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Social Play In African Savannah Elephants May Inform Selection Against Aggression Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-11 Ivan Norscia, Martin Hecker, Marta Caselli, Edoardo Collarini, Beatriz Gallego Aldama, Santiago Borragán Santos, Giada Cordoni
In social groups, competition for individual advantage is balanced with cooperation, for the collective benefit. Selection against aggression has favoured cooperation and non-aggressive competitive strategies. Because social play is a behavioural system that fluctuates between cooperation and competition, selection against aggression might have especially influenced this behaviour. African savannah
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Intra-tooth stable isotope analysis reveals seasonal dietary variability and niche partitioning among bushpigs/red river hogs and warthogs Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-09 Deming Yang, Kevin T Uno, Thure E Cerling, Ogeto Mwebi, Louise N Leakey, Frederick E Grine, Antoine Souron
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
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Prioritizing landscapes for mitigating the impacts of onshore wind farms on multidimensional waterbird diversity in the Yellow Sea Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-09 Shanshan Zhao, Huan Xu, Tianhou Wang, Hepeng Li, Xiuzhen Li, Ningning Liu, Xiao Song, Feng Guan, Xuechu Chen, Aichun Xu, Ben Li
Ongoing wind energy developments play a key role in mitigating the global effects of climate change and the energy crisis; however, they have complex ecological consequences for many flying animals. The Yellow Sea coast is considered as an ecological bottleneck for migratory waterbirds along the East Asian–Australasian flyway (EAAF), and is also an important wind farm base in China. However, the effects
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Is the speed of adjusting to environmental change condition dependent? An experiment with house mice (Mus musculus) Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-05 Karem Lopez-Hervas, Neelam Porwal, Mathilde Delacoux, Alexandros Vezyrakis, Anja Guenther
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
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Taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional nestedness of mammal assemblages in the Zhoushan Archipelago, China Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-05 Chengxiu Zhan, Bicheng Li, Chuanwu Chen, Yanping Wang
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’
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Ecology and social behavior of the tamarisk gerbil Meriones tamariscinus: Insights from long-term research in the wild and seminatural environments Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2024-02-27 Vladimir S Gromov
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
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Outbreeding management offers the promise of genetic rescue for an endangered lizard Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2024-02-27 Guannan Wen, Hongxin Xie, Shuyi Luo, Chunsheng Yang, Xianwu Tang, Yibo Hu, Weiguo Du
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
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Extending the social cohesion hypothesis: Is group social structure associated with dispersal in yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer)? Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2024-02-01 Sara A Schneidman, Conner S Philson, Daniel T Blumstein
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
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Trophic niche segregation in a guild of top predators within the Mediterranean Basin Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-30 Samuele Ramellini, Emanuele Crepet, Stefano Lapadula, Andrea Romano
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
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Apennine-Pyrenees disjunct distribution: An unusual biogeographic pattern revealed in flea beetles of the Longitarsus candidulus species-group (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-12-26 Emanuele Berrilli, Maurizio Biondi, Matteo Garzia, Paola D’Alessandro, Daniele Salvi
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
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Behavioral syndromes in paper wasps: Links between social and non-social personality in Polistes fuscatus Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-12-08 Fatima W Jomaa, Emily C Laub, Elizabeth A Tibbetts
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
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Exploratory behavior is associated with the cognitive speed in male chestnut thrushes Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-12-04 Yingqiang Lou, Yuqi Zou, Yun Fang, Yuehua Sun
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
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Lack of response to conspecific juvenile vocalizations in two avian brood parasites Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-12-01 Rocío Prieto, M Cecilia De Mársico, Juan C Reboreda, Romina C Scardamaglia
Juveniles of interspecific avian brood parasites need to locate and recognize conspecifics to continue their life cycle after being reared by individuals of another species. However, little is known about the recognition mechanisms and cues involved in this critical stage of their lives. It has been proposed that adult parasites could show some kind of parental behavior by actively searching and interacting
