Attention bias to threat indicates anxiety differences in sheep.

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：:The genetic status of wolves in the western Great Lakes region has received increased attention following the decision to remove them from protection under the US Endangered Species Act. A recent study of mitochondrial DNA has suggested that the recovered wolf population is not genetically representative of the histor...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Wheeldon T,White BN

更新日期：2009-02-23 00:00:00

abstract：:The birth sex ratio of vertebrates with chromosomal sex determination has been shown to respond to environmental variability, such as temperature. However, in humans the few previous studies on environmental temperature and birth sex ratios have produced mixed results. We examined whether reconstructed annual mean tem...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Helle S,Helama S,Jokela J

更新日期：2008-02-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Somatic deterioration in ageing animals may arise from allocation of resources to reproduction at the expense of repair and maintenance. Thus, accumulated reproductive effort is likely to progressively limit the expression of sexual ornaments at older ages. We analysed the effect of age and reproductive effort on the ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Velando A,Drummond H,Torres R

更新日期：2010-04-23 00:00:00

abstract：:The rapid decline in Arctic sea ice (ASI) extent, area and volume during recent decades is occurring before we can understand many of the mechanisms through which ASI interacts with biological processes both at sea and on land. As a consequence, our ability to predict and manage the effects of this enormous environmen...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Macias-Fauria M,Post E

更新日期：2018-03-01 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：:Lateralization is a well-described phenomenon in humans and other vertebrates and there are interesting parallels across a variety of different vertebrate species. However, there are only a few studies of lateralization in invertebrates. In a recent report, we showed lateralization of olfactory learning in the honeybe...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Letzkus P,Boeddeker N,Wood JT,Zhang SW,Srinivasan MV

更新日期：2008-02-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Negative effects of inbreeding are well documented in a wide range of animal taxa. Hatching success and survival of inbred offspring is reduced in many species and inbred progeny are often less attractive to potential mates. Thus, individuals should avoid mating with close kin. However, experimental evidence for inbre...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Frommen JG,Bakker TC

更新日期：2006-06-22 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：:Animal contests often involve the use of repeated signals, which are assumed to advertise stamina, and hence fighting ability. While an individual may be predicted to give up once it has crossed an energetic threshold, costs inflicted by its opponent may also contribute to the giving-up decision. Therefore, physical s...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Mowles SL,Cotton PA,Briffa M

更新日期：2011-06-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Strong social bonds can make an important contribution to individual fitness, but we still have only a limited understanding of the temporal period relevant to the adjustment of social relationships. While there is growing recognition of the importance of strong bonds that persist for years, social relationships can a...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Sick C,Carter AJ,Marshall HH,Knapp LA,Dabelsteen T,Cowlishaw G

更新日期：2014-07-01 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：:Reciprocity constitutes the prevalent mating mechanism among simultaneous hermaphrodites. Yet, when copulations in the female role confer fitness costs through male manipulation, it becomes advantageous sometimes to mate unilaterally in the male role only. In the sea slug Siphopteron quadrispinosum, acting males stab ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Anthes N,Michiels NK

更新日期：2007-04-22 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：:Parasites commonly manipulate host behaviour, and among the most dramatic examples are diverse fungi that cause insects to die attached to leaves. This death-grip behaviour functions to place insects in an ideal location for spore dispersal from a dead body following host death. Fossil leaves record many aspects of in...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Hughes DP,Wappler T,Labandeira CC

更新日期：2011-02-23 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：:Understanding the pressures of fisheries on the ecosystem is crucial for effective management. Fishery removals, or catch, are composed of both landings and discards. However, the use of discards data in studies investigating the effect of the fishing pressures is sparse. Here, we explore the individual contribution o...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Viana M,McNally L,Graham N,Reid DG,Jackson AL

更新日期：2013-12-04 00:00:00

abstract：:The Kommandorskiye Islands population of Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) was extirpated ca 1768 CE. Until now, Steller's sea cow was thought to be restricted in historic times to Bering and Copper Islands, Russia, with other records in the last millennium from the western Aleutian Islands. However, Steller's se...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Crerar LD,Crerar AP,Domning DP,Parsons EC

更新日期：2014-11-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Although the presence of feathers in the nest is widespread among birds, it has not been previously suggested that feathers can be used as sexual signals. Females of the spotless starling (Sturnus unicolor) regularly carry feathers to their nest, mostly during laying and incubation. We show that the arrangement of the...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Veiga JP,Polo V

更新日期：2005-09-22 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：: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：:Partial migration occurs in many taxa and ecosystems and may confer survival benefits. Here, we use otolith chemistry data to determine whether fish from a large estuarine system were resident or migratory, and then examine whether contingents display differences in modelled growth based on changes in width of otolith...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Gillanders BM,Izzo C,Doubleday ZA,Ye Q

更新日期：2015-03-01 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：: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：:Inclusive fitness theory predicts that organisms will tend to help close kin more than less related individuals. In a variety of birds and mammals, relatives are recognized by comparing their phenotype to an internal representation or template, which might be learned through either repeated exposure to family members ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Bressan P,Zucchi G

更新日期：2009-06-23 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：: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：:Muscles are commonly assumed to have uniform activations across their bellies. Yet animal studies have shown that different regions across a muscle can vary in their architecture, fibre type, levels of activation and the transfer of forces to the bones and tendons. The purpose of this study was to test whether regiona...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Wakeling JM

更新日期：2009-02-23 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：:Of more than 800 species of eels of the order Anguilliformes, only freshwater eels (genus Anguilla with 16 species plus three subspecies) spend most of their lives in freshwater during their catadromous life cycle. Nevertheless, because their spawning areas are located offshore in the open ocean, they migrate back to ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Inoue JG,Miya M,Miller MJ,Sado T,Hanel R,Hatooka K,Aoyama J,Minegishi Y,Nishida M,Tsukamoto K

更新日期：2010-06-23 00:00:00