Wood JT,Zhang SW,Srinivasan MV

更新日期：2008-02-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Darwin devoted much of his working life to the study of plant reproductive systems. He recognized that many of the intricacies of floral morphology had been shaped by natural selection in favour of outcrossing, and he clearly established the deleterious effects of self-fertilization on progeny. Although Darwin hypothe...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Pannell JR

更新日期：2009-06-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Research on reproductive isolation in African cichlid fishes has largely focused on the role of nuptial colours, but other sensory modes may play an important role in mate choice. Here, we compare the relative importance of visual and olfactory cues in mate recognition by females of a Lake Malawi cichlid species. Fema...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Plenderleith M,van Oosterhout C,Robinson RL,Turner GF

更新日期：2005-12-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Since the modern evolutionary synthesis was first proposed early in the twentieth century, attention has focused on assessing the relative contribution of mutation versus natural selection on protein evolution. Here we test a model that yields general quantitative predictions on rates of protein evolution by combining...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Gillooly JF,McCoy MW,Allen AP

更新日期：2007-12-22 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：:Near Eastern Neolithic farmers introduced several species of domestic plants and animals as they dispersed into Europe. Dogs were the only domestic species present in both Europe and the Near East prior to the Neolithic. Here, we assessed whether early Near Eastern dogs possessed a unique mitochondrial lineage that di...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Ollivier M,Tresset A,Frantz LAF,Bréhard S,Bălăşescu A,Mashkour M,Boroneanţ A,Pionnier-Capitan M,Lebrasseur O,Arbogast RM,Bartosiewicz L,Debue K,Rabinovich R,Sablin MV,Larson G,Hänni C,Hitte C,Vigne JD

更新日期：2018-10-17 00:00:00

abstract：:Recent studies have emphasized the ability to reconstruct genome sizes (C-values) of extinct organisms such as dinosaurs, using correlations between known genome sizes and bone cell (osteocyte lacunae) volumes. Because of the established positive relationship between cell size and genome size in extant vertebrates, os...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Montanari S,Brusatte SL,De Wolf W,Norell MA

更新日期：2011-10-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Vocal learning in birds is typically restricted to a sensitive period early in life, with the few exceptions reported in songbirds and parrots. Here, we present evidence of open-ended vocal learning in a hummingbird, the third avian group with vocal learning. We studied vocalizations at four leks of the long-billed he...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Araya-Salas M,Wright T

更新日期：2013-09-25 00:00:00