Animals living in extremely high elevations have to adapt to low temperatures and low oxygen availability (hypoxia), but the underlying genetic mechanisms associated with these adaptations are still unclear. The mitochondrial respiratory chain can provide over 95% of the ATP in animal cells, and its efficiency is influenced by temperature and oxygen availability. Therefore, the respiratory chain complexes

For social primates, fast and accurate recognition of facial expressions in other individuals is crucial for regulating social interactions and group cohesion. However, the adaptive function of facial expression recognition remains largely unknown. Here, we tested whether golden snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) can discriminate facial expressions in different contexts, and how they respond

Selective pressures favor morphologies that are adapted to distinct ecologies, resulting in trait partitioning among ecomorphotypes. However, the effects of these selective pressures vary across taxa, especially because morphology is also influenced by factors such as phylogeny, body size, and functional tradeoffs. In this study, we examine how these factors impact functional diversification in mammals

In sexually dimorphic species characterized by exaggerated male ornamentation, behavioral isolation is often attributed to female preferences for conspecific male signals. Yet, in a number of sexually dimorphic species, male mate choice also results in behavioral isolation. In many of these cases, the female traits that mediate species boundaries are unclear. Females in sexually dimorphic species typically

Microbial associates are widespread in insects, some conferring a protection to their hosts against natural enemies like parasitoids. These protective symbionts may affect the infection success of the parasitoid by modifying behavioral defenses of their hosts, the development success of the parasitoid by conferring a resistance against it or by altering life-history traits of the emerging parasitoids

Reinforcement can occur when maladaptive hybridization in sympatry favors the evolution of conspecific preferences and target traits that promote behavioral isolation. In many systems, enhanced behavioral isolation is due to increased female preference for conspecifics. In others, behavioral isolation is driven by male preference, and in other systems both sexes exert preferences. Some of these patterns

Chemosensation is the most ubiquitous sense in animals, enacted by the products of complex gene families that detect environmental chemical cues and larger-scale sensory structures that process these cues. While there is a general conception that olfactory receptor genes evolve rapidly, the universality of this phenomenon across vertebrates, and its magnitude, are unclear. The supposed correlation

AbstractRapid advances in Ribonucleic Acid sequencing (or RNA-seq) technology for analyzing entire transcriptomes of desired tissue samples, or even of single cells at scale, have revolutionized biology in the past decade. Increasing accessibility and falling costs are making it possible to address many problems in biology that were once considered intractable, including the study of various social

Small mammals that are specialists in homeothermic thermoregulation reduce their self-maintenance costs of normothermy to survive the winter. By contrast, heterothermic ones that are considered generalists in thermoregulation can lower energy expenditure by entering torpor. It is well known that different species vary the use of their strategies to cope with harsh winters in temperate zones; however

Key innovations may allow lineages access to new resources and facilitate the invasion of new adaptive zones, potentially influencing diversification patterns. Many studies have focused on the impact of key innovations on speciation rates, but far less is known about how they influence phenotypic rates and patterns of ecomorphological diversification. We use the repeated evolution of pharyngognathy

Social organisms often show collective behaviours such as group foraging or movement. Collective behaviours can emerge from interactions between group members and may depend on the behaviour of key individuals. When social interactions change over time, collective behaviours may change because these behaviours emerge from interactions among individuals. Despite the importance of, and growing interest

AbstractRapid advances in Ribonucleic Acid sequencing (or RNA-seq) technology for analyzing entire transcriptomes of desired tissue samples, or even of single cells at scale, have revolutionized biology in the past decade. Increasing accessibility and falling costs are making it possible to address many problems in biology that were once considered intractable, including the study of various social

Contemporary methods for visualizing phenotypic evolution, such as phylomorphospaces, often reveal patterns which depart strongly from a naïve expectation of consistently divergent branching and expansion. Instead, branches regularly crisscross as convergence, reversals, or other forms of homoplasy occur, forming patterns described as “birds’ nests”, “flies in vials”, or, less elegantly, “a mess”.

