BMC Zoology最新文献

{"title":"Birds and environment: a multidisciplinary approach to ecological, behavioural and conservation issues","authors":"Ashish Kumar Arya, Archana Bachheti, Vinaya Kumar Sethi, Kamal Kant Joshi","doi":"10.1186/s40850-024-00199-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40850-024-00199-8","url":null,"abstract":"Birds perform significant ecosystem services in the environment. Nevertheless, they have been facing threats to their survival globally. This special collection assembles diverse articles on various aspects of birds’ life, their interactions with the environment, their adaptations, and threats they have been facing along with conservation measures.","PeriodicalId":48590,"journal":{"name":"BMC Zoology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140808789","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influence of temperature on embryonic development of Pontastacus leptodactylus freshwater crayfish, and characterization of growth and osmoregulation related genes","authors":"Maria V. Alvanou, Konstantinos Feidantsis, Athanasios Lattos, Anthi Stoforiadi, Apostolos P. Apostolidis, Basile Michaelidis, Ioannis A. Giantsis","doi":"10.1186/s40850-024-00198-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40850-024-00198-9","url":null,"abstract":"Narrow clawed crayfish, Pontastacus (Astacus) leptodactylus, represents an ecologically and economically valuable freshwater species. Despite the high importance of artificial breeding for conservation purpose and aquaculture potential, hatching protocols have not been developed so far in this species. Further, limited knowledge exists regarding the artificial egg incubation, the temperature effect on embryonic development, hatching synchronization and hatching rate. In the present study we investigated the temperature increase (from 17 oC to 22oC) effects in two different embryonic developmental stages of P. leptodactylus. Furthermore, two primer pairs for the Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 4 (FGFR4) gene cDNA amplification were successfully designed, characterising for the first time the FGFR4 gene in P. leptodactylus in relation to different developmental stages and temperatures. Apart from the FGFR4 gene, the Na+/K+-ATPase α-subunit expression was also explored. Both the FGFR4 and Na+/K+-ATPase α-subunit expression levels were higher in embryos closer to hatching. Egg incubation at 22oC for seven days led to significant increase of FGFR4 expression in embryos from earlier developmental stages. Nevertheless, temperature increase did not affect FGFR4 expression in eggs from latter developmental stages and Na+/K+-ATPase α-subunit expression in all developmental stages. Temperature increase represents therefore probably a promising strategy for accelerating hatching in freshwater crayfish particularly in early developmental stages. Specifically, our results indicate that FGFR4 expression increased in embryonic stages closer to hatching and that temperature influences significantly its expression in embryos from earlier developmental stages. Overall, these findings can provide a better understanding of artificial egg incubation of P. leptodactylus, and therefore can be employed for the effective management of this species, both for economic and biodiversity retention reasons.","PeriodicalId":48590,"journal":{"name":"BMC Zoology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140808875","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Taxonomic reassessment of Rhodnius zeledoni Jurberg, Rocha & Galvão: a morphological and morphometric analysis comparing its taxonomic relationship with Rhodnius domesticus Neiva & Pinto.","authors":"João Paulo Sales Oliveira-Correia, Jader de Oliveira, Hélcio Reinaldo Gil-Santana, Dayse da Silva Rocha, Cleber Galvão","doi":"10.1186/s40850-024-00197-w","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40850-024-00197-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Rhodnius zeledoni was described from a single specimen. Since its description, doubts have arisen regarding the taxonomic status of this species in relation to Rhodnius domesticus.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The present study reviewed and compared R. zeledoni with R. domesticus based on morphological analysis and head geometric morphometrics.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our analysis revealed the absence of distinctive diagnostic characters between the two species at specific levels. Rhodnius zeledoni and R. domesticus show morphological and morphometric similarity, with only minor differences in coloration observed between them. Contrary to previous statements, our analysis showed that R. zeledoni and R. paraensis are not closely related species, not corroborating previous studies with such an assumption.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Therefore, we formally propose R. zeledoni as a junior synonym of R. domesticus.