影响食肉目动物能量学的生态因子

在食肉目的62种动物中,体重的变异可以解释基础代谢率86.8%的变化。当栖息基底、食性、生境和纬度等4个因素与体重合起来一起分析,则可以解释基础代谢率98.7%的变化,即这些生态和行为因子可以解释代谢率残差变异的81.1%。身体成分也是影响基础代谢率的另一个因素,可以解释一些大型树栖种类的较低的代谢率。除体重因素外,导致真兽类基础代谢率变异的主要原因是:当生态因素适合时,高水平的能量消耗可以促进动物的高繁殖输出,而动物的某些习性和生存环境则会要求低能量消耗,从而使繁殖率降低。当以科为单元进行分析时,对结果没有影响。生理参数与分类单元之间大多数的相关性反映了生态和行为因素与分类系统之间的一种粗略的相关关系。除非系统学可以反映动物的生态学和行为学,否则系统学不能决定动物适应性特征的状态     

几种食肉目动物的足迹与粪便形态描述

为利用足迹和粪便度量途径获得野外快速识别物种的方法,通过鉴定已有标本、调查动物足迹和粪便形态特征,分析了内蒙古赛罕乌拉国家级自然保护区分布的食肉目动物种类。确认在该区域共有9种食肉目动物,依据动物遗留粪便样品的宽度和外部形态能够区分不同体型的捕食动物。以足迹是否有爪印鉴别猫科动物和其他种类。以足迹大小区分猞猁Lynx lynx和豹猫Felis bengalensis,以前足具有长爪印确定狗獾Meles meles,以前足第3、4指基部紧密联结区分貉Nyctereutes procyonoides与沙狐Vulpes corsac和赤狐Vulpes vulpes,以跳跃步幅区分香鼬Mustela altaica和艾鼬Mustela eversmanni。本研究为开展区域性食肉目动物监测提供了便于掌握和使用的野外调查方法。另外,通过核查标本确认本地区仅有狗獾,增加了香鼬在内蒙古的分布地。     

基于CO Ⅰ基因的龟鳖目动物鉴定与分类进化分析

为探索COⅠ基因条形码技术在龟鳖目物种分类与鉴定中的适用性,本研究应用通用引物PCR扩增获得龟鳖目动物9科26属45种共205个样品的634 bp COⅠ基因序列片段进行研究分析。结果显示,COⅠ基因在龟鳖目动物中存在少量的碱基插入和缺失,共计12种20个位点,物种占比34.28%;平均碱基含量(A+T)为55.42%,显著高于(G+C)的44.58%。通过Kimura's 2-parameter计算45个物种的种内遗传距离为0～0.023 98,平均为0.003 2;种间遗传距离为0.022 3～0.334 9,平均为0.1 637,种间平均遗传距离约为种内平均遗传距离的51.16倍;有3个物种的种内遗传距离大于Hebert推荐区分物种的最小种间遗传距离0. 02,其中1个物种的种内遗传距离大于45个物种的种间最小遗传距离0.022 3。同科内不同属间及同目内不同科间的遗传距离分别为0.146 7、0.212 7,显示物种间遗传距离随着分类阶元的上升而逐步扩大。系统进化树聚类结果显示,不同个体依据亲缘关系程度不同分别聚为独立的一支,没有出现物种交叉分布,能准确反映个体间的亲缘关系。结果表明利用COⅠ基因鉴定龟鳖目物种具有可行性,但科内属间及以上分类阶元进化节点自展率不高,无法通过COⅠ基因明确其进化关系,须结合其他DNA指标加以确认。     

动物热激转录因子的进化类型及其功能研究进展

生物体暴露在高温和其它一些化学或者生理胁迫的环境中能诱导机体产生热激蛋白.真核生物中热激蛋白基因的表达受热激转录因子的调节.正常生长条件下,热激转录因子呈无活性的单体状态,当生物体处在热激等胁迫环境中时,热激转录因子会立即转换成有活性的三聚体并进入细胞核中与热激蛋白基因的热激元件结合,从而激活热蛋白激基因的转录.综述了近年来4种热激转录因子在生物体热应激反应中的作用,重点讨论了热激转录因子家族成员功能上的新发现.     

Sociality in molerats

Summary The foraging behaviour and diets of the various bathyergid molerat species are reviewed briefly, and inferences are drawn concerning their dietary specialisation. A simple model has been constructed which investigates the risks of unproductive foraging by specialist feeders as a function of resource dispersion characteristics and group size. The model suggests that the principal benefit of group foraging is a reduction in foraging risk, rather than increased resource procurement per se. Meeting the energetic costs of non-workers in social groups necessitates a reduction of the total energetic expenditure of the colony. This is achieved by reducing body size, huddling in the nest, and scaling mass-specific resting metabolic rate virtually independent of mass.     

