All posts; Tags Include "Zoology"
- May 20, 2015
- 08:00 AM
- 1,007 views
The Ugly Butterfly Gets The Girl
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
A current theory is that humans (and other animals) perceive symmetry as beauty and is desirable in a mate. Symmetric bodies and faces are correlated with strength, overall health, facial beauty, and dancing ability, but also with extramarital affairs. On the other hand, on butterfly thrives on ugliness. Asymmetric wings actually help males fly better during sexual competitions and gives them a reproductive advantage.... Read more »
Wade, T. (2010) The Relationships between Symmetry and Attractiveness and Mating Relevant Decisions and Behavior: A Review. Symmetry, 2(2), 1081-1098. DOI: 10.3390/sym2021081
Little, A., Paukner, A., Woodward, R., & Suomi, S. (2012) Facial asymmetry is negatively related to condition in female macaque monkeys. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 66(9), 1311-1318. DOI: 10.1007/s00265-012-1386-4
Fink, B., Weege, B., Manning, J., & Trivers, R. (2014) Body symmetry and physical strength in human males. American Journal of Human Biology, 26(5), 697-700. DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.22584
Thomas F, Doyon J, Elguero E, Dujardin JP, Brodeur J, Roucher C, Robert V, Missé D, Raymond M, & Trape JF. (2015) Plasmodium infections and fluctuating asymmetry among children and teenagers from Senegal. Infection, genetics and evolution : journal of molecular epidemiology and evolutionary genetics in infectious diseases, 97-101. PMID: 25725158
Lazić, M., Kaliontzopoulou, A., Carretero, M., & Crnobrnja-Isailović, J. (2013) Lizards from Urban Areas Are More Asymmetric: Using Fluctuating Asymmetry to Evaluate Environmental Disturbance. PLoS ONE, 8(12). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0084190
Ozener B. (2011) Does urban poverty increase body fluctuating asymmetry?. Collegium antropologicum, 35(4), 1001-5. PMID: 22397230
- May 19, 2015
- 03:04 PM
- 734 views
On Snails and Shells
by Jente Ottenburghs in Evolutionary Stories
The evolution of shell characteristics in snails in simply amazing!... Read more »
Hollander J, Galindo J, & Butlin RK. (2015) Selection on outlier loci and their association with adaptive phenotypes in Littorina saxatilis contact zones. Journal of evolutionary biology, 28(2), 328-37. PMID: 25439395
MORDAN, P. (2001) A SYSTEMATIC REVISION OF THE VITRINID SEMISLUGS OF THE AZORES (GASTROPODA:PULMONATA). Journal Molluscan Studies, 67(3), 343-368. DOI: 10.1093/mollus/67.3.343
- May 18, 2015
- 03:14 PM
- 894 views
Batesian Snake Necklaces
by Jente Ottenburghs in Evolutionary Stories
Batesian Mimicry - where an edible species is protected from predation by resembling an inedible or dangerous species might lead to the origin of new species. This suggestion was tested by putting "snake necklaces" in the field...... Read more »
Pfennig DW, Akcali CK, & Kikuchi DW. (2015) Batesian mimicry promotes pre- and postmating isolation in a snake mimicry complex. Evolution, 69(4), 1085-90. PMID: 25689670
- May 17, 2015
- 06:56 AM
- 119 views
Opah (Lampris Guttatus): First Fully Warm-Blooded Fish
by beredim in Strange Animals
Biologist Nick Wegner holds an opah caught
during a research survey off the California Coast.
Credit: NOAA Fisheries
New research by NOAA Fisheries* has revealed the opah (Lampris Guttatus) to be the first fully warm-blooded fish. Also known as moonfish, it circulates heated blood throughout its body much like mammals and birds do, giving it a competitive advantage in the cold ocean depths.
