Article
Zoology
M. Moska, A. Mucha, H. Wierzbicki, B. Nowak
Summary: The study conducted over four years on eight isolated populations of edible dormouse showed a high prevalence of multiple paternity, weak genetic relationship between juveniles and accompanying females, and a frequency of communal nesting. These findings suggest that multiple paternity and promiscuity can help maintain genetic diversity in dormice with low genetic variability.
JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biology
Robin E. Morrison, Eric Ndayishimiye, Tara S. Stoinski, Winnie Eckardt
Summary: Mating with close kin can have negative consequences, leading to the evolution of inbreeding avoidance mechanisms. This study on mountain gorillas examined multiple mechanisms of inbreeding avoidance, including dispersal, mate choice, kin discrimination, and post-copulatory biases. The findings suggest that partial dispersal reduces kinship in groups, and there is significant kin discrimination in mate choice, particularly towards maternal kin. However, there is limited avoidance of paternal kin, and no evidence for post-copulatory inbreeding avoidance. These results demonstrate that multiple complementary mechanisms for inbreeding avoidance can evolve within a single species, and mate choice may enable more flexible dispersal systems to evolve.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Maria Luisa Martin Cerezo, Saioa Lopez, Lucy van Dorp, Garrett Hellenthal, Martin Johnsson, Eben Gering, Rie Henriksen, Dominic Wright
Summary: Chickens on the Hawaiian island of Kauai reached peak numbers after tropical storms in the 1980s and 1990s released domestic chickens into the wild. Genetic analysis reveals a mix of Red Junglefowl and domestic chicken genes in the feral population, suggesting introgression events between wild and domestic chickens. The study confirms the traditional hypothesis of the feral population's origin and highlights the potential for domestic alleles to introgress into the wild reservoir.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Wei Wang, Shi Liang, Ruichao Yu, Yumin Su
Summary: This paper empirically explores the impact and specific mechanism of the ownership structure of multiple major shareholders on the green innovation of enterprises. The results show that a publicly traded company with a multi-stakeholder ownership structure has a higher level of green innovation compared to a single major shareholder structure. The mechanism test reveals that the equity arrangement of multiple major shareholders promotes green innovation by alleviating the fluctuation in the cash flow of the enterprise.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Mason R. Stothart, Ruth J. Greuel, Stefan Gavriliuc, Astrid Henry, Alastair J. Wilson, Philip D. McLoughlin, Jocelyn Poissant
Summary: Studies on the microbiome variation in the Sable Island horse population suggest that bacterial dispersal and ecological drift play a stronger role in driving host-to-host microbiome variation than differential selective pressures.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Diana Belen Acosta, Carlos Ezequiel Figueroa, Gabriela Paula Fernandez, Matias Exequiel Mac Allister, Bruno Nicolas Carpinetti, Lucila Perez-Gianmarco, Mariano Lisandro Merino
Summary: Hybridization between individuals of different subspecies is important in evolution, and can lead to changes in gene pool, enhanced genetic variability, morphological and coat colour changes, and increased adaptiveness and invasiveness. Wild boars in Argentina have been reported to hybridize with domestic pigs, and this study confirms such hybridization and high genetic diversity in a population of feral pigs in Buenos Aires province.
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Ju Hyoun Wang, Hee-kyu Choi, Hyuk Je Lee, Hwang Goo Lee
Summary: In this study, the morphological and molecular identification of tilapia species in the Dalseo Stream in South Korea was conducted. The results revealed the presence of the O. aureus species, which had not been reported in natural rivers before, along with the previously known O. niloticus species. These findings provide valuable information for invasive species management and tilapia species identification in Korea.
Article
Anthropology
Hirak Ranjan Dash, Kamayani Vajpayee, Radhika Agarwal, Anubha Gang, Ritesh Shukla, Ankit Srivastava
Summary: The study evaluated the effect of inter-population databases in 100 paternity trios and found that it did not significantly impact the Combined Paternity Index and Probability of Paternity, suggesting that population-specific databases may not be urgently needed for statistical evaluation in paternity trios without inconsistencies.