Sociality, ecology, and relative brain size in lemurs

The social brain hypothesis proposes that haplorhine primates have evolved relatively large brains for their body size primarily as an adaptation for living in complex social groups. Studies that support this hypothesis have shown a strong relationship between relative brain size and group size in these taxa. Recent reports suggest that this pattern is unique to haplorhine primates; many nonprimate taxa do not show a relationship between group size and relative brain size. Rather, pairbonded social monogamy appears to be a better predictor of a large relative brain size in many nonprimate taxa. It has been suggested that haplorhine primates may have expanded the pairbonded relationship beyond simple dyads towards the evolution of complex social groups. We examined the relationship between group size, pairbonding, and relative brain size in a sample of 19 lemurs; strepsirrhine primates that last share a common ancestor with monkeys and apes approximately 75 Ma. First, we evaluated the social brain hypothesis, which predicts that species with larger social groups will have relatively larger brains. Secondly, we tested the pairbonded hypothesis, which predicts that species with a pairbonded social organization will have relatively larger brains than non-pairbonded species. We found no relationship between group size or pairbonding and relative brain size in lemurs. We conducted two further analyses to test for possible relationships between two nonsocial variables, activity pattern and diet, and relative brain size. Both diet and activity pattern are significantly associated with relative brain size in our sample. Specifically, frugivorous species have relatively larger brains than folivorous species, and cathemeral species have relatively larger brains than diurnal, but not nocturnal species. These findings highlight meaningful differences between Malagasy strepsirrhines and haplorhines, and between Malagasy strepsirrhines and nonprimate taxa, regarding the social and ecological factors associated with increases in relative brain size. The results suggest that factors such as foraging complexity and flexibility of activity patterns may have driven selection for increases in brain size in lemurs.     

Endoparasite Species Richness of Iberian Carnivores: Influences of Host Density and Range Distribution

We investigate the determinants of macroparasite species richness of Iberian carnivores. For this, we used the parasitological data collected on 14 species of carnivores over a 10-year period. These previously unpublished data permitted to estimate parasite species richness using estimators of species richness, i.e. Jackknife first order and Chao 2. Most of the parasite species were rare, with low prevalence. Potential determinants were investigated as possible factors explaining the variability of parasites species richness among carnivores host body mass, host geographical range, host longevity and host density. Using independent contrasts, we found positive relationships between residuals of estimates of parasite species richness and residuals in host density, and between residuals of estimates of parasite species richness and residuals in host range. These results are discussed in terms of risk of extinction and invasion abilities related to a possible investment in immune defences correlated with parasite diversity.     

Sociality, glucocorticoids and direct fitness in the communally rearing rodent, Octodon degus

While ecological causes of sociality (or group living) have been identified, proximate mechanisms remain less clear. Recently, close connections between sociality, glucocorticoid hormones (cort) and fitness have been hypothesized. In particular, cort levels would reflect a balance between fitness benefits and costs of group living, and therefore baseline cort levels would vary with sociality in a way opposite to the covariation between sociality and fitness. However, since reproductive effort may become a major determinant of stress responses (i.e., the cort–adaptation hypothesis), cort levels might also be expected to vary with sociality in a way similar to the covariation between sociality and fitness. We tested these expectations during three years in a natural population of the communally rearing degu, Octodon degus. During each year we quantified group membership, measured fecal cortisol metabolites (a proxy of baseline cort levels under natural conditions), and estimated direct fitness. We recorded that direct fitness decreases with group size in these animals. Secondly, neither group size nor the number of females (two proxies of sociality) influenced mean (or coefficient of variation, CV) baseline cortisol levels of adult females. In contrast, cortisol increased with per capita number of offspring produced and offspring surviving to breeding age during two out of three years examined. Together, our results imply that variation in glucocorticoid hormones is more linked to reproductive challenge than to the costs of group living. Most generally, our study provided independent support to the cort–adaptation hypothesis, according to which reproductive effort is a major determinant, yet temporally variable, influence on cort–fitness covariation.     

葡萄拼争莎巴珍珠及其衍生品种的演化和遗传多样性分析

莎巴珍珠是极早熟葡萄品种之一,以莎巴珍珠为亲本材料,经过简单杂交或多亲多代杂交,培育了一系列早熟和无核葡萄品种;莎巴珍珠衍生品种选育的最主要途径为杂交育种,其次为芽变选种。并对莎巴珍珠衍生品种在种类、染色体倍型、果实香味、果实颜色、果实成熟期等方面的遗传多样性进行了简要分析。     

Sociality in a bark-dwelling huntsman spider from Australia,Delena cancerides Walckenaer (Araneae: Sparassidae)

