Frontiers in Zoology最新文献

{"title":"Identification of single-copy nuclear PCR targets for resolution of species-scale clades: a proof-of-concept using eupulmonate gastropods","authors":"Jeffrey C. Nekola,Coen M. Adema,Eva Mikulášková,Farshad Nejat,Markéta Nováková,Marijan Posavi,Takumi Saito,Michal Horsák","doi":"10.1186/s12983-026-00637-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-026-00637-y","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract To aid in the empirical evaluation of species hypotheses / concepts we present a strategy that uses NGS whole nuclear genome assemblies to identify novel single-copy universal PCR targets whose sequences discriminate species-scale clades. Our approach begins by identifying UCEs within partial Illumina genome assemblies across a strategically-chosen taxa set and culminates with experimental validation of appropriate single-copy nuclear DNA regions for PCR/Sanger sequencing. The highly diverse (~ 35 K species) group of eupulmonate gastropods was used as proof-of-concept. Among the ~ 24 K ultraconserved elements identified across 14 de novo and publicly-available genome assemblies spanning eupulmonate phylogeny, 61 informative universal PCR targets were ultimately identified. These allow for targeted sequence recovery from loci known to contain useful phylogenetic signal and permit efficient scaling to larger sample sizes, something that is immensely important when working with issues as complex as evolution and biodiversity.","PeriodicalId":55142,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Zoology","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149209300","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":"Continuity and new perspectives at Frontiers in Zoology.","authors":"Angelika Stollewerk","doi":"10.1186/s12983-026-00636-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12983-026-00636-z","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55142,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Zoology","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13653410/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149149793","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Formation and reproductive significance of chest spines in Quasipaa spinosa","authors":"Xu Peng,Zhu Piao,Zang Yi,Chen Min,Li Ben,Zheng Rongquan","doi":"10.1186/s12983-026-00634-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-026-00634-1","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Male spiny frogs ( Quasipaa spinosa) develop seasonal chest spines during the breeding season, but the structural basis, molecular changes, and reproductive role of this trait remain unclear. Therefore, to clarify how structural and molecular remodeling of the chest skin work together to form this important reproductive trait, we performed AB-PAS histological staining, quantitative proteomic analysis, and real-time quantitative PCR validation on male skin tissues. We then combined these analyses with spine blunting, reproductive competition experiments, and SSR-based paternity testing to examine chest spine formation and its relationship with male reproductive success. We found that Q. spinosa chest skin has specialized glandular structures and a collagen-rich dermal framework, suggesting that it provides a structural basis for later spine development. During the reproductive cycle, chest spine formation is accompanied by significant changes in extracellular matrix (ECM)-related proteins and pathways, including focal adhesions and ECM–receptor interactions. Moreover, the expression of genes related to the TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway and matrix remodeling was dynamically altered during this process. Reproductive experiments revealed that males with better-developed chest spines produced more offspring, whereas artificial blunting of the spines reduced reproductive success. Together, these results suggest that seasonal chest spine formation in Q. spinosa is closely related to extracellular matrix remodeling and contributes to male reproductive success during the breeding season. These findings provide practical implications for broodstock selection, conservation breeding, and the management of reproductive fitness in amphibian populations. In particular, chest spine development may serve as a practical indicator of male reproductive performance, linking an evolutionarily selected secondary sexual trait to reproductive management.","PeriodicalId":55142,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Zoology","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149090482","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":"Temporal patterns of thyroid gland maturation and skin metamorphosis in terrestrial indirect-developing de Villiers moss frogs (Arthroleptella villiersi Hewitt, 1935)","authors":"Benjamin Naumann,Susan Schweiger,Hendrik Müller","doi":"10.1186/s12983-026-00631-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-026-00631-4","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Background Anurans show diverse life histories ranging from the ancestral aquatic indirect development to derived terrestrial developmental modes that often correlate with the reduction of larval characters. The de Villiers moss frog Arthroleptella villiersi Hewitt, 1935 (Pyxicephalidae) exhibits terrestrial indirect development, hatching