Search results for "Croce"

The Greenland shark Somniosus microcephalus—Hemoglobins and ligand-binding properties

2017

A large amount of data is currently available on the adaptive mechanisms of polar bony fish hemoglobins, but structural information on those of cartilaginous species is scarce. This study presents the first characterisation of the hemoglobin system of one of the longest-living vertebrate species (392 +/- 120 years), the Arctic shark Somniosus microcephalus. Three major hemoglobins are found in its red blood cells and are made of two copies of the same a globin combined with two copies of three very similar beta subunits. The three hemoglobins show very similar oxygenation and carbonylation properties, which are unaffected by urea, a very important compound in marine elasmobranch physiology.…

How many scales on the wings? A case study based on Colias crocea (Geoffroy, 1785) (Hexapoda: Lepidoptera, Pieridae)

2019

Abstract The covering by scales of the wings of Lepidoptera contributes to multiple functions that are critical for their survival and reproduction. In order to gain a better understanding about their distribution, we have exhaustively studied 4 specimens of Colias crocea (Geoffroy, 1785). We have quantified the sources of variability affecting scale density. The results indicate that the scale covering of butterfly wings may be remarkably heterogeneous, and that the importance of the sources of variability differs between forewings and hindwings. Thus, in forewing the greatest variability occurs between sectors, while in the hindwings it occurs between sides, with a higher density of scale…

2021

Hosts of brood parasitic cuckoos often employ mobbing attacks to defend their nests and, when mobbing is costly, hosts are predicted to adjust their mobbing to match parasitism risk. While evidence exists for fine-tuned plasticity, it remains unclear why mobbing does not track larger seasonal changes in parasitism risk. Here we test a possible explanation from parental investment theory: parents should defend their current brood more intensively as the opportunity to replace it declines (re-nesting potential), and therefore “counteract” any apparent seasonal decline to match parasitism risk. We take advantage of mobbing experiments conducted at two sites where reed warblers (Acrocephalus sc…

Helminth fauna of the invasive American red-eared sliderTrachemys scriptain eastern Spain: potential implications for the conservation of native terr…

2015

AbstractIn this study we report on the helminth fauna of the invasive American red-eared slider Trachemys scripta in five localities from eastern Spain where this species co-occurs with two native, endangered freshwater turtles, i.e. Emys orbicularis and Mauremys leprosa. In total, 46 individuals of T. scripta were analysed for parasites. Adult individuals of three helminth species were found: the monogenean Neopolystoma orbiculare, the digenean Telorchis solivagus and the nematode Serpinema microcephalus. Telorchis solivagus and S. microcephalus are trophically transmitted parasites of native turtles that probably infected T. scripta through shared infected prey. Neopolystoma orbiculare in…

Classification of steppe vegetation in the eastern Pamir Alai and southwestern Tian-Shan Mountains (Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan)

2018

Aims: To complete the syntaxonomical scheme for the steppe vegetation of the montane and alpine zones in the Pamir Alai and southwestern Tian-Shan Mountains in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan with some remarks on its environmental predictors. Location: Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Methods: A total of 274 relevés were sampled in 2016–2017 using the seven-degree cover-abundance scale of Braun-Blanquet. They were classified with modified TWINSPAN with cut-off levels of 0%, 5%, 10% and 25% and total inertia as a measure of cluster heterogeneity. Diagnostic species were identified using the phi coefficient as a fidelity measure. Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and canonical correspondence analys…

Evolutionary significance of antiparasite, antipredator and learning phenotypes of avian nest defence.

2018

AbstractAvian nest defence, which is expected to serve both antiparasite and antipredator functions, may benefit or be detrimental to birds, although selective forces that potentially operate on nest defence have not been quantified as a whole. Together with fitness values, we analysed two traits of nest defence, intensity and plasticity, in two distantly related passerine species, yellow warbler (Setophaga petechia) in North America and reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) in Europe, both favourite host species for brood parasites. Breeders that escaped parasitism were the most vocal among reed warblers, whereas there was no specific defence phenotype that predicted prevention of parasit…

Differences in time and space use between two sympatric Acrocephalus warblers with similar diets

2016

Capsule: We found high diet overlap and different uses of space and time between Moustached Warblers Acrocephalus melanopogon and Reed Warblers Acrocephalus scirpaceus breeding in sympatry at a marshland in Spain. Aims: To study the degree of diet overlap between both species, their space use on a local scale and their breeding phenologies. Methods: We studied the breeding phenologies of the two species by standardized ringing activity. Spatial distribution was investigated by point counts. We determined diet composition from emetic samples and we collected invertebrates by standardized sweep-netting to estimate food availability. Results: Diet and prey selection were similar among species.…

Dietary characterization of Savi s Warbler Locustaella luscinioides and Great Reed Warbler Acrocephalus rundinaceus in eastern Spain

2017

[EN] This research deals with two insectivorous reedbed-nesting songbirds, the Savi's Warbler Locustella luscinioides and the Great Reed Warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus breeding at the Marjal de Pego-Oliva (Valencia-Alicante, Spain). Our aims were to study the diet and the prey selection of the two species and to assess the dietary differences between them. Diet composition has been assessed by examining samples off regurgitated food obtained using apomorphine as an emetic. Prey availability was estimated through standardized invertebrate sampling. The diet of the two warblers were significantly different and included arthropods belonging to the orders Araneida, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, H…

Factors Shaping Breeding Phenology in Birds: An Assessment of Two Sympatric Acrocephalus Warblers with Different Life Histories

2020

El periodo reproductivo es un rasgo crucial de la historia de la vida e implica importantes consecuencias para la eficacia biologica. Las diferencias en las estrategias de historia de vida pueden conducir a diferentes respuestas a las mismas condiciones ambientales, incluso entre especies estrechamente relacionadas. Investigar los factores que afectan el periodo reproductivo en especies estrechamente relacionadas y simpatricas puede ayudar a comprender la relacion entre los diferentes rasgos de la historia de vida y las respuestas especificas de las especies a los factores ecologicos. En este trabajo investigamos los efectos del momento estacional (fotoperiodo), la variabilidad climatica lo…

Novel KIAA1033/WASHC4 mutations in three patients with syndromic intellectual disability and a review of the literature.

2019

In 2011, KIAA1033/WASHC4 was associated with autosomal recessive intellectual disability (ARID) in a large consanguineous family comprising seven affected individuals with moderate ID and short stature. Since then, no other cases of KIAA1033 variants have been reported. Here we describe three additional patients (from two unrelated families) with syndromic ID due to compound heterozygous KIAA1033 variants ascertained by exome sequencing (ES). Two sisters, aged 4 and 5.5 years, had a stop-gain and a missense variants, each inherited from one parent (p.(Gln442*) and p.(Asp1048Gly)). Both had learning disabilities, macrocephaly, dysmorphic features, skeletal anomalies, and subependymal heterot…