{"title":"Forensic odontology: Assessing bite wounds to determine the role of teeth in piscivorous fishes","authors":"C. Ghalambor, Lynn B. Martin, H. Woods","doi":"10.1093/iob/obac011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/iob/obac011","url":null,"abstract":"Synopsis Teeth facilitate the acquisition and processing of food in most vertebrates. However, relatively little is known about the functions of the diverse tooth morphologies observed in fishes. Piscivorous fishes (fish-eating fish) are crucial in shaping community structure and rely on their oral teeth to capture and/or process prey. However, how teeth are utilized in capturing and/or processing prey remains unclear. Most studies have determined the function of teeth by assessing morphological traits. The behavior during feeding, however, is seldom quantified. Here, we describe the function of teeth within piscivorous fishes by considering how morphological and behavioral traits interact during prey capture and processing. This was achieved through aquarium-based performance experiments, where prey fish were fed to 12 species of piscivorous fishes. Building on techniques in forensic odontology, we incorporate a novel approach to quantify and categorize bite damage on prey fish that were extracted from the piscivore’s stomachs immediately after being ingested. We then assess the significance of morphological and behavioral traits in determining the extent and severity of damage inflicted on prey fish. Results show that engulfing piscivores capture their prey whole and head-first. Grabbing piscivores capture prey tail-first using their teeth, process them using multiple headshakes and bites, before spitting them out, and then re-capturing prey head-first for ingestion. Prey from engulfers sustained minimal damage, whereas prey from grabbers sustained significant damage to the epaxial musculature. Within grabbers, headshakes were significantly associated with more severe damage categories. Headshaking behavior damages the locomotive muscles of prey, presumably to prevent escape. Compared to non-pharyngognaths, pharyngognath piscivores inflict significantly greater damage to prey. Overall, when present, oral jaw teeth appear to be crucial for both prey capture and processing (immobilization) in piscivorous fishes.","PeriodicalId":13666,"journal":{"name":"Integrative Organismal Biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48967842","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"No Guts About It: Captivity, But Not Neophobia Phenotype, Influences the Cloacal Microbiome of House Sparrows (Passer domesticus)","authors":"T. Kelly, A. Vinson, G. King, C. R. Lattin","doi":"10.1093/iob/obac010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/iob/obac010","url":null,"abstract":"Synopsis Behavioral traits such as anxiety and depression have been linked to diversity of the gut microbiome in humans, domesticated animals, and lab-bred model species, but the extent to which this link exists in wild animals, and thus its ecological relevance, is poorly understood. We examined the relationship between a behavioral trait (neophobia) and the cloacal microbiome in wild house sparrows (Passer domesticus,n = 22) to determine whether gut microbial diversity is related to personality in a wild animal. We swabbed the cloaca immediately upon capture, assessed neophobia phenotypes in the lab, and then swabbed the cloaca again after several weeks in captivity to additionally test whether the microbiome of different personality types is affected disparately by captivity, and characterized gut microbiomes using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. We did not detect differences in cloacal alpha or beta microbial diversity between neophobic and non-neophobic house sparrows, and diversity for both phenotypes was negatively impacted by captivity. Although our results suggest that the adult cloacal microbiome and neophobia are not strongly linked in wild sparrows, we did detect specific OTUs that appeared more frequently and at higher abundances in neophobic sparrows, suggesting that links between the gut microbiome and behavior may occur at the level of specific taxa. Further investigations of personality and the gut microbiome are needed in more wild species to reveal how the microbiome-gut-brain axis and behavior interact in an ecological context.","PeriodicalId":13666,"journal":{"name":"Integrative Organismal Biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41375367","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"SegmentGeometry: A Tool for Measuring Second Moment of Area in 3D Slicer.","authors":"Jonathan M Huie, Adam P Summers, Sandy M Kawano","doi":"10.1093/iob/obac009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/iob/obac009","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Second moment of area is a measure of how well the cross-section of a beam will resist bending because of its shape. Many have used second moment of area to investigate the mechanical adaptations of biological structures from stingray jaws to animal limb bones. In this context it is important to acknowledge the assumptions of beam theory, in which second moment of area plays a key role, if reasonable results are desired. For example, to minimize shear the structure should be at least 10 times longer than it is wide and deflection should be minimal. Analyzing the internal geometry of biological structures has never been easier or more accessible