as endotrophic tadpoles that undergo metamorphosis within the jelly nest. We investigated the timing and histology of skin and thyroid gland development of A. villiersi to test whether metamorphic rearrangements were conserved and to assess the role of heterochrony in terrestrialization of anuran life histories. Results Histological analyses revealed a conserved sequence of thyroid maturation compared to aquatic-indirect and terrestrial direct developing anurans. Skin development recapitulates tadpole typical features, including unicellular glands, a two-layered epidermis, and neuromasts. Subsequent metamorphic rearrangements lead to a three-layered epidermis, stratum corneum, multicellular mucus and granular glands, and reorganized melanophore layers. Neuromasts appear at hatching, differentiate, and degenerate shortly before metamorphosis, correlating with thyroid maturation. Heterochrony plots revealed minor shifts in timing of skin development, including pre-displacement of the development of dermal melanophores and the post-displacement of multicellular granular glands, compared to aquatic indirect-developing anurans. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that A. villiersi retains a conserved metamorphic remodeling of the skin that correlates with thyroid maturation. The observed minor heterochronic shifts highlight the modularity of skin development without evidence for temporal co-dissociations and therefore indicate an integrated “skin unit of evolution”. This indicates that evolutionary transitions to terrestrial life histories in anurans can occur without a fundamental reorganization of skin developmental pathways.","PeriodicalId":55142,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Zoology","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149022466","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":"Phylogenetic and adaptive evolution of treeshrews (Scandentia)","authors":"Tongtong Gu,Handan Zhang,Rongxiang Mu,Huhui Qi,Zixin Lin,Wanlong Zhu","doi":"10.1186/s12983-026-00633-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-026-00633-2","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Background Treeshrews (Scandentia) are a phylogenetically distinctive order of small mammals distributed in South and Southeast Asia and southwestern China. Their position within Euarchonta, heterogeneous histories of island and mainland diversification, and emerging genomic resources make them informative for studying mammalian evolution. Results This review systematically synthesizes the latest progress in the phylogeny, biogeography, genetic diversity, and molecular mechanisms underlying adaptive evolution in treeshrews. We provide a comprehensive overview of their evolutionary history spanning interordinal relationships, intraordinal diversification, and intraspecific differentiation, as well as the genetic basis of specialized sensory, immune, and metabolic traits. Conclusions Key priorities for future research include comprehensive taxon sampling, chromosome-level genome assemblies and population resequencing, integrative taxonomic revision, explicit testing of alternative biogeographic models, and experimental validation of candidate adaptive genes. Integrating genomic, morphological, ecological, and functional evidence will help resolve species boundaries, reconstruct the temporal and spatial history of Scandentia, and clarify the molecular basis of adaptive evolution.","PeriodicalId":55142,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Zoology","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149021200","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":"Ciliated larvae turn spiny: novelties in the miniaturized miracidium of Bunocotyle progenetica (Digenea: Hemiuroidea)","authors":"Peter A. Smirnov,Alexandra N. Ivanova,Anna Gonchar","doi":"10.1186/s12983-026-00632-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-026-00632-3","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Background Miracidia, the larvae of digeneans, infect a molluscan host. In many species they are ciliated swimmers that actively locate a snail. In several digenean lineages, however, the miracidia are miniaturized and enter molluscs passively, being swallowed. The contrast between active and passive miracidia is sharp, and the latter are typically simplified and feature morphological novelties. In the Hemiurata group, miracidia show reduced ciliation and have evolved surface spines. An extreme example is the miracidium of Bunocotyle progenetica , whose entire body is covered with spines. Larval ciliation is considered one of the key features of Neodermata, yet it is lost in B. progenetica . How could such a transformation have occurred? Results Using serial transmission electron microscopy, we show that the miracidium of B. progenetica is covered by three spiny epithelial plates. Each spine is supported by an elongated intracellular structure similar to the striated rootlet of a cilium. All organ systems of the miracidium are markedly reduced relative to those of non-miniaturized miracidia. Experimental infection of the snail host revealed that the miracidium sheds its epithelial plates upon metamorphosis and transforms into a sporocyst, which migrates to the snail heart. The sporocyst surface arises through eversion of the peculiar membranous channels of the neodermis. Apart from this transformation