... Read more »
Wegner, N., Snodgrass, O., Dewar, H., & Hyde, J. (2015) Whole-body endothermy in a mesopelagic fish, the opah, Lampris guttatus. Science, 348(6236), 786-789. DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa8902
- May 13, 2015
- 08:00 AM
- 1,179 views
Half Male, Half Female, Completely Weird
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
It’s tough being a guy. I imagine it’s just as tough being a girl. What if you were exactly half of each? Bilateral gynandromrophs are rare animals that are exactly one half of each sex. They have occurred in insects, crustaceans, spiders, and birds. We know how some come about, but the birds are giving scientists a heck of a time.... Read more »
Renfree, M., Chew, K., & Shaw, G. (2014) Hormone-Independent Pathways of Sexual Differentiation. Sexual Development, 8(5), 327-336. DOI: 10.1159/000358447
Dumanski, J., Rasi, C., Lonn, M., Davies, H., Ingelsson, M., Giedraitis, V., Lannfelt, L., Magnusson, P., Lindgren, C., Morris, A.... (2014) Smoking is associated with mosaic loss of chromosome Y. Science, 347(6217), 81-83. DOI: 10.1126/science.1262092
Zhao, D., McBride, D., Nandi, S., McQueen, H., McGrew, M., Hocking, P., Lewis, P., Sang, H., & Clinton, M. (2010) Somatic sex identity is cell autonomous in the chicken. Nature, 464(7286), 237-242. DOI: 10.1038/nature08852
Peer, B., & Motz, R. (2014) Observations of a Bilateral Gynandromorph Northern Cardinal ( ) . The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 126(4), 778-781. DOI: 10.1676/14-025.1
Ma, K. (2013) Embryonic left-right separation mechanism allows confinement of mutation-induced phenotypes to one lateral body half of bilaterians. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A, 161(12), 3095-3114. DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.a.36188
- May 11, 2015
- 05:20 AM
- 985 views
Monkey Fever Disease in South India: Some recommendations for its management.
by Sarah Stephen in An ecological oratorio
Macaca radiataThe Western Ghats is a mountain range that runs parallel to the western coast of the India starting near the border of the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra and running through Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu states ending at Kanya Kumari, the southern tip of India. The forests in the Western Ghats are unique in that they are some of the best representatives of non-equatorial tropical evergreen forests. With an estimated 7,400 species of flowering plants, ........ Read more »
Mourya, D., Yadav, P., Sandhya, K., & Reddy, S. (2013) Spread of Kyasanur Forest Disease, Bandipur Tiger Reserve, India, 2012–2013. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 19(9). DOI: 10.3201/eid1909.121884
Kiran, S., Pasi, A., Kumar, S., Kasabi, G., Gujjarappa, P., Shrivastava, A., Mehendale, S., Chauhan, L., Laserson, K., & Murhekar, M. (2015) Kyasanur Forest Disease Outbreak and Vaccination Strategy, Shimoga District, India, 2013–2014. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 21(1), 146-149. DOI: 10.3201/eid2101.141227
- May 11, 2015
- 01:42 AM
- 913 views
Birth of the blue morphos
by GrrlScientist in The Invisible Scientist
SUMMARY: Today’s “Museum Monday” features a visit to London's Natural History Museum’s new Sensational Butterflies exhibition, where we watch a time-lapse video of their blue morpho butterflies emerging from chrysalises ... Read more »
Vukusic P., C. R. Lawrence, & R. J. Wootton. (1999) Quantified interference and diffraction in single Morpho butterfly scales. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 266(1427), 1403-1411. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1999.0794
- May 9, 2015
- 06:34 AM
- 560 views
