The Science of Nature最新文献

Individual identity of alarm calls in wild-living Brandt’s voles (Lasiopodomys brandtii)

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2024-12-21 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01956-y

Ilya A. Volodin, Vadim E. Kirilyuk, Nina A. Vasilieva, Elena V. Volodina

引用次数: 0

The first fossil longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) from Australia 澳大利亚的第一批长角甲虫化石（鞘翅目：角甲科

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2024-12-16 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01954-0

Lachlan J. Hart, Adam Ślipiński, Michael Frese, Tara Djokic, Matthew R. McCurry

引用次数: 0

Hooding cobras can get ahead of other snakes in the ability to evoke human fear

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2024-12-04 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01952-2

Daniel Frynta, Iveta Štolhoferová, Hassan Sh Abdirahman Elmi, Markéta Janovcová, Veronika Rudolfová, Kateřina Rexová, David Sommer, David Král, Daniel Alex Berti, Eva Landová, Petra Frýdlová

{"title":"Hooding cobras can get ahead of other snakes in the ability to evoke human fear","authors":"Daniel Frynta, Iveta Štolhoferová, Hassan Sh Abdirahman Elmi, Markéta Janovcová, Veronika Rudolfová, Kateřina Rexová, David Sommer, David Král, Daniel Alex Berti, Eva Landová, Petra Frýdlová","doi":"10.1007/s00114-024-01952-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00114-024-01952-2","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Fear of snakes is common not only in humans but also in other primates. Consequently, snakes are salient stimuli associated with prioritized attention, early detection and emotional significance. This has been interpreted as an adaptive evolutionary response of the primate brain to a risk of envenoming by a hidden snake. However, the struggle between mammals and snakes is not one-sided. Humans and carnivores regularly kill snakes, and thus snakes develop deterring defensive behaviour that may directly evoke enhanced fear. Here, we show that snakes depicted in threatening posture evoked on average more fear than those in resting posture. Significantly, African (Somali) and European (Czech) respondents considerably agreed on the relative fear elicited by various snakes. Nonetheless, not all defensive postures are equally efficient. Threatening cobras were perceived as top fear-evoking stimuli, even though most of them are not considered very frightening in resting posture. This effect can be attributed to their conspicuous hooding posture which evolved into an efficient warning signal for mammalian predators. Our result demonstrates that cobras are more effective than other snakes in the ability to evoke human fear by a simple behavioural display—hooding. This can be primarily explained by the behavioural evolution of cobras which successfully exploited pre-existing cognitive mechanisms of mammals. Whether human ancestors cohabiting with deadly venomous cobras further improved their fear response to hooding is uncertain, but likely.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":794,"journal":{"name":"The Science of Nature","volume":"112 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00114-024-01952-2.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142761702","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}

引用次数: 0

Using ensemble modeling to predict the current distribution of Pistacia atlantica Desf. in Algeria 利用集合建模预测阿尔及利亚Pistacia atlantica Desf.的当前分布。

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2024-11-19 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01951-3

Massinissa Aloui, Souad Neffar, Haroun Chenchouni

{"title":"Using ensemble modeling to predict the current distribution of Pistacia atlantica Desf. in Algeria","authors":"Massinissa Aloui, Souad Neffar, Haroun Chenchouni","doi":"10.1007/s00114-024-01951-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00114-024-01951-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>To understand the distribution of Atlas pistachio (<i>Pistacia atlantica</i> Desf.) in Algeria, we analyzed the environmental factors influencing its habitat. This study employs an ensemble modelling (EM) approach, a robust predictive technique in ecological niche modelling that enables us to identify critical environmental drivers affecting plant distributions across different ecosystems’ focal species. The EM incorporated four prediction algorithms (generalized linear model, boosted regression trees, random forest, and maximum entropy algorithms); we modelled Atlas pistachio’s niche with 2810 occurrence points and 32 environmental variables, including climatic, edaphic, topographic, and anthropogenic factors. The model demonstrated high accuracy, with an AUC of 0.97 and TSS of 0.88. Key factors influencing distribution were precipitation in the driest month (Bio14), soil bulk density (BD), cation exchange capacity (CEC), human modification, and average diurnal amplitude (Bio2), with a relative importance of 20.1%, 12.7%, 6.7%, 4.9%, and 3.1%, respectively. These findings underscore the utility of ensemble modelling to pinpoint specific environmental variables critical to the species’ presence and ecological adaptability, which has broader implications for other plant species in arid landscapes. Notably, the probability of Atlas pistachio occurrence increased with BD and decreased with CEC and human influence. Our results emphasize the EM approach as a versatile tool in ecological modelling, facilitating species-specific analyses that contribute to broader ecological restoration efforts, especially in degraded arid and semi-arid regions. This study advances our understanding of Atlas pistachio’s environmental requirements and highlights the importance of EM in developing targeted programs to restore degraded ecosystems.</p><h3>Graphical abstract</h3>\u0000<div><figure><div><div><picture><source><img></source></picture></div></div></figure></div></div>","PeriodicalId":794,"journal":{"name":"The Science of Nature","volume":"111 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142666803","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}