of the body wall, metamorphosis involves few structural changes. Over the first two weeks, the mother sporocyst triples in size, increasing the number of muscle cells and neodermis cytons, likely through stem-cell division and differentiation. Snail haemocytes appear to respond to the infection and contact the sporocyst, forming short extracellular bridges. Conclusions Miniaturization accompanied by a shift in infection strategy has driven the emergence of structural novelties in miracidia. In B. progenetica , spines have replaced surface cilia, co-opting the ciliary striated rootlet as a structural scaffold. Although the miracidium of B. progenetica is greatly simplified relative to non-miniaturized miracidia, its mother sporocyst restores somatic complexity and develops into worms comparable to those of other digeneans.","PeriodicalId":55142,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Zoology","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149022467","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":"Uncovering the drivers of anuran age structure","authors":"Xiuping Wang,Wenyi Zhang,Bin Wang,Jianping Jiang,Meihua Zhang,Bingjun Dong","doi":"10.1186/s12983-026-00630-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-026-00630-5","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Age structure provides a vital perspective for understanding population ecology, evolutionary biology, and conservation biology. Here, we compiled data on maximum age, average age, and age at sexual maturity for 184 anuran species across 22 families from published literature. We evaluated the effects of climate factors, geographical gradients, habitat types, and body size on age-structure traits. Furthermore, we projected future trends in age structure under various climate change scenarios. Our results indicate that broad habitat categories did not significantly influence age-related traits, likely due to the buffering capacity of microhabitats, which mitigates climate-related differences across habitats. In contrast, age traits exhibited sex-specific responses to environmental drivers, potentially reflecting divergent reproductive energy allocation strategies and metabolic trade-offs between males and females. Future projections suggest that climate change will lead to a widespread decline in both lifespan and average age across anurans, resulting in a shift toward younger populations with shorter lifespans and a general trend toward smaller body size. These findings deepen our understanding of how anurans respond to environmental changes and provide a scientific foundation for developing effective conservation strategies.","PeriodicalId":55142,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Zoology","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149021076","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":"Hologenomic rewiring facilitates dietary adaptation to chitin-rich marine resources in the crab-eating frog.","authors":"Yi Zhang,Zhi-Heng Chang,Shuang Gan,Shi-Han Wang,Jin-Xia Luo,Long Jin,Xiao-Fei Zhai,Yan-Bo Sun","doi":"10.1186/s12983-026-00626-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-026-00626-1","url":null,"abstract":"BACKGROUNDSecondary adaptation of amphibians to marine environments is exceptionally rare. The crab-eating frog, Fejervarya cancrivora, is the only known amphibian capable of completing its life cycle in intertidal zones, where it faces dual challenges: high salinity stress and a diet rich in chitinous crab exoskeletons. While osmoregulatory adaptations have been well documented, the synergistic roles of the host's digestive system and its gut microbiota in this dietary specialization remain unclear.RESULTSHere, we integrated histological analysis, comparative transcriptomics, chitinase activity assays, and gut metagenomics to compare F. cancrivora with its freshwater congener, F. multistriata. We found that F. cancrivora has evolved a thicker gastric muscularis and longer gastric villi, consistent with enhanced processing of hard prey. Comparative transcriptomic analysis revealed an expanded repertoire of putative chitinase encoding transcripts (15 vs. 8 non-redundant transcripts), and both gastric and intestinal tissues exhibit significantly higher and more pH-tolerant chitinase activity. In contrast, the gut microbiota of F. cancrivora is not enriched for microbial chitin degradation genes, but instead is functionally specialized for lipid metabolism and DNA repair pathways. A controlled feeding experiment confirmed that the microbial enrichment in lipid metabolism is diet-driven, while the DNA repair pathways is largely independent of diet and likely reflects microbiome-intrinsic adaptation to chronic saline stress.CONCLUSIONSTogether, these findings suggest a partially partitioned host-microbiome strategy in which host manages chitin breakdown, while the microbiota optimizes energy harvest and intrinsic stress tolerance. Our findings provide a new paradigm for amphibian marine adaptation, and highlights host-microbiome functional differentiation during niche expansion.CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBERNot applicable.","PeriodicalId":55142,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Zoology","volume":"349 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148522199","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":"The