The veil of ignorance can favour biological cooperation.

abstract：:Nutritional ecological theory predicts that predators should adjust prey capture and consumption rates depending on the prey's nutritional composition. This would affect the predator's functional response, at least at high prey densities, i.e. near predator satiation. Using a simple fruitfly-wolf spider laboratory sys...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Bressendorff BB,Toft S

更新日期：2011-08-23 00:00:00

abstract：:During the course of a telemetry study on three species of Australian frogs (Litoria caerulea, Litoria dahlii and Cyclorana australis), we found that many of the surgically implanted transmitters had migrated into the bladder. We subsequently implanted small beads into L. caerulea and they were expelled from the body ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Tracy CR,Christian KA,McArthur LJ,Gienger CM

更新日期：2011-06-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Group-living animals can develop social bonds. Social bonds can be considered a type of social relationship characterized by frequent and consistent affiliative (non-reproductive) interactions. Social bonds with conspecifics bring many advantages, also in terms of direct fitness. A characteristic of social bonds is th...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Busia L,Griggio M

更新日期：2020-07-01 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：: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：:Coral reefs are one of the most diverse systems on the planet; yet, only a small fraction of coral reef species have attracted scientific study. Here, we document strong deleterious effects of an often overlooked species-the vermetid gastropod, Dendropoma maximum-on growth and survival of reef-building corals. Our sur...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Shima JS,Osenberg CW,Stier AC

更新日期：2010-12-23 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：:Males of many vertebrate species aggressively defend their reproductive interests by monopolizing females, and the 'challenge hypothesis' predicts that testosterone levels in reproductive contexts rise to facilitate males' competitive behaviours necessary for meeting social challenges. The hypothesis is successful in ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Klose SM,Welbergen JA,Kalko EK

更新日期：2009-12-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Flight feather moult in small passerines is realized in several ways. Some species moult once after breeding or once on their wintering grounds; others even moult twice. The adaptive significance of this diversity is still largely unknown. We compared the resistance to mechanical fatigue of flight feathers from the ch...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Weber TP,Borgudd J,Hedenström A,Persson K,Sandberg G

更新日期：2005-03-22 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：:Seamounts may influence the distribution of marine mammals through a combination of increased ocean mixing, enhanced local productivity and greater prey availability. To study the effects of seamounts on the presence and acoustic behaviour of cetaceans, we deployed a high-frequency acoustic recording package on the su...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Johnston DW,McDonald M,Polovina J,Domokos R,Wiggins S,Hildebrand J

更新日期：2008-04-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Carotenoid-based ornaments are common signalling features in animals. It has long been proposed that such ornaments communicate information about foraging abilities to potential mates. However, evidence linking foraging with ornamentation is largely missing from unmanipulated, free-ranging populations. To investigate ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Michael NP,Torres R,Welch AJ,Adams J,Bonillas-Monge ME,Felis J,Lopez-Marquez L,Martínez-Flores A,Wiley AE

更新日期：2018-09-26 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：:Predator foraging may be affected by previous prey capture, but it is unknown how nutrient balance affects foraging behaviour. Here, we use a trap-building predator to test whether nutrients from previous prey captures affect foraging behaviour. We fed orb-weaving spiders (Zygiella x-notata) prey flies of different nu...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Mayntz D,Toft S,Vollrath F

更新日期：2009-12-23 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：:The difference between maximum metabolic rate and standard metabolic rate is referred to as aerobic scope, and because it constrains performance it is suggested to constitute a key limiting process prescribing how fish may cope with or adapt to climate warming. We use an evolutionary bioenergetics model for Atlantic c...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Holt RE,Jørgensen C

更新日期：2015-02-01 00:00:00

abstract：:A number of widely grown varieties of Vitis vinifera ssp. sativa, the grape used for wine production, are known to have resulted from crosses between Pinot noir and Gouais blanc, although it is not known which was the maternal parent in these crosses. We have analysed microsatellites and a single nucleotide polymorphi...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Hunt HV,Lawes MC,Bower MA,Haeger JW,Howe CJ