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Most soil and litter arthropods are unidentifiable based on current DNA barcode reference libraries Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-11-28 Ernesto Recuero, Frank E Etzler, Michael Caterino
We are far from knowing all species living on the planet. Understanding biodiversity is demanding and requires time and expertise. Most groups are understudied given problems of identifying and delimiting species. DNA barcoding emerged to overcome some of the difficulties in identifying species. Its limitations derive from incomplete taxonomic knowledge and the lack of comprehensive DNA barcode libraries
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Responses of birds to observers holding popguns: Hunting history influences escape behavior of urban birds Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-11-17 Kaiqi Yuan, Shuang Yang, Jianping Liu, Wei Liang
Human activities affect bird behavior both directly and indirectly. Birds constantly regulate their behavior in response to human disturbance. Gun hunting, a major directional disturbance, puts enormous selection pressure on birds. In China, gun bans have been in place for nearly 30 years, and little hunting using guns occurs in modern cities. However, little attention has been paid to whether a history
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Morphology-based classification of the flying capacities of aquatic insects: A first attempt Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-11-10 Rémi Gerber, Christophe Piscart, Jean-Marc Roussel, Benjamin Bergerot
Flight is a key feature of the reproduction and dispersal of emerging aquatic insects. However, morphological measurements of insect flight are mostly available for terrestrial taxa and dragonflies, while aquatic insects have been poorly investigated. We analyzed seven flight-related morphological parameters of 32 taxa belonging to five orders of emerging aquatic insects (Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera
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Mitogenomics clarifies the position of the Nearctic magpies (Pica hudsonia and Pica nuttalli) within the Holarctic magpie radiation Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-11-06 Alexey P Kryukov, Kirill A Kryukov, Kathleen Collier, Bohao Fang, Scott Edwards
Partial separation of a peripheral population may lead to its divergence and, potentially, speciation due to genetic drift followed by selection and geographic isolation. This process may cause taxonomic uncertainty because reproductive isolation in allopatry cannot be verified directly. The two Nearctic allopatric species of magpies (Aves, Corvidae: Pica) serve as a good example of these problems
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Free-ranging dogs match a human’s preference in a foraging task Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-10-14 Giulia Cimarelli, Magdelena Juskaite, Friederike Range, Sarah Marshall-Pescini
Social learning is a mechanism used by many species to efficiently gain information about their environment. Although many animals live in an environment where members of other species are present, little is known about inter-specific social learning. Domesticated and urbanized species provide the opportunity to investigate whether non-human animals can learn from heterospecifics such as humans, who
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The roles of different gene expression regulators in acoustic variation in the intermediate horseshoe bat revealed by long-read and short-read RNA sequencing data Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-09-28 Qianqian Li, Jianyu Wu, Xiuguang Mao
Gene expression changes contribute greatly to phenotypic variations in nature. Studying patterns of regulators of gene expression is important to fully understand the molecular mechanism underlying phenotypic variations. In horseshoe bats the cochleae are finely turned to echoes of call frequency. Here, using two recently diverged subspecies of the intermediate horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus affinis hainanus
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Balancing selection shapes population differentiation of MHC genes in wild golden snub-nosed monkeys Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-09-24 Shixuan Dong, Bingyi Zhang, Kang Huang, Meijing Ying, Jibing Yan, Fei Niu, Hanyu Hu, Derek W Dunn, Yi Ren, Baoguo Li, Pei Zhang
Small and isolated populations face several intrinsic risks, such as genetic drift, inbreeding depression and reduced gene flow, patterns of genetic diversity and differentiation have become an important focus of conservation genetics research. The golden snub-nosed monkey Rhinopithecus roxellana, an endangered species endemic to China, has experienced rapid reduction in population size and severe
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Odour cues rather than personality affect tadpole deposition in a Neotropical poison frog Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-09-14 Mélissa Peignier, Max Ringler, Eva Ringler
Animals constantly need to evaluate available external and internal information to make appropriate decisions. Identifying, assessing, and acting on relevant cues in contexts such as mate choice, intra-sexual competition, and parental care is particularly important for optimizing individual reproductive success. Several factors can influence decision-making, such as external environmental cues and