The genomic substrate for adaptive radiation in African cichlid fish
by Olesya Pavlova in genome ecology evolution etc
Evolutionary diversification among species attracts the attention of scientist during long time. Adaptive radiation underlies evolution and comprises the rapid adaptation of a single lineage to its changed environment which provides new resources and opens new environmental niches. Among all … Continue reading →... Read more »
Brawand, D., Wagner, C., Li, Y., Malinsky, M., Keller, I., Fan, S., Simakov, O., Ng, A., Lim, Z., Bezault, E.... (2014) The genomic substrate for adaptive radiation in African cichlid fish. Nature, 513(7518), 375-381. DOI: 10.1038/nature13726
- May 8, 2015
- 08:12 AM
- 713 views
The genomic landscape underlying phenotypic integrity in the face of gene flow in crows
by Thomas Martignier in genome ecology evolution etc
The role of interspecific gene flow in species diversification has long been debated and is increasingly appreciated. However, the effect of gene introgression on phenotypic divergences and genome heterogeneity remain unclear in case of early speciation. To investigate these questions … Continue reading →... Read more »
Poelstra, J., Vijay, N., Bossu, C., Lantz, H., Ryll, B., Muller, I., Baglione, V., Unneberg, P., Wikelski, M., Grabherr, M.... (2014) The genomic landscape underlying phenotypic integrity in the face of gene flow in crows. Science, 344(6190), 1410-1414. DOI: 10.1126/science.1253226
- May 6, 2015
- 08:00 AM
- 1,284 views
Plants Aren’t Just Male Or Female
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
It’s hard enough to believe that flowering plants have different sexes, but how about plants that have three sexes? One trioecious plant varies it sex ratio depending on how much water is around, while another only shows three sexes when it lives near a particular bat. But most amazing, man made the papaya into a three-sex plant. Your tropical fruit salad is made with a hermaphrodite.... Read more »
Armoza-Zvuloni, R., Kramarsky-Winter, E., Loya, Y., Schlesinger, A., & Rosenfeld, H. (2014) Trioecy, a Unique Breeding Strategy in the Sea Anemone Aiptasia diaphana and Its Association with Sex Steroids. Biology of Reproduction, 90(6), 122-122. DOI: 10.1095/biolreprod.113.114116
VanBuren, R., & Ming, R. (2013) Organelle DNA accumulation in the recently evolved papaya sex chromosomes. Molecular Genetics and Genomics, 288(5-6), 277-284. DOI: 10.1007/s00438-013-0747-7
VanBuren R, Zeng F, Chen C, Zhang J, Wai CM, Han J, Aryal R, Gschwend AR, Wang J, Na JK.... (2015) Origin and domestication of papaya Yh chromosome. Genome research, 25(4), 524-33. PMID: 25762551
Ueno, H., Urasaki, N., Natsume, S., Yoshida, K., Tarora, K., Shudo, A., Terauchi, R., & Matsumura, H. (2014) Genome sequence comparison reveals a candidate gene involved in male–hermaphrodite differentiation in papaya (Carica papaya) trees. Molecular Genetics and Genomics, 290(2), 661-670. DOI: 10.1007/s00438-014-0955-9
- May 5, 2015
- 08:55 AM
- 883 views
Journal Club: Birdfeeding favours non-native bird species
by GrrlScientist in Maniraptora
SUMMARY: Feeding wild birds on bread and seed encourages high densities of introduced bird species at the expense of native species, thereby altering urban bird communities, according to a new study... Read more »
Galbraith Josie A. . (2015) Supplementary feeding restructures urban bird communities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1501489112
Fuller Richard A., Paul R. Armsworth, Olga Barbosa, & Kevin J. Gaston. (2007) Garden bird feeding predicts the structure of urban avian assemblages. Diversity and Distributions, 14(1), 131-137. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1472-4642.2007.00439.x
- May 5, 2015
- 08:44 AM
