Search results for "Comparative Method"
showing 10 items of 30 documents
Sexual selection and the chemical signal design of lacertid lizards
2018
Animal signals can differ considerably in complexity and composition, even among closely related species. Work on vocal and visual signals has revealed how sexual selection can elaborate signals relevant in mate choice or rival assessment, but few studies have investigated this process in chemical signals. In this study, we correlated chemical signalling diversity and richness with degree of sexual dimorphism in a data set of 60 species of the lizard family Lacertidae. The femoral glands of male lacertid lizards exude waxy secretions, of which the lipophilic fraction is known to function in chemical communication. We determined the composition of the gland secretions using gas chromatograph…
Fifteen species in one: deciphering the Brachionus plicatilis species complex (Rotifera, Monogononta) through DNA taxonomy
2016
Understanding patterns and processes in biological diversity is a critical task given current and rapid environmental change. Such knowledge is even more essential when the taxa under consideration are important ecological and evolutionary models. One of these cases is the monogonont rotifer cryptic species complex Brachionus plicatilis, which is by far the most extensively studied group of rotifers, is widely used in aquaculture, and is known to host a large amount of unresolved diversity. Here we collate a dataset of previously available and newly generated sequences of COI and ITS1 for 1273 isolates of the B. plicatilis complex and apply three approaches in DNA taxonomy (i.e. ABGD, PTP, …
2020
Understanding how and why rates of evolutionary diversification vary is a key issue in evolutionary biology, ecology, and biogeography. Evolutionary rates are the net result of interacting processes summarized under concepts such as adaptive radiation and evolutionary stasis. Here, we review the central concepts in the evolutionary diversification literature and synthesize these into a simple, general framework for studying rates of diversification and quantifying their underlying dynamics, which can be applied across clades and regions, and across spatial and temporal scales. Our framework describes the diversification rate (d) as a function of the abiotic environment (a), the biotic envir…
Mechanisms of reciprocity and diversity in social networks: a modeling and comparative approach
2018
Individual-based computer models show that different mechanisms, proximity-based or emotional bookkeeping, can lead to reciprocation. By comparing social networks from different computer models with those of empirical data, we show that the models’ social networks bear limited resemblance with some features of the observed social networks. This indicates that additional social processes (third-party awareness) may be needed in these models to represent more accurately the social behavior and interaction patterns observed in group-living animals.
A comparative analysis of patch-leaving decision rules in a parasitoid family
2003
The proximate behavioural rules adopted by parasitoid females to manage their foraging time on patches of hosts were studied, under standardized laboratory conditions, in different species (and populations) of the Trichogrammatidae (Hymenoptera) family. Seventeen species/populations were compared and the behavioural mechanisms adopted by the females were identified by means of a Cox's proportional hazards model. On average, females increased their patch-leaving tendency each time a healthy host was attacked and each time a parasitized host was rejected. Strong variation was observed in these patch-leaving mechanisms among the different species. Moreover, the interspecific variation in these…
African Law(s)
2023
The book presents a critical rethinking of the study of law in Africa from a comparative law perspective and proposes a new approach on how to consider law in Africa. It highlights the inadequacies of current Western theoretical perspectives in comparative law, especially for studying African law, arguing that they are too eurocentric to fully catch the peculiarities and characteristics of the African “lawscape”. The common thread of the present work is that of consider law in Africa from a different perspective. The aim of the proposed approach is to demonstrate that the African legal culture can be considered at the same level of the Western one, so that – being deeply rooted in the cultu…
Hands-on or Video-based Learning with ANTicipation? A Comparative Approach to Identifying Student Motivation and Learning Enjoyment During a Lesson a…
2015
The observation of living animals in school laboratories provides authentic views of biological research. Various studies stress the importance of primary experiences in biology classes. However, educational films may serve as an alternative in some cases. The aim of this study was to investigate student motivation before and after treatments, including (1) an educational film, (2) a hands-on activity with living animals accompanied by an educational film and (3) a hands-on activity with living animals. We investigated the influence of teaching method, gender and class level on student motivation and learning enjoyment. In all treatments, Temnothorax ants were addressed, which can be easily…
Ethics in Legal Research
2023
The essay grapples with one of the most controversial issues about legal research, namely its complex ethical and methodological dimension—here argued to be comparative—assessing the high scientific value of studying law. After clarifying what differentiates such a field of research from other natural and social studies, the authors address the presence of secondary interests and the need to use personal data for scientific purposes, as relevant situations which could undermine the reliability of any legal research or allow its thoroughness at the risk of interfering with human rights. The adherence to a rigorous and effective method in investigating national and foreign law, and the compli…
Analysis of Spanish policies for the integration of immigrant schoolchildren
2016
The Organic Law on the Improvement of the National Education Quality (Ley Organica de Reforma de la Calidad Educativa) readdressed one of the most significant educational issues: educational policies related to immigrant students. Therefore, this is an appropriate moment to evaluate these types of policies in three singular Spanish regions: Madrid, Catalonia and Andalusia. This article presents an analysis of the measures taken in three Spanish regions: Madrid, Catalonia and Andalusia in response to students’ reception, acceptance and enrolment of immigrant students. A qualitative methodology based on the comparative method is used. Diverse similarities, but also specific characteristics an…
2015
Songs in passerine birds are important for territory defense and mating. Speciation rates in oscine passerines are so high, due to cultural evolution, that this bird lineage makes up half of the extant bird species. Leaf warblers are a speciose Old-World passerine family of limited morphological differentiation, so that songs are even more important for species delimitation. We took 16 sonographic traits from song recordings of 80 leaf warbler taxa and correlated them with 15 potentially explanatory variables, pairwise, and in linear models. Based on a well-resolved molecular phylogeny of the same taxa, all pairwise correlations were corrected for relatedness with phylogenetically independe…