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The geometric patterns that adorn the shells of many phylogenetically disparate molluscan species are comprised of pigments that span the visible spectrum. Although early chemical studies implicated melanin as...
Brachyuran crabs can effectively modulate cardiac stroke volume independently of heart rate in response to abiotic drivers. Non-invasive techniques can help to improve the understanding of cardiac performance ...
Acoustic signals are used by many animals to transmit information. Variation in the acoustic characteristics of these signals often covaries with morphology and can relay information about an individual’s fitn...
White-nose Syndrome (WNS) is a mycosis caused by a cutaneous infection with the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd). It produces hibernation mortality rates of 75–98% in 4 bats: Myotis lucifugus, M. septentr...
The origin of birds is marked by a significant decrease in body size along with an increase in relative forelimb size. However, before the evolution of flight, both traits may have already been related: It has...
Social isolation, i.e., the deprivation of social contact, is a highly stressful circumstance that affects behavioral and functional brain development in social animals. Cognitive flexibility, one of the essen...
Fat storage is required for the life cycle of many organisms. The primary fat depot for most vertebrates is white adipose tissue. However, in primitive vertebrates (e.g., agnathan group and elasmobranchs), the...
Within-species skull shape variation of marsupial mammals is widely considered low and strongly size-dependent (allometric), possibly due to developmental constraints arising from the altricial birth of marsup...
Nervous tissue is an inherent component of the many specialized genital structures for transferring sperm directly into the female’s body. However, the male copulatory organ of spiders was considered a puzzlin...
In contrast to traditional models of purifying selection and a single aposematic signal in Müllerian complexes, some communities of unprofitable prey contain members with multiple aposematic patterns. Processe...
Although the sensory drive hypothesis can explain the geographic variation in echolocation frequencies of some bat species, the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are still unclear. The three line...
Pallenopsis patagonica (Hoek, 1881) is a morphologically and genetically variable sea spider species whose taxonomic classification is challenging. Currently, it is considered as a species complex including sever...
Novel feeding adaptations often facilitate adaptive radiation and diversification. But the evolutionary origins of such feeding adaptations can be puzzling if they require concordant change in multiple compone...
In Southeast Asia, males of the Siamese fighting fish Betta splendens have been selected across centuries for paired-staged fights. During the selection process, matched for size males fight in a small tank until...
Monogononta is a large clade of rotifers comprised of diverse morphological forms found in a wide range of ecological habitats. Most monogonont species display cyclical parthenogenesis, where generations of as...
Large numbers of endemic species inhabit subantarctic continental coasts and islands that are characterised by highly variable environmental conditions. Southern hemisphere populations of taxa that are morphol...
Selecting high-quality habitat and the optimal time to reproduce can increase individual fitness and is a strong evolutionary factor shaping animal populations. However, few studies have investigated the inter...
Over the last years, the amphipod crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis has developed into an attractive marine animal model for evolutionary developmental studies that offers several advantages over existing experiment...
Selective landscapes in rivers are made up by an array of selective forces that vary from source to downstream regions or between seasons, and local/temporal variation in fitness maxima can result in gradual s...
The trochozoan excitatory peptide (EP) and its ortholog, the arthropod CCHamide, are neuropeptides that are only investigated in very few animal species. Previous studies on different trochozoan species focuse...
Evidence from humans suggests that the expression of emotions can regulate social interactions and promote coordination within a group. Despite its evolutionary importance, social communication of emotions in ...
Birdsong, a key model in animal communication studies, has been the focus of intensive research. Song traits are commonly considered to reflect differences in individual or territory quality. Yet, few studies ...
Animals inhabiting high altitudes consistently show slow life-histories. The pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis posits behavioural, physiological and/or morphological traits that mediate the trade-off bet...
Mechanical defenses are very common and diverse in prey species, for example in oribatid mites. Here, the probably most complex form of morphological defense is known as ptychoidy, that enables the animals to ...
One set of the developmentally important Doublesex and Male-abnormal-3 Related Transcription factors (Dmrt) is subject of intense research, because of their role in sex-determination and sexual differentiation...
Male-male aerial contests of territorial butterflies are difficult to explain by major contest models based on game theory because of butterflies’ apparent inability to inflict substantial costs on their oppon...