AbstractRapid advances in Ribonucleic Acid sequencing (or RNA-seq) technology for analyzing entire transcriptomes of desired tissue samples, or even of single cells at scale, have revolutionized biology in the past decade. Increasing accessibility and falling costs are making it possible to address many problems in biology that were once considered intractable, including the study of various social

In domestic dogs Canis familiaris, vocal traits have been investigated for barks and growls, and the relationship between individual body size and vocal traits investigated for growls, with less corresponding information for whines. In this study, we examined frequency and temporal traits of whines of 20 adult companion dogs (9 males, 11 females), ranging in body weight from 3.5 to 70.0 kg and belonging

The development of multi-layer network techniques is a boon for researchers who wish to understand how different interaction layers might influence each other, and how these in turn might influence group dynamics. Here, we investigate how integration between male and female grooming and aggression interaction networks influences male power trajectories in vervet monkeys Chlorocebus pygerythrus. Our

Environmental temperature variation may play a significant role in the adaptive evolutionary divergence of ectotherm thermal performance curves (TPCs). However, divergence in TPCs may also be constrained due to various causes. Here, we measured TPCs for swimming velocity of temperate and tropical mayflies (Family: Baetidae) and their stonefly predators (Family: Perlidae) from different elevations.

Sexual selection often leads to evolution of conspicuous signals, raising the chances of attracting not only potential mates, but also predators. In lacertid lizards, ultraviolet-blue spots on flanks and shoulders represent such a trait. Some level of correlation between male and female ornamentation is also known to exist. Therefore, the phenotype of females may change in the absence of sexual selection

Parasites are globally widespread pathogenic organisms, which impose important selective forces upon their hosts. Thus, in accordance with the Adjustment to parasite pressure hypothesis, it is expected that defences among hosts vary relative to the selective pressure imposed by parasites. According to the latitudinal gradient in diversity, species richness and abundance of parasites peak near the equator

There is a growing body of research indicating that drones can disturb animals. However, it is usually unclear whether the disturbance is due to visual or auditory cues. Here, we examined the effect of drone flights on the behaviour of great dusky swifts Cypseloides senex and white-collared swifts Streptoprocne zonaris in two breeding sites where drone noise was obscured by environmental noise from

Individuals which have invaded urbanized environments are reported to engage in riskier behaviours, possibly influenced by the scarcity of predators in urbanized areas. Here, we studied the risk-taking behaviour of birds which had invaded a new natural environment, rather than an artificial urban environment, using recently established populations of the bull-headed shrike Lanius bucephalus, which

Chromosomal evolution is widely considered an important driver of speciation because it can promote the establishment of reproductive barriers. Karyotypic reorganization is also expected to affect the mean phenotype, as well as its development and patterns of phenotypic integration, through processes such as variation in genetic linkage between QTL regions or between regulatory regions and their targets

AbstractRapid advances in Ribonucleic Acid sequencing (or RNA-seq) technology for analyzing entire transcriptomes of desired tissue samples, or even of single cells at scale, have revolutionized biology in the past decade. Increasing accessibility and falling costs are making it possible to address many problems in biology that were once considered intractable, including the study of various social

A fundamental question in biology is how diversity evolves and why some clades are more diverse than others. Phenotypic diversity has often been shown to result from morphological adaptation to different habitats. The role of behavioural interactions as a driver of broad scale phenotypic diversity has received comparatively less attention. Behavioural interactions, however, are a key agent of natural

External colouration in animals depends on the interaction of several different factors including the genetics and epigenetics processes that underlie the colour expression, the mechanisms of colour perception, and the general mechanisms controlling colour evolution and function. Among all, camouflage from predators and conspicuousness are of particular interest since pose animal to choose between

Consistent among-individual variation in behaviour, or animal personality, is present in a wide variety of species. This behavioural variation is maintained by both genetic and environmental factors. Parental effects are a special case of environmental variation and are expected to evolve in populations experiencing large fluctuations in their environment. They represent a non-genetic pathway by which

Associating with relatives in social groups can bring benefits such as reduced risk of aggression and increased likelihood of cooperation. Competition among relatives over limited resources, on the other hand, can induce individuals to alter their patterns of association. Population density might further affect the costs and benefits of associating with relatives by altering resource competition or

Short-term elevation of glucocorticoids (GCs) is one of the major physiological mechanisms by which vertebrates cope with challenging environmental or social factors (stressors). However, when exposure to stressors occurs repeatedly or over a prolonged period of time, animals may experience chronic elevation of GCs, which reduces the immune response efficiency and can lead to higher intensity of parasitic

Leadership is a key issue in the study of collective behavior in social animals. Affiliation-leadership models predict that dyadic partner preferences based on grooming relationships or alliance formation positively affect an individual’s decision to follow or support a conspecific. In the case of many primate species, females without young infants are attracted to mother-infant dyads. However, the

