Antioxidants safeguard telomeres in bold chicks.

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：:Loss of Arctic sea ice owing to climate change is the primary threat to polar bears throughout their range. We evaluated the potential response of polar bears to sea-ice declines by (i) calculating generation length (GL) for the species, which determines the timeframe for conservation assessments; (ii) developing a st...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Regehr EV,Laidre KL,Akçakaya HR,Amstrup SC,Atwood TC,Lunn NJ,Obbard M,Stern H,Thiemann GW,Wiig Ø

更新日期：2016-12-01 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：:Boreal forest ecosystems are important drivers of the global carbon (C) cycle by acting as both sinks and sources of atmospheric CO(2). While several factors have been proposed as determining the ability of boreal forest to function as C sinks, little is known about their relative importance. In this study, we applied...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Jonsson M,Wardle DA

更新日期：2010-02-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Although plant-arthropod relationships underpin the dramatic rise in diversity and ecological dominance of flowering plants and their associated arthropods, direct observations of such interactions in the fossil record are rare, as these ephemeral moments are difficult to preserve. Three-dimensionally preserved charre...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Hartkopf-Fröder C,Rust J,Wappler T,Friis EM,Viehofen A

更新日期：2012-04-23 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：: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：:While learning to avoid toxic food is common in mammals and occurs in some insects, learning to avoid cues associated with infectious pathogens has received little attention. We demonstrate that Drosophila melanogaster show olfactory learning in response to infection with their virulent intestinal pathogen Pseudomonas...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Babin A,Kolly S,Schneider F,Dolivo V,Zini M,Kawecki TJ

更新日期：2014-03-05 00:00:00

abstract：:In cooperative animal societies, dominant females typically show higher breeding success than subordinates, and are commonly believed to control the extent of reproductive sharing. However, studies of social insect societies reveal that subordinates too can interfere with the breeding attempts of others, with importan...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Young AJ,Clutton-Brock T

更新日期：2006-09-22 00:00:00

abstract：:At the end of May, 17 scientists involved in an EU COST Action on Conservation Physiology of Marine Fishes met in Oristano, Sardinia, to discuss how physiology can be better used in modelling tools to aid in management of marine ecosystems. Current modelling approaches incorporate physiology to different extents, rang...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Jørgensen C,Peck MA,Antognarelli F,Azzurro E,Burrows MT,Cheung WW,Cucco A,Holt RE,Huebert KB,Marras S,McKenzie D,Metcalfe J,Perez-Ruzafa A,Sinerchia M,Fleng Steffensen J,Teal LR,Domenici P

更新日期：2012-12-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Heritable bacterial endosymbionts play an important role in aphid ecology. Sequence-based evidence suggests that facultative symbionts such as Hamiltonella defensa or Regiella insecticola also undergo horizontal transmission. Other than through male-to-female transfer during the sexual generation in autumn, the routes...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Gehrer L,Vorburger C

更新日期：2012-08-23 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：:Coevolution with parasites is thought to maintain genetic diversity in host populations. However, while there are sound theoretical reasons to expect heterozygosity and parasite resistance to be related, this pattern has generally been shown only in inbred laboratory and island populations. This leaves doubt as to whe...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： MacDougall-Shackleton EA,Derryberry EP,Foufopoulos J,Dobson AP,Hahn TP

更新日期：2005-03-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Terrestrial arthropods, at constant risk from desiccation, are highly sensitive to atmospheric temperature and humidity. A physiological marker of these abiotic conditions could highlight phenotypic adaptations, indicate niche partitioning, and predict responses to climate change for a group representing three-quarter...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Ellwood MD,Northfield RG,Mejia-Chang M,Griffiths H

更新日期：2011-08-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Plants under attack by pathogens and pests can mount a range of inducible defences, encompassing both chemical and structural changes. Although few reports exist, it appears that plants responding to pathogen or herbivore attack, or chemical defence elicitors, may produce progeny that are better able to defend themsel...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Walters DR,Paterson L

更新日期：2012-10-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Male signals that provide information to females about mating benefits are often of low reliability. It is thus not clear why females often express strong signal preferences. We tested the hypothesis that females can distinguish between males with preferred signals that provide lower and higher quality direct benefits...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Wegehaupt AK,Wagner WE Jr

