Proceedings. Biological sciences最新文献

{"title":"When blooming, we recycle faster! Reciprocal intraspecific litter-mixing effects of floral and leaf litter decomposition.","authors":"Mery Ingrid Guimarães de Alencar, Bertrand Guenet, André M Amado, Adriano Caliman","doi":"10.1098/rspb.2025.0234","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rspb.2025.0234","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The form and function of plant organs influence plant decomposition. Floral litter typically decomposes faster and is of higher quality than conspecific leaf litter. However, how intraspecific differences in litter quality between plant organs drive litter-mixing effects on decomposition remains unclear. We hypothesized that: (i) floral and leaf litter decompose faster when mixed than when decomposed alone, (ii) these synergistic effects are stronger for leaf litter decomposition, and (iii) litter-mixing effects are mediated by multivariate litter trait complementarity. To test these hypotheses, we conducted a common garden field experiment using floral and leaf litter from 28 tropical woody species. As predicted, synergistic effects were common and mutual for both litter types, with stronger effects observed in leaf litter decomposition. Different functional traits predicted litter-mixing effects for each litter type, supporting the hypothesis of multivariate trait complementarity. Autochthonous traits (inherent to the litter itself) accounted for two-thirds of the variation in litter-mixing effects for both litter types, while allochthonous traits (from associated litter) explained one-third of the variation. These findings highlight that functional differences between plant organs influence litter-mixing effects on decomposition. This advances our understanding of the litter diversity-decomposition relationship and its implications for nutrient cycling and plant-soil feedback.</p>","PeriodicalId":520757,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings. Biological sciences","volume":"292 2055","pages":"20250234"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12457014/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145133407","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"What's the point? The functional role of claws in pad-bearing taxa (Gekkota: Diplodactylidae).","authors":"Rishab Rajan Pillai, Jendrian Riedel, Wytamma Wirth, Slade Allen-Ankins, Eric Nordberg, Will Edwards, Lin Schwarzkopf","doi":"10.1098/rspb.2025.1362","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rspb.2025.1362","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Morphological adaptations facilitate effective movement within habitats. Claws are among the most common adaptations enabling organisms to use inclined and vertical surfaces. However, some taxa have evolved adhesive pads in addition to claws, with claws suggested to be more effective at gripping coarse surfaces, while pads attach better to fine-grained surfaces. Using test surfaces that represented the range of surface roughness used by six species of diplodactylid geckos in nature, we quantified the role of claws and pads acting together, and of pads alone. We examined two functional traits, attachment (on inclines, 45° and vertical surfaces, 90°) and clinging ability (on inclines only). Claws were critical to attachment on vertical surfaces, and attachment declined linearly with decreasing surface roughness. Although attachment was lowest on fine-grained surfaces, this was where claws had the greatest functional contribution. Clinging ability also declined linearly with decreasing surface roughness, where claws played an additive role. Our study highlights novel results describing the function of gecko adhesive systems on different surfaces and suggests a clade-specific interaction of claws and pads. Specifically, we highlight that pads alone can be capable of attachment on rough surfaces, with claws contributing more on fine-grained surfaces.</p>","PeriodicalId":520757,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings. Biological sciences","volume":"292 2054","pages":"20251362"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12404809/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144986727","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unveiling the Xianbei cavalry: a multidisciplinary approach to restore and analyse the first horse-cavalry armour set in China.","authors":"Shasha Yang, Juntao Xiao, Le Mu, Chenyuan Li, Shenru Dai, Shuang Li, Yinqiu Cui, Yang Xu","doi":"10.1098/rspb.2025.1705","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rspb.2025.1705","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Between the third and sixth centuries AD (Anno Domini), the Xianbei emerged as a dominant nomadic power in the Eastern Eurasian Steppe, distinguished by their exceptional equestrian culture and the pivotal role of cavalry in warfare. Despite their historical significance, detailed knowledge of their cavalry's weaponry and equipment-particularly armour-remains fragmentary. As a critical element of military technology, armour offers valuable insights into ancient combat strategies and