Changing motivations during migration: linking movement speed to reproductive status in a migratory large mammal.

abstract：:The songs of oscine passerine birds vary on many spatial scales, reflecting the actions of diverse evolutionary pressures. Here we examine the songs of Cisticola erythrops, which effectively signal species identity across a geographical area spanning 6500 km in sub-Saharan Africa. Selection for species identification ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Benedict L,Bowie RC

更新日期：2009-08-23 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：: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：:Anthropogenic salinization of rivers is an emerging issue of global concern, with significant adverse effects on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Impacts of freshwater salinization on biota are strongly mediated by evolutionary history, as this is a major factor determining species physiological salinity tolera...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Kefford BJ,Buchwalter D,Cañedo-Argüelles M,Davis J,Duncan RP,Hoffmann A,Thompson R

更新日期：2016-03-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Nectar concentration is assumed to remain constant during transport by honeybees between flowers and hive. We sampled crop contents of nectar foragers on Aloe greatheadii var. davyana, a major winter bee plant in South Africa. The nectar is dilute (approx. 20% w/w), but the crop contents of bees captured on flowers ar...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Nicolson SW,Human H

更新日期：2008-06-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Tonic immobility and escape are adaptive anti-predator tactics used by many animals. Escape requires movement, whereas tonic immobility does not. If anti-predator tactics relate to weapon size, males with larger weapons may adopt tonic immobility, whereas males with smaller weapons may adopt escape. However, no study ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Matsumura K,Yumise K,Fujii Y,Hayashi T,Miyatake T

更新日期：2020-12-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Both host phylogenetic placement and feeding strategy influence the structure of the gut microbiome (GMB); however, parsing their relative contributions presents a challenge. To meet this challenge, we compared GMB structure in two genera of lemurs characterized by different dietary specializations, the frugivorous br...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Greene LK,Clayton JB,Rothman RS,Semel BP,Semel MA,Gillespie TR,Wright PC,Drea CM

更新日期：2019-06-28 00:00:00

abstract：:Males of a variety of taxa occasionally steal food secured by their mates. In some spiders and insects, males rely entirely on this form of intraspecific kleptoparasitism for their subsistence. However, this male strategy may be costly for females and a variety of different female counteradaptations have been proposed...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Arnqvist G,Jones TM,Elgar MA

更新日期：2006-12-22 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：:One prediction of optimal digestion theory is that organisms will increase the relative length of their digestive tracts when food resources become limited. We used theory of optimal digestion to test whether tadpoles can adjust the relative length of their intestines when challenged with the fungal pathogen Batrachoc...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Venesky MD,Hanlon SM,Lynch K,Parris MJ,Rohr JR

更新日期：2013-02-27 00:00:00

abstract：:One response to the coral reef crisis has been human intervention to enhance selection on the fittest corals through cultivation. This requires genotypes to be identified for intervention, with a primary basis for this choice being growth: corals that quickly grow on contemporary reefs might be future winners. To test...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Edmunds PJ,Putnam HM

更新日期：2020-07-01 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：:Association and linkage mapping have become important tools in understanding the genetics of complex traits, including diseases in humans. As the success of association mapping is reduced by small effect sizes and limited power, linkage studies in laboratory-based model systems are still heavily used. But whether the ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Wilfert L,Jiggins FM

更新日期：2010-10-23 00:00:00

abstract：:The Didelphidae are considered solitary opossums with few social interactions, usually limited to mating-related or mother-pouch young interactions. Anecdotal reports suggest that additional interactions occur, including den sharing by a few individuals, usually siblings. Here, we report novel observations that indica...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Astúa D,Carvalho RA,Maia PF,Magalhães AR,Loretto D

更新日期：2015-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The fluid-containing traps of Nepenthes carnivorous pitcher plants (Nepenthaceae) are often inhabited by organisms known as inquilines. Dipteran larvae are key components of such communities and are thought to facilitate pitcher nitrogen sequestration by converting prey protein into inorganic nitrogen, although this h...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Lam WN,Chong KY,Anand GS,Tan HT

