The Science of Nature最新文献

Craniofacial lesions in the earliest predatory dinosaurs indicate intraspecific agonistic behaviour at the dawn of the dinosaur era

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2025-03-26 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-025-01978-0

Mauricio S. Garcia, Ricardo N. Martínez, Rodrigo T. Müller

引用次数: 0

Rapid decline of male honey bees in summer: the potential impact of Japanese barn swallows on high male loss

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2025-03-26 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-025-01979-z

Shinya Hayashi, Takeyuki Suematsu, Tsunao Itoh

{"title":"Rapid decline of male honey bees in summer: the potential impact of Japanese barn swallows on high male loss","authors":"Shinya Hayashi, Takeyuki Suematsu, Tsunao Itoh","doi":"10.1007/s00114-025-01979-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00114-025-01979-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div>Given the population size of eusocial hymenopteran insects, particular emphasis is placed on evaluating the number of reproductive female individuals (queen). However, male production also accounts for a substantial part of the reproductive output of a colony. The number of breeding males in the mating population plays a vital role in the health of a colony and, ultimately, a population size by influencing the mating status of the queen. The lifespan of male honey bees (Apis mellifera) varies considerably, influencing their dynamics in a population. However, studies on the factors that cause male mortality are limited. This study evaluated the cohort survival of male honey bees and the relationship between the activity of males and Japanese barn swallows (Hirundo rustica gutturalis), a potential predator that significantly influences male honey bee survival. The majority of male loss in colonies was observed around the ages when flight was first initiated, particularly in the summer. Swallows frequently visited the apiary in the afternoon and preyed on the bees. The daily activity of swallows was closely linked to the activity of male honey bees, which was high in the summer. A hazard model analysis revealed that the risk of male honey bee loss increased by approximately 40% with an increasing number of swallows. The observed significant relationship between swallows and males presents the possibility that swallows are key factors causing the high loss of males during summer.</div>","PeriodicalId":794,"journal":{"name":"The Science of Nature","volume":"112 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143698473","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

Release of ice-nucleating particles from leaves during rainfall 降雨时树叶释放的冰核颗粒

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2025-03-25 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-025-01980-6

Franz Conen, Annika Einbock

引用次数: 0

New proterochampsid remains from the Middle Triassic of Brazil enhance the group's diversity during its origins

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2025-03-24 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-025-01981-5

Rodrigo Temp Müller

{"title":"New proterochampsid remains from the Middle Triassic of Brazil enhance the group's diversity during its origins","authors":"Rodrigo Temp Müller","doi":"10.1007/s00114-025-01981-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00114-025-01981-5","url":null,"abstract":"<div>Proterochampsidae is a clade of archosauriform reptiles that lived during the Triassic Period, with notable fossil records in South America. Among these, Ladinian deposits in Brazil have yielded the oldest proterochampsids worldwide, offering insights into the origins of the group. However, their record from this interval remains scarce, with only two species previously described: Pinheirochampsa rodriguesi and Retymaijychampsa beckerorum. Here, I report the first proterochampsid specimen from the Posto site (Pinheiros-Chiniquá Sequence; Dinodontosaurus Assemblage Zone) in Dona Francisca, Rio Grande do Sul. The new specimen, CAPPA/UFSM 0459, comprises the anterior tip of a rostrum, identified as a proterochampsid based on its dorsoventrally flattened premaxilla with a dorsally facing external naris and anterior narial fossa. Despite its fragmentary nature, CAPPA/UFSM 0459 represents the first non-archosaur archosauriform identified at the Posto site, suggesting a small carnivorous member of this local fauna. Comparisons indicate it is unlikely to belong to any previously described species. This finding highlights the diversity and ecological significance of early proterochampsids within Middle Triassic ecosystems dominated by therapsids, pseudosuchians, and early dinosauromorphs.</div>","PeriodicalId":794,"journal":{"name":"The Science of Nature","volume":"112 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143676415","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

Nearly complete late Eocene skull from the North Pacific elucidates the cranial morphology and affinities of the penguin-like Plotopteridae

