Strategic (adaptive) hypothermia in bull dromedary camels during rut; could it increase reproductive success?

abstract：:In April 2006, a dedicated survey of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) was conducted on the former whaling ground in West Greenland to determine the current wintering population abundance. This effort included a double platform aerial survey design, satellite tracking of the movements of nine whales, and estimation ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Heide-Jørgensen MP,Laidre K,Borchers D,Samarra F,Stern H

更新日期：2007-10-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Many amphibian lineages show terrestrialization of their reproductive strategy and breeding is partially or completely independent of water. A number of causal factors have been proposed for the evolution of terrestrialized breeding. While predation has received repeated attention as a potential factor, the influence ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Müller H,Liedtke HC,Menegon M,Beck J,Ballesteros-Mejia L,Nagel P,Loader SP

更新日期：2013-03-27 00:00:00

abstract：:Ecological niche theory asserts that invading species become established only if introduced propagules survive stochastic mortality and can exploit resources unconsumed by resident species. Because their transportation is not controlled by plant health or biosecurity regulations, soil macrofauna decomposers, including...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Melody C,Schmidt O

更新日期：2012-12-23 00:00:00

abstract：:A long-standing but controversial hypothesis assumes that carnivorous plants employ aggressive mimicry to increase their prey capture success. A possible mechanism is that pitcher plants use aggressive mimicry to deceive prey about the location of the pitcher's exit. Specifically, species from unrelated families sport...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Schaefer HM,Ruxton GD

更新日期：2014-04-30 00:00:00

abstract：:Increasing numbers of climbers are attempting Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth. We compiled interview data and computed the probabilities of summiting and of dying as a function of climber age and gender (2211 climbers, spring season) for the period of 1990-2005. Men and women had similar odds of summiting...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Huey RB,Salisbury R,Wang JL,Mao M

更新日期：2007-10-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Primate groups vary considerably in size across species. Nonetheless, the distribution of mean species group size has a regular scaling pattern with preferred sizes approximating 2.5, 5, 15, 30 and 50 individuals (although strepsirrhines lack the latter two), with a scaling ratio of approximately 2.5 similar to that o...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Dunbar RIM,Mac Carron P,Shultz S

更新日期：2018-01-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The interaction between neuromuscular systems and body mechanics plays an important role in the production of coordinated movements in animals. Lepidopteran insects move their wings by distortion of the thorax structure via the indirect flight muscles (IFMs), which are activated by neural signals at every stroke. Howe...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Ando N,Kanzaki R

更新日期：2016-01-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The shape of the association between age and the cost of reproduction varies across species. However, it is unclear whether there are any general patterns in the way the cost of reproduction varies with life history, taxon or ecological function. Using a simple theoretical method, we identified three characteristic pa...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Proaktor G,Milner-Gulland EJ,Coulson T

更新日期：2007-12-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Telomeres are sensitive to damage induced by oxidative stress, and thus it is expected that dietary antioxidants may support the maintenance of telomere length in animals, particularly those with a fast rate of life (e.g. fast metabolism, activity and growth). We tested experimentally the effect of antioxidant supplem...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Kim SY,Velando A

更新日期：2015-05-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Parasite-mediated competition can shape community structure and host distribution. If two species compete for resources, parasites may indirectly change the outcome of competition. We tested the role of a trematode parasite in mediating microhabitat use by congeneric isopods Austridotea annectens and Austridotea lacus...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Friesen OC,Poulin R,Lagrue C

更新日期：2018-02-01 00:00:00

abstract：:When populations are exposed to novel conditions of growth, they often become adapted to a similar extent, and at the same time, evolve some degree of impairment in their original environment. They may also come to vary widely with respect to characters which are uncorrelated with fitness, as the result of chance gene...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Bell G

更新日期：2013-05-22 00:00:00

abstract：:G. L. Stebbins' most effective pollinator principle states that when pollinators are not limiting, plants are expected to specialize and adapt to the most abundant and effective pollinator species available. In this study, we quantify the effectiveness of bees, hummingbirds and hawkmoths in a Chilean population of Ery...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Medel R,González-Browne C,Salazar D,Ferrer P,Ehrenfeld M

更新日期：2018-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:According to theory, directional female choice for male sexual ornaments is expected to erode underlying genetic variation. Considerable attention, in this regard, has been given to understanding the ubiquity of heritable genetic variation in both female choice and male sexual traits. One intriguing possibility emergi...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Lehtonen TK,Wong BB,Lindström K

更新日期：2010-02-23 00:00:00

abstract：:The plight of the marine fisheries is attracting increasing attention as unsustainably high exploitation levels, exacerbated by more extreme climatic conditions, are driving stocks to the point of collapse. The North Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), a species which until recently formed a major component of the demersal f...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Hutchinson WF