cultural practices. However, research on early Chinese cavalry armour has been constrained by limited textual records and the scarcity of well-preserved archaeological specimens. This study presents a systematic reconstruction of the earliest known set of horse-cavalry armour, excavated from the Lamadong Cemetery in Beipiao City, Liaoning Province, China. By combining traditional archaeological methods with advanced analytical techniques-including microscopic morphological analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and palaeoproteomics-we successfully restored the armour's physical structure and determined its material composition. This 1600-year-old nomadic cavalry equipment not only reveals Xianbei's advanced manufacturing techniques but also provides the first evidence of sheep-derived materials in ancient armour production. Our findings underscore the importance of multidisciplinary approaches in archaeological research, demonstrating how palaeoproteomics, in particular, can offer novel perspectives on material sourcing and technological practices in antiquity.</p>","PeriodicalId":520757,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings. Biological sciences","volume":"292 2054","pages":"20251705"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12419894/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145031648","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Controlled out-of-season spawning of reef-forming corals using offset environmental cues.","authors":"Lonidas Koukoumaftsis, Matthew Salmon, Glenn Everson, David J Hughes, Deepa Varkey, Andrew Heyward, Andrea Severati, Craig Humphrey","doi":"10.1098/rspb.2025.1558","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rspb.2025.1558","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The global climate crisis has heightened the urgency for developing interventions to enhance resilience and recovery of coral reef ecosystems. However, research programmes are often bottlenecked by availability of coral early life stage material owing to the annual nature of coral mass spawning. We present a proof-of-concept of 'out-of-season' spawning, utilizing aquarium control technology to induce spawning in multiple Great Barrier Reef (GBR) corals held in long-term indoor aquaria. By applying a six-month offset environmental profile encompassing seasonal temperature, photoperiod and lunar cues, we induced synchronized coral spawning during austral autumn/winter between 2022 and 2023. We also 'phase-shifted' the hour of sunset by four hours on spawning nights, creating a more favourable time window (i.e. minimizing late nights) for gamete fertilization. Spawning occurred on comparable nights after full moon (NAFM) and at similar times after sunset (TAS) to wild conspecifics, with 2023 cohorts showing the closer alignment. Gamete fertilization was successful for six species: <i>Acropora millepora</i>, <i>Acropora loripes</i>, <i>Acropora hyacinthus</i>, <i>Acropora elseyi</i>, <i>Acropora austera</i>, and <i>Montipora aequituberculata</i>, producing <i>ca</i> 2 million larvae. We outline physiological insights into environmental regulation of coral spawning synchronicity and discuss the potential for out-of-season spawning to accelerate coral research and enhance reef restoration programmes.</p>","PeriodicalId":520757,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings. Biological sciences","volume":"292 2055","pages":"20251558"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12440632/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145076702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Adaptive epigenetic divergence can facilitate ecological speciation.","authors":"Nicholas P Planidin, Clarissa F de Carvalho, Jeffrey Feder, Zachariah Gompert, John D House, Patrik Nosil","doi":"10.1098/rspb.2025.1217","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rspb.2025.1217","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Migration between populations homogenizes genetic divergence and can thus prevent speciation. However, environmentally induced epigenetic marks can remain divergent between populations despite migration. Thus, epigenetic variation might facilitate speciation under conditions where it is challenging for genetic barriers to gene flow to establish. Here, we develop a model to test this hypothesis by quantifying reproductive isolation (RI) at a neutral genetic locus linked with an epigenetic locus under divergent selection. This also allows us to test how RI is influenced by (i) the degree of induction of epigenetic state by the environment and (ii) the transmission of epigenetic state between generations. With a high migration rate, we find that an epigenetic locus, which is highly inducible, produces stronger RI than an equivalent genetic locus. Furthermore, at lower migration rates, the strength of RI produced by an epigenetic locus increases when epigenetic state is more transmissible between generations. Our findings suggest three regimes of speciation by divergent selection at an epigenetic locus, whereby highly inducible epigenetic marks could give way to more transmissible epigenetic marks and ultimately genetic differentiation, as ecological speciation progresses.