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2025-03-20 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-025-01977-1

Gerald Mayr, James L. Goedert, Adrian Richter

{"title":"Nearly complete late Eocene skull from the North Pacific elucidates the cranial morphology and affinities of the penguin-like Plotopteridae","authors":"Gerald Mayr, James L. Goedert, Adrian Richter","doi":"10.1007/s00114-025-01977-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00114-025-01977-1","url":null,"abstract":"<div>The extinct Plotopteridae were penguin-like, wing-propelled diving birds of the North Pacific. Recently, the oldest and most complete plotopterid skull has been discovered in the late Eocene lower part of the Lincoln Creek Formation, southern Olympic Peninsula (Washington State, USA), and informs the poorly known cranial morphology of these birds. This skull is somewhat larger than previously described partial skulls from the Oligocene Pysht Formation of the northern Olympic Peninsula, from which it also differs in the shape of the nostrils. It may represent the genus Klallamornis, but a definitive taxonomic assignment is not yet possible. The specimen corroborates a sister group relationship of plotopterids to the suliform Suloidea and exhibits a notable character mosaic. Whereas the long rostrum most closely resembles that of the Fregatidae and some Phalacrocoracidae, the neurocranium is more similar to that of the Sulidae. An arcuate rostral ridge of the basicranium is otherwise only known from the Sphenisciformes, and a pair of prominent longitudinal ridges along the ventral surface of the rostrum is an autapomorphy of plotopterids. The small nostrils are situated at the caudal ends of conspicuous sulci, which are interpreted as vestiges of long, slit-like nostrils and are much less pronounced in extant Suliformes. Long, slit-like nostrils occur in stem group Sphenisciformes and may also have been present in stem group Fregatidae, in which case the nostrils were reduced twice within Suliformes, presumably to prevent salt water influx into the nasal cavity.</div>","PeriodicalId":794,"journal":{"name":"The Science of Nature","volume":"112 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00114-025-01977-1.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143655426","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

Pomphorhynchus laevis host manipulation regardless of presence of gammarid conspecifics or predator cues

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2025-03-06 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-025-01975-3

H. Fanton, E. Franquet, N. Kaldonski

{"title":"Pomphorhynchus laevis host manipulation regardless of presence of gammarid conspecifics or predator cues","authors":"H. Fanton, E. Franquet, N. Kaldonski","doi":"10.1007/s00114-025-01975-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00114-025-01975-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div>Pomphorhynchus laevis is a freshwater heteroxenous parasite that infects Gammarus pulex as intermediate host and Squalius cephalus as definitive host. This acanthocephalan parasite is able to manipulate the behavior of G. pulex to increase probability of transmission between G. pulex prey and S. cephalus predator. Manipulation results from complex interactions and could be triggered or enhanced by biotic parameters. This experimental study investigated the effect of the presence both of G. pulex conspecifics and of S. cephalus cues on the behavior of P. laevis-infected and uninfected G. pulex in flowing water. The presence of G. pulex conspecifics increased the distance covered by both uninfected and P. laevis-infected gammarids in the artificial stream, whereas S. cephalus cues did not influence the distance covered by either. In static water, S. cephalus cues significantly decreased G. pulex attraction to light, regardless of infection status. Our results show that P. laevis manipulates distance covered regardless of the presence of either G. pulex conspecifics or S. cephalus cues. We discuss how these two biological parameters affect uninfected G. pulex and other factors involved in P. laevis manipulation of its gammarid host.</div>","PeriodicalId":794,"journal":{"name":"The Science of Nature","volume":"112 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143553779","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

Soil-adhesive or water repellent properties of the surface of cicada exuviae

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2025-03-04 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-025-01976-2

Jun Murayama, Kazuo Yamazaki, Hiroshi Ogasawara, Hiroshi Moriwaki

引用次数: 0

Host associations of Brazilian Darwin wasps: current knowledge and the IchHostBR dataset

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2025-02-27 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-025-01974-4