Many animals mimic the behavior or the appearance of venomous snakes. When humans or other potential predators place their hand near the nest of tits belonging to the family Paridae (and a few other species), the incubating female performs a hissing display that mimics the inhalation hiss of a viper or another snake. They hiss vigorously while lunging their head forward and shaking their wings and

Two parapatric Rattus norvegicus subspecies, R. n. humiliatus (RNH) and R. n. caraco (RNC), are classified according to morphological divergence and are mainly distributed in North and NE China. Here, we aimed to explore the population genetic structure, genetic boundary and gene flow in these rats using 16 microsatellite loci. Structure analysis and PCA revealed three ancestral clusters. We found

Amphibians play a key role in structuring biological assemblages of agricultural landscapes, but they are threatened by global agricultural intensification. Landscape structure is an important variable influencing biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. However, in the Yangtze River Delta, where a ‘farmland-orchard-fishpond’ agricultural pattern is common, the effects of landscape construction on

AbstractRapid advances in Ribonucleic Acid sequencing (or RNA-seq) technology for analyzing entire transcriptomes of desired tissue samples, or even of single cells at scale, have revolutionized biology in the past decade. Increasing accessibility and falling costs are making it possible to address many problems in biology that were once considered intractable, including the study of various social

Vigilance behavior is considered as an effective strategy for prey species to detect predators. An individual benefits from living in a group by reducing the time spent being vigilant without affecting the probability of detecting a predator. However, the mechanism producing a decrease in vigilance with increasing group size is unclear. Many models of vigilance assume that group members scan independently

The origin and colonization history of Kurixalus, a genus of small arboreal tree frogs breeding exclusively in shallow swamps, is under disputed. On the basis of comprehensive sampling programme, the evolutionary history of Kurixalus is investigated based on three mitochondrial genes. Our results indicate that the genus Kurixalus originated in the Asian mainland and subsequently arrived at its current

The selective pressure exerted by avian brood parasites forces their hosts to evolve specific defense strategies. When subject to brood parasite attack, avian hosts will often emit alarm calls. To date, few studies have examined whether and how host responses to different alarm calls indicative of different enemies vary with the host’s breeding stage. We carried out alarm call playback experiments

The production and structure of animal signals may depend on an individual’s health status and may provide more than one type of information to receivers. While alarm calls are not typically viewed as health condition dependent, recent studies have suggested that their structure, and possibly their propensity to be emitted, depends on an individual’s health condition and state. We asked whether the

In the face of ongoing habitat fragmentation, many primate species have experienced reduced gene flow resulting in a reduction of genetic diversity, population bottlenecks, and inbreeding depression, including golden snub-nosed monkeys Rhinopithecus roxellana. Golden snub-nosed monkeys live in a multilevel society composed of several 1 male harem units that aggregate to form a cohesive breeding band

Antagonistic coevolution such as that between obligate brood parasites and their hosts promotes the evolution of a variety of trickeries that enhance successful rearing of their offspring. They do that by using host parental care to enhance their reproductive success, which in turn selects for host nest defenses or egg rejection. Studying these adaptations and counter-adaptations in different populations

In altricial birds, to address which cues are used by parents to recognize their offspring, and when they switch between cues during reproduction, has not been well determined. In this study, we address this question in a Tibetan population of the azure-winged magpie Cyanopica cyanus, by examining the dependence of parents on a nest’s spatial position in offspring recognition. During the egg and nestling

Monitor lizards (Varanidae) inhabit both the mainland and islands of all geological types and have diversified into an exceptionally wide range of body sizes, thus providing an ideal model for examining the role of mainland versus island in driving species evolution. Here we use phylogenetic comparative methods to examine whether a link exists between body size-driven diversification and body size-frequency

Secondary forests and human-made forest gaps are conspicuous features of tropical landscapes. Yet, behavioral responses to these aspects of anthropogenically modified forests remain poorly investigated. Here, we analyze the effects of small human-made clearings and secondary forests on tropical bats by examining the guild- and species-level activity patterns of phyllostomids sampled in the Central

The Müller-Lyer illusion is a well-known distortion illusion that occurs when the spatial arrangement of inducers (i.e., inwards- or outwards-pointing arrowheads) influences a line's perceived relative length. To date, this illusion has been reported in several animal species but only in 1 teleost fish (i.e., redtail splitfins Xenotoca eiseni), although teleost fish represent approximately 50% of vertebrate