更新日期：2017-09-01 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：:Twenty years ago, the field of ancient DNA was launched with the publication of two short mitochondrial (mt) DNA sequences from a single quagga (Equus quagga) museum skin, an extinct South African equid (Higuchi et al. 1984 Nature312, 282-284). This was the first extinct species from which genetic information was retr...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Leonard JA,Rohland N,Glaberman S,Fleischer RC,Caccone A,Hofreiter M

更新日期：2005-09-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Sexual conflict occurs when selection to maximize fitness in one sex does so at the expense of the other sex. In the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides, repeated mating provides assurance of paternity at a direct cost to female reproductive productivity. To reduce this cost, females could choose males with low re...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Hopwood PE,Mazué GP,Carter MJ,Head ML,Moore AJ,Royle NJ

更新日期：2016-03-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Double cones (DCs) are the most common cone types in fish, reptiles and birds. It has been suggested that DCs are used for achromatic tasks such as luminance, motion and polarization vision. Here we show that a reef fish Rhinecanthus aculeatus can discriminate colours on the basis of the difference between the signals...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Pignatelli V,Champ C,Marshall J,Vorobyev M

更新日期：2010-08-23 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：:Parasites represent ideal models for unravelling biogeographic patterns and mechanisms of diversification on islands. Both host-mediated dispersal and within-island adaptation can shape parasite island assemblages. In this study, we examined patterns of genetic diversity and structure of Ornithodoros seabird ticks wit...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Gómez-Díaz E,Morris-Pocock JA,González-Solís J,McCoy KD

更新日期：2012-08-23 00:00:00

abstract：:The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) was widespread in Australia during the Late Pleistocene but is now endemic to the island of Tasmania. Low genetic diversity combined with the spread of devil facial tumour disease have raised concerns for the species' long-term survival. Here, we investigate the origin of low...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Brüniche-Olsen A,Jones ME,Austin JJ,Burridge CP,Holland BR

更新日期：2014-11-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The somasteroids are Lower Palaeozoic star-shaped animals widely regarded as ancestors of Asterozoa, the group of echinoderms that includes brittle stars and starfish. However, the origin of asterozoans, the assembly of their distinctive body organization, and their relationships with other Cambrian and Ordovician ech...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Hunter AW,Ortega-Hernández J

更新日期：2021-01-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Natural populations of free-living protists often exhibit high-levels of intraspecific diversity, yet this is puzzling as classic evolutionary theory predicts dominance by genotypes with high fitness, particularly in large populations where selection is efficient. Here, we test whether negative frequency-dependent sel...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Minter EJ,Watts PC,Lowe CD,Brockhurst MA

更新日期：2015-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Sex ratio evolution relies on genetic variation in either the phenotypic traits that influence sex ratios or sex-determining mechanisms. However, consistent variation among females in offspring sex ratio is rarely investigated. Here, we show that female painted dragons (Ctenophorus pictus) have highly repeatable sex r...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Uller T,Mott B,Odierna G,Olsson M

更新日期：2006-12-22 00:00:00

abstract：:The muscles that effect lung ventilation are key to understanding the evolutionary constraints on animal form and function. Here, through electromyography, we demonstrate a newly discovered respiratory function for the iliocostalis muscle in the American alligator ( Alligator mississippiensis). The iliocostalis is act...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Codd JR,Rose KAR,Tickle PG,Sellers WI,Brocklehurst RJ,Elsey RM,Crossley DA 2nd

更新日期：2019-07-26 00:00:00

abstract：:Genetic estimates of the variability of immune responses are rarely examined in natural populations because of confounding environmental effects. As a result, and because of the difficulty of pinpointing the genetic determinants of immunity, no study has to our knowledge examined the contribution of specific genes to ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Bonneaud C,Sinsheimer JS,Richard M,Chastel O,Sorci G

更新日期：2009-12-23 00:00:00

abstract：:In many host populations, one of the most striking differences among hosts is their age. While parasite prevalence differences in relation to host age are well known, little is known on how host age impacts ecological and evolutionary dynamics of diseases. Using two clones of the water flea Daphnia magna and two clone...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Izhar R,Routtu J,Ben-Ami F

更新日期：2015-05-01 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