</p>","PeriodicalId":48590,"journal":{"name":"BMC Zoology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10956182/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140185980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Feeding selectivity and a functional trade-off in a benthic fish with a continuous morphological variation: an experimental test","authors":"Chiharu Endo","doi":"10.1186/s40850-024-00194-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40850-024-00194-z","url":null,"abstract":"Functional trade-offs through ecological specializations are hypothesized to become causes of adaptive phenotypic divergence under divergent natural selection, where intermediate phenotypes may have the lowest fitness. Evidence of phenotypic divergence in a trade-off between populations experiencing different environmental/ecological conditions is abundant. However, traits in divergent selection sometimes present non-discrete (unimodal) variability, including intermediate phenotypes, although the underlying mechanisms are poorly documented. A benthic cyprinid fish, Pseudogobio esocinus, in Lake Biwa, central Japan, exhibits a large non-discrete/continuous variation in mouthpart morphology (from wide to narrow) within a lake population. The variation is linked with individual diets (i.e., the compositions of two different types of prey) even at a single site, and thus the variability is hypothesized to persist under divergent selection for prey usage. As a first step toward understanding the persistence mechanisms, here I examined the presence of morphology-dependent feeding selectivity and a functional trade-off in a laboratory experiment. When each experimental fish was simultaneously provided the different types of prey (chironomid larvae and amphipods), the fish mostly utilized chironomid larvae as primary prey. However, compared with the wider-mouthed fish, the narrower-mouthed fish took a larger proportion of amphipods as secondary prey by changing feeding (attacking) behavior. The intermediate-mouthed fish had lower feeding efficiency than the extreme-mouthed fish, indicating potential disadvantage of the intermediate phenotype. This experimental result supports the presence of morphology-dependent feeding performance and a functional trade-off with potential impacts on trait variability, which may favor specializations rather than generalizations. In the wild, however, there may be some situations for relaxing the trade-off, such as temporally fluctuating prey availability that could also favor generalizations depending on the conditions, and thus, both extreme and intermediate phenotypes may persist/coexist in a single habitat. Although further examinations, especially focusing on feeding efficiency for each prey type separated from the effects of prey selectivity, are needed, this case represents an opportunity to consider the possible mechanisms of the persistence of phenotypic variation that is maintained without divergence even in a trade-off.","PeriodicalId":48590,"journal":{"name":"BMC Zoology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140025792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Giant pandas in captivity undergo short-term adaptation in nerve-related pathways","authors":"Yan Li, Wei Xu, Juan Wang, Hong Liu, Jiawen Liu, Liang Zhang, Rong Hou, Fujun Shen, Yuliang Liu, Kailai Cai","doi":"10.1186/s40850-024-00195-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40850-024-00195-y","url":null,"abstract":"Behaviors in captive animals, including changes in appetite, activity level, and social interaction, are often seen as adaptive responses. However, these behaviors may become progressively maladaptive, leading to stress, anxiety, depression, and other negative reactions in animals. In this study, we investigated the whole-genome sequencing data of 39 giant panda individuals, including 11 in captivity and 28 in the wild. To eliminate the mountain range effect and focus on the factor of captivity only, we first performed a principal component analysis. We then enumerated the 21,474,180 combinations of wild giant pandas (11 chosen from 28) and calculated their distances from the 11 captive individuals. The 11 wild individuals with the closest distances were used for the subsequent analysis. The linkage disequilibrium (LD) patterns demonstrated that the population was almost eliminated. We identified 505 robust selected genomic regions harboring at least one SNP, and the absolute frequency difference was greater than 0.6 between the two populations. GO analysis revealed that genes in these regions were mainly involved in nerve-related pathways. Furthermore, we identified 22 GO terms for which the selection strength significantly differed between the two populations, and there were 10 nerve-related pathways among them. Genes in the differentially abundant regions were involved in nerve-related pathways, indicating that giant pandas in captivity underwent minor genomic selection. Additionally, we investigated the relationship between genetic variation and chromatin conformation structures. We found that nucleotide diversity (θπ) in the captive population was correlated with chromatin conformation structures, which included A/B compartments, topologically associated domains (TADs) and TAD-cliques. For each GO term, we then compared the expression level of genes regulated by the above four factors (AB index, TAD intactness, TAD clique and PEI) with the corresponding genomic background. The retained 10 GO terms were all coordinately regulated by the four factors, and three of them were associated with nerve-related pathways. This study revealed that giant pandas in captivity undergo short-term adaptation in nerve-related pathways. Furthermore, it provides new insights into the molecular mechanism of gene expression regulation under short-term adaptation to environmental change.","PeriodicalId":48590,"journal":{"name":"BMC