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Expanding through the Emerald Isle: Exploration and spatial orientation of non-native bank voles in Ireland Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-08-23 Valeria Mazza, Jana A Eccard
Whether introduced into a completely novel habitat or slowly expanding their current range, the degree to which animals can efficiently explore and navigate new environments can be key to survival, ultimately determining population establishment and colonisation success. We tested whether spatial orientation and exploratory behaviour are associated with non-native spread in free-living bank voles (Myodes
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Changes in call properties of Boana pulchella (Anura, Hylidae) in response to different noise conditions Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-08-22 Pablo Grenat, María Ferrero, Mariana Baraquet, Favio Pollo, Manuel Otero, Zulma Salinas, Nancy Salas, Adolfo Martino
The increasing expansion of urban areas leads to the emergence of new noisy environments that can affect animal communication. Calls play a crucial role in the mating displays of anurans, and the negative impact of anthropogenic noise-induced auditory masking has been reported in several species. We investigated the acoustic variation in 96 males (n = 971 calls) of the treefrog Boana pulchella across
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Coping with drought? The hidden microhabitat selection and underground movements of amphisbaenians under summer drought conditions Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-08-13 José Martín, Gonzalo Rodríguez-Ruiz, José Javier Cuervo
Habitat selection is a dynamic process that depends on many environmental variables than can vary with weather conditions. This is important because, within a context of global change, extreme weather events, such as severe droughts, are predicted to become more frequent. We examined the patterns of microhabitat selection and underground movements (using PIT-tag telemetry) of a strictly fossorial reptile
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Species recognition and the divergences in the chemical and ultrasonic signals between two coexisting Rattus species Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-08-01 Wei-Chao Wang, Zhi-Ming Li, Yi Chen, Jin-Hua Zhang, Jian-Xu Zhang, Yao-Hua Zhang
The ability to recognize and differentiate between conspecifics and heterospecifics as well as their signals is critical for the coexistence of closely related species. In the genus Rattus, species are morphologically similar and multiple species often coexist. Here, we investigated the interspecific recognition and signal differentiation of two sympatric rat species, the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus
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Habitat and food preferences of European rabbits in core and edge populations along the invasion front Patagonia-Monte, Argentina Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-07-31 S Yasmin Bobadilla, María A Dacar, Fabián M Jaksic, Ricardo A Ojeda, M Fernanda Cuevas
The European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus is an exotic herbivorous mammal undergoing an active phase of geographical expansion in arid ecosystems of Argentina. The Adaptive Flexibility Hypothesis states that populations at the range edge (new populations) will exhibit greater flexibility in use of resources compared to populations located in the range core (older populations). The objective of this
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Impacts of brood parasitism by shiny cowbird Molothrus bonariensis on the breeding success of a small host, the black-backed water-tyrant Fluvicola albiventer Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-07-27 Lorena Vanesa Sovrano, Evelina Jesica León, Rodrigo Ezequiel Lorenzón, Pamela Fernanda Olguín, Adolfo Héctor Beltzer, Alejandro Raúl Giraudo
The shiny cowbird Molothrus bonariensis parasitizes many species with different life-history traits and has a detrimental effect on the survival of the progeny of the hosts. In response, hosts have developed numerous antiparasitic defenses. Here, we examined the effects of brood parasitism by shiny cowbird on the clutch and brood sizes (83 nests) in a small host, the black-backed water-tyrant Fluvicola
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Acoustic complexity of pup isolation calls in Mongolian hamsters: Three-frequency phenomena and chaos Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-07-21 Marina V Rutovskaya, Ilya A Volodin, Natalia Y Feoktistova, Alexey V Surov, Anna V Gureeva, Elena V Volodina
Studying pup isolation calls of wild rodents provides background for developing new early-life animal models for biomedical research and drug testing. This study discovered a highly complex acoustic phenotype of pup isolation calls in 4–5-days-old Mongolian hamsters Allocricetulus curtatus. We analysed the acoustic structure of 5010 isolation calls emitted in the broad range of frequencies (sonic,
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Opposite latitudinal gradients for species richness and phylogenetic diversity of endemic snakes in the Atlantic Forest Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-07-19 José Thales da Motta Portillo, Josué Anderson Rêgo Azevedo, Fausto Erritto Barbo, Ricardo J Sawaya