更新日期：2008-12-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Theories of extreme lifespan evolution in vertebrates commonly implicate large size and predator-free environments together with physiological characteristics like low metabolism and high protection against oxidative damages. Here, we show that the 'human fish' (olm, Proteus anguinus), a small cave salamander (weighin...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Voituron Y,de Fraipont M,Issartel J,Guillaume O,Clobert J

更新日期：2011-02-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Regressive evolution of structures associated with vision in cave-dwelling organisms is the focus of intense research. Most work has focused on differences between extreme visual phenotypes: sighted, surface animals and their completely blind, cave-dwelling counterparts. We suggest that troglodytic systems, comprising...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Tobler M,Coleman SW,Perkins BD,Rosenthal GG

更新日期：2010-02-23 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：:Seeking out extra-pair paternity (EPP) is a viable reproductive strategy for females in many pair-bonded species. Across human societies, women commonly engage in extra-marital affairs, suggesting this strategy may also be an important part of women's reproductive decision-making. Here, I show that among the Himba 17 ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Scelza BA

更新日期：2011-12-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Properly coordinating cooperation is relevant for resolving public good problems, such as clean energy and environmental protection. However, little is known about how individuals can coordinate themselves for a certain level of cooperation in large populations of strangers. In a typical situation, a consensus-buildin...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Sasaki T,Uchida S

更新日期：2014-01-29 00:00:00

abstract：:The study of birds, especially the Galapagos finches, was important to Darwin in the development of the theory of evolution by natural selection. Birds have also been at the centre of a recent reformulation in understanding cerebral evolution and the substrates for higher cognition. While it was once thought that bird...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Reiner A

更新日期：2009-02-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Animals use cues to find their food, in microhabitats within their physiological tolerances. Termites build and modify their microhabitat, to transform hostile environments into benign ones, which raises questions about the relative importance of cues. Termites are desiccation intolerant and foraging termites are attr...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Oberst S,Lenz M,Lai JCS,Evans TA

更新日期：2019-07-26 00:00:00

abstract：:Lateralization of the brain has traditionally been considered a specialization that is confined to the vertebrates, but recent studies have revealed that a range of invertebrates also have a brain that is structurally asymmetric and/or each side performs a different set of functions. Here, we show that the precopulato...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Davison A,Frend HT,Moray C,Wheatley H,Searle LJ,Eichhorn MP

更新日期：2009-02-23 00:00:00

abstract：:The role of niche specialization and narrowing in the evolution and extinction of the ichthyosaurs has been widely discussed in the literature. However, previous studies have concentrated on a qualitative discussion of these variables only. Here, we use the recently developed approach of quantitative ecospace modellin...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Dick DG,Maxwell EE

更新日期：2015-07-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The majority of the world's population now lives in towns and cities, and urban areas are expanding faster than any other land-use type. In response to this phenomenon, two opposing arguments have emerged: whether cities should 'sprawl' into the wider countryside, or 'densify' through the development of existing urban...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Dallimer M,Tang Z,Bibby PR,Brindley P,Gaston KJ,Davies ZG

更新日期：2011-10-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Domestic dogs have been recognized for their social sensitivity and aptitude in human-guided tasks. For example, prior studies have demonstrated that dogs look to humans when confronted with an unsolvable task; an action often interpreted as soliciting necessary help. Conversely, wolves persist on such tasks. While do...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Udell MA

更新日期：2015-09-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Overlap in the form of sexual signals such as pheromones raises the possibility of reproductive interference by invasive species on similar, yet naive native species. Here, we test the potential for reproductive interference through heterospecific mate attraction and subsequent predation of males by females of a sexua...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Fea MP,Stanley MC,Holwell GI

更新日期：2013-11-27 00:00:00

abstract：:Many studies during the past 50 years have found an association between father absence and earlier menarche. In connection with these findings, several evolutionary theories assume that father absence is a causal factor accelerating reproductive development. However, a recent study analysing data from the Avon Longitu...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Lenárt P,Zlámal F,Kukla L,Jarkovský J,Bienertová-Vašků J

更新日期：2019-06-28 00:00:00

abstract：:Group living can provide individuals with several benefits, including cooperative vigilance and lower predation rates. Individuals in larger groups may be less vulnerable to predation due to dilution effects, efficient detection or greater ability to repel predators. Individuals in smaller groups may consequently empl...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Raihani NJ,Ridley AR

更新日期：2007-12-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Drug resistance is a long-standing economic, veterinary and human health concern in human and animal populations. Efficacy of prophylactic drug treatments targeting a particular pathogen is often short-lived, as drug-resistant pathogens evolve and reach high frequency in a treated population. Methods to combat drug re...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Park AW,Haven J,Kaplan R,Gandon S

更新日期：2015-11-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) is associated with social dominance in human and non-human primates, which may reflect the effects of testosterone on facial morphology and behaviour. Given that testosterone facilitates status-seeking motivation, the association between fWHR and behaviour should be contingent on th...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Martin JS,Staes N,Weiss A,Stevens JMG,Jaeggi AV

更新日期：2019-08-30 00:00:00