Mammals in the far north are exposed to extreme seasonal changes in environmental conditions, such as temperature and photoperiod, which have notable effects on animal physiology and behaviour. The wolverine (Gul...
Poaching is a prominent source of ‘hidden hurdles’, cryptic impacts of human activities that may hinder the conservation of animal populations. Estimating poaching mortality is challenging, as the evidence for...
Mucus and mucus glands are important features of the amphibian cutis. In tree frogs, the mucus glands and their secretions are crucial components of the adhesive digital pads of these animals. Despite a variet...
Immunohistochemical studies of hearts from the lesser spotted dogfish, Scyliorhinus canicula (Chondrichthyes) revealed that the pan-myosin heavy chain (pan-MyHC) antibody MF20 homogeneously labels all the myocard...
Lizards are excellent models to study the adaptations of the visual system to different scenarios, and surface-dwelling representatives have been relatively well studied. In contrast, very little is known abou...
Onychophorans, commonly known as velvet worms, display a remarkable diversity of reproductive strategies including oviparity, and placentotrophic, lecithotrophic, matrotrophic or combined lecithotrophic/matrot...
Marine and intertidal organisms face the rhythmic environmental changes induced by tides. The large amplitude of spring tides that occur around full and new moon may threaten nests of ground-nesting birds. The...
The Data Descriptor to this article has been published in Scientific Data 2020 7:149
Researchers often document wildlife surveys using images. These images contain data that can be used to understand alterative research objectives, even years after they were originally captured. We have develo...
Animal vocal signals encode very important information for communication during which the importance of temporal and spectral characteristics of vocalizations is always asymmetrical and species-specific. Howev...
In mammals, the hibernating state is characterized by biochemical adjustments, which include metabolic rate depression and a shift in the primary fuel oxidized from carbohydrates to lipids. A number of studies...
Shortening photoperiod triggers seasonal adjustments like cessation of reproduction, molting and heterothermy. However there is a considerable among-individual variation in photoresponsiveness within one popul...
Intermittent fasting (IF) is receiving increasing attention as an alternative to continuous restriction of calories because of its benefits in aging-related disease prevention and lifespan extension. However, ...
Entoprocta affinities within Lophotrochozoa remain unclear. In different studies, entoprocts are considered to be related to different groups, including Cycliophora, Bryozoa, Annelida, and Mollusca. The use of...
The consumption of conspecific young by adult individuals is a common phenomenon across various animal taxa. Possible adaptive benefits of such behaviour include the acquisition of nutrients, decreased competi...
Effective communication between sexual partners is essential for successful reproduction. Avian parents with biparental incubation need to know how to negotiate, when and who will incubate, and how to harmoniz...
Recent phylogenomic analyses congruently reveal a basal clade which consists of Oweniidae and Mageloniidae as sister group to the remaining Annelida. These results indicate that the last common ancestor of Ann...
Previous analyses of factors influencing footfall timings and gait selection in quadrupeds have focused on the implications for energetic cost or gait mechanics separately. Here we present a model for symmetri...
The fitness of holometabolous insects depends largely on resources acquired at the larval stage. Larval density is an important factor modulating larval resource-acquisition, influencing adult survival, reprod...
The relationships among energy metabolic levels, behavioral and other physiological traits help to determine the trade-off of energy allocation between different traits and the evolution of life-history driven...
The Australian dingo continues to cause debate amongst Aboriginal people, pastoralists, scientists and the government in Australia. A lingering controversy is whether the dingo has been tamed and has now rever...
Habitat quality is one main trigger for the persistence of butterflies. The effects of the influencing biotic and abiotic factors may be enhanced by the challenging conditions in high-alpine environments. To b...
Only a few studies have examined the visual systems of Amblypygi (whip spiders) until now. To get new insights suitable for phylogenetic analysis we studied the axonal trajectories and neuropil architecture of...
Upon the detection of imminent peril, pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum) often drop off their host plant. Dropping in response to insect enemies is intermittent in nature, but when a mammalian herbivore feeds on th...
Parental effects may produce adaptive or maladaptive plasticity that either facilitates persistence or increases the extinction risk of species and populations in a changing climate. However, empirical evidenc...
Frontiers in Zoology