The decrease in species richness towards higher latitudes is an expected biogeographical pattern. This pattern could be related to particular environmental constraints and the evolutionary history of clades. However, species richness does not fully represent the evolutionary history of clades behind their distributions. Phylogenetic diversity better clarifies the role of historical factors in biogeographical
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How we look: European wild mouflon and feral domestic sheep hybrids Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-07-14 Nikica Šprem, Elena Buzan, Toni Safner
Hybridisation between wild animals and feral individuals from closely related domestic species can occur when they share the same habitat. Such events generally regarded as a threat to genetic integrity and survival of established wild populations. The aim of this study is to confirm a hybridisation between European mouflon and feral sheep on the Adriatic island Dugi Otok, where a group of individuals
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Niche differentiation among facultative filter feeders: Insights from invasive Ponto-Caspian mysids Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-07-14 Péter Borza, Varsha Rani, Csaba F Vad
The degree of dietary specialization has a fundamental impact on the ecological function and interactions of suspension feeders. While niche differentiation by food particle size is common among obligate suspension feeders, its role is not evident in facultative ones. In this study, we aimed at providing new insights on the matter by focusing on sympatric mysid species. As mysids use different mechanisms
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Isochronous singing in three crested gibbon species (Nomascus spp.) Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-06-30 Chiara De Gregorio, Teresa Raimondi, Valeria Bevilacqua, Chiara Pertosa, Daria Valente, Filippo Carugati, Francesca Bandoli, Livio Favaro, Brice Lefaux, Andrea Ravignani, Marco Gamba
The search for common characteristics between the musical abilities of humans and other animal species is still taking its first steps. One of the most promising aspects from a comparative point of view is the analysis of rhythmic components, which are crucial features of human communicative performance, but also well-identifiable patterns in the vocal displays of other species. Therefore, the study
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Lesser kestrels of the same colony do not overwinter together Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-06-30 Jorge García-Macía, Munir Chaouni, Sara Morollón, Javier Bustamante, Lina López-Ricaurte, Juan Martínez-Dalmau, Beatriz Rodríguez-Moreno, Vicente Urios
Migratory connectivity describes the linkage between breeding and non-breeding sites, having major ecological implications in birds: one season influence the success of an individual or a population in the following season. Most studies on migratory connectivity have used large-scale approaches, often considering regional populations, but fine-scale studies are also necessary to understand colony connectivity
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Evolution, divergence, and convergence in the mandibles of opossums (Didelphidae, Didelphimorphia) Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-06-25 Francisco das Chagas Silva-Neto, Silvia E Pavan, Diego Astúa
Didelphid marsupials are considered a morphologically unspecialized group with a generalist diet that includes vertebrates, invertebrates, and plant matter. While cranium and scapula variation has already been examined within Didelphidae, variation in mandible shape, usually associated with diet or phylogeny in other mammalian groups, has not yet been properly assessed in the family. We evaluated the
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Morphological traits explain the individual position within resource-consumer networks of a Neotropical marsupial Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-06-20 Nícholas F de Camargo, Hernani F M de Oliveira, Juliana F Ribeiro, Amabílio J A de Camargo, Emerson M Vieira
Knowledge regarding the influence of individual traits on interaction patterns in nature can help understand the topological role of individuals within a network of intrapopulation interactions. We tested hypotheses on the relationships between individuals’ positions within networks (specialization and centrality) of four populations of the mouse opossum Gracilinanus agilis and their traits (i.e.,
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Dispersal patterns of Reeves’s pheasant based on genetic and behavioral evidence Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-06-19 Shuai Lu, Xian Hou, Shan Tian, Zhengxiao Liu, Yunqi Wang, Ting Jin, Jianqiang Li, Pengcheng Wang, Jiliang Xu
Dispersal is an important life history trait that plays a crucial role in avoiding inbreeding. Uncovering the dispersal pattern of a threatened species facilitates conservation efforts. Most species of Galliformes are forest-dwelling terrestrial birds with a weak dispersal ability and high conservation priorities. However, little is known about the dispersal behavior and dispersal pattern of Galliformes
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Eurasian otters prefer to prey on religious released non-native fish on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-06-19 Qiaoyun Wang, Xuesong Han, Zichen Wang, Kaidan Zheng, Zhengyi Dong, Peng Zhang, Pengfei Fan, Lu Zhang
