Ecological structure of diversity-dependent diversification in Phanerozoic marine bivalves
Biol Lett. 2024 Jan;20(1):20230475. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0475. Epub 2024 Jan 17.ABSTRACTRigorous analysis of diversity-dependence-the hypothesis that the rate of proliferation of new species is inversely related to standing diversity-requires consideration of the ecology of the organisms in question. Differences between infaunal marine bivalves (living entirely within the sediment) and epifaunal forms (living partially or completely above the sediment-water interface) predict that these major ecological groups should have different diversity dynamics: epifaunal species may compete more intensely for space and be more sus...
Source: Biology Letters - January 17, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Michael Foote Stewart M Edie David Jablonski Source Type: research
Catch-up growth and overweight adults in the offspring of young gecko mothers resembling low birth weight infants
Biol Lett. 2024 Jan;20(1):20230452. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0452. Epub 2024 Jan 17.ABSTRACTEndothermic and ectothermic amniotes differ in the timing of reproductive onset, with reptiles initiating reproduction before reaching final body size. Long-term consequences of maternal effect for early reptile offspring are poorly explored. We conducted growth experiments to compare the growth of offspring produced by young and older females of gecko Paroedura picta. Young, not fully grown females lay smaller eggs leading to production of smaller offspring. These offspring undergo accelerated growth and ultimately reach a comparable...
Source: Biology Letters - January 16, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Zuzana Starostov á Veronika P íchová Anna Bauerov á Luk áš Kubička Luk áš Kratochvíl Source Type: research
Noise constrains heterospecific eavesdropping more than conspecific reception of alarm calls
Biol Lett. 2024 Jan;20(1):20230410. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0410. Epub 2024 Jan 17.ABSTRACTMany vertebrates eavesdrop on alarm calls of other species, as well as responding to their own species' calls, but eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm calls might be harder than conspecific reception when environmental conditions make perception or recognition of calls difficult. This could occur because individuals lack hearing specializations for heterospecific calls, have less familiarity with them, or require more details of call structure to identify calls they have learned to recognize. We used a field playback experiment to p...
Source: Biology Letters - January 16, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: You Zhou Andrew N Radford Robert D Magrath Source Type: research
Females counter-sing, but response to male song differs by sex in Alston's singing mouse
This study further informs the understanding of female vocal behaviour and establishes the singing mouse as a valuable model for investigating female vocal display.PMID:38195056 | PMC:PMC10776218 | DOI:10.1098/rsbl.2023.0484 (Source: Biology Letters)
Source: Biology Letters - January 9, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Joel A Tripp Steven M Phelps Source Type: research
Group phenotypic composition drives task performances in ants
Biol Lett. 2024 Jan;20(1):20230463. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0463. Epub 2024 Jan 10.ABSTRACTDifferences in individual behaviour within a group can give rise to functional dissimilarities between groups, particularly in social animals. However, how individual behavioural phenotypes translate into the group phenotype remains unclear. Here, we investigate whether individual behavioural type affects group performance in a eusocial species, the ant Aphaenogaster senilis. We measured individual behavioural traits and created groups of workers with similar behavioural type, either high-exploratory or low-exploratory workers. We tes...
Source: Biology Letters - January 9, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Rayanne Martin Chlo é Leroy Istv án Maák Patrizia d'Ettorre Source Type: research
Basicranial evidence suggests picrodontid mammals are not stem primates
Biol Lett. 2024 Jan;20(1):20230335. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0335. Epub 2024 Jan 10.ABSTRACTThe Picrodontidae from the middle Palaeocene of North America are enigmatic placental mammals that were allied with various mammalian groups but are generally now considered to have close affinities to paromomyid and palaechthonid plesiadapiforms based on proposed dental synapomorphies. The picrodontid fossil record consists entirely of dental and gnathic remains except for one partial cranium of Zanycteris paleocenus (AMNH 17180). Here, we use µCT technology to unveil previously undocumented morphology in AMNH 17180, describe and co...
Source: Biology Letters - January 9, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Jordan W Crowell John R Wible Stephen G B Chester Source Type: research
Females counter-sing, but response to male song differs by sex in Alston's singing mouse
This study further informs the understanding of female vocal behaviour and establishes the singing mouse as a valuable model for investigating female vocal display.PMID:38195056 | DOI:10.1098/rsbl.2023.0484 (Source: Biology Letters)
Source: Biology Letters - January 9, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Joel A Tripp Steven M Phelps Source Type: research
Group phenotypic composition drives task performances in ants
Biol Lett. 2024 Jan;20(1):20230463. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0463. Epub 2024 Jan 10.ABSTRACTDifferences in individual behaviour within a group can give rise to functional dissimilarities between groups, particularly in social animals. However, how individual behavioural phenotypes translate into the group phenotype remains unclear. Here, we investigate whether individual behavioural type affects group performance in a eusocial species, the ant Aphaenogaster senilis. We measured individual behavioural traits and created groups of workers with similar behavioural type, either high-exploratory or low-exploratory workers. We tes...