</p>","PeriodicalId":520757,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings. Biological sciences","volume":"292 2055","pages":"20251217"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12440623/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145077160","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The influence of artificial light at night on algal phenol concentrations can mediate herbivore-algal interactions.","authors":"Roddy Jara, Oscar Varas, Marcela Aldana, Joaquin Delgado-Rioseco, Cristian Duarte, Pedro Quijón, Elena Maggi, Francisca Blanco, Jose Pulgar","doi":"10.1098/rspb.2025.1600","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rspb.2025.1600","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Artificial light at night (ALAN) is a growing anthropogenic stressor affecting all biological levels of complexity. Despite this, only a few studies have measured its influence on photosynthetic organisms, and even fewer its effects on macroalgae and their interaction with herbivores. Of particular interest is the potential influence of ALAN on secondary metabolites, such as phenolic compounds, that are used by macroalgae to deter herbivores. Hence, this study focused on the influence of ALAN on the production of phenolic compounds by a common red alga from the Southeast Pacific (<i>Mazzaella laminarioides</i>), and indirectly on its influence on the feeding behaviour of one of its main consumers, the black snail (<i>Tegula atra</i>). We first monitored the daily and tidal variation in phenolic compound concentrations in algal tissues. Then, we examined their changes when exposed to three light treatments: day/night conditions, continuous darkness and continuous light (ALAN). Then, algae exposed to these treatments were exposed to black snails to examine herbivore-algal interactions. The monitoring of phenolic compounds showed that the highest concentrations were reached during high tide, the period in which herbivores in the field also exhibit their highest feeding activity. When comparing the influence of light treatments, algae exposed to day/night conditions showed significantly higher phenol concentrations, whereas those exposed to ALAN showed the lowest concentration. Snail herbivory rates without a choice were significantly higher on algal fronds priorly exposed to ALAN, and lower on algae exposed to either day/night or dark conditions. These results were consistent with snail preferences, which when presented with a dual choice, always consumed more of the algae exposed to ALAN. Our results suggest that phenolic compounds are produced in lower amounts when algae are exposed to ALAN, therefore increasing algal palatability and potentially altering herbivores consumption.</p>","PeriodicalId":520757,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings. Biological sciences","volume":"292 2054","pages":"20251600"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12404802/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144986999","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Virtual endocast of the Late Miocene <i>Hoplitomeryx matthei</i> (Artiodactyla, Hoplitomerycidae) and brain evolution in insular ruminants.","authors":"Pierre Orgebin, Alexandra van der Geer, George Lyras, Bastien Mennecart, Grégoire Métais, Roberto Rozzi","doi":"10.1098/rspb.2025.1542","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rspb.2025.1542","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mammals often follow peculiar evolutionary trajectories on islands, with some Pleistocene insular large mammals exhibiting reduced relative brain size. However, the antiquity of this phenomenon remains unclear. Here, we report the first digital endocast of an insular artiodactyl, the five-horned ruminant <i>Hoplitomeryx matthei</i> from the Late Miocene Gargano palaeo-island (Apulia, Italy). We compare its brain morphology with that of extant and extinct relatives, including the early bovid <i>Eotragus</i> and the Mid-Miocene cervid <i>Euprox</i>, and investigate endocranial size and shape variation across 35 ruminant species. <i>H. matthei</i> displays a derived pecoran brain morphology, similar to that of bovids. This finding suggests that its ancestor, rather than deriving from an Oligocene member of Tragulina, was a Pecora and colonized Gargano no earlier than the Early Miocene. This is further supported by its encephalization quotient and the presence of a prominent marginal pole at the top of its endocasts, also found in Caprini. However, unlike the Balearian mouse goat <i>Myotragus balearicus</i>, <i>H. matthei</i> does not exhibit a reduced occipital region of the neocortex or olfactory bulbs. Instead, it underwent only a minor brain size reduction, highlighting distinct pathways of brain evolution in different island ecosystems. This study provides new insights into the biogeographic history of <i>Hoplitomeryx</i> and the palaeoneuroanatomy of insular mammals prior to the Quaternary.