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are involved in the regulation of an animal's energetic state. Under stressful situations, they are part of the neuroendocrine response to cope with environmental challenges. Animals react to aversive stimuli also through behavioral responses, defined as coping styles. Both in captive and wild populations, individuals differ in their behavior along a proactive-reactive continuum

In a number of animal species, individuals differ in their ability to solve cognitive tasks. However, the mechanisms underlying this variability remain unclear. It has been proposed that individual differences in cognition may be related to individual differences in behavior (i.e., personality); a hypothesis that has received mixed support. In this study, we investigated whether personality correlates

Diverse spatio-temporal aspects of avian migration rely on relatively rigid endogenous programs. However, flexibility in migratory behavior may allow effective coping with unpredictable variation in ecological conditions that can occur during migration. We aimed at characterizing inter- and intraindividual variation of migratory behavior in a forest-dwelling wader species, the Eurasian woodcock Scolopax

The "resource availability hypothesis" predicts occurrence of larger rodents in more productive habitats. This prediction was tested in a dataset of 1,301 rodent species. We used adult body mass as a measure of body size and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) as a measure of habitat productivity. We utilized a cross-species approach to investigate the association between these variables

Duetting, or the stereotypical, repeated and often coordinated vocalizations between 2 individuals arose independently multiple times in the Order Primates. Across primate species, there exists substantial variation in terms of timing, degree of overlap, and sex-specificity of duet contributions. There is increasing evidence that primates can modify the timing of their duet contributions relative to

A developing trophic mismatch between the peak of energy demands by reproducing animals and the peak of forage availability has caused many species' reproductive success to decrease. The match-mismatch hypothesis (MMH) is an appealing concept that can be used to assess such fitness consequences. However, concerns have been raised on applying the MMH on capital breeders such as reindeer because the

invertebratesmate choice copyingSchizocosasexual selectionspeciationspiders

body sizeNatrixsexual dimorphismsnakeurban ecology

Rapid advances in Ribonucleic Acid sequencing (or RNA-seq) technology for analyzing entire transcriptomes of desired tissue samples, or even of single cells at scale, have revolutionized biology in the past decade. Increasing accessibility and falling costs are making it possible to address many problems in biology that were once considered intractable, including the study of various social behaviors

Social epigenomics is a new field of research that studies how the social environment shapes the epigenome and how in turn the epigenome modulates behavior. We focus on describing known gene-environment interactions (GEIs) and epigenetic mechanisms in different mammalian social systems. To illustrate how epigenetic mechanisms integrate GEIs, we highlight examples where epigenetic mechanisms are associated

Understanding the drivers promoting sociality over solitariness in animal species is imperative for predicting future population trends and informing conservation and management. In this study we investigate the social structure of a desert dwelling population of striped hyena Hyaena hyaena. This species is historically regarded as strictly solitary albeit being the least studied of the extant Hyaenids

Understanding how ecological processes affect phenotypic evolution has been and continues to be an important goal of ecology and evolutionary biology. Interspecific competition for resources can be a selective force driving phenotypic differentiation that reduces competition among sympatric species (character divergence), enabling closely-related species to coexist. However, although patterns of character

Lifespan is one of the main components of life history. Shorter lifespans can be expected in marginal habitats. However, in the case of ectotherms, lifespan typically increases with altitude, even though temperature-one of the main factors to determine ectotherms' life history-declines with elevation. This pattern can be explained by the fact that a shorter activity time favors survival. In this study

Predation is one of the main selective forces in nature, frequently selecting potential prey for developing escape strategies. Escape ability is typically influenced by several morphological parameters, such as morphology of the locomotor appendices, muscular capacity, body mass, or fluctuating asymmetry, and may differ between sexes and age classes. In this study, we tested the relationship among

Knowing the causes of biological invasion success can be relevant to combat future invasive processes. The recent invasion of the horseshoe whip snake Hemorrhois hippocrepis on the island of Ibiza provides the opportunity to compare natural history traits between invasive and source populations, and to unravel what makes this snake a successful invader that is threatening the only endemic vertebrate

Lateralization of cognitive functions influences a large number of fitness-related behaviors and shows, in most species, substantial variation in strength and direction. Laboratory works and field data have suggested that this variation is often due to adaptive phenotypic plasticity. Strong lateralization should be favored in some ecological conditions, for example, under high risk of predation. For