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Evolution of separate predation- and defence-evoked venoms in carnivorous cone snails
Marine cone snails use venom for defence and predation. Here, Dutertre et al.show that cone snails produce structurally and functionally distinct venoms for each purpose and that defence toxins are potent on fish and mammalian targets, suggesting that they have evolved specifically for protection.
- Sébastien Dutertre
- , Ai-Hua Jin
- & Richard J. Lewis
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| Open AccessA plant factory for moth pheromone production
Pheromones can be used as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional pesticides. Here, the authors produce moth sex pheromones in Nicotiana benthamianaby transient expression and demonstrate that these pheromones are able to trap male moths as efficiently as their synthetic counterparts.
- Bao-Jian Ding
- , Per Hofvander
- & Christer Löfstedt
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Bending rules for animal propulsion
Animal propulsors—wings and fins—typically bend during motion. Here, the authors analysed video data on animal propulsor bending and find that, for propulsion within inertially dominated flows, the flexion angles and the positions of the point of flexion are similar across the animal kingdom.
- Kelsey N. Lucas
- , Nathan Johnson
- & John H. Costello
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Spiracular air breathing in polypterid fishes and its implications for aerial respiration in stem tetrapods
Spiracles are tubes that connect the buccopharyngeal cavity with the surface of the skull and are found in many early-diverging fish lineages. Here the authors provide evidence that polypterid fishes use their spiracles to breathe air, and suggest that stem tetrapods may have used them similarly.
- Jeffrey B. Graham
- , Nicholas C. Wegner
- & John A. Long
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The European functional tree of bird life in the face of global change
Species response to environmental change can have an impact on community assemblages and ecosystem functioning. Here, the authors assess the combined impact of regional land use and climate change on bird functional diversity and find that global changes may lead to uniform species assemblages across Europe.
- Wilfried Thuiller
- , Samuel Pironon
- & Niklaus E. Zimmermann
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Nematode-derived drosomycin-type antifungal peptides provide evidence for plant-to-ecdysozoan horizontal transfer of a disease resistance gene
Drosomycin-type antifungal peptides (DTAFPs) confer resistance to fungal infections in Drosophila and plants. Here, the authors report the discovery of a family of DTAFPs in the nematode, Caenorhabditis remanei, which provides insight into the origin and evolution of disease resistance genes in animals.
- Shunyi Zhu
- & Bin Gao
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Chimpanzees modify intentional gestures to coordinate a search for hidden food
Communicative persistence is a key indicator of intentionality in humans. Here Roberts et al. show that two language-trained chimpanzees can dynamically and flexibly use persistent intentional communication to guide a naive experimenter to a food item hidden in a large outdoor enclosure.
- Anna Ilona Roberts
- , Sarah-Jane Vick
- & Charles R. Menzel
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| Open AccessThe locust genome provides insight into swarm formation and long-distance flight
Locusts are destructive agricultural pests and serve as a model organism for studies of insects. Here, the authors report a draft genome sequence of the migratory locust, Locusta migratoria, and provide insight into genes associated with key survival traits such as phase-change, long-distance migration and feeding.
- Xianhui Wang
- , Xiaodong Fang
- & Le Kang
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Morphology of seahorse head hydrodynamically aids in capture of evasive prey
Seahorses are very slow swimmers, yet they are specialized hunters of fast and evasive prey. Here the authors show that seahorse head morphology functions to create a zone of minimum hydrodynamic disturbance, which allows the seahorse to slowly approach the prey, and to position itself within capture range.
- Brad J. Gemmell
- , Jian Sheng
- & Edward J. Buskey
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Continent-wide panmixia of an African fruit bat facilitates transmission of potentially zoonotic viruses
The African straw-coloured fruit bat lives in close proximity to humans and acts as reservoir for Lagos bat virus and henipaviruses. Here, the authors assess viral transmission dynamics in this species and its implications for public health using genetic and serological data.
