Current Zoology最新文献

{"title":"Intra-tooth stable isotope analysis reveals seasonal dietary variability and niche partitioning among bushpigs/red river hogs and warthogs","authors":"Deming Yang, Kevin T Uno, Thure E Cerling, Ogeto Mwebi, Louise N Leakey, Frederick E Grine, Antoine Souron","doi":"10.1093/cz/zoae007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoae007","url":null,"abstract":"How animals respond to seasonal resource availability has profound implications for their dietary flexibility and realized ecological niches. We sought to understand seasonal dietary niche partitioning in extant African suids using intra-tooth stable isotope analysis of enamel. We collected enamel samples from canines of red river hogs/bushpigs (Potamochoerus spp.) and third molars of warthogs (Phacochoerus spp.) in three different regions of central and eastern Africa. We analyzed multiple samples from each tooth and used variations in stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios (δ13C and δ18O) and covariances between them to infer seasonal dietary changes. We found that most Phacochoerus display C4-dominated diets, while most Potamochoerus display C3-dominated diets. Phacochoerus and Potamochoerus that co-occur in the same region display no overlap in intra-tooth δ13C, which suggests dietary niche partitioning. They also show diverging δ13C values as the dry seasons progress and converging δ13C values during the peak of the rainy seasons, which suggests a greater dietary niche separation during the dry seasons when resources are scarce than during the rainy season. We found statistically significant cross-correlations between intra-tooth δ13C and δ18O in most specimens. We also observed a temporal lag between δ13C and δ18O in some specimens. This study demonstrates that intra-tooth stable isotope analysis is a promising approach to investigate seasonal dietary niche variation. However, large inter-individual variations in δ18O at certain localities can be challenging to interpret. Future studies that expand the intra-tooth stable isotope surveys or include controlled feeding experiments will improve its application in ecological studies.","PeriodicalId":50599,"journal":{"name":"Current Zoology","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140097635","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional nestedness of mammal assemblages in the Zhoushan Archipelago, China","authors":"Chengxiu Zhan, Bicheng Li, Chuanwu Chen, Yanping Wang","doi":"10.1093/cz/zoae006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoae006","url":null,"abstract":"Nestedness is an important part of the theoretical framework of island biogeography and community ecology. However, most previous studies focused on taxonomic dimension and overlooked functional and phylogenetic nestedness. Here, we simultaneously investigated taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic nestedness of terrestrial mammals on 39 land-bridge islands in the Zhoushan Archipelago, China. As mammals’ response to the environment may depend on their body size, we performed analyses for three mammal assemblages separately: overall species, large and medium species and small species. The taxonomic nestedness was quantified by organizing the species incidence matrix, while the functional and phylogenetic nestedness were estimated by combining the similarity of their ecological traits and phylogeny. Island characteristics (island area, three isolation indices, land use intensity and habitat diversity) and species traits (body size, litter size, habitat specificity, geographic range size and minimum area requirement) were used as predictors of nestedness. Overall and small species were significantly nested in three facets of nestedness, and results supported the selective extinction, selective colonization and habitat nestedness hypotheses. Large and medium species was functionally and phylogenetically nested when matrices were ordered by increasing distance to mainland, supporting the selective colonization hypothesis. Overall, differences in nestedness and its underlying mechanisms were detected not only in three facets of nestedness but also in the three mammal assemblages. Therefore, frameworks that incorporate taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional nestedness can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of nestedness processes. Additionally, it also improves our ability to understand divergent responses of mammal assemblages to the insular environment.","PeriodicalId":50599,"journal":{"name":"Current Zoology","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140045086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Is the speed of adjusting to environmental change condition dependent? An experiment with house mice (Mus musculus)","authors":"Karem Lopez-Hervas, Neelam Porwal, Mathilde Delacoux, Alexandros Vezyrakis, Anja Guenther","doi":"10.1093/cz/zoae005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoae005","url":null,"abstract":"Environmental conditions change constantly either by anthropogenic perturbation or naturally across space and time. Often, a change in behaviour is the first response to changing conditions. Behavioural flexibility can potentially improve an organism’s chances to survive and reproduce. Currently, we lack an understanding on the time-scale such behavioural adjustments need, how they actually affect reproduction