given the wide, and growing availability of micro-CT scans. Here, we offer a guide on the care that needs to be taken when interpreting second moment of area, and present open-access, open-source software that can process hundreds if not thousands of structures in a short time frame. <i>SegmentGeometry</i>, an extension for the open-source imaging platform 3D Slicer, iterates slice-by-slice through 3D structures to calculate second moment of area and other cross-sectional properties. We analyzed 2 case studies to demonstrate the power of this tool and to highlight interpretations that can be gleaned from second moment of area. Second moment of area is just one part of the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory and considering the full equation would greatly increase the number and diversity of questions that can be answered.</p>","PeriodicalId":13666,"journal":{"name":"Integrative Organismal Biology","volume":"4 1","pages":"obac009"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2022-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8919404/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142047729","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rachel L Mueller, C. Cressler, Rachel S Schwarz, Rebecca A Chong, Marguerite A Butler
{"title":"Metamorphosis Imposes Variable Constraints on Genome Expansion through Effects on Development","authors":"Rachel L Mueller, C. Cressler, Rachel S Schwarz, Rebecca A Chong, Marguerite A Butler","doi":"10.1101/2021.05.05.442795","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.05.442795","url":null,"abstract":"Genome size varies ~ 100,000-fold across eukaryotes and has long been hypothesized to be influenced by metamorphosis in animals. Transposable element accumulation has been identified as a major driver of increase, but the nature of constraints limiting the size of genomes has remained unclear, even as traits such as cell size and rate of development co-vary strongly with genome size. Salamanders, which possess diverse metamorphic and non-metamorphic life histories, have the largest vertebrate genomes — 3 to 40 times that of humans — as well as the largest range of variation in genome size. We tested 13 biologically-inspired hypotheses exploring how the form of metamorphosis imposes varying constraints on genome expansion in a broadly representative phylogeny containing 118 species of salamanders. We show that metamorphosis during which animals undergo the most extensive and synchronous remodeling imposes the most severe constraint against genome expansion, with the severity of constraint decreasing with reduced extent and synchronicity of remodeling. More generally, our work demonstrates the potential for broader interpretation of phylogenetic comparative analysis in exploring the balance of multiple evolutionary pressures shaping phenotypic evolution.","PeriodicalId":13666,"journal":{"name":"Integrative Organismal Biology","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43537532","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Andrés Cook, Kaanthi Pandhigunta, Mason A. Acevedo, Adam Walker, Rosalie L. Didcock, Jackson T. Castro, Declan O’Neill, Raghav Acharya, M. S. Bhamla, Philip S. L. Anderson, M. Ilton
{"title":"A Tunable, Simplified Model for Biological Latch Mediated Spring Actuated Systems","authors":"Andrés Cook, Kaanthi Pandhigunta, Mason A. Acevedo, Adam Walker, Rosalie L. Didcock, Jackson T. Castro, Declan O’Neill, Raghav Acharya, M. S. Bhamla, Philip S. L. Anderson, M. Ilton","doi":"10.1101/2020.12.02.408740","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.02.408740","url":null,"abstract":"We develop a model of latch-mediated spring actuated (LaMSA) systems relevant to comparative biomechanics and bioinspired design. The model contains five components: two motors (muscles), a spring, a latch, and a load mass. One motor loads the spring to store elastic energy and the second motor subsequently removes the latch, which releases the spring and causes movement of the load mass. We develop open-source software to accompany the model, which provides an extensible framework for simulating LaMSA systems. Output from the simulation includes information from the loading and release phases of motion, which can be used to calculate kinematic performance metrics that are important for biomechanical function. In parallel, we simulate a comparable, directly actuated system that uses the same motor and mass combinations as the LaMSA simulations. By rapidly iterating through biologically relevant input parameters to the model, simulated kinematic performance differences between LaMSA and directly actuated systems can be used to explore the evolutionary dynamics of biological LaMSA systems and uncover design principles for bioinspired LaMSA systems. As proof of principle of this concept, we compare a LaMSA simulation to a directly actuated simulation that includes a either Hill-type force-velocity trade-off or muscle activation dynamics, or both. For the biologically-relevant range of parameters explored, we find that the muscle force-velocity trade-off and muscle activation have similar effects on directly actuated performance. Including both of these dynamic muscle properties increases the accelerated mass range where a LaMSA system outperforms a directly actuated one.","PeriodicalId":13666,"journal":{"name":"Integrative Organismal Biology","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2020-12-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42118498","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