更新日期：2017-03-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Odours that accumulate from roosting can attract predators and increase predation risk. Consequently, selection should favour strategies that allow prey to evade detection by predators, including changing roosts. Insectivorous bats that roost in tree hollows regularly switch roosts and roost in different sized groups,...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Threlfall C,Law B,Banks PB

更新日期：2013-05-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Interference coloration, in which the perceived colour varies predictably with the angle of illumination or observation, is extremely widespread across animal groups. However, despite considerable advances in our understanding of the mechanistic basis of interference coloration in animals, we still have a poor underst...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Pike TW

更新日期：2015-04-01 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：:If a mother's nutritional status predicts the nutritional environment of the offspring, it would be adaptive for mothers experiencing nutritional stress to prime their offspring for a better tolerance to poor nutrition. We report that in Drosophila melanogaster, parents raised on poor larval food laid 3-6% heavier egg...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Vijendravarma RK,Narasimha S,Kawecki TJ

更新日期：2010-04-23 00:00:00

abstract：:The associations between habitat and other factors that lead to the risk of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in diary cattle were examined in an unmatched case-control study. Data from 60 herds with recent history of bTB and 60 controls were analysed using logistic regression. The predictors included farmland habitat, topogr...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Mathews F,Lovett L,Rushton S,Macdonald DW

更新日期：2006-06-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Adult hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) are typically described as open-coast, coral reef and hard substrate dwellers. Here, we report new satellite tracking data on female hawksbills from several countries in the eastern Pacific that revealed previously undocumented behaviour for adults of the species. In co...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Gaos AR,Lewison RL,Yañez IL,Wallace BP,Liles MJ,Nichols WJ,Baquero A,Hasbún CR,Vasquez M,Urteaga J,Seminoff JA

更新日期：2012-02-23 00:00:00

abstract：:There are two forms of ovulation: spontaneous and induced. As copulation triggers ovulation for induced ovulators, males can predict the timing of ovulation and may have greater paternity monopolization than spontaneous ovulators. However, this prediction has never, to my knowledge, been tested. Using a cross-species ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Soulsbury CD

更新日期：2010-02-23 00:00:00

abstract：:To cope with the post-fire challenges of decreased availability of food and shelter, brown antechinus (Antechinus stuartii), a small marsupial mammal, increase the use of energy-conserving torpor and reduce activity. However, it is not known how long it takes for animals to resume pre-fire torpor and activity patterns...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Stawski C,Hume T,Körtner G,Currie SE,Nowack J,Geiser F

更新日期：2017-05-01 00:00:00

abstract：:In Drosophila melanogaster, prolonged exposure to males reduces the longevity and fecundity of females. This harm arises from the effects of male courtship behaviours and the toxic side effects of the accessory gland proteins (Acps) in their seminal fluids. Here, we examine the relationship between male exposure and i...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Filice DC,Long TA

更新日期：2016-04-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Male insects rarely collaborate with each other, but pollinator fig wasps (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) are said to be an exception. Immature fig wasps feed on galled ovules located inside figs, the inflorescences of Ficus species (Moraceae). After mating, adult pollinator males chew communal exit-holes that allow mated fe...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Suleman N,Raja S,Compton SG

更新日期：2012-06-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Impulsivity, the widespread preference for a smaller and more immediate reward over a larger and more delayed reward, is known to vary across species, and the metabolic and social hypotheses present contrasting explanations for this variation. However, this presents a paradox for an animal such as the honeybee, which ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Mayack C,Naug D

更新日期：2015-01-01 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：:Placoderms are a diverse group of armoured fishes that dominated the aquatic ecosystems of the Devonian Period, 415-360 million years ago. The bladed jaws of predators such as Dunkleosteus suggest that these animals were the first vertebrates to use rapid mouth opening and a powerful bite to capture and fragment evasi...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Anderson PS,Westneat MW

更新日期：2007-02-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Lack of information is a constraint but ignorance can sometimes assist the evolution of cooperation by constraining selfishness. We discuss examples involving both ignorance of role or pay-off and ignorance of relatedness. Ignorance can favour cooperative traits like grouping and warning coloration and reduce conflict...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Queller DC,Strassmann JE

更新日期：2013-10-16 00:00:00