Zoology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139924190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Echoes through time: amazing inferences from a fossil bat","authors":"Lucas J. S. Greville, Lily Hou, Harry A. W. Kumbhani, Beatriz Nogueira e Figueira, Karen J. Vanderwolf, Ryan A. C. Leys, Mathumy Sivatheesan, Thomas P. Pianta, Liam P. McGuire","doi":"10.1186/s40850-024-00193-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40850-024-00193-0","url":null,"abstract":"Sister to the Chiroptera crown-clade, the 50 million year old Vielasia sigei is suggested to have used laryngeal echolocation based on morphometric analyses. We discuss how Vielasia’s discovery influences our understanding of the evolution of echolocation in bats and the insights fossils provide to the lives of extinct species.","PeriodicalId":48590,"journal":{"name":"BMC Zoology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139680223","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Forest fragmentation causes an isolated population of the golden takin (Budorcas taxicolor bedfordi Thomas, 1911) (Artiodactyla: Bovidae) in the Qinling Mountains (China).","authors":"Hui Feng, Fangjun Cao, Tiezhi Jin, Lu Wang","doi":"10.1186/s40850-024-00192-1","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40850-024-00192-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Budorcas taxicolor bedfordi is a rare animal uniquely distributed in the Qinling Mountains (China). Human disturbance and habitat fragmentation have directly affected the survival of B. t. bedfordi. It is urgent to clarify the genetic diversity and genetic structure of the B. t. bedfordi population and implement effective conservation measures. In this study, 20 new polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated by Illumina sequencing. The genetic diversity and population structure of 124 B. t. bedfordi individuals from three populations (Niubeliang population, Zhouzhi population, and Foping population) were analysed according to these 20 microsatellite loci. Our results indicated that B. t. bedfordi had a low level of genetic variability and that there was inbreeding in the three populations. The population genetic structure analyses showed that the Niubeliang population had a trend of differentiation from other populations. National roads can affect population dispersal, while ecological corridors can promote population gene exchange. None of the three B. t. bedfordi populations experienced bottleneck effects. For conservation management plans, the Zhouzhi population and Foping population should be considered one management unit, and the Niubeliang population should be considered another management unit. We suggest building an ecological corridor to keep the habitat connected and formulating tourism management measures to reduce the influence of human disturbance on B. t. bedfordi.</p>","PeriodicalId":48590,"journal":{"name":"BMC Zoology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2024-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10826085/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139576595","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"High disparity in repellent gland anatomy across major lineages of stick and leaf insects (Insecta: Phasmatodea).","authors":"Marco Niekampf, Paul Meyer, Felix S C Quade, Alexander R Schmidt, Tim Salditt, Sven Bradler","doi":"10.1186/s40850-023-00189-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40850-023-00189-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Phasmatodea are well known for their ability to disguise themselves by mimicking twigs, leaves, or bark, and are therefore commonly referred to as stick and leaf insects. In addition to this and other defensive strategies, many phasmatodean species use paired prothoracic repellent glands to release defensive chemicals when disturbed by predators or parasites. These glands are considered as an autapomorphic trait of the Phasmatodea. However, detailed knowledge of the gland anatomy and chemical compounds is scarce and only a few species were studied until now. We investigated the repellent glands for a global sampling of stick and leaf insects that represents all major phasmatodean lineages morphologically via µCT scans and analyzed the anatomical traits in a phylogenetic context.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>All twelve investigated species possess prothoracic repellent glands that we classify into four distinct gland types. 1: lobe-like glands, 2: sac-like glands without ejaculatory duct, 3: sac-like glands with ejaculatory duct and 4: tube-like glands. Lobe-like glands are exclusively present in Timema, sac-like glands without ejaculatory duct are only found in Orthomeria, whereas the other two types are distributed across all other taxa (= Neophasmatodea). The relative size differences of these glands vary significantly between species, with some glands not exceeding in length the anterior quarter of the prothorax, and other glands extending to the end of the metathorax.