Religious wildlife release is prevalent worldwide, especially in Asia countries. It is one of the anthropogenic pathways to cause biological invasions. Religious fish release is common on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, yet few studies have assessed the influences of religious fish release on local species. In Yushu, a city on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, we interviewed local people, conducted fish trap
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Screening of morphology-related genes based on predator-induced transcriptome sequencing and the functional analysis of Dagcut gene in Daphnia galeata Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-06-07 Ya-qin Cao, Ya-jie Zhao, Hui-ying Qi, Jin-fei Huang, Fu-cheng Zhu, Wenping Wang, Dao-gui Deng
High fish predation pressure can trigger "induced defense" in Daphnia species, resulting in phenotypic plasticity in morphology, behavior, or life-history traits. The molecular mechanisms of defense morphogenesis (e.g. the tail spine and helmet) in Daphnia remain unclear. In the present study, the tail spine, helmet, and body of Daphnia galeata under fish and non-fish kairomones conditions were collected
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Sex-specific seasonal variations of wild boar distance traveled and home range size Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-05-10 Silvia Cavazza, Rudy Brogi, Apollonio Marco
Distance traveled and home range size describe how animals move in space. The seasonal variations of these parameters are important to comprehensively understand animal ecology and its connection with the reproductive behaviour and the energy costs. Researchers usually estimate the distance traveled as the sum of the straight-line displacements between sampled positions, but this approach is sensitive
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Friend or foe? Using eye tracking technology to investigate the visual discrimination ability of giant pandas Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-05-04 Xinrui Huang, Guo Li, Guiquan Zhang, Zixiang Li, Lin Zhao, Mengdie Zhu, Qinghua Xiang, Xuefeng Liu, Mei Tian, Hemin Zhang, Christina D Buesching, Dingzhen Liu
The role that visual discriminative ability plays among giant pandas in social communication and individual discrimination has received less attention than olfactory and auditory modalities. Here, we used an eye-tracker technology to investigate pupil fixation patterns for eight captive male giant pandas Ailuropoda melanoleuca. We paired images (N = 26) of conspecifics against: 1) sympatric predators
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Anthropogenic noise interacts with the predation risk assessment in a free-ranging bird Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-05-02 Piotr Matyjasiak, Patrycja Chacińska, Piotr Książka
Anthropogenic noise can affect a number of behavioral, physiological and ecological aspects of animals from major taxonomic groups, raising serious conservation concerns. For example, noise pollution impacts communicative behavior and perception of signals, movements and distribution, as well as predator-prey interactions, such as hunting success or predator detection and predation risk assessment
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Influence of ambient water coloration on habitat and conspecific choice in the female Lake Malawi cichlid, Metriaclima zebra Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-05-02 Noori Choi, Nicolas Mathevon, Eileen A Hebets, Marilyn Beauchaud
Female cichlid fish living in African great lakes are known to have sensory systems that are adapted to ambient light environments. These sensory system adaptations are hypothesized to have influenced the evolution of the diverse male nuptial coloration. In rock-dwelling Lake Malawi mbuna cichlids, however, the extent to which ambient light environments influence female sensory systems and potentially
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Exploring the size of Andean condor foraging groups along an altitudinal and latitudinal gradient in the Tropical Andes: Ecological and conservation implications Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-04-29 Diego Méndez, F Hernán Vargas, José Hernán Sarasola, Pedro P. Olea
Patterns of variation in the size of vulture foraging groups, and their ecological causes and consequences, remain little explored despite strong links with the carrion recycling service that this key functional group provides. We documented the group size-frequency pattern of Andean condors Vultur gryphus gathered to feed on 42 equine carcasses experimentally placed in Bolivia, between 2012 and 2019
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Sex-specific life-history trait expression in hybrids of a cave- and surface-dwelling fish (Poecilia mexicana, Poeciliidae) Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-04-27 Rüdiger Riesch, Luis R Arriaga, Ingo Schlupp
Evaluating the fitness of hybrids can provide important insights into genetic differences between species or diverging populations. We focused on surface- and cave-ecotypes of the widespread Atlantic molly Poecilia mexicana and raised F1 hybrids of reciprocal crosses to sexual maturity in a common-garden experiment. Hybrids were reared in a fully factorial 2x2 design consisting of lighting (light vs