</p>","PeriodicalId":520757,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings. Biological sciences","volume":"292 2054","pages":"20251542"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12404810/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144986724","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Variation in temperature but not diet determines the stability of latitudinal clines in tolerance traits and their plasticity.","authors":"Greg M Walter, Avishikta Chakraborty, Fiona E Cockerell, Vanessa M Kellermann, Matthew D Hall, Craig R White, Carla M Sgrò","doi":"10.1098/rspb.2025.1337","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rspb.2025.1337","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Latitudinal clines are routinely used as evidence of adaptation across broad climatic gradients. However, if environmental variation influences the strength of latitudinal clines, then clinal patterns will be unstable, and using patterns of adaptation to predict population responses to global change will be difficult. To test whether environmental variation influences latitudinal clines, we sampled five populations of <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> spanning 3000 km of east coast Australia, and measured stress tolerance (heat, cold and desiccation) and body size on flies that developed in six combinations of temperature (13°C, 25°C and 29°C) and diet (standard and low-calorie) treatments. We found latitudinal clines where populations further from the equator had larger wings, higher cold tolerance and lower heat tolerance. For all traits, temperature determined the strength of latitudinal clines, whereas diet had little influence. Steeper clines often emerged in warmer treatments, created by latitudinal clines in plasticity. In the warmest temperature, higher latitude populations showed larger increases in heat tolerance, larger reductions in desiccation tolerance but smaller decreases in cold tolerance. Heat tolerance was the only trait that supported the climate variability hypothesis and a trade-off between plasticity and tolerance. Environment-dependent latitudinal clines are therefore likely to determine variation in population responses to global change.</p>","PeriodicalId":520757,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings. Biological sciences","volume":"292 2054","pages":"20251337"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12404823/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144986803","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Age- and sex-dependent associations between the number of older siblings and early-life survival in pre-industrial humans.","authors":"Mark Spa, Euan A Young, Virpi Lummaa, Erik Postma, Hannah L Dugdale","doi":"10.1098/rspb.2025.1525","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rspb.2025.1525","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Siblings are an important part of an individual's early-life environment and may therefore play an important role in shaping an individual's survival. The quantification of sibling effects on survival is challenging, however, especially in long-lived species with extended parental care and overlapping generations, such as humans. Here, we use historical parish data from Switzerland to quantify how the number of older siblings and their survival status, age and sex are associated with childhood survival. Across 2941 focal individuals born between 1750 and 1870, the total number of older siblings did not predict an individual's childhood survival probability. However, distinguishing between siblings by their survival status, age and sex revealed several associations, which in some cases also interacted with the sex of the focal individual: while older brothers close in age reduced the survival of girls (but not boys), having more older sisters close in age improved their younger sibling's survival. Our results therefore suggest that older siblings play an important role in shaping early-life survival and highlight that the strength and direction of sibling-related associations are context-dependent and can arise through both biological and cultural factors.</p>","PeriodicalId":520757,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings. Biological sciences","volume":"292 2054","pages":"20251525"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12404817/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144987002","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction to 'Inter-species differences in wound-healing rate: a comparative study involving primates and rodents' (2025), by Matsumoto-Oda <i>et al</i>.","authors":"Akiko Matsumoto-Oda, Daisuke Utsumi, Kenzo Takahashi, Satoshi Hirata, Atunga Nyachieo, Daniel Chai, Ngalla Jillani, Michel Raymond","doi":"10.1098/rspb.2025.1859","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rspb.2025.1859","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":520757,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings. Biological sciences","volume":"292 2055","pages":"20251859"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12440612/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145077006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}