Do body temperatures of desert lizards fit a “normal” distribution?

Raymond B. Huey and Eric R. Pianka When physiological ecologists evaluate whether body temperatures of lizards and other ectotherms (such as insects, fishes) are “normally distributed,” they are not referring to whether a lizard’s body temperature averages 98.6°F, a so-called “normal” body temperature for a human.   Rather they are discussing whether the shape of the…

Host responses to parasites shape costs of infection

Sarah A. Budischak, Dawn O’Neal, Anna E. Jolles and Vanessa O. Ezenwa Parasites, by definition, steal resources from their hosts, but how infection relates to host fitness is not well understood, particularly in wild populations. We combine experimental deworming and a 4-year study in African buffalo to better quantify fitness costs of infection and examine…

Realistic heat pulses protect frogs from disease under simulated rainforest frog thermal regimes

Sasha E. Greenspan, Deborah S. Bower, Rebecca J. Webb, Elizabeth A. Roznik, Lisa A. Stevenson, Lee Berger, Gerry Marantelli, David A. Pike, Lin Schwarzkopf, Ross A. Alford The body temperatures of frogs and other ectotherms fluctuate with ambient conditions. Globally, frogs are threatened by a fungal disease called chytridiomycosis. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), the fungus that…

Trait-matching and phylogeny as predictors of predator-prey interactions involving ground beetles

Pierre-Marc Brousseau, Dominique Gravel and I. Tanya Handa Ground beetles are remarkable hunters with the capacity to kill and consume a huge diversity of potential prey ranging from snails and poison-secreting millipedes to fast jumping springtails. However, in natural ecosystems, predators will not eat all prey they encounter. Predators are selective, in part based on…

Serology in wildlife: two problems and how to deal with them

Romain Garnier, Raül Ramos, Ana Sanz-Aguilar, Maud Poisbleau, Henri Weimerskirch, Sarah Burthe, Jeremy Tornos, Thierry Boulinier How can we track infectious diseases in wild animal populations? Serology, the quantification of antibodies present in the blood following exposure to a disease agent, is a tool of primary importance. However, the lack of specific reagents for detecting…

Juvenile salmon with shorter chromosome ends are more likely to survive their marine migration

Darryl McLennan, John D. Armstrong, David C. Stewart, Simon Mckelvey, Winnie Boner, Pat Monaghan and Neil B. Metcalfe  Much of the study of molecular biology inevitably focuses on active genes. However, chromosomes also consist of ‘non-gene’ regions that play an essential role in keeping the cells functioning. These include the telomeres, which form caps at…

Stress in early life can enhance bird song complexity

Loren Merrill, Madeleine F. Naylor, Merria Dalimonte, Sean McLaughlin, Tara E. Stewart, and Jennifer L. Grindstaff Stress in early life can have long-lasting consequences. For instance, when young animals are exposed to stressors like malnourishment or disease, their appearance is often permanently impacted, along with their behaviours and cognitive abilities. Zebra finches are charismatic birds…

Metabolic rate depends on body mass, growth form and invasion status in sessile marine invertebrates

Marcelo E. Lagos, Craig R. White & Dustin J. Marshall Invasive organisms often share characteristics that make them successful. Traits such as rapid growth and short generation times are classic ‘weedy’ adaptations that can make them successful outside their natural habitats. Given that invasive species often display ‘fast’ life histories, they may have relatively higher…

Diet drives beak diversification in waterfowl

Aaron M Olsen Bird beaks are often cited as a classic example of evolution by natural selection. Over generations, it is thought that beak shapes that are better suited to eating particular foods will outcompete less favourable beak shapes and be passed on to offspring, through a process known as adaptation. Over time this would…

Transgenerational compensation in lizards: the offspring of food-restricted mothers survive better

Wei-Guo Du, Yang Wang, Shu-Ran Li, Zhi-Gao Zeng and Liang Liang It has long been known that the environment experienced by a mother can affect offspring traits without modification of the DNA sequence. This phenomenon of maternal effect would be adaptive when mothers can adjust the phenotype of their offspring to match the changes in…

Optimal running speeds when there is a trade-off between speed and the probability of mistakes

Ami Fadhillah Amir Abdul Nasir, Christofer J. Clemente, Melissa L Wynn and Robbie S Wilson In studies of animal performance, it’s commonly assumed that a prey animal should run as fast as it can when trying to escape a predator. Yet running too fast can compromise motor control and step accuracy. A recent mathematical model…

Zooplankton mothers make bigger offspring, but it’s not enough to protect them against harmful blue-green algal blooms

Jessica E. Beyer and K. David Hambright One of the goals of all organisms is to ensure that as many offspring as possible will survive to adulthood. To accomplish this, organisms use many different strategies, including changing features of the offspring, such as their size. However, to supply offspring with the right set of tools…