- 1,014 views
Journal Club: Birdfeeding favours non-native bird species
by GrrlScientist in The Invisible Scientist
SUMMARY: Feeding wild birds on bread and seed encourages high densities of introduced bird species at the expense of native species, thereby altering urban bird communities, according to a new study... Read more »
Galbraith Josie A. . (2015) Supplementary feeding restructures urban bird communities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1501489112
Fuller Richard A., Paul R. Armsworth, Olga Barbosa, & Kevin J. Gaston. (2007) Garden bird feeding predicts the structure of urban avian assemblages. Diversity and Distributions, 14(1), 131-137. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1472-4642.2007.00439.x
- May 1, 2015
- 07:00 AM
- 442 views
Biological fight: the case of artificial stimuli in behavior research
by Piter Boll in Earthling Nature
by Piter Kehoma Boll The study of animal behavior is an important approach to understand several aspects on the ecology and the evolution of living beings, both from the analyzed animals themselves and the species with which they interact. For … Continue reading →... Read more »
Hauber, M., Tong, L., Bán, M., Croston, R., Grim, T., Waterhouse, G., Shawkey, M., Barron, A., & Moskát, C. (2015) The Value of Artificial Stimuli in Behavioral Research: Making the Case for Egg Rejection Studies in Avian Brood Parasitism. Ethology, 121(6), 521-528. DOI: 10.1111/eth.12359
Lahti, D. (2015) The Limits of Artificial Stimuli in Behavioral Research: The Umwelt Gamble. Ethology, 121(6), 529-537. DOI: 10.1111/eth.12361
Moskat, C., Ban, M., Szekely, T., Komdeur, J., Lucassen, R., van Boheemen, L., & Hauber, M. (2010) Discordancy or template-based recognition? Dissecting the cognitive basis of the rejection of foreign eggs in hosts of avian brood parasites. Journal of Experimental Biology, 213(11), 1976-1983. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.040394
- April 29, 2015
- 08:00 AM
- 811 views
The Flower Child Must Be Confused
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
Very few animal species have true hermaphrodites, but over 90% of flowering plants are bisexual. Even though the rest are exceptions, they aren’t all the same type of exception. Some plants are male and some are female all the time, but some change sex every morning they flower. And maple tress can decide to be male or female for a whole year and then change their mind for next year.... Read more »
Fukuhara, T., & Tokumaru, S. (2013) Inflorescence dimorphism, heterodichogamy and thrips pollination in Platycarya strobilacea (Juglandaceae). Annals of Botany, 113(3), 467-476. DOI: 10.1093/aob/mct278
Spigler, R., & Ashman, T. (2011) Gynodioecy to dioecy: are we there yet?. Annals of Botany, 109(3), 531-543. DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcr170
Matallana, G., Wendt, T., Araujo, D., & Scarano, F. (2005) High abundance of dioecious plants in a tropical coastal vegetation. American Journal of Botany, 92(9), 1513-1519. DOI: 10.3732/ajb.92.9.1513
Renner SS, Beenken L, Grimm GW, Kocyan A, & Ricklefs RE. (2007) The evolution of dioecy, heterodichogamy, and labile sex expression in Acer. Evolution; international journal of organic evolution, 61(11), 2701-19. PMID: 17894810
- April 28, 2015
- 11:10 AM
- 779 views
Chilesaurus diegosuarezi, T-rex’s Vegetarian Cousin
by beredim in Strange Animals
Chilesaurus diegosuarezi
Artistic interpretation
Credit: Gabriel Lío
Researchers announced yesterday the discovery of a new dinosaur that although closely related to the carnivorous T-Rex it preferred to feed on plant material. The new lineage of dinosaur was discovered in Chile and has proven to be an evolutionary jigsaw puzzle.