- Alison J. Peel
- , David R. Sargan
- & Andrew A. Cunningham
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Circadian rhythms in Mexican blind cavefish Astyanax mexicanus in the lab and in the field
Body clocks modulate physiological processes to follow a day–night cycle, but whether animals exposed to constant darkness express circadian rhythms is unknown. Here the authors examine the expression of circadian genes in Mexican cavefish, and find that these resemble a pattern expected from exposure to constant daylight.
- Andrew Beale
- , Christophe Guibal
- & David Whitmore
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Adaptive response to sociality and ecology drives the diversification of facial colour patterns in catarrhines
Animal colouration is the product of competing selection pressures. Here the authors analyse the diversity of facial colouration in Old World monkeys and apes, and find that colour patterns are linked to social factors, whereas the different levels of facial pigmentation arise as a result of ecological pressures.
- Sharlene E. Santana
- , Jessica Lynch Alfaro
- & Michael E. Alfaro
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Modern Antarctic acorn worms form tubes
Acorn worms, or enteropneusts, are a group of hemichordates whose modern representatives are thought to be tubeless. Here Halaynch et al. provide evidence for modern tube-forming acorn worms found in Antarctic benthic communities.
- Kenneth M. Halanych
- , Johanna T. Cannon
- & Craig R. Smith
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Muscle function and hydrodynamics limit power and speed in swimming frogs
Muscle power limits animal speed, but the extent of the effect is unknown. Here the authors examine the relationship between swimming speed, size and muscle function in the aquatic frog Xenopus laevis, and find that muscle–environmental interactions vary with body size, limiting muscle power and swimming speed.
- Christofer J. Clemente
- & Christopher Richards
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Cumulative human impacts on marine predators
Human activities affect marine predators in complex ways, yet we lack spatial understanding of cumulative impacts across key habitats. Here the authors analyse distribution and movements of eight marine predators, and find that species and human impacts vary across space and overlap within marine sanctuaries.
- Sara M. Maxwell
- , Elliott L. Hazen
- & Daniel P. Costa
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First evidence of a 200-day non-stop flight in a bird
Being airborne is energetically costly for vertebrates, and migrating birds are expected to spend some resting time on the ground. Here Liechti et al. show that the Alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba) can stay airborne for more than 6 months, implying that this bird can sleep in flight.
- Felix Liechti
- , Willem Witvliet
- & Erich Bächler
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| Open AccessRepeated targeting of the same hosts by a brood parasite compromises host egg rejection
Cuckoo eggs mimic those of their hosts to evade rejection. Here, the authors demonstrate that African cuckoo finch females combine both mimicry and a strategy of repeatedly parasitizing the same host nests to increase success by creating uncertainty in host defenses.
- Martin Stevens
- , Jolyon Troscianko
- & Claire N. Spottiswoode
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Single-male paternity in coelacanths
Deep-sea coelacanth female fish were thought to enhance genetic variability in their offspring by mating with multiple males. Here, Lampert et al.analyse the paternity of the offspring of two females, and present evidence that coelacanth females are in fact monogamous.
- Kathrin P. Lampert
- , Katrin Blassmann
- & Manfred Schartl
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Single neurons in monkey prefrontal cortex encode volitional initiation of vocalizations
The Broca area is located in the human prefrontal cortex and is involved in voluntary speech. Hage and Nieder now show that a monkey homologue of Broca’s area is similarly responsible for monkey volitional vocalizations.
- Steffen R. Hage
- & Andreas Nieder
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Genetic integration of local dispersal and exploratory behaviour in a wild bird
The distance that individuals disperse to between birth and first breeding determines the dynamics and genetic composition of natural populations. Here the authors show that in great tits (Parus major), the distance of local dispersal is genetically coupled with exploratory behaviour measured in the lab.
