Editorial Material
Anthropology
Luke D. Fannin, Elzanne Singels, Karen J. Esler, Nathaniel J. Dominy
Summary: This article discusses the role of grit in biological phenomena and its importance in evolutionary anthropology. The author calls for attention to the essential characteristics of grit and filling the gaps in understanding primate natural history and evolution.
EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Allegra DePasquale, Jeremy D. Hogan, Christopher Guadamuz Araya, Nathaniel J. Dominy, Amanda D. Melin
Summary: Aeroscapes play a critical role in shaping animal behaviors and sensory perception, yet they are often overlooked in studies of sensory ecology and evolution. This study quantifies the variation in air movement in two successional stages of a tropical dry forest and highlights the importance of aeroscapes for olfactory foraging niches. The findings have implications for various fields of research and underscore the need for further investigation into the relationship between landscape and sensory ecology.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Biology
Sora L. Kim, Justin D. Yeakel, Meghan A. Balk, Jaelyn J. Eberle, Sarah Zeichner, Dina Fieman, Juergen Kriwet
Summary: This study examines the dental distributions of sand tigers to understand how ecological and environmental processes influence the size structure of shark populations. The research finds that nursery protection is vital for shark conservation, especially with increasing anthropogenic impacts and climate change.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Luke D. Fannin, Elise J. Laugier, Adam van Casteren, Sabrina L. Greenwood, Nathaniel J. Dominy
Summary: Silica is important for terrestrial plant life and geochemical cycling. It is also relevant to the evolution of mammalian teeth, but there is debate over the type of siliceous particle that has had the strongest selective pressure on tooth morphology. This study presents a protocol for separating and quantifying siliceous matter in the diets of herbivores, which can detect differences in silica ingestion at species or population level. The study also found meaningful variation within the digestive tracts of cows, supporting the hypothesis of ruminal fluid 'washing' of siliceous grit. The protocol shows promise for testing competing hypotheses on dental traits evolution.
METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Editorial Material
Biology
Nathaniel J. Dominy, Julie M. Harris
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Zoology
Maeve K. Fairbanks, Luke D. Fannin, Nathaniel J. Dominy
Summary: Language is a powerful tool that can perpetuate colonial legacies. This article examines the phonological phenomenon of adding the final phoneme -ng to the word orangutan among English speakers and explores the colonial and literary implications behind it. The findings highlight the disparities between British and North American English speakers and shed light on the importance of addressing colonial legacies in primatology education and public outreach.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Ecology
Fernanda S. Valdovinos, Kayla R. S. Hale, Sabine Dritz, Paul R. Glaum, Kevin S. McCann, Sophia M. Simon, Elisa Thebault, William C. Wetzel, Kate L. Wootton, Justin D. Yeakel
Summary: Bioenergetic approaches have been influential in understanding community functioning and stability, particularly in aquatic ecosystems. However, these models face challenges in predicting plant-consumer interactions in terrestrial ecosystems where body mass is less predictive of these interactions.
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2023)
Review
Anthropology
Carrie C. Veilleux, Nathaniel J. Dominy, Amanda D. Melin
Summary: This article revisits a impactful review from twenty years ago, highlighting the explosive growth in research on primate food perception and providing an outline for future research directions.
EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Christopher W. Callahan, Nathaniel J. Dominy, Jeremy M. DeSilva, Justin S. Mankin
Summary: Since 2000, the number of home runs in baseball games has increased due to global warming, with higher temperatures leading to more home runs.
BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Luke D. Fannin, Mary S. Joy, Nathaniel J. Dominy, W. Scott Mcgraw, Jeremy M. Desilva
Summary: A study found that chimpanzees and sooty mangabeys have larger joint angles in the shoulders and elbows during downclimbing. This discovery sheds light on the functional importance of downclimbing and supports the hypothesis that vertical climbing plays a significant role in the evolution of hominoid primates, including humans.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biology
Carrie C. Veilleux, Eva C. Garrett, Petar Pajic, Marie Saitou, Joseph Ochieng, Lilia D. Dagsaan, Nathaniel J. Dominy, George H. Perry, Omer Gokcumen, Amanda D. Melin
Summary: Chemosensation (olfaction, taste) is crucial for food detection and assessment, and dietary shifts can lead to evolutionary changes in vertebrate chemosensory genes. The transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture has greatly influenced human food acquisition methods. Recent studies suggest that agriculture may have caused olfactory degeneration. This research investigates the impact of subsistence behaviors on olfactory and taste receptor genes in rainforest foragers and neighboring agriculturalists in Africa and Southeast Asia, revealing signatures of local adaptation but no evidence of relaxed selection on chemosensory genes in agricultural populations.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Experimental
Nathaniel J. Dominy, Catherine Hobaiter, Julie M. Harris
Summary: Reindeer is the only ruminant with a color-shifting tapetum lucidum and the only mammal with a lichen-dominated diet. It is unclear why reindeer, a day-active mammal in the Arctic region, would benefit from UV visual sensitivity, but it could improve their ability to detect lichens in their environment.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Nathaniel J. Dominy
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Michael C. Everett, Marina C. Elliott, David Gaynor, Austin C. Hill, Samar M. Syeda, Jesse Casana, Bernhard Zipfel, Jeremy M. DeSilva, Nathaniel J. Dominy
Summary: Mechanical loading of finger bones can induce angular curvature, benefiting arboreal primates, but the recent discovery of extremely curved phalanges in Homo naledi raises questions about its arboreal or rock-climbing habits. The significance of climbing rock walls is seen in populations of baboons, with implications for stress-mitigating curvature in the phalanges of primates.
SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE
(2021)
Correction
Microbiology
Andres Gomez, Ashok Kumar Sharma, Elizabeth K. Mallott, Klara J. Petrzelkova, Carolyn A. Jost Robinson, Carl J. Yeoman, Franck Carbonero, Barbora Pafco, Jessica M. Rothman, Alexander Ulanov, Klara Vlckova, Katherine R. Amato, Stephanie L. Schnorr, Nathaniel J. Dominy, David Modry, Angelique Todd, Manolito Torralba, Karen E. Nelson, Michael B. Burns, Ran Blekhman, Melissa Remis, Rebecca M. Stumpf, Brenda A. Wilson, H. Rex Gaskins, Paul A. Garber, Bryan A. White, Steven R. Leigh