引用次数: 0

Discovering spider fly (Diptera: Acroceridae) hosts and their biology using citizen science 利用公民科学发现蜘蛛蝇（双翅目：螨科）寄主及其生物学特性

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2024-11-12 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01948-y

Rodrigo M. Barahona-Segovia, Rubén Montenegro Vargas, Roberto Rojas, Milenko A. Aguilera, Christian R. González

引用次数: 0

Postdoctoral struggles in the Global South: insights from India 全球南部的博士后奋斗：印度的启示

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2024-11-11 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01949-x

Suvarna Khadakkar, Saskya van Nouhuys

引用次数: 0

Extracts from the leaves of knotweeds (Reynoutria spp.) have a stimulating effect on the germination and initial growth of wheat grains 节节草（Reynoutria spp.）叶片的提取物对小麦的发芽和初期生长有促进作用

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2024-11-05 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01946-0

Božena Šerá, Pratik Doshi, Lubomír Věchet

{"title":"Extracts from the leaves of knotweeds (Reynoutria spp.) have a stimulating effect on the germination and initial growth of wheat grains","authors":"Božena Šerá, Pratik Doshi, Lubomír Věchet","doi":"10.1007/s00114-024-01946-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00114-024-01946-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p> Knotweed (<i>Reynoutria</i> sp.) plants are known in the world mainly as invasive plants. However, it is known that their rhizomes or leaves contain secondary metabolites with biological activity. Our goal was to determine which of the three knotweed plants (<i>Reynoutria japonica</i>, <i>Reynoutria × bohemica</i>, and <i>Reynoutria sachalinensis</i>) is most suitable for seed growth stimulation. We tested alcoholic extracts of all three knotweed species by seed priming method on wheat germination and seedling characteristics, when 12 measured characteristics were monitored. Extracts from all three species of <i>Reynoutria</i> sp. generally showed an improvement in wheat germination and growth compared to the control. <i>R.</i> × <i>bohemica</i> appears to be the best source for stimulating wheat growth, as seedling vigor indexes I and II, R/S dry weight, shoot and seedling lengths, root, shoot, and seedling dry weights were significantly different (ANOVA, Duncan’s test, <i>α</i> < 0.05). The plants <i>Reynoutria</i> spp. seem to be possible sources for the protection and stimulation of agriculture crops.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":794,"journal":{"name":"The Science of Nature","volume":"111 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00114-024-01946-0.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142579522","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}

引用次数: 0

Fine-scale habitat selection in tree-dwelling spiders: an experimental approach 树栖蜘蛛的精细栖息地选择：一种实验方法

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2024-10-30 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01947-z

German Antonio Villanueva-Bonilla, Yuri Fanchini Mesas, Marcelo de Oliveira Gonzaga, Hebert da Silva Souza, Antonio Domingos Brescovit, Jober Fernando Sobczak, João Vasconcellos Neto

{"title":"Fine-scale habitat selection in tree-dwelling spiders: an experimental approach","authors":"German Antonio Villanueva-Bonilla, Yuri Fanchini Mesas, Marcelo de Oliveira Gonzaga, Hebert da Silva Souza, Antonio Domingos Brescovit, Jober Fernando Sobczak, João Vasconcellos Neto","doi":"10.1007/s00114-024-01947-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00114-024-01947-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Habitat selection by spiders is strongly influenced by biotic factors such as the availability and diversity of prey and abiotic factors such as temperature, humidity, and the structural complexity of the habitat. Structural complexity is an aspect that intensely affects species persistence, population stability, and the coexistence of interacting species. Trees comprise a complex set of microhabitats due to their large biomass and heterogeneity of the architectural components of their trunk surface and branches. Spider species that live on trunks have diversified physiological or morphological adaptations that confer advantages in this environment. In this study, we experimentally examined the habitat choice by the tree-dwelling spiders <i>Selenops cocheleti</i> (Selenopidae), <i>Corinna rubripes</i> (Corinnidae), and <i>Loxosceles gaucho</i> (Sicariidae). We found that microhabitat specialization was restricted to trunk architectural characteristics rather than plant taxonomy. <i>Selenops cocheleti</i> and <i>C. rubripes</i> significantly preferred loose barks and holes in the trunks, respectively, showing that both spider species can evaluate the physical structure of the microhabitat on a fine scale. On the other hand, <i>L. gaucho</i> selected crevices and holes near the base of the trunk without giving much importance to the physical characteristics of the microhabitat per se (e.g., depth, height, length). Our findings indicate that for generalist predators like spiders, coexistence relies heavily on spatial segregation driven by distinct habitat preferences, irrespective of their method for capturing prey.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":794,"journal":{"name":"The Science of Nature","volume":"111 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142540507","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}