L. Leiser‐Miller, L. Leiser‐Miller, Z. Kaliszewska, M. E. Lauterbur, Brianna Mann, Jeffrey A. Riffell, Sharlene E. Santana, Sharlene E. Santana
{"title":"A Fruitful Endeavor: Scent Cues and Echolocation Behavior Used by Carollia castanea to Find Fruit","authors":"L. Leiser‐Miller, L. Leiser‐Miller, Z. Kaliszewska, M. E. Lauterbur, Brianna Mann, Jeffrey A. Riffell, Sharlene E. Santana, Sharlene E. Santana","doi":"10.1101/532614","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/532614","url":null,"abstract":"Frugivores have evolved sensory and behavioral adaptations that allow them to find ripe fruit effectively, but the relative importance of different senses in varying foraging scenarios is poorly known. Within Neotropical ecosystems, short-tailed fruit bats (Carollia: Phyllostomidae) are abundant nocturnal frugivores, relying primarily on plants of the genus Piper as a food resource. Previous research has demonstrated Carollia employ olfaction and echolocation to locate Piper fruit, but it is unknown how their sensory use and foraging decisions are influenced by the complex diversity of chemical cues that fruiting plants produce. Using wild C. castanea and their preferred food, Piper scintillans, we conducted behavioral experiments to test two main hypotheses: (1) foraging decisions in C. castanea are primarily driven by ripe fruit scent and secondarily by vegetation scent, and (2) C. castanea re-weight their sensory inputs to account for available environmental cues, such that bats rely more heavily on echolocation in the absence of adequate scent cues. Our results suggest that C. castanea requires olfactory information and relies almost exclusively on ripe fruit scent to make foraging attempts. Ripe fruit scent is chemically distinct from vegetation scent in P. scintillans, with a greater abundance of β-caryophyllene, germacrene D and β-elemene, and a few unique compounds. Although variation in echolocation call parameters was independent of scent cue presence, bats emitted longer and more frequent echolocation calls in trials where no fruit scent was present. Altogether, these results highlight the adaptations, plasticity, and potential constraints in the sensory system of neotropical fruit bats. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Little is known about the relative importance of different senses and which plant cues are most important for fruit location by frugivores. We conducted behavioral experiments on short-tailed fruit bats (Carollia castanea), which use a combination of olfaction and echolocation to find ripe fruit, and their preferred food source (Piper scintillans) to test (1) which plant scent cues drive food selection and (2) if bats alter their echolocation behaviors based on which scent cues are present. We find that C. castanea rely almost exclusively on ripe fruit scent to forage, and echolocate more frequently when fruit scent is absent. Ripe fruit scent is chemically different from vegetation scent in P. scintillans, potentially providing a clear signal of food availability to mutualistic bats. These results highlight the sensory adaptations and behavioral flexibility of fruit bats as they navigate the cues provided by fruiting plants.","PeriodicalId":13666,"journal":{"name":"Integrative Organismal Biology","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2019-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42367825","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
C. Mayerl, Jacob P. Youngblood, Gabriel Rivera, J. Vance, R. Blob
{"title":"Variation in Morphology and Kinematics Underlies Variation in Swimming Stability and Turning Performance in Freshwater Turtles","authors":"C. Mayerl, Jacob P. Youngblood, Gabriel Rivera, J. Vance, R. Blob","doi":"10.1093/IOB/OBY001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/IOB/OBY001","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Among swimming animals, stable body designs often sacrifice performance in turning, and high turning performance may entail costs in stability. However, some rigid-bodied animals appear capable of both high stability and turning performance during swimming by propelling themselves with independently controlled structures that generate mutually opposing forces. Because such species have traditionally been studied in isolation, little is known about how variation within rigid-bodied designs might influence swimming performance. Turtles are a lineage of rigid-bodied animals, in which most species use contralateral limbs and mutually opposing forces to swim. We tested the stability and turning performance of two species of turtles, the pleurodire Emydura subglobosa and the cryptodire Chrysemys picta. Emydura subglobosa exhibited both greater stability and turning performance than C. picta, potentially through the use of subequally-sized (and larger) propulsive structures, faster limb movements, and decreased limb excursions. These data show how, within a given body design, combinations of different traits can serve as mechanisms to improve aspects of performance with competing functional demands.","PeriodicalId":13666,"journal":{"name":"Integrative Organismal Biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2018-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/IOB/OBY001","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42225937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