Source: Biology Letters - January 9, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Rayanne Martin Chlo é Leroy Istv án Maák Patrizia d'Ettorre Source Type: research
Basicranial evidence suggests picrodontid mammals are not stem primates
Biol Lett. 2024 Jan;20(1):20230335. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0335. Epub 2024 Jan 10.ABSTRACTThe Picrodontidae from the middle Palaeocene of North America are enigmatic placental mammals that were allied with various mammalian groups but are generally now considered to have close affinities to paromomyid and palaechthonid plesiadapiforms based on proposed dental synapomorphies. The picrodontid fossil record consists entirely of dental and gnathic remains except for one partial cranium of Zanycteris paleocenus (AMNH 17180). Here, we use µCT technology to unveil previously undocumented morphology in AMNH 17180, describe and co...
Source: Biology Letters - January 9, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Jordan W Crowell John R Wible Stephen G B Chester Source Type: research
Selection for evasive mimicry imposed by an arthropod predator
Biol Lett. 2024 Jan;20(1):20230461. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0461. Epub 2024 Jan 3.ABSTRACTIt has long been hypothesized that a species that is relatively easy to catch by predators may face selection to resemble a species that is harder to catch. Several experiments using avian predators have since supported this 'evasive mimicry' hypothesis. However, the sudden movement of artificial evasive prey in each of the above experiments may have startled the predators, generating an avoidance response unrelated to difficulty of capture. Additionally in the above experiments the catchability of prey was all or nothing, while in nat...
Source: Biology Letters - January 3, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Karl Loeffler-Henry Thomas N Sherratt Source Type: research
Selection for evasive mimicry imposed by an arthropod predator
Biol Lett. 2024 Jan;20(1):20230461. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0461. Epub 2024 Jan 3.ABSTRACTIt has long been hypothesized that a species that is relatively easy to catch by predators may face selection to resemble a species that is harder to catch. Several experiments using avian predators have since supported this 'evasive mimicry' hypothesis. However, the sudden movement of artificial evasive prey in each of the above experiments may have startled the predators, generating an avoidance response unrelated to difficulty of capture. Additionally in the above experiments the catchability of prey was all or nothing, while in nat...
Source: Biology Letters - January 3, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Karl Loeffler-Henry Thomas N Sherratt Source Type: research
Selection for evasive mimicry imposed by an arthropod predator
Biol Lett. 2024 Jan;20(1):20230461. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0461. Epub 2024 Jan 3.ABSTRACTIt has long been hypothesized that a species that is relatively easy to catch by predators may face selection to resemble a species that is harder to catch. Several experiments using avian predators have since supported this 'evasive mimicry' hypothesis. However, the sudden movement of artificial evasive prey in each of the above experiments may have startled the predators, generating an avoidance response unrelated to difficulty of capture. Additionally in the above experiments the catchability of prey was all or nothing, while in nat...
Source: Biology Letters - January 3, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Karl Loeffler-Henry Thomas N Sherratt Source Type: research
Selection for evasive mimicry imposed by an arthropod predator
Biol Lett. 2024 Jan;20(1):20230461. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0461. Epub 2024 Jan 3.ABSTRACTIt has long been hypothesized that a species that is relatively easy to catch by predators may face selection to resemble a species that is harder to catch. Several experiments using avian predators have since supported this 'evasive mimicry' hypothesis. However, the sudden movement of artificial evasive prey in each of the above experiments may have startled the predators, generating an avoidance response unrelated to difficulty of capture. Additionally in the above experiments the catchability of prey was all or nothing, while in nat...
Source: Biology Letters - January 3, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Karl Loeffler-Henry Thomas N Sherratt Source Type: research
Selection for evasive mimicry imposed by an arthropod predator
Biol Lett. 2024 Jan;20(1):20230461. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0461. Epub 2024 Jan 3.ABSTRACTIt has long been hypothesized that a species that is relatively easy to catch by predators may face selection to resemble a species that is harder to catch. Several experiments using avian predators have since supported this 'evasive mimicry' hypothesis. However, the sudden movement of artificial evasive prey in each of the above experiments may have startled the predators, generating an avoidance response unrelated to difficulty of capture. Additionally in the above experiments the catchability of prey was all or nothing, while in nat...
Source: Biology Letters - January 3, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Karl Loeffler-Henry Thomas N Sherratt Source Type: research
Asian elephants distinguish sexual status and identity of unfamiliar elephants using urinary odours
Biol Lett. 2023 Dec;19(12):20230491. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0491. Epub 2023 Dec 20.ABSTRACTDespite the ubiquity of odours in mammals, few studies have documented the natural olfactory abilities of many 'non-model' species such as the Asian elephant. As Asian elephants are endangered, we may apply odours to more effectively manage threatened populations. We implemented a habituation-discrimination paradigm for the first time in Asian elephants to test the ability of elephants to discriminate between unfamiliar male elephant urine, hypothesizing that elephants would successfully distinguish non-musth from musth urine and als...
Source: Biology Letters - December 20, 2023 Category: Biology Authors: Chase A LaDue Rebecca J Snyder Source Type: research