引用次数: 0

Animal family discrimination from hair using ATR-FTIR and machine learning methods for applications in illegal wildlife trafficking 利用 ATR-FTIR 和机器学习方法从毛发中辨别动物科属，以应用于非法野生动物贩运。

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2024-10-24 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01944-2

Rajni Bala, Akanksha Sharma, Vishal Sharma

{"title":"Animal family discrimination from hair using ATR-FTIR and machine learning methods for applications in illegal wildlife trafficking","authors":"Rajni Bala, Akanksha Sharma, Vishal Sharma","doi":"10.1007/s00114-024-01944-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00114-024-01944-2","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Wildlife forensics plays a pivotal role in the combating illegal trafficking, supporting biodiversity conservation, and aiding in the identification of animals in wildlife. Animal hair, often found in trafficking crimes, serves as vital biological evidence that can provide significant information for animal identification. This study proposes a novel method integrating machine learning classifiers with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy in attenuated total reflectance (ATR) mode to enhance the effectiveness of animal identification in wildlife forensic casework. Additionally, compound microscopy has also been utilized as a preliminary tool to perform morphological analysis of hair samples from four animal families, including Bovidae, Cervidae, Elephantidae, and Felidae. Further, chemical profiling through spectral data revealed significant overlapping peaks between family Bovidae and Cervidae. The classification experiment provides the random forest (RF) classifier as the most effective for family discrimination model. This research offers valuable insights for wildlife forensics by improving the identification accuracy of unknown hair samples, thus enhancing the overall effectiveness in forensic investigations.</p><h3>Graphical Abstract</h3>\u0000<div><figure><div><div><picture><source><img></source></picture></div></div></figure></div></div>","PeriodicalId":794,"journal":{"name":"The Science of Nature","volume":"111 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00114-024-01944-2.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142492641","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}

引用次数: 0

Hidden in red: evidence for and against red camouflage in a jumping spider (Saitis barbipes) 隐藏在红色中：一种跳跃蜘蛛（Saitis barbipes）红色伪装的证据与反证

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2024-10-16 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01945-1

Jasmin Laura Gerfen, Cynthia Tedore

{"title":"Hidden in red: evidence for and against red camouflage in a jumping spider (Saitis barbipes)","authors":"Jasmin Laura Gerfen, Cynthia Tedore","doi":"10.1007/s00114-024-01945-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00114-024-01945-1","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Investigating the conspicuousness of animal color patterns to different observers is crucial for understanding their function. This study examines the peculiar case of a jumping spider (<i>Saitis barbipes</i>) whose males display red and black ornaments during courtship despite an apparent inability to distinguish these colors. We propose that, through predator eyes, red may actually be a better match than black to the spiders’ leaf litter background, and that the black fringe of hairs surrounding red ornaments may blur with red at natural predator acuities and viewing distances to produce a background-matching desaturated red. In a field experiment, we test whether red ornaments reduce predation relative to red ornaments painted black, and find that, unexpectedly, spiders with red ornaments are more heavily predated upon. Having established birds as the spiders’ primary predators, we image the spiders in their natural habitat using an avian-vision camera. We find their red coloration to have similar color contrast, but lower achromatic contrast, with the background than black coloration. We also find that red and black elements blur together at typical avian acuities and viewing distances to produce lower chromatic and achromatic contrasts with the background than would be seen by animals with higher acuities and/or closer viewing distances. Interestingly, red ornaments appear orange or yellow when viewed obliquely, which reduces their achromatic, but not chromatic, contrast with the background. Our imaging results provide support for our hypothesis that red is camouflaging, whereas the results of our predation experiment do not. Any functional significance of the spiders’ red coloration therefore remains unresolved.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":794,"journal":{"name":"The Science of Nature","volume":"111 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00114-024-01945-1.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142438882","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}

引用次数: 0