- Peter Korsten
- , Thijs van Overveld
- & Erik Matthysen
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| Open AccessGenome analysis reveals insights into physiology and longevity of the Brandt’s bat Myotis brandtii
Bats account for 20 per cent of all mammals, these are the only mammals with powered flight, and are among the few animals that echolocate. Here, Seim et al. sequence the genome of the long-lived (>40 years) Brandt’s bat, Myotis brandtiiand provide clues to its evolution, longevity and other traits.
- Inge Seim
- , Xiaodong Fang
- & Vadim N. Gladyshev
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Concentration memory-dependent synaptic plasticity of a taste circuit regulates salt concentration chemotaxis in Caenorhabditis elegans
Salt chemotaxis behaviour inCaenorhabditis elegansis partly dependent on previous experiences of starvation. In this study, the authors show that this learned behaviour is due to experience-dependent plasticity in a subset of gustatory neurons.
- Hirofumi Kunitomo
- , Hirofumi Sato
- & Yuichi Iino
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| Open AccessBrown fat in a protoendothermic mammal fuels eutherian evolution
Endothermy facilitated mammalian species radiation, but the events leading to sustained thermogenesis are not clear. Here, the authors report functional brown adipose tissue in a protoendothermic mammal, linking nonshivering thermogenesis directly to the roots of eutherian endothermic evolution.
- Rebecca Oelkrug
- , Nadja Goetze
- & Carola W. Meyer
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| Open AccessThe endoskeletal origin of the turtle carapace
The evolutionary origins of the costal and neural bony plates of the turtle shell have long remained elusive. Here the authors show, through comparative morphological and embryological analyses, that the most of the carapace is derived from endoskeletal ribs.
- Tatsuya Hirasawa
- , Hiroshi Nagashima
- & Shigeru Kuratani
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Rudimentary substrates for vocal learning in a suboscine
Vocal learning is a feature that is specific to some species of mammals and birds, including oscine songbirds. Liu et alstudy the vocal, non-learning, eastern phoebe suboscine, and find that it uses the forebrain to control the vocal-motor system, similar to vocal learning oscines.
- Wan-chun Liu
- , Kazuhiro Wada
- & Fernando Nottebohm
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| Open AccessThe saccus vasculosus of fish is a sensor of seasonal changes in day length
The saccus vasculosus is a circumventricular organ of the hypothalamus of many jawed fish whose function has remained a mystery for more than 300 years. Here the authors provide evidence that the saccus vasculosus functions as a sensor of seasonal changes in day length.
- Yusuke Nakane
- , Keisuke Ikegami
- & Takashi Yoshimura
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Rates of speciation and morphological evolution are correlated across the largest vertebrate radiation
Evolutionary theories predict that rates of morphological change should be positively associated with the rate at which new species arise. Here Raboski et al.demonstrate that rates of species diversification are highly correlated with the rate of body size evolution across ray-finned fish species.
- Daniel L. Rabosky
- , Francesco Santini
- & Michael E. Alfaro
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The rediscovered Hula painted frog is a living fossil
The Hula painted frog was the first amphibian to be declared extinct, and it has survived undetected for almost 60 years. Here Gafny and colleagues report a surviving Hula painted frog and provide evidence that it belongs to the otherwise extinct genus Latonia.
- Rebecca Biton
- , Eli Geffen
- & Sarig Gafny
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Crocodylian diversity peak and extinction in the late Cenozoic of the northern Neotropics
Modern crocodylian diversity is in decline and sympatry is rare, with usually no more than two or three species occurring in the same geographic area. Here Scheyer et al. identify a diversity peak in sympatric occurrence of at least seven new and previously characterized crocodylian species during the Miocene in South America.
- T. M. Scheyer
- , O. A. Aguilera
- & M. R. Sánchez-Villagra
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Periodic Wnt1 expression in response to ecdysteroid generates twin-spot markings on caterpillars
Among various pigmentation patterns on caterpillars, sequential spot markings are often used for aposematic colouration. Fujiwara et al. show using genetic and functional analyses that periodic upregulation of Wnt1 in response to ecdysteroid causes twin-spot markings on lepidopteran larvae.