and survival and whether behavioural adjustments are sufficient in keeping up with changing conditions. We used house mice (Mus musculus) to test whether personality and life-history traits can adjust to an experimentally induced food-switch flexibly in adulthood or by intergenerational plasticity, i.e., adjustments only becoming visible in the offspring generation. Mice lived in six experimental populations of semi-natural environments either on high or standard quality food for four generations. We showed previously that high-quality food induced better condition and a less risk-prone personality. Here, we tested whether the speed and/ or magnitude of adjustment shows condition-dependency and whether adjustments incur fitness effects. Life-history but not personality traits reacted flexibly to a food-switch, primarily by a direct reduction of reproduction and slowed-down growth. Offspring whose parents received a food-switch developed a more active stress-coping personality and gained weight at a slower rate compared to their respective controls. Furthermore, the modulation of most traits was condition-dependent, with animals previously fed with high-quality food showing stronger responses. Our study highlights that life-history and personality traits adjust at different speed towards environmental change, thus, highlighting the importance of the environment and the mode of response for evolutionary models.","PeriodicalId":50599,"journal":{"name":"Current Zoology","volume":"137 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140074311","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Outbreeding management offers the promise of genetic rescue for an endangered lizard","authors":"Guannan Wen, Hongxin Xie, Shuyi Luo, Chunsheng Yang, Xianwu Tang, Yibo Hu, Weiguo Du","doi":"10.1093/cz/zoae003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoae003","url":null,"abstract":"Inbreeding and loss of genetic diversity increase the extinction risk of small isolated populations. Genetic rescue by augmenting gene flow is a powerful means for the restoration of lost genetic variation. In this study, we used multigenerational pedigrees and neutral genetic markers to assess the consequences of outbreeding management in the Chinese and Vietnamese populations of the endangered crocodile lizard (Shinisaurus crocodilurus). Compared with the purebred Chinese population, the outbreeding population exhibited greater molecular genetic variation and a threefold larger population size. Moreover, the first-generation hybrids had a longer lifespan than purebreds, suggesting that outbreeding depression did not occur, but the long-term fitness effect of outbreeding needs to be further evaluated. Our study provides valuable insights into the potential for genetic rescue in the endangered crocodile lizard, emphasizing the importance of an evidence-based genetic management approach to address the risks of inbreeding and outbreeding depression in threatened populations.","PeriodicalId":50599,"journal":{"name":"Current Zoology","volume":"46 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140008011","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ecology and social behavior of the tamarisk gerbil Meriones tamariscinus: Insights from long-term research in the wild and seminatural environments","authors":"Vladimir S Gromov","doi":"10.1093/cz/zoae004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoae004","url":null,"abstract":"The present review provides a compilation of the published data on the ecology and social behaviour of tamarisk gerbils. Both field studies and direct observations under semi-natural conditions provide evidence that the tamarisk gerbil is a nocturnal herbivorous rodent that lives in highly seasonal habitats and displays seasonal fluctuations in reproduction and spatial organization. A typical feature of the tamarisk gerbils' spatial organization is higher mobility of males during the breeding season (as compared to the non-breeding period) and formation of temporary aggregations of males competing for access to receptive females; the composition of these aggregations was variable and depended on the reproductive condition of the females. Females tend to occupy exclusive home ranges irrespective of their reproductive condition. The mating system of the species can be defined as scramble competition polygyny with some features of polygynandry and promiscuity. The tamarisk gerbil has distinct features of a solitary species and its social structure is primarily based on aggressive interactions or mutual avoidance of conspecifics resulting in a dominance hierarchy among males and site-dependent dominance among females during the breeding season. By the end of the breeding season, males become less mobile and occupy nearly exclusive home ranges, consistent with solitary living. The main features of the spatial and social organization of this species, which distinguish it from other solitary rodents, are the higher mobility of males and the formation of temporary multi-male–multi-female aggregations during the breeding season. Overall, the data presented expand our understanding of socio-ecology of gerbils.","PeriodicalId":50599,"journal":{"name":"Current Zoology","volume":"72 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140007892","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Extending the social cohesion hypothesis: Is group social structure