Summary Social behavior is reported for the first time in a member of the family Sparassidae (Araneae), the Australian huntsman spiderDelena cancerides Walckenaer. Unlike any previously known social spider, this is a bark dwelling species and, thus, its sociality cannot have its basis on an aerial web, the structure that has been considered central to the evolution of sociality in other spider species. Colonies ofD. cancerides may comprise up to 300 individuals living in close physical contact under the exfoliating bark of deadAcacia, Callitris andCasuarina species. Specimens maintained in the laboratory feed communally and capture prey jointly. Although this intranest tolerance and communal feeding behavior is reminiscent of other highly social spiders,D. cancerides notably differs from these other species in the extreme aggression shown towards members of foreign colonies, its outbred population structure, and lack of sex ratio bias. We suggest that sociality in this species may have been facilitated by the presence of extended maternal care in the ancestral phylogenetic lineage, as suggested by the occurrence of such behavior in related nonsocial species, and that colonial living may have arisen as a consequence of the reduction and fragmentation ofDelena's habitat associated with the rise to dominance of the eucalypts. The apparent colony recognition observed may have evolved becauseDelena's hunting habits may require mechanisms to locate one's own colony after foraging expeditions and to exclude wandering outsiders from entering one's nest, in contrast to web-bound species that do not need to leave their nest to forage. How the observed outbreeding is accomplished in the face ofDelena's extreme intolerance to members of other nests, as well as how new colonies are formed, are issues that have yet to be investigated.     

山东植物区系的演变和来源

1　现代植物区系山东省位于我国东部、黄河下游 ,北濒渤海 ,东临黄海 ,地理范围介于北纬 34°2 3′～38°2 4′,东经 1 1 4°4 8′～ 1 2 2°4 3′之间。全省总面积为 1 5.72万 km2 ,占全国总面积的 1 .6%。属暖温带季风气候 ,沿海比较湿润 ,地带性植被主要是暖温带落叶阔叶林和松、栎类针阔叶混交林。山东省在中国植物区系的分区地位隶属于泛北极植物区、中国 -日本森林植物亚区、华北植物地区 [1 ]。据最近研究统计 ,现有野生维管植物 1 47科、61 4属 ,约 1 547种 (包括变种 ,下同 )。其中蕨类植物 2 4科 39属 1 0 5种 ,裸子植物 3科 3属 …     

The Evolution of Different Forms of Sociality: Behavioral Mechanisms and Eco-Evolutionary Feedback

Different forms of sociality have evolved via unique evolutionary trajectories. However, it remains unknown to what extent trajectories of social evolution depend on the specific characteristics of different species. Our approach to studying such trajectories is to use evolutionary case-studies, so that we can investigate how grouping co-evolves with a multitude of individual characteristics. Here we focus on anti-predator vigilance and foraging. We use an individual-based model, where behavioral mechanisms are specified, and costs and benefits are not predefined. We show that evolutionary changes in grouping alter selection pressures on vigilance, and vice versa. This eco-evolutionary feedback generates an evolutionary progression from “leader-follower” societies to “fission-fusion” societies, where cooperative vigilance in groups is maintained via a balance between within- and between-group selection. Group-level selection is generated from an assortment that arises spontaneously when vigilant and non-vigilant foragers have different grouping tendencies. The evolutionary maintenance of small groups, and cooperative vigilance in those groups, is therefore achieved simultaneously. The evolutionary phases, and the transitions between them, depend strongly on behavioral mechanisms. Thus, integrating behavioral mechanisms and eco-evolutionary feedback is critical for understanding what kinds of intermediate stages are involved during the evolution of particular forms of sociality.     

The Evolution of Evolutionary Thinking in Chile

The scientific study of evolution in Chile has experienced periods of diversification and stasis, depending upon the social and political context at different times. In the eighteenth century, most of the natural history research consisted of systematics and taxonomy and, as in most of South America, this task was performed mainly by natural historian theologists. Later, the immigration of European scientists to Chile after independence from Spain in 1810 improved substantially its knowledge of the local biota and stimulated the diversification of naturalists in the country. Research in modern biology and the teaching of genetics in Chile can be traced back to Giovanni Noe, an Italian zoologist who had a profound impact in the first third of the twentieth century. In the 1960s–70s, Danko Brncic, a population geneticist educated in the tradition of Dobzhansky and the modern synthesis, led the most important diversification process in the study of evolutionary biology in the country. However, the military coup in 1973 brought this radiation to a sudden stop and produced a stasis period associated with the subsequent 17-year dictatorship. Evolutionary biology recovered its status after the re-establishment of democracy, and it is currently experiencing an exciting and renewed diversification period that has led to the foundation of the Chilean Society of Evolutionary Biology, the only scientific society for the study of evolution in Latin America. One of the missions of the Society is to bridge the gap between scientists and science educators in order to improve the teaching of evolution at different levels both in secular and religious schools. Even though the Roman Catholic