Search results for " zoology"
showing 10 items of 2242 documents
Multiple modalities in insect warning displays have additive effects against wild avian predators
2019
Allocation to different components of defence has been suggested as an explanation for the existence of multiple aposematic morphs in a single population. We tested whether there are trade-offs between warning colouration and chemical defence or whether these have an additive effect when combined, using blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) as predators and the polymorphic wood tiger moth (Arctia plantaginis) as prey. We used artificial edible models (with and without the moths’ defensive fluids) with paper wings whose colour and pattern properties matched those of real moths. When the models were presented sans defensive fluids or when the fluids were presented without colour cues, we detected n…
Transparency reduces predator detection in mimetic clearwing butterflies
2019
International audience; Predation is an important selective pressure and some prey have evolved conspicuous warning signals that advertise unpalatability (i.e. aposematism) as an antipredator defence. Conspicuous colour patterns have been shown effective as warning signals, by promoting predator learning and memory. Unexpectedly, some butterfly species from the unpalatable tribe Ithomiini possess transparent wings, a feature rare on land but common in water, known to reduce predator detection.We tested if transparency of butterfly wings was associated with decreased detectability by predators, by comparing four butterfly species exhibiting different degrees of transparency, ranging from ful…
Weak warning signals can persist in the absence of gene flow
2019
Aposematic organisms couple conspicuous warning signals with a secondary defense to deter predators from attacking. Novel signals of aposematic prey are expected to be selected against due to positive frequency-dependent selection. How, then, can novel phenotypes persist after they arise, and why do so many aposematic species exhibit intrapopulation signal variability? Using a polytypic poison frog (Dendrobates tinctorius), we explored the forces of selection on variable aposematic signals using 2 phenotypically distinct (white, yellow) populations. Contrary to expectations, local phenotype was not always better protected compared to novel phenotypes in either population; in the white popul…
Short-term responses of Rana arvalis tadpoles to pH and predator stress: adaptive divergence in behavioural and physiological plasticity?
2022
Environmental stress is a major driver of ecological and evolutionary processes in nature. To cope with stress, organisms can adjust through phenotypic plasticity and/or adapt through genetic change. Here, we compared short-term behavioural (activity) and physiological (corticosterone levels, CORT) responses of Rana arvalis tadpoles from two divergent populations (acid origin, AOP, versus neutral origin, NOP) to acid and predator stress. Tadpoles were initially reared in benign conditions at pH 7 and then exposed to a combination of two pH (acid versus neutral) and two predator cue (predator cue versus no predator cue) treatments. We assessed behavioural activity within the first 15 min, an…
Lipid-related thiamine deficiency cause mortality of river lampreys (Lampetra fluviatilis) during pre-spawning fasting
2023
Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors River lampreys (Lampetra fluviatilis) were caught in the fall 2014 on entering the River Perhonjoki for spawning and kept at a hatchery until spawning in late spring 2015 to produce larvae for compensatory stockings. Since the lampreys died massively from early February onwards, they were investigated in March and May to clarify the cause of the deaths. The symptoms in lampreys resembled those of lipid-related thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency of salmonines, called the M74 syndrome in the Baltic Sea area. Because the lipid content of lampreys was known to be high, thiamine concentrations were analyzed in the liver and ovulated unfertilized eggs, and th…
Application of a Split-Window Algorithm to Estimate Land Surface Temperature from NOAA-AVHRR Data
2006
Estimaciones de temperatura de la superficie terrestre, en días parciales a completamente despejados, fueron realizadas a partir de los datos proporcionados por el sensor Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), a bordo de la serie de satélites de la National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) por aplicación de un algoritmo basado en el método de Split-Window. El algoritmo utilizado supone correcciones por emisividad y contenido de vapor de agua atmosférico, y fue validado con mediciones de temperatura de la superficie terrestre realizadas en terreno. Para esto, un data logger LI-1000 se instaló en la Estación Agrometeorológica dependiente del Instituto de Investigacione…
Importance of millipedes (Diplopoda) in the autumn-winter diet of Scolopax rusticola
2019
Authors examined the autumn-winter diet of the woodcock Scolopax rusticola from 407 gizzard samples originating from Crimea and Italy, resulting in a high number of millipedes (Diplopoda) in all the samples; this prey item was particularly important in terms of weight percentage. The authors consider that calcium, highly present in millipedes, should be an important source for the woodcocks’ metabolism during the autumn-winter seasons.
First report on the helminthfauna of the yellow-necked mouse, Apodemus flavicollis, in the Iberian Peninsula
2016
Summary Information about the prevalence of helminth parasites of the yellow-necked mouse, Apodemus flavicollis, in the Iberian Peninsula is almost non-existent and there is no reliable data reported from Spain. Fourteen A. flavicollis from the Erro River valley (Navarre, Spain) were examined for endoparasites, between February 2001 and July 2002. Thirteen specimens (92.9 %) of the total sample were parasitized by at least one of the following six helminth species: one trematode (Corrigia vitta), one cestode (Taenia parva larvae) and four nematodes (Trichuris muris, Calodium hepaticum, Heligmosomoides polygyrus and Syphacia stroma). This is the first report about the helminthfauna of A. fla…
El pòlip de Trembley: L'"animal-planta" que va sacsejar la biologia del segle XVIII
2013
Els experiments d’Abraham Trembley amb l’hidra d’aigua dolça no només van sorprendre els seus contemporanis per la seva espectacularitat, sinó que els seus resultats també van causar un enorme trasbals en la comunitat científica del seu temps. Idees com la «cadena del ser», el mecanisme de generació dels éssers vius o la mateixa naturalesa de l’ànima van ser fortament sacsejades.
« Mais qui êtes-vous donc, Monsieur Charles Nodier ? »
2020
Biographical note addressing all aspects of the intellectual and artistic life of Charles Nodier (1780-1844), the reasons for his exclusion from the Pantheon of French Letters from his death until the second half of the 20th century and the most recent signs of its gradual rebirth.