Paleontologists are referring to the newly described species (... Read more »
Novas, F., Salgado, L., Suárez, M., Agnolín, F., Ezcurra, M., Chimento, N., de la Cruz, R., Isasi, M., Vargas, A., & Rubilar-Rogers, D. (2015) An enigmatic plant-eating theropod from the Late Jurassic period of Chile. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature14307
- April 28, 2015
- 08:00 AM
- 1,343 views
Quicksilver: The Avenger With Mutations For Speed
by Mark E. Lasbury in The 'Scope
The New Avengers movie comes out in a couple days. In this film, a new Avenger named Quicksilver makes his debut. Quicksilver is a mutant who can run fast – really fast. What mutation could make him that fast? Well, science has found several gene changes he might use to become a superhero.... Read more »
Reyes, N., Banks, G., Tsang, M., Margineantu, D., Gu, H., Djukovic, D., Chan, J., Torres, M., Liggitt, H., Hirenallur-S, D.... (2015) Fnip1 regulates skeletal muscle fiber type specification, fatigue resistance, and susceptibility to muscular dystrophy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(2), 424-429. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1413021112
Henstridge, D., Bruce, C., Drew, B., Tory, K., Kolonics, A., Estevez, E., Chung, J., Watson, N., Gardner, T., Lee-Young, R.... (2014) Activating HSP72 in Rodent Skeletal Muscle Increases Mitochondrial Number and Oxidative Capacity and Decreases Insulin Resistance. Diabetes, 63(6), 1881-1894. DOI: 10.2337/db13-0967
Nakamura, A., Morikawa, S., Aoyagi, H., Ishizu, K., & Tajima, T. (2014) A Japanese family with nonautoimmune hyperthyroidism caused by a novel heterozygous thyrotropin receptor gene mutation. Pediatric Research, 75(6), 749-753. DOI: 10.1038/pr.2014.34
Westbrook, R., Bonkowski, M., Arum, O., Strader, A., & Bartke, A. (2013) Metabolic Alterations Due to Caloric Restriction and Every Other Day Feeding in Normal and Growth Hormone Receptor Knockout Mice. The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 69(1), 25-33. DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glt080
Potter, M., Wyble, B., Hagmann, C., & McCourt, E. (2013) Detecting meaning in RSVP at 13 ms per picture. Attention, Perception, , 76(2), 270-279. DOI: 10.3758/s13414-013-0605-z
Gunel, T., Gumusoglu, E., Hosseini, M., Yilmazyildirim, E., Dolekcap, I., & Aydinli, K. (2014) Effect of angiotensin I-converting enzyme and α-actinin-3 gene polymorphisms on sport performance. Molecular Medicine Reports. DOI: 10.3892/mmr.2014.1974
- April 27, 2015
- 01:39 PM
- 769 views
Parasite-Infected Bumblebees Seek out Flowers with Nicotine
by beredim in Strange Animals
A buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris
Buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) that have been infected by parasites seek out flowers with nicotine in their nectar, according to a new study by researchers at the Royal Holloway University of London and Queen Mary University of London, UK.
Apparently, the nicotine in the flowers slows the progression of disease in infected bees but has ... Read more »
Baracchi, D., Brown, M., & Chittka, L. (2015) Weak and contradictory effects of self-medication with nectar nicotine by parasitized bumblebees. F1000Research. DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.6262.1
- April 23, 2015
- 08:00 AM
- 1,924 views
Two Species of Cottonmouths? This Scientist Says Yes!
by David Steen in Living Alongside Wildlife
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... Read more »
Burbrink, F. T., & Guiher, T. J. (2015) Considering gene flow when using coalescent methods to delimit lineages of North American pitvipers of the genus Agkistrodon. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 173(2), 505-526. info:/
- April 21, 2015
- 08:36 AM
- 1,020 views
If only all science were this reproducible
by Björn Brembs in bjoern.brembs.blog
For our course this year I was planning a standard neurogenetic experiment. I hadn’t ever done this experiment in a course, yet, just two weeks ago I tried it once myself, with an N=1. The students would get two groups […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...... Read more »
Kaun, K., Riedl, C., Chakaborty-Chatterjee, M., Belay, A., Douglas, S., Gibbs, A., & Sokolowski, M. (2007) Natural variation in food acquisition mediated via a Drosophila cGMP-dependent protein kinase. Journal of Experimental Biology, 210(20), 3547-3558. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.006924
- April 20, 2015
- 04:35 AM
- 738 views
Males Are Here To Stay: Sex Enhances Egg Production And Colony Fitness
by beredim in Strange Animals
To us humans, it seems extremely unnatural that other animals can reproduce without having sex. Yet with the passing of time, evolution has endowed females of several species of amphibians, insects, reptiles and fish the ability to asexually produce offsprings without "help" from males.
Now, researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) say that in ... Read more »
Miyakawa MO, & Mikheyev AS. (2015) Males are here to stay: fertilization enhances viable egg production by clonal queens of the little fire ant (Wasmannia auropunctata). Die Naturwissenschaften, 102(3-4), 15. PMID: 25801787
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