associated with dispersal in yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer)?","authors":"Sara A Schneidman, Conner S Philson, Daniel T Blumstein","doi":"10.1093/cz/zoae002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoae002","url":null,"abstract":"Dispersal is an important individual decision which may influence individual fitness as well as population viability. The social cohesion hypothesis posits more social individuals remain at home, which is supported by prior work across taxa. However, how the sociality and connectivity of the group an individual resides in – their group social structure – relates to dispersal decisions has not been explored. We extend the social cohesion hypothesis to predict individuals residing in more social groups would remain at home, and we quantified the affiliative and agonistic social network structure of female yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer), a facultatively social ground-dwelling squirrel, where about half of all females disperse. Using mixed-effects models we found no support for the hypothesis that affiliative group structure explained any variation in a marmot’s decision to disperse. We did find marmots in groups with less agonistic centralization (around one or few individuals) were less likely to disperse. The former finding may result from limited ability to perceive group structure while the latter may reflect individuals in less agonistically centralized groups are less likely to be reproductively suppressed. These results suggest individual dispersal decisions are more impacted by individual sociality and not that of their social group. Thus, the social cohesion hypothesis may not scale to the level of the group. Further work is required to determine whether dispersal decisions in obligately social species are influenced by group social structure.","PeriodicalId":50599,"journal":{"name":"Current Zoology","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139661388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Trophic niche segregation in a guild of top predators within the Mediterranean Basin","authors":"Samuele Ramellini, Emanuele Crepet, Stefano Lapadula, Andrea Romano","doi":"10.1093/cz/zoae001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoae001","url":null,"abstract":"Niche theory predicts that closely related and ecologically similar species with overlapping distribution ranges can coexist through resource partitioning, that limits interspecific competition. However, studies examining the mechanisms promoting coexistence of top predators at a large geographical scale are still scant. Here, we describe the foraging ecology of three sympatric owl species [Northern long-eared owl (Asio otus), Tawny owl (Strix aluco), Eurasian eagle owl (Bubo bubo)] in the Mediterranean Basin. We review 160 studies reporting diet information (212,236 vertebrate preys) and investigate among-species differences in diet metrics (diversity, evenness, prey size and proportion of mammals) and their variation along geographical and environmental gradients. Moreover, we test whether diet metrics differ in presence or absence of the other predators. All the three species mainly rely on small mammals, but they significantly differ in diet metrics. The smallest predator (i.e., long-eared owl) shows a higher level of specialism on small mammals (highest proportion but lowest diversity of mammals in the diet) compared to the larger ones. In addition, mean prey size significantly increases with predator body size (long-eared owl < tawny owl < eagle owl). Finally, interspecific competition results in an increase of diet diversity and evenness in the long-eared owl, and species’ diet also varies in response to environmental factors. The three species thus segregate along several dietary niche axes over a large spatial scale and according to both morphological characteristics (i.e., body size) and environmental variables. Such dietary niche segregation may adaptively buffer interspecific competition costs, ultimately allowing coexistence.","PeriodicalId":50599,"journal":{"name":"Current Zoology","volume":"274 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139645723","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Apennine-Pyrenees disjunct distribution: An unusual biogeographic pattern revealed in flea beetles of the Longitarsus candidulus species-group (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae)","authors":"Emanuele Berrilli, Maurizio Biondi, Matteo Garzia, Paola D’Alessandro, Daniele Salvi","doi":"10.1093/cz/zoad050","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoad050","url":null,"abstract":"European mountain systems played a crucial role in shaping the distribution of species and of their genetic diversity during the Quaternary's climatic changes with the establishment of allopatric patterns across main mountain ranges. Here we investigated the evolutionary history of flea beetles of the Longitarsus candidulus species-group showing an uncommon disjunct biogeographic pattern across the Apennine and the Pyrenees. We applied a multilocus molecular approach and multispecies coalescent models to establish a phylogenetic and systematic framework for this morphologically homogeneous species-group and to estimate the time of main cladogenetic events underlying the origin of the Apennine-Pyrenees pattern. We found strong support for the monophyly of the candidulus