ANNALS OF HUMAN BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Pablo Baudin, Francois Mouvet, Ursula Rothlisberger
Summary: An MTS algorithm for trajectory surface hopping molecular dynamics has been developed and successfully applied to simulate non-adiabatic processes, achieving a computational speed-up compared to standard simulations.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Renata S. Mendonca, Pandora Pinto, Sota Inoue, Monamie Ringhofer, Raquel Godinho, Satoshi Hirata
Summary: Investigating affiliative behaviors in feral horse populations revealed that social bonds and group cohesion are mainly sustained by familiar individuals, especially in newly formed groups. Same-sex dyads prefer close proximity, while grooming reinforces bonds between individuals of both sexes.
APPLIED ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Cristian Alberto Durante, Rocio Loizaga, Gregory R. McCracken, Enrique Alberto Crespo, Daniel E. Ruzzante
Summary: This study investigated the population genetics of Commerson's dolphin and found low genetic diversity compared to other dolphin species, but consistent within the genus. Strong population structure based on mitochondrial DNA indicated female philopatry, but this pattern was not detected using microsatellites, suggesting male-mediated gene flow.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Mandy Christopher, Valeria Paccapelo, Alison Kelly, Bethany Macdonald, Lee Hickey, Cecile Richard, Ari Verbyla, Karine Chenu, Andrew Borrell, Asad Amin, Jack Christopher
Summary: Identification of QTLs for stay-green traits in wheat using a MR-NAM population showed overlapping QTLs in different environments, facilitating breeding efforts.
FIELD CROPS RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Business
Samuel Ogbeibu, Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour, James Gaskin, Abdelhak Senadjki, Mathew Hughes
Summary: Leader's competency in smart technologies, artificial intelligence, robotics and algorithms is crucial for driving green innovation in organizations. Green creativity skills play a significant role in organizational green innovative evidence. Environmental dynamism is negatively associated with green creativity skills and innovative evidence.
BUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Economics
Samar S. Alharbi, Md Al Mamun, Sabri Boubaker, Syed Kumail Abbas Rizvi
Summary: Using a large sample of 44 countries from 2007 to 2020, this study provides evidence that green finance, specifically green bonds, has a significant impact on promoting renewable energy production. The findings are robust and consider various factors and estimation methods. The effect is particularly strong when green bonds are used to finance alternative energy, and countries with higher emissions, greater climate change exposure, and more developed credit markets show a stronger long-term impact of green finance. Furthermore, countries with low or net zero emissions targets and those that have agreed to the post-Paris 2015 agreements demonstrate a more pronounced effect.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Frederic Marin, Eugene Churazov, Ildar Khabibullin, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, Laura Di Gesu, Thibault Barnouin, Alessandro Di Marco, Riccardo Middei, Alexey Vikhlinin, Enrico Costa, Paolo Soffitta, Fabio Muleri, Rashid Sunyaev, William Forman, Ralph Kraft, Stefano Bianchi, Immacolata Donnarumma, Pierre-Olivier Petrucci, Teruaki Enoto, Ivan Agudo, Lucio A. Antonelli, Matteo Bachetti, Luca Baldini, Wayne H. Baumgartner, Ronaldo Bellazzini, Stephen D. Bongiorno, Raffaella Bonino, Alessandro Brez, Niccolo Bucciantini, Fiamma Capitanio, Simone Castellano, Elisabetta Cavazzuti, Chien-Ting Chen, Stefano Ciprini, Alessandra De Rosa, Ettore Del Monte, Niccolo Di Lalla, Victor Doroshenko, Michal Dovciak, Steven R. Ehlert, Yuri Evangelista, Sergio Fabiani, Javier A. Garcia, Shuichi Gunji, Kiyoshi Hayashida, Jeremy Heyl, Adam Ingram, Wataru Iwakiri, Svetlana G. Jorstad, Philip Kaaret, Vladimir Karas, Takao Kitaguchi, Jeffery J. Kolodziejczak, Henric Krawczynski, Fabio La Monaca, Luca Latronico, Ioannis