C. Fassbinder-Orth, L. Igl, D. Hahn, K. M. Watts, T. Wilcoxen, K. Ramos-Álvarez
{"title":"Do Life History Traits Influence Patterns of Maternal Immune Elements in New World Blackbirds (Icteridae)?","authors":"C. Fassbinder-Orth, L. Igl, D. Hahn, K. M. Watts, T. Wilcoxen, K. Ramos-Álvarez","doi":"10.1093/IOB/OBY011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/IOB/OBY011","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Avian immunology developed originally by investigating domesticated poultry species (Galliformes), but in recent decades eco-immunological studies of wild bird species have revealed that avian immune systems are more diverse than initially assumed. This study compares six immunological elements in eggs of six species within the same family, the New World blackbirds (Icteridae),whose members differ most notably in two life history parameters, brood parasitism and body size. We measured the maternal immune investment of passive immune components in both yolk and albumen: lysozyme, ovotransferrin, and immunoglobulins (Igs), and LPS-specific Igs. We predicted that brood parasites would have higher levels of immune activity for both innate and adaptive immunity compared with non-brood parasites, and that increased body size could increase microbial exposure of larger animals, resulting in an increase in some adaptive immune responses, such as LPS-specific Igs. We found that brood parasites had significantly higher levels of Igs and lysozyme levels in albumen, but significantly lower levels of Igs in yolk compared with non-brood parasites. Igs in yolk scaled according to body size, with the smallest organisms (the brood parasites) having the lowest levels, and the largest organism (common grackle) having the highest. Our results confirm the findings of other studies of comparative immunity among species in a single taxon that (1) similarities in immune investment cannot be assumed among closely related species and (2) single measures of immune defense cannot be assumed to be indicators of a species’ overall immune strategy, as life history traits can differentially affect immune responses.","PeriodicalId":13666,"journal":{"name":"Integrative Organismal Biology","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2018-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/IOB/OBY011","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41830459","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Expression of agrp1, A Hypothalamic Appetite-Stimulating Neuropeptide, Reveals Hydrodynamic-Induced Starvation in a Larval Fish","authors":"L. Koch, I. Shainer, T. Gurevich, R. Holzman","doi":"10.1093/IOB/OBY003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/IOB/OBY003","url":null,"abstract":"Larval fish suffer dramatic mortality in the days following transition to autonomous feeding, with over 90% of larvae being eliminated within a period of few weeks. Recent work has shown that the hydrodynamic environment experienced by recently-hatched larvae impedes their feeding rates even under high prey densities. Here, we quantified starvation through early ontogeny in Sparus aurata larvae (8–18 days post-hatching; DPH) and tested whether the emerging ontogenetic pattern is consistent with that expected one based on the hydrodynamic environment that these larvae experience. We screened three candidate genes agrp1, npy, and hsp70, whose expression was previously shown to respond to starvation in fish. Of the three genes, agrp1 was identified as a suitable indicator for starvation. Localization of agrp1 mRNA by whole-mount in-situ hybridization confirmed that, in S. aurata larvae, agrp1 is expressed only in the hypothalamus. Quantification of agrp1 mRNA using real-time PCR revealed that the expression of this gene is elevated in starved compared to fed larvae, and in younger (8 DPH) compared to older larvae (18 DPH). Manipulating the water viscosity to simulate the hydrodynamic conditions during the onset of the critical period led to increased agrp1 expression. These findings suggest that the hydrodynamic constraints on larval feeding lead to the starvation of small larvae. Further, they provide a mechanistic explanation for the “safe harbor” hypothesis, which postulates that larvae should allocate resources toward rapid linear growth to escape detrimental effects of dwelling in an environment where viscous fluid forces dominate.","PeriodicalId":13666,"journal":{"name":"Integrative Organismal Biology","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2018-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/IOB/OBY003","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"61433222","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Summers, R. Blob, M. Butler, C. Farmer, C. Fassbinder-Orth, L. Hernandez, I. Moore, U. K. Muller, R. Satterlie, S. H. Williams
{"title":"Integrative Organismal Biology—A Journal We Want and Need","authors":"A. Summers, R. Blob, M. Butler, C. Farmer, C. Fassbinder-Orth, L. Hernandez, I. Moore, U. K. Muller, R. Satterlie, S. H. Williams","doi":"10.1093/IOB/OBY005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/IOB/OBY005","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13666,"journal":{"name":"Integrative Organismal Biology","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2018-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/IOB/OBY005","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"61432800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}