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>We could not detect any strong correlation between aposematic or cryptic coloration of the examined phasmatodeans and gland type or size. We hypothesize that a comparatively small gland was present in the last common ancestor of Phasmatodea and Euphasmatodea, and that the gland volume increased independently in subordinate lineages of the Occidophasmata and Oriophasmata. Alternatively, the stem species of Neophasmatodea already developed large glands that were reduced in size several times independently. In any case, our results indicate a convergent evolution of the gland types, which was probably closely linked to properties of the chemical components and different predator selection pressures. Our study is the first showing the great anatomical variability of repellent glands in stick and leaf insects.</p>","PeriodicalId":48590,"journal":{"name":"BMC Zoology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10759571/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139075603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Morphological and functional trait divergence in endemic fish populations along the small-scale karstic stream","authors":"Elif Acar, Nehir Kaymak","doi":"10.1186/s40850-023-00191-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40850-023-00191-8","url":null,"abstract":"Organisms with broad distribution ranges, such as fish, often exhibit local ecological specializations based on their utilization of food and habitat. Populations of species that live in different habitat types (lotic vs. lentic) show morphological variations. However, the phenotypic differences of endemic fish populations in a small karst river basin under anthropogenic pressure are still not fully understood. In this study, the functional traits and morphological variations of the populations of endemic Pseudophoxinus antalyae Bogutskaya, 1992, in the Düden Stream basin, which is subjected to various anthropogenic disturbances and habitat types in southwestern Anatolia of Türkiye, were examined using linear measurements and geometric morphometric analysis. Differences have been identified in functional traits, particularly those related to food acquisition between populations. Results of both univariate and multivariate analyses revealed significant differences in body shape and size among populations living at sites along the stream with different habitat and environmental characteristics. The reason for these differences determined in the morphology and traits of the populations may depend on habitat types, ecological, or environmental, and obstruction of gene flow. More detailed studies are needed to explain the mechanisms (genetic and ecological) that cause these differences.","PeriodicalId":48590,"journal":{"name":"BMC Zoology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138569398","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring the morphological dynamics of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus Linn. 1758) in Victoria Nile as depicted from geometric morphometrics.","authors":"Papius Dias Tibihika, Manuel Curto, Harald Meimberg, Cassius Aruho, George Muganga, Jerome Sebadduka Lugumira, Victoria Tibenda Namulawa, Margaret Aanyu, Richard Ddungu, Constantine Chobet Ondhoro, Tom Okurut","doi":"10.1186/s40850-023-00190-9","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40850-023-00190-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Various anthropogenic activities continue to threaten the fish biodiversity of the East African water bodies such as the Victoria Nile. Although the Victoria Nile is a significant source of livelihood for human populations, the biology and ecology of Nile tilapia in this ecosystem remain understudied with little or no information on the morphology of the fish given varying and immense anthropogenic activities. Here, we use geometric morphometrics to examine the morphology/shape variations of Nile tilapia populations in Victoria Nile to gain insights into their current ecological state.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our results indicate unexpectedly smaller Nile tilapia body weights in Victoria Nile than in L. Victoria. Despite this, nearly all the populations displayed a relative condition factor (Kn) of greater ≥1 suggesting a healthy stock. However, two populations, LMF and VN_Bukeeka demonstrated Kn values of less than one (< 1). We also report that some Upper and Lower Victoria Nile populations display morphological similarities. Apart from L. Albert, Nile tilapia populations from Lakes Victoria and Kyoga are morphologically divergent from the riverine ones. We note that Nile tilapia from Nalubale Dam Reservoir is morphologically distinct from the close neighbouring Victoria Nile populations which are likely allied to the influence of the Nalubale Hydroelectric power dam as a barrier.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Nile tilapia's morphological variation appears to be influenced by various anthropogenic disturbances notably, overfishing, hydroelectric power dams, and fish translocational history in Uganda. Management should enforce regulatory frameworks to avert human-mediated activities as these are likely to compromise the sustainability of the fisheries. Further studies are required to follow these populations with molecular genetics and environmental data to gain a deeper understanding of the fish species for informed sustainable management and conservation options.</p>","PeriodicalId":48590,"journal":{"name":"BMC Zoology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-11-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10668481/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138300386","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}