Liodakis, Simone Maldera, Alberto Manfreda, Andrea Marinucci, Alan P. Marscher, Herman L. Marshall, Francesco Massaro, Giorgio Matt, Ikuyuki Mitsuishi, Tsunefumi Mizuno, Michela Negro, C. -Y Ng, Stephen L. O'Dell, Nicola Omodei, Chiara Oppedisano, Alessandro Papitto, George G. Pavlov, Abel L. Peirson, Matteo Perri, Melissa Pesce-Rollins, Maura Pilia, Andrea Possenti, Juri Poutanen, Simonetta Puccetti, Brian D. Ramsey, John Rankin, Ajay Ratheesh, Oliver J. Roberts, Roger W. Romani, Carmelo Sgro, Patrick Slane, Gloria Spandre, Doug Swartz, Toru Tamagawa, Fabrizio Tavecchio, Roberto Taverna, Yuzuru Tawara, Allyn F. Tennant, Nicholas E. Thomas, Francesco Tombesi, Alessio Trois, Sergey S. Tsygankov, Roberto Turolla, Jacco Vink, Martin C. Weisskopf, Kinwah Wu, Fei Xie, Silvia Zane
Summary: By studying the X-ray reflection from giant molecular clouds near the black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A), scientists have found evidence of past flaring activity. The observations show that the reflected X-ray emission is polarized, indicating that approximately 200 years ago, the X-ray luminosity of Sgr A* was similar to that of a Seyfert galaxy.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Robin M. Hare, Leigh W. Simmons
Summary: Research suggests that even brief and circumscribed periods of intrasexual competition among females can lead to sexual selection on morphological characters, which may not depend on multiple mating. Therefore, it is recommended to increase the study of sexual selection acting on females.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Jessie C. Tanner, Leigh W. Simmons
Summary: This study found that even a small number of male field crickets singing can reduce female response rates and prevent mate choice. This can be due to either acoustic interference or choice overload. The results suggest that in noisy natural environments, receivers may not always be able to express their well-documented mating preferences.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Leigh W. Simmons, Soon Hwee Ng, Maxine Lovegrove
Summary: Evidence suggests that the environment experienced by fathers can influence the phenotype of offspring through ejaculate traits such as DNA methylation, small RNAs, and seminal fluid proteins. The paternal diet can impact the viability of sperm produced by sons, but does not affect the expression of seminal fluid protein genes in sons or the fecundity in daughters. These findings highlight the importance of non-genetic components in ejaculate quality determined by the paternal environment for the evolutionary maintenance of variation in male fitness.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Joe A. Moschilla, Joseph L. Tomkins, Leigh W. Simmons
Summary: The study explores how parents' perceived social environment can impact offspring behavior, particularly in daughters. Offspring reared in a no-song environment were more active, while daughters of parental pairs with both parents reared in a song environment showed lower levels of mobility compared to other groups.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Biology
Liam R. Dougherty, Michael J. A. Skirrow, Michael D. Jennions, Leigh W. Simmons
Summary: In many animal species, males exhibit different alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) in obtaining fertilisations, but there is little evidence that ARTs differ substantially in investment into sperm and ejaculates across species. The incongruence between theoretical predictions and empirical results could be explained by the failure of theoretical models to account for differences in overall resource levels between males exhibiting different ARTs, as well as the inaccurate measurement of sperm or ejaculate traits in reflecting overall post-mating investment or affecting fertilisation success.
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Robin M. Hare, Leigh W. Simmons
Summary: The study investigated Bateman gradients in the spermatophore gift-giving bushcricket, finding significantly positive gradients in males but shallow and nonsignificant gradients in females, possibly due to experimental limitations.
JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Leigh W. Simmons, Maxine Lovegrove, Xin Bob Du, Yonglin Ren, Melissa L. Thomas
Summary: The study found that humidity affects the CHC (cuticular hydrocarbon) profile of crickets, with crickets reared under low humidity producing more specific compounds. Sexual dimorphism was not apparent until after adult emergence, becoming more pronounced after sexual maturity.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Robin M. Hare, W. Jason Kennington, Leigh W. Simmons
Summary: There is a lot of evidence showing that sexual selection plays a role in the evolution of male sexual traits, but little is known about females. This study investigates whether selection on females can drive evolutionary divergence in a specific trait among populations. The researchers found that the phenotypic divergence of female auditory spiracle size far exceeded the neutral genetic divergence, suggesting that female auditory spiracle size is under strong directional selection. The findings indicate that sexual selection acting on females can drive population divergence.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Giovanni Polverino, Kevin Sagastume-Espinoza, Leigh W. Simmons, Jennifer L. Kelley
Summary: This study investigates whether individual behavior is dependent on perceived vulnerability using the crowned stick insect as a model. The research finds consistent behavioral differences among individuals, with risk-prone individuals exhibiting more defensive displays. Furthermore, a strong positive correlation is observed between defensive behaviors and reflectance relative to the background, indicating a functional link between behavioral variation and perceived vulnerability.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Joe A. Moschilla, Joseph L. Tomkins, Leigh W. Simmons
Summary: Understanding the evolution of animal personality involves studying the effects of selection on behavioral variation. This study focused on the Australian field cricket and found that males and females exhibited variation in boldness and exploratory behavior, which could influence their encounters with potential mates. Male crickets changed their exploratory behavior after interacting with conspecifics, while females did not. The study also found evidence of significant sexual selection in males but not in females. Overall, the study suggests that among-individual variation in these behaviors is unlikely to be selected based on their effects on reproductive success.
Article
Biology
Renee C. Firman, Goncalo Igreja Andre, Jessica H. Hadlow, Leigh W. Simmons
Summary: Studies have found that the social environment can influence the adaptive reproductive strategies and traits of males and their offspring. In this study, the offspring of house mice were analyzed to examine the intergenerational effects of variation in the paternal social environment. It was found that fathers exposed to high-male density produced sons with competitive phenotypes, while fathers exposed to high-female density produced sons with traits for increased mating frequency. Additionally, the competitive responses of fathers were inherited by their sons, with the sons reared under competition having higher sperm quality.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Biographical-Item
Ecology
Darrell J. Kemp, Ronald L. Rutowski, Leigh W. Simmons
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Leigh W. Simmons, Maxine Lovegrove, Xin (Bob) Du, Yonglin Ren, Melissa L. Thomas
Summary: Global declines in insect abundance are a concern, and climate change is contributing to these declines. This study investigates the effects of humidity on male cricket fertility. The results show that low-humidity environments lead to increased water loss and negative impacts on reproductive traits, compromising male fertility and population persistence. Accounting for water regulation in models will improve predictions of climate change effects on insect declines.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Leigh W. Simmons, Maxine Lovegrove
Summary: When females mate with multiple males, competition between rival ejaculates favors adaptations that enhance fertilization success. Sperm competition has been shown to drive increased production and allocation of sperm. However, the specific function of seminal fluid proteins in response to sperm competition is not well understood. In this study, we used gene expression studies and interference RNA to investigate how seminal fluid proteins in a cricket's ejaculate affect a male's paternity share in competing for fertilizations. We found that relative expression of the seminal fluid gene, gagein, positively influences the paternity share of competing males. Knocking down this gene and two others renders males incapable of fathering living offspring in sperm competition. Despite their negative effect on offspring viability, these seminal fluid genes are upregulated in response to rival males, indicating a role in promoting competitive fertilization success. This study contributes to the understanding of post-mating sexual selection via sperm competition by demonstrating that seminal fluid gene expression is subject to sexual selection.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Goncalo Andre, Renee C. Firman, Leigh W. Simmons
Summary: Studies show that female house mice release prolactin early after copulation, which is dependent on the shape of the baculum and male sexual behavior. This suggests a mechanism of sexual selection acting on the mammalian baculum.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2021)