Do female Nicrophorus vespilloides reduce direct costs by choosing males that mate less frequently?

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 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：:Cooperative alliances among kin may not only lead to indirect fitness benefits for group-living species, but can also provide direct benefits through access to mates or higher social rank. However, the immigrant sex in most species loses any potential benefits of living with kin unless immigrants disperse together or ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Pollack L,Rubenstein DR

更新日期：2015-07-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Colonial breeding in birds is widely considered to benefit individuals through enhanced protection against predators or transfer of information about foraging sites. This view, however, is largely based on studies of seabirds carried out under favourable conditions. Recent breeding failures at many seabird colonies in...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Ashbrook K,Wanless S,Harris MP,Hamer KC

更新日期：2008-12-23 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：:The movement and dietary history of individuals can be studied using stable isotope records in archival keratinous tissues. Here, we present a chronology of temporally fine-scale data on the trophic niche of otariid seals by measuring the isotopic signature of serially sampled whiskers. Whiskers of male Antarctic fur ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Cherel Y,Kernaléguen L,Richard P,Guinet C

更新日期：2009-12-23 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：: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：:Many studies have focused on the effects of anthropogenic noise on animal communication, but only a few have looked at its effect on other behavioural systems. We designed a playback experiment to test the effect of noise on predation risk assessment. We found that in response to boat motor playback, Caribbean hermit ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Chan AA,Giraldo-Perez P,Smith S,Blumstein DT

更新日期：2010-08-23 00:00:00

abstract：:The study of social behaviour within groups has relied on fixed definitions of an 'interaction'. Criteria used in these definitions often involve a subjectively defined cut-off value for proximity, orientation and time (e.g. courtship, aggression and social interaction networks) and the same numerical values for these...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Schneider J,Levine JD

更新日期：2014-10-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The extreme body size of blue whales requires a high energy intake and therefore demands efficient foraging strategies. As an obligate lunge feeder on aggregations of small zooplankton, blue whales engulf a large volume of prey-laden water in a single, rapid gulp. The efficiency of this feeding mechanism is strongly d...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Goldbogen JA,Calambokidis J,Friedlaender AS,Francis J,DeRuiter SL,Stimpert AK,Falcone E,Southall BL

更新日期：2013-02-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Anti-predator benefits associated with living in groups are multiple and taxonomically widespread. In fish shoals, individuals can exploit the confusion effect, whereby predators struggle to target a single individual among several individuals. Theory predicts that the confusion effect could be aided by homogeneity in...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Cattelan S,Griggio M

更新日期：2018-08-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Nursery areas are fundamental for the success of many marine species, particularly for large, slow-growing taxa with low fecundity and high age of maturity. Here, we examine the population size-class structure of the extinct gigantic shark Otodus megalodon in a newly described middle Miocene locality from Northeastern...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Herraiz JL,Ribé J,Botella H,Martínez-Pérez C,Ferrón HG

更新日期：2020-11-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Information on migration patterns is critical to using no-take migratory corridors and marine reserves to protect the spawning stock of commercially exploited species. Both active and passive acoustic tracking methods quantified movement of commercially and ecologically important blue crabs in the White Oak River estu...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Eggleston DB,Millstein E,Plaia G

更新日期：2015-05-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Marsupial frogs have a unique reproductive mode in which females carry eggs enclosed in a sealed dorsal brood pouch. While most anurans are considered to be oviparous with lecithotrophic eggs, the extensively vascularized membrane of the brood pouch in marsupial frogs suggests potential opportunities for nutrient tran...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Warne RW,Catenazzi A

更新日期：2016-10-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Patterns of population genetic variation have frequently been understood as consequences of life history covariates such as dispersal ability and breeding systems (e.g. selfing). For example, marine invertebrates show enormous variation in life history traits that are correlated with the extent of gene flow between po...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Addison JA,Hart MW

更新日期：2005-12-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Parasites play pivotal roles in structuring communities, often via indirect interactions with non-host species. These effects can be density-mediated (through mortality) or trait-mediated (behavioural, physiological and developmental), and may be crucial to population interactions, including biological invasions. For ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Hatcher MJ,Dick JT,Dunn AM

更新日期：2014-01-15 00:00:00

abstract：:The dynamics of leaf nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) have been intensively explored in short-term experiments, but rarely at longer timescales. Here, we investigated leaf N : P stoichiometry over a 27-year interval in an Inner Mongolia grassland by comparing leaf N : P concentration of 2006 with that of 1979. Across 8...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Mi Z,Huang Y,Gan H,Zhou W,Flynn DF,He JS

更新日期：2015-01-01 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：: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：:Since its discovery in the winter of 2005-2006, white-nose syndrome (WNS) has killed over one million little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) in the American northeast. Although many studies have reported die-offs of bats at winter hibernacula, it is important to understand how bat mortality linked to WNS at winter hiber...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Dzal Y,McGuire LP,Veselka N,Fenton MB

更新日期：2011-06-23 00:00:00

abstract：:One of the contemporary hypotheses concerning the evolution of human altruism is the cooperative breeding hypothesis (CBH) which has recently been tested in non-human primates. Using a similar paradigm, we investigated prosociality in a cooperatively breeding corvid, the azure-winged magpie. We found that the magpies ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Horn L,Scheer C,Bugnyar T,Massen JJ

更新日期：2016-10-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Agricultural intensification is a leading cause of global biodiversity loss, especially for threatened and near-threatened species. One widely implemented response is 'wildlife-friendly farming', involving the close integration of conservation and extensive farming practices within agricultural landscapes. However, th...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Pywell RF,Heard MS,Bradbury RB,Hinsley S,Nowakowski M,Walker KJ,Bullock JM

更新日期：2012-10-23 00:00:00

abstract：:The sex ratio of the local population influences mating-related behaviours in many species. Recent experiments show that male-biased sex ratios increase the amount of financial resources men will invest in potential mates, suggesting that sex ratios influence allocation of mating effort in humans. To investigate this ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Hahn AC,Fisher CI,DeBruine LM,Jones BC

更新日期：2014-06-01 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：:Numerous species undergo impressive movements, but due to massive changes in land use, long distance migration in terrestrial vertebrates has become a highly fragile ecological phenomenon. Uncertainty about the locations of past migrations and the importance of current corridors hampers conservation planning. Using ar...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Berger J,Cain SL,Berger KM

更新日期：2006-12-22 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：:In cooperatively breeding species, social conflict is typically assumed to underlie destructive behaviours like infanticide. However, an untested alternative hypothesis in birds is that infanticide in the form of egg tossing may simply be a parental response to partial nest predation representing a life-history trade-...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Cheng YR,Rubenstein DR,Shen SF

更新日期：2019-08-30 00:00:00

abstract：:About 10 per cent of birds' eggs fail to hatch, but the incidence of failure can be much higher in endangered species. Most studies fail to distinguish between infertility (due to a lack of sperm) and embryo mortality as the cause of hatching failure, yet doing so is crucial in order to understand the underlying probl...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Hemmings N,West M,Birkhead TR

更新日期：2012-12-23 00:00:00

abstract：:While we can usually understand the impacts of invasive species on recipient communities, invasion biology lacks methodologies that are potentially more predictive. Such tools should ideally be straightforward and widely applicable. Here, we explore an approach that compares the functional responses (FRs) of invader a...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Bollache L,Dick JT,Farnsworth KD,Montgomery WI

更新日期：2008-04-23 00:00:00