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Witness for resolution: Post-conflict quadratic affiliation in semi-free ranging pigs Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-04-27 Ivan Norscia, Edoardo Collarini, Carlo Robino, Elena Chierto, Giada Cordoni
In social mammals, post-conflict resolution can involve the reunion of former opponents (reconciliation), spontaneous/solicited post-conflict affiliation of a third party with either opponent (triadic contacts), and affiliation between other individuals (hereafter bystanders; quadratic contacts). Quadratic contacts – possibly informing complex cognitive abilities - have been neglected in post-conflict
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Stochastic processes shape the functional and phylogenetic structure of bird assemblages at the mine area in southwest China Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-04-20 Shilong Liu, Tianlong Zhou, Xiaocai Tan, Wambura M Mtemi, Aiwu Jiang
Understanding the mechanisms of community assembly is a key question in ecology. Metal pollution may result in significant changes in bird community structure and diversity, with implications for ecosystem processes and function. However, the relative importance of these processes in shaping the bird community at the polluted area is still not clear. Here, we explored bird species richness, functional
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How incubation temperature affects hatchling performance in reptiles: an integrative insight based on plasticity in metabolic enzyme Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-04-03 Dan-Yang Wu, Xing-Zhi Han, Teng Li, Bao-Jun Sun, Xiao-Yan Qin
Evaluating the effects of temperature variations on animals plays an important role in understanding the threat of climate warming. The effects of developmental temperature on offspring performance are critical in evaluating the effects of warming temperatures on the fitness of oviparous species, but the physiological and biochemical basis of this developmental plasticity is largely unknown. In this
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Temporal stability and directional change in a color cline of a marine snail from NW Spain Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-03-31 Juan Gefaell, Ramón Vigo, A Honorato González-Vázquez, Juan Galindo, Emilio Rolán-Alvarez
The evolution and maintenance of color clines is a classic topic of research in evolutionary ecology. However, studies analyzing the temporal dynamics of such clines are much less frequent, due to the difficulty of obtaining reliable data about past color distributions along environmental gradients. In this paper, we describe a case of decades-long temporal stability and directional change in a color
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Social networks of reintroduced Przewalski's horses in the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area (Mongolia) Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-03-27 Anna Bernátková, Ganbaatar Oyunsaikhan, Jaroslav Šimek, Martina Komárková, Francisco Ceacero
Analysing social networks is a powerful tool for understanding the ecology of social species. While most studies focus on the role of each group member, few compare groups with different characteristics. The current population of Przewalski's horses Equus ferus przewalskii at the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area (Mongolia) includes groups of wild-born and captive-bred individuals with different
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Females adopt sexual catalepsy to facilitate mating Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-03-21 Jihe Liu, Keke Liu, Yu Tang, Weihua Wang, Xiang Xu, Jianhui Liang, Yonghong Xiao, Mark A Elgar
Theory predicts that males and females of dioecious species typically engage in an evolutionary sexual conflict over the frequency and choice of mating partner. Female sexual cannibalism, a particularly dramatic illustration of this conflict, is widespread in certain animal taxa including spiders. Nevertheless, females of some funnel weaving spiders that are generally aggressive to conspecifics enter
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The Silk roads: Phylogeography of Central Asian dice snakes (Serpentes: Natricidae) shaped by rivers in deserts and mountain valleys Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-03-14 Daniel Jablonski, Konrad Mebert, Rafaqat Masroor, Evgeniy Simonov, Oleg Kukushkin, Timur Abduraupov, Sylvia Hofmann
Influenced by rapid changes in climate and landscape features since the Miocene, widely distributed species provide suitable models to study the environmental impact on their evolution and current genetic diversity. The dice snake Natrix tessellata, widely distributed in the western Palearctic is one such species. We aimed to resolve a detailed phylogeography of N. tessellata with a focus on the Central
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Breeding phase and outcome determine space use in European rollers Coracias garrulus prior to migration Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-02-24 Flavio Monti, Sanja Barišić, Sebastian Cannarella, Davor Ćiković, Vesna Tutiš, Jelena Kralj, Carlo Catoni
The breeding period is a demanding and time-constrained phase for migratory bird species. Breeding outcome and duration can interact with the extent and duration of post-breeding movements, resulting in individual differences in space use ultimately influencing later stages of the annual cycle. We present space-use and home range estimates during the breeding season for 21 European rollers Coracias