- Junichi Yamaguchi
- , Yutaka Banno
- & Haruhiko Fujiwara
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Predatory cannibalism in Drosophila melanogaster larvae
The adaptive significance of predation on conspecifics in non-carnivorous species is unclear. Here Vijendravarma et al. show that predatory cannibalism in Drosophila larvae has hallmarks of a functional behaviour, is genetically variable, and is favoured during experimental evolution under nutritional stress.
- Roshan K. Vijendravarma
- , Sunitha Narasimha
- & Tadeusz J. Kawecki
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Referential gestures in fish collaborative hunting
Referential gestures such as pointing direct attention towards an object and have only been observed in apes and ravens. Vail et al. show that fish signal to indicate the location of hidden prey to hunting partners, demonstrating that referential gestures are not restricted to large-brained species.
- Alexander L. Vail
- , Andrea Manica
- & Redouan Bshary
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The function of fin rays as proprioceptive sensors in fish
Electrophysiological studies in some fish species suggest that proprioception is needed for fin movement. Here the authors test mechanosensory abilities of afferent nerves in pectoral fin rays, and find that the activity of fin ray nerve fibres reflects the amplitude and velocity of fin ray bending.
- Richard Williams IV
- , Nicole Neubarth
- & Melina E. Hale
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Evidence for a material gradient in the adhesive tarsal setae of the ladybird beetle Coccinella septempunctata
Many insects cling to surfaces by means of specific bristles on the tips of their legs. Peisker et al. show that in the beetle Coccinella septempunctatathe composition and stiffness of these bristles vary dramatically along their length, likely allowing for a better grip to uneven surfaces.
- Henrik Peisker
- , Jan Michels
- & Stanislav N. Gorb
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Inhibition of return in the archer fish
Inhibition of return describes a mechanism in humans and monkeys whereby the visual detection of recently attended objects or locations is impaired. Gabay et al.find that inhibition of return is also present in archer fish, meaning that a fully developed cortex is not needed for this mechanism.
- Shai Gabay
- , Tali Leibovich
- & Ronen Segev
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| Open AccessTrunk exoskeleton in teleosts is mesodermal in origin
Trunk exoskeleton elements of non-tetrapods such as scales and fin rays are believed to derive from the neural crest. Shimada and colleagues use long-term cell labelling methods to show that these elements are actually derived from the mesoderm.
- Atsuko Shimada
- , Toru Kawanishi
- & Hiroyuki Takeda
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| Open AccessCholinergic pesticides cause mushroom body neuronal inactivation in honeybees
Exposure to pesticides can disrupt foraging and navigation behaviour in bees. Palmer et al. use electrophysiology to show that two neonicotinoids and an organophosphate miticide cause neuronal dysfunction in the honeybee brain at environmentally relevant concentrations.
- Mary J. Palmer
- , Christopher Moffat
- & Christopher N. Connolly
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| Open AccessMouse urinary peptides provide a molecular basis for genotype discrimination by nasal sensory neurons
Major histocompatibility complex peptide ligands in mouse urine have been hypothesized to serve as signals for communication. In support of this hypothesis, Sturm and colleagues find that specific urinary peptides from genetically different mouse strains can be discriminated by nasal sensory neurons.
- Theo Sturm
- , Trese Leinders-Zufall
- & Hans-Georg Rammensee
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Adaptive sex allocation in anticipation of changes in offspring mating opportunities
For parents, sons are more evolutionarily lucrative than daughters if sons get more chances to breed (and vice versa). Kahn et al. find that mosquitofish take advantage of this: they anticipate the future mating prospects of their offspring and bias production towards the sex with greater opportunities.
- Andrew T. Kahn
- , Hanna Kokko
- & Michael D. Jennions
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The evolution of sex roles in birds is related to adult sex ratio
Biologists have struggled to explain the existence of sex-role reversal since Darwin first formulated his theory of evolution. Liker et al.show for the first time that sex roles are predicted by adult sex ratio in wild populations of birds: sex-role reversal emerges at male-biased adult sex ratios.