group with a sister relationship between L. laureolae and L. leonardii endemic to the Apennine and the Pyrenees mountains respectively. The timing of speciation events in the candidulus species-group coincide with two major climatic transitions during Early and Middle Pleistocene that resulted in significant environmental changes in Europe and suggest a scenario of allopatric isolation and divergence on distinct mountain ranges. The split between the thermophilic species L. candidulus and the ancestor of the temperate species L. laureolae and L. leonardii, estimated at ~ 3 Ma during the transition from Pliocene to Pleistocene, was probably triggered by their segregation in xerophilous and temperate habitats. The speciation between L. laureolae and L. leonardii, ~ 1 Ma during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition, can be explained by the establishment of unfavorable conditions in West Alps and Central Massif underlying the onset of the Apennine-Pyrenees disjunct pattern. Finally, the strict association between members of the candidulus group and distinct Thymelaeaceae plants suggests further studies to address the hypothesis that speciation in these flea beetles might have been also associated with Pleistocene range changes of their host plants.","PeriodicalId":50599,"journal":{"name":"Current Zoology","volume":"151 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139054561","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Behavioral syndromes in paper wasps: Links between social and non-social personality in Polistes fuscatus","authors":"Fatima W Jomaa, Emily C Laub, Elizabeth A Tibbetts","doi":"10.1093/cz/zoad054","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoad054","url":null,"abstract":"Although much work has focused on non-social personality traits such as activity, exploration, and neophobia, there is a growing appreciation that social personality traits play an important role in group dynamics, disease transmission, and fitness, and that social personality traits may be linked to non-social personality traits. These relationships are important because behavioral syndromes, defined here as correlated behavioral phenotypes, can constrain evolutionary responses. However, the strength and direction of relationships between social and non-social personality traits remain unclear. In this project, we examine social and non-social personality traits, and the relationships between them, in the paper wasp Polistes fuscatus. With a novel assay we identify five personality traits, two non-social (exploration and activity) and three social (aggression, affiliation, and antennation) personality traits. We also find that social and non-social personality traits are phenotypically linked. We find a positive correlation between aggression and activity and a negative correlation between affiliation and activity. We also find a positive correlation between exploration and activity. Our work is an important step in understanding how phenotypic linkage between social and non-social behaviors may influence behavioral evolution. As a burgeoning model system for the study of genetic and neurobiological mechanisms of social behavior, Polistes fuscatus has potential to add to this work through exploring the causes and consequences of individual behavioral variation.","PeriodicalId":50599,"journal":{"name":"Current Zoology","volume":"67 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138563769","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploratory behavior is associated with the cognitive speed in male chestnut thrushes","authors":"Yingqiang Lou, Yuqi Zou, Yun Fang, Yuehua Sun","doi":"10.1093/cz/zoad055","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoad055","url":null,"abstract":"Intra-individual variation in cognitive abilities has been widely reported in animals. Recent studies have found that individual cognitive performance varies with personality traits in a wide range of animal taxa, with a speed-accuracy trade-off between cognition and personality traits. Few studies investigated whether these relationships change depending on different contexts. Here we investigate whether the personality trait (as measured by exploratory behavior in a novel environment) is associated with cognition (novel skill learning and spatial memory) in wild male chestnut thrushes Turdus rubrocanus. Using an experimental novel skill learning task set-up, we found that fast-exploring individuals explored the experimental device (a cardboard with eight opaque cups) sooner than slow-exploring individuals. Exploratory behavior was not associated with individual spatial memory performances or an individual ’s capacity to learn the novel skill. Learning speed was positively associated with the difficulty of learning phases, and fast-exploring individuals used less trials to meet the learning criterion. In addition, fast-exploring individuals took less time to complete the 24-hour spatial memory test, but the accuracy of the test was not significantly different between individuals who were more or less exploratory. We suggest that variation in personality traits associates with individual learning speed in cognitive tasks, and that this relationship is context-dependent.","PeriodicalId":50599,"journal":{"name":"Current Zoology","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138538883","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}