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Metabolic and microbial changes in light-vented bulbul during recent northward range expansion Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-02-23 Yun Wu, Ying Xiong, Yanzhu Ji, Yalin Cheng, Qianghui Zhu, Xiaolu Jiao, Yongbin Chang, Na Zhao, Jing Yang, Fumin Lei, Gang Song
Endotherms recently expanding to cold environments generally exhibit strong physiological acclimation to sustain high body temperature. During this process, gut microbes likely play a considerable role in host physiological functions, including digestion and thermogenesis. The Light-vented bulbul Pycnonotus sinensis represents one of such a species. It used to be restricted to the Oriental realm, but
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Collective decision-making and spatial patterns in orientation of an endemic ungulate on the Tibetan Plateau Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-02-08 Xueting Yan, Xu Wang, Yumeng Zhao, Qin Zhu, Le Yang, Zhongqiu Li
Group living animals form striking aggregation patterns and display synchronization, polarization, and collective intelligence. Though many collective behavioural studies have been conducted on small animals like insects and fish, research on large animals is still rare due to the limited availability of field collective data. We used drones to record videos and analysed the decision-making and behavioural
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Invasive ant learning is not affected by seven potential neuroactive chemicals Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-02-08 Henrique Galante, Tomer J Czaczkes
Argentine ants Linepithema humile are one of the most damaging invasive alien species worldwide. Enhancing or disrupting cognitive abilities, such as learning, has the potential to improve management efforts, for example by increasing preference for a bait, or improving ants’ ability to learn its characteristics or location. Nectar-feeding insects are often the victims of psychoactive manipulation
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A test of the species confidence hypothesis in dusky damselfish Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2023-01-31 Elle Overs, Sydney Stump, Isabel Severino, Daniel T Blumstein
Visual cues are important in both interspecific and intraspecific communication. The species confidence hypothesis proposes that animals are more attracted to conspecific colors and repelled by colors not on their bodies. Studies on terrestrial lizards and birds have tested the species confidence hypothesis and shown that conspecific colors elicit reduced anti-predator behavior. To date, the species
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Males armed with big weapons win fights at limited cost in ant-mimicking jumping spiders Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2022-12-28 Guocheng Yu, Boon Hui Wong, Christina J Painting, Hongze Li, Long Yu, Zengtao Zhang, Shichang Zhang, Daiqin Li
A core assumption of sexual selection theory is that sexually selected weapons, specialized morphological structures used directly in male contests, can improve an individual’s reproductive success but only if the bearer can overcome associated costs, the negative effects on the bearer’s fitness components. However, recent studies have shown that producing and wielding exaggerated weapons may not necessarily
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Selective extinction and habitat nestedness are the main drivers of lizard nestedness in the Zhoushan Archipelago Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2022-12-27 Minchu Zhang, Chaonan Tang, Qing Zhang, Chengxiu Zhan, Chuanwu Chen, Yanping Wang
Nested subset pattern (nestedness) is an important part of the theoretical framework of island biogeography and community ecology. However, most previous studies often used nestedness metrics or randomization algorithms that are vulnerable to type I error. In this study, we investigated the nestedness of lizard assemblages on 37 islands in the Zhoushan Archipelago, China. We used the line-transect
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Network analysis reveals context-dependent structural complexity of social calls in serrate-legged small treefrogs Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2022-12-27 Ke Deng, Qiao-Ling He, Tong-Liang Wang, Ji-Chao Wang, Jian-Guo Cui
Vocal communication plays an important role in survival, reproduction, and animal social association. Birds and mammals produce complex vocal sequence to convey context-dependent information. Vocalizations are conspicuous features of the behavior of most anuran species (frogs and toads), and males usually alter their calling strategies according to ecological context to improve the attractiveness/competitiveness
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Each coin has two sides: A positive role of alien Potamopyrgus antipodarum (Grey, 1843) snails in reducing the infection of native lymnaeids with trematodes Curr. Zool. (IF 2.2) Pub Date : 2022-12-27 Anna Cichy, Anna Stanicka, Elżbieta Żbikowska
The change in the distribution of organisms in freshwater ecosystems due to natural or man-made processes raises the question of the impact of alien species on local communities. Although most studies indicate a negative effect, the positive one is more difficult to discern, especially in multi-species systems, including hosts and parasites. The purpose of the study was to check whether the presence