- András Liker
- , Robert P. Freckleton
- & Tamás Székely
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| Open AccessXenoturbella bocki exhibits direct development with similarities to Acoelomorpha
Xenoturbella is a simple marine worm recently suggested to be either a deuterostome or an early branching bilaterian. Nakano et al. report the first observations of naturally spawned eggs and embryos from Xenoturbella, and uncover new insights into the evolutionary history of metazoan development.
- Hiroaki Nakano
- , Kennet Lundin
- & Michael C. Thorndyke
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Evidence for tactical concealment in a wild primate
Although theory indicates that deception and punishment are successful social strategies, there is little evidence for either in the wild. This study presents the first systematic evidence of tactical deception and punishment of reproductive cheating in a wild primate, the gelada (Theropithecus gelada).
- Aliza le Roux
- , Noah Snyder-Mackler
- & Thore J. Bergman
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The impact of free-ranging domestic cats on wildlife of the United States
Free-ranging domestic cats cause wildlife extinctions on islands, but their impact on wildlife in mainland areas is unclear. This study presents an estimate of mortality caused by cats in the United States, suggesting that 1.4–3.7 billion birds and 6.9–20.7 billion mammals are killed annually.
- Scott R. Loss
- , Tom Will
- & Peter P. Marra
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Gender identification of the Mesozoic bird Confuciusornis sanctus
Specimens of the Early Cretaceous bird C. sanctuswith ornamental tail feathers are commonly interpreted as male, and those without as female. In this study, in support of this theory, medullary bone—a tissue unique to reproductively active female birds—is found in a specimen without ornamental feathers.
- Anusuya Chinsamy
- , Luis M. Chiappe
- & Zhang Fengjiao
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Kinship reduces alloparental care in cooperative cichlids where helpers pay-to-stay
In alloparental brood care, individuals help raise the offspring of others and it is thought that high relatedness between the helpers and recipients is needed. In contrast, Zöttlet al. find that, in cooperatively breeding cichlids, unrelated subordinate females provide more alloparental care than related ones.
- Markus Zöttl
- , Dik Heg
- & Michael Taborsky
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| Open AccessDisplays of paternal mouse pup retrieval following communicative interaction with maternal mates
Parental responsibilities in mice are usually carried out by the mother of the pups. In this study, the authors show that when mothers are separated from their mouse pups, they emit ultrasonic vocalizations to their male partners, who respond by administering paternal care to the pups.
- Hong-Xiang Liu
- , Olga Lopatina
- & Haruhiro Higashida
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| Open AccessRapamycin reverses impaired social interaction in mouse models of tuberous sclerosis complex
Tuberous sclerosis complex is an autosomal dominant cognitive disorder caused by mutations affecting TSCgenes. Sato and colleagues examine tuberous sclerosis complex mutant mice and find that the behavioural and anatomical abnormalities can be reversed by inhibiting rapamycin-sensitive signalling pathways, even in adulthood.
- Atsushi Sato
- , Shinya Kasai
- & Masashi Mizuguchi
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The developmental basis of bat wing muscle
Phylogenetic bat studies suggest that powered flight is evolutionarily conserved. Tokita et al.find that bat wing muscles are derived from multiple myogenic sources with different embryonic origins, and that spatiotemporal correlations exist between outgrowth of wing membranes and expansion of wing muscles.
- Masayoshi Tokita
- , Takaaki Abe
- & Kazuo Suzuki
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| Open AccessAn insect-induced novel plant phenotype for sustaining social life in a closed system
Some social aphids have evolved to live inside completely closed galls, which presents a waste disposal problem of the honeydew that collects inside the gall. Here, Kutsukake et al.show that the gall inner surface is specialized for absorbing water, removing honeydew via the plant vascular system.
- Mayako Kutsukake
- , Xian-Ying Meng
- & Takema Fukatsu