Ecology and Evolution
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Related Articles from SNS
Bird masturbation appears natural across 120 species, challenging long-held veterinary advice
Bird masturbation appears natural across 120 species, challenging long-held veterinary advice Sadie Harley Scientific Editor Andrew Zinin Lead Editor New research has found that masturbation among bird species, including parrots, is natural, despite prevailing assumptions that it is a harmful behavior in response to environmental factors. Published in Ecology and Evolution, the study is the first of its kind, and challenges current approaches among vets and animal practitioners. Masturbation...
Predictive metabolomics to decipher plant eco-evolutive tendencies and physiological traits
Plant ecological and evolutionary strategies are shaped by interactions between phylogenetic history and environmental constraints, resulting in leaf and stomatal traits. However, traditional trait-based and phylogenetic approaches often fail to fully explain biochemical mechanisms underlying ecological strategies, particularly for leaf and stomatal traits. Plant metabolomes integrate genetic, physiological, and environmental information and therefore represent a promising intermediate...
How animals use leveling behaviors to put alphas in their place
How animals use leveling behaviors to put alphas in their place Gaby Clark Scientific Editor Robert Egan Associate Editor Inequality is not unique to human groups and societies. Individuals with relatively little power possess a variety of behavioral strategies to counterbalance or regulate power differences. In humans, these strategies include criticism, ridicule, disobedience, or even the expulsion or execution of powerful individuals.
How gene swapping helped build the planet's decomposers
How gene swapping helped build the planet's decomposers Sadie Harley Scientific Editor Alexander Pol Deputy Editor Decomposers are crucial for keeping Earth habitable, breaking down dead biomass and returning key nutrients, such as carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, to the ecosystem. Most decomposers, including fungi, survive through osmotrophy—a means of feeding by absorbing dissolved nutrients rather than engulfing prey. But how this method of feeding repeatedly arose across the eukaryotic...
Song evolution in light of ecosystem differences: exploring effects of urbanization and ecology on temporal and frequency traits of Spotted and Eastern towhee songs
The Eastern towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) and Spotted towhee (Pipilo maculatus) are large New World sparrows found across North America. These two species were previously classified as a single species, the Rufous-sided towhee, which was separated in 1995 based on differences in plumage, geographic range, and song. Previous studies have shown that ecological factors, such as urbanization and climate, can affect learned vocalizations, particularly frequency-related song characteristics...
Box jellyfish reveal secret life cycle with implications for coastal safety
Box jellyfish reveal secret life cycle with implications for coastal safety Lisa Lock Scientific Editor Robert Egan Associate Editor Box jellyfish are often feared as dangerous animals, with some species capable of causing severe or even fatal stings. However, box jellyfish nematocysts—organelles responsible for this toxic sting—are theorized to also play an unexpected role in reproduction. While many studies focus on researching the range of toxicity levels exhibited by the more than 50...
A lack of sex held back life's diversity for millions of years, fossil study finds
A lack of sex held back life's diversity for millions of years, fossil study finds Sadie Harley Scientific Editor Robert Egan Associate Editor The way that Earth's first animals reproduced held back life's diversity for millions of years, until stress and competition led to the development of sexual reproduction, which in turn accelerated the pace of evolution. Researchers from the University of Cambridge studied fossils from the oldest-known animals on Earth, dating from 574 million years...
Nine decades of changing insect diversity in Switzerland expose a striking divide
Nine decades of changing insect diversity in Switzerland expose a striking divide Lisa Lock Scientific Editor Robert Egan Associate Editor Thanks to a historical data archive, Swiss researchers are able to draw conclusions about the changes in the diversity of two insect groups over the past 90 years. The study, led by Agroscope, identified a significant decline in butterflies and deadwood beetle species around the middle of the 20th century. These groups live predominantly in agricultural...
Epigenetic changes can be inherited without changing DNA in animals
Epigenetic changes can be inherited without changing DNA in animals Gaby Clark Scientific Editor Robert Egan Associate Editor Typically, the information encoded in DNA allows organisms to develop, function, and pass traits across generations. Yet DNA alone does not explain how genes are switched on and off in different cells and environments. This regulation is partly controlled by other factors called epigenetics, such as DNA methylation, a chemical modification that can influence gene...
Moms' learned fear of snakes gets inherited by offspring in a critically endangered mouse, biologists discover
Moms' learned fear of snakes gets inherited by offspring in a critically endangered mouse, biologists discover Sadie Harley Scientific Editor Robert Egan Associate Editor Conservationists often raise the young of endangered species in captivity before releasing them into suitable habitats as adults. The benefits are obvious: survival to adulthood is typically high, as captive animals are safe from predators and food scarcity. Unfortunately, a lack of exposure to enemies in early life may...