Alvaro Doria dos Santos, Carlos Roberto Ferreira Brandão, Helena Carolina Onody

{"title":"Host associations of Brazilian Darwin wasps: current knowledge and the IchHostBR dataset","authors":"Alvaro Doria dos Santos, Carlos Roberto Ferreira Brandão, Helena Carolina Onody","doi":"10.1007/s00114-025-01974-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00114-025-01974-4","url":null,"abstract":"<div>Darwin wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) are among the most diverse and ecologically important groups of parasitoid insects, with more than 25,000 valid species and many more yet to be discovered. As the most speciose family within the order Hymenoptera, their remarkable evolutionary success is primarily attributed to their parasitic life history, which enables them to exploit a vast array of hosts and ecological niches. Despite their pivotal role in regulating host populations and maintaining ecosystem balance, host association data for Ichneumonidae remain significantly underexplored. This article presents IchHostBR, a comprehensive dataset compiling host-parasitoid records for Brazilian Darwin wasps. The dataset integrates 342 host-parasitoid associations sourced from 156 journal articles, encompassing 16 subfamilies, 74 genera, and 93 species of Ichneumonidae, as well as six host orders and 121 host species. The methodology involved rigorous data collection, cleaning, and standardization ensuring accuracy and usability. The primary aim of this initiative is to establish a robust, accessible, and continuously updated online platform that supports research and conservation efforts. In addition to introducing the dataset, the article provides a state-of-the-art review of current knowledge on Ichneumonid host associations, identifies key gaps in our knowledge and hopefully lays a foundation for advancing studies on Ichneumonidae host interactions in Brazil.</div>","PeriodicalId":794,"journal":{"name":"The Science of Nature","volume":"112 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143496893","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

The left–right-handedness of the cylindrical spathe correlates with the phyllotactic spiral direction in Arisaema (Araceae) 圆柱形佛焰苞的左右手方向与天南星科植物的叶绿素螺旋方向有关

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2025-02-26 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-025-01973-5

Tetsuya K. Matsumoto, Kodai N. Sato, Junichi Ohno, Tokiyoshi Hiramatsu, Jin Murata

{"title":"The left–right-handedness of the cylindrical spathe correlates with the phyllotactic spiral direction in Arisaema (Araceae)","authors":"Tetsuya K. Matsumoto, Kodai N. Sato, Junichi Ohno, Tokiyoshi Hiramatsu, Jin Murata","doi":"10.1007/s00114-025-01973-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00114-025-01973-5","url":null,"abstract":"<div>A left–right asymmetry of plants has attracted attention in various study areas (e.g., developmental biology, ethology, and evolutionary biology); however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In the genus Arisaema (Araceae), each plant possesses a cylindrical spathe that exhibits the left–right-handedness in the folding direction. As the spathe is a modified leaf, a phyllotactic spiral (clockwise or counter-clockwise directions) in vegetative organs may affect this dimorphism. In this study, we aimed to examine (1) interannual changes in the spathe folding direction in the same individuals, (2) the effect of phyllotactic spirals on the left–right-handedness of the spathe, (3) the abundance ratio of left- and right-folded spathes in several Arisaema species, and (4) the relationship between the coiling direction of young folded leaves and phyllotactic spirals in other aroid genera. The spathe folding direction changed annually and was significantly related to the phyllotactic spiral direction. The left–right-handedness prevailed among the 27 tested Arisaema species, and frequencies of left- and right-folded spathes were mostly similar. In the five aroid genera, the phyllotaxis was clearly correlated with the leaf coiling direction. These results imply that the phyllotactic spiral affects the spathe folding direction of Arisaema and the leaf coiling direction of aroids. Considering developmental studies on asymmetric leaves in other taxa, the left–right-handedness of the spathe in Arisaema is possibly a consequence of the phyllotactic pattern formation.</div>","PeriodicalId":794,"journal":{"name":"The Science of Nature","volume":"112 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143489658","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

Breeding behaviour, visual communication and male combat of Philothamnus occidentalis and Philothamnus natalensis

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2025-02-25 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-025-01972-6

Kirsty J. Kyle, Colleen T. Downs

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