role of personality and experience in bimodal signal integration in a territorial poison frog.","authors":"Dhanya Bharath,Mélissa Peignier,Phin Anibal,Noëlle Tschirren,Max Ringler,Eva Ringler","doi":"10.1186/s12983-026-00624-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-026-00624-3","url":null,"abstract":"Multimodal communication, in which multiple signal modalities are combined to produce a single compound signal, is employed by many species and can mediate a wide range of fitness-relevant behaviours. While the form and function of multimodal signals have been extensively studied, we know little about how individual traits such as personality and experience influence receivers' responses to these signals. We investigated how aggressiveness and experience affect the behavioural responses to bimodal signals in the brilliant-thighed poison frog Allobates femoralis. In this species, male advertisement calls constitute a fixed bimodal signal, as the production of sound is coupled with the inflation of the vocal sac, which adds a visual cue. We presented territorial males with a synthetic advertisement call (acoustic cue) and a model frog with a pulsating vocal sac (visual cue), and manipulated signal ambiguity by varying the spatial distance between the two components. We predicted personality and experience would affect how males responded to the bimodal signal depending on its level of ambiguity, and expected younger and/or more aggressive males to respond faster and to attack the visual cue more frequently than older or less aggressive males, especially under high signal ambiguity. Contrary to our predictions, neither aggressiveness nor experience influenced response latency or attack likelihood. Instead, all males displayed a consistent population-level pattern: as the spatial separation between the visual and acoustic signal components increased, they were less likely to attack the model, and their initial and overall interactions shifted from the visual model to the sound source. These findings suggest that the fixed bimodal signals in A. femoralis selected for robust and uniform receiver responses to maintain reliable communication during high-stakes social interactions such as territorial defence. Aggressive receiver responses seem to be dual-staged, consisting of far-field phonotaxis to the acoustic signal component and visual and multimodal signals only becoming relevant during near-field aggression. Future studies should compare how ecological and social factors shape receivers' responses across species with varying degrees of coupling between the signal components in order to better understand the evolution of multimodal signalling and of the diversity of receiver strategies.","PeriodicalId":55142,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Zoology","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148476295","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":"Lessons learned from surveying Galápagos marine iguanas using drones.","authors":"Andrea Varela-Jaramillo,Christian Winkelmann,Gustavo Pazmiño,Jenifer Suárez-Moncada,Estefanía Altamirano,Eduardo Espinoza,Marjorie Riofrío-Lazo,Diego Páez-Rosas,Gonzalo Rivas-Torres,Juan M Guayasamin,Sebastian Steinfartz,Amy MacLeod","doi":"10.1186/s12983-026-00623-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-026-00623-4","url":null,"abstract":"BACKGROUNDMonitoring wildlife in remote areas is a key challenge in conservation, with traditional methods proving increasingly inadequate in the face of accelerating biodiversity loss. Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones help bridge data gaps, but methods require careful development and validation to ensure protocols are appropriate, accessible, reproducible, and generate reliable data. Herein, we develop detailed UAV-based protocols for surveying the endangered marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus), a lizard that is endemic to the coastlines of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. We outline steps from image collection and processing, through locating and counting animals, before validating results against traditional methods.RESULTSWe find that UAV-based surveys outperform traditional ground-based surveys in terms of count reliability and effort in the field in different types of terrain and various population densities. Moreover, we show that consumer-level drones can be used effectively - even by newly trained pilots - and describe a standardised manual flying protocol that mimics automated flying whilst maintaining flexibility in the field. Finally, we recommend the use of orthomosaics (geometrically corrected, high-resolution aerial image maps) for surveys on flat terrains and 3D models (digital representations of the surface in three dimensions) for cliffs and compare several common image-processing platforms in terms of success to reconstruct marine iguanas.CONCLUSIONOur protocols advance the effective monitoring of Galápagos marine iguanas. Whilst they were specifically developed for this species, we postulate that these could be applicable for other species across the archipelago, or in coastal and open landscapes worldwide.","PeriodicalId":55142,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Zoology","volume":"50 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148385704","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}