更新日期：2010-06-23 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：:The aerodynamic force on flying insects results from the vortical flow structures that vary both spatially and temporally throughout flight. Due to these complexities and the inherent difficulties in studying flying insects in a natural setting, a complete picture of the vortical flow has been difficult to obtain expe...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Liu Y,Roll J,Van Kooten S,Deng X

更新日期：2018-05-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The evolutionary stability of honest signalling by offspring is thought to require that begging displays be costly, so the costs and benefits of begging--and whether they are experienced individually or by the whole brood--are crucial to understanding the evolution of begging behaviour. Begging is known to have immedi...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Lessells CK,Riebel K,Draganoiu TI

更新日期：2011-06-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Dispersal is an important mechanism used to avoid inbreeding. However, dispersal may only be effective for part of an individual's lifespan since, post-dispersal individuals that breed over multiple reproductive events may risk mating with kin of the philopatric sex as they age. We tested this hypothesis in black grou...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Soulsbury CD,Alatalo RV,Lebigre C,Rokka K,Siitari H

更新日期：2011-12-23 00:00:00

abstract：:The carboxy-terminal domain (CTD) of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) consists of 26 and 52 heptad-repeats in yeast and mammals, respectively. Studies in yeast showed that the strong periodicity of the YSPTSPS heptads is dispensable for cell growth and that di-heptads interspersed by spacers can act a...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Shah N,Decker TM,Eick D

更新日期：2019-05-31 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：:Costs associated with extra-territorial movement are believed to have favoured the evolution of delayed dispersal and sociality across a range of social vertebrates, but remain surprisingly poorly understood. Here we reveal a novel mechanism that may contribute substantially to the costs of extra-territorial movement:...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Young AJ,Monfort SL

更新日期：2009-08-23 00:00:00

abstract：:While competition for limited breeding positions is a common feature of group life, species vary widely in the extent to which reproduction is shared among females ('reproductive skew'). In recent years, there has been considerable debate over the mechanisms that generate variation in reproductive skew, with most evid...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Raihani NJ,Clutton-Brock TH

更新日期：2010-10-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Males of the coqui treefrog, Eleutherodactylus coqui, produce a distinct two-note 'co-qui' advertisement call from sunset to midnight throughout most of the year. Previous work established that both the spectrotemporal aspects of the call and the frequency of highest inner-ear sensitivity change with altitude above se...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Meenderink SWF,Quiñones PM,Narins PM

更新日期：2017-12-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The loss of Arctic sea ice is predicted to open up the Northwest Passage, shortening shipping routes and facilitating the exchange of marine organisms between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Here, we present the first observations of distribution overlap of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) from the two oceans ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Heide-Jørgensen MP,Laidre KL,Quakenbush LT,Citta JJ

更新日期：2012-04-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Due to the costs of antipredator behaviour, prey have the ability to finely modulate their response according to the risk they have experienced, and adjust it over different scales of ecological time. Information on which to base their responses can be obtained from direct experience, but also indirectly from nearby c...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Lucon-Xiccato T,Chivers DP,Mitchell MD,Ferrari MC

更新日期：2016-08-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The evolution of fluorescence is largely unexplored, despite the newfound occurrence of this phenomenon in a variety of organisms. We document that spiders fluoresce under ultraviolet illumination, and find that the expression of this trait varies greatly among taxa in this species-rich group. All spiders we examined ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Andrews K,Reed SM,Masta SE

更新日期：2007-06-22 00:00:00

abstract：:In sexually cannibalistic animals, male fitness is influenced not only by successful mate acquisition and egg fertilization, but also by avoiding being eaten. In the cannibalistic nursery web spider, Pisaurina mira, the legs of mature males are longer in relation to their body size than those of females, and males use...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Anderson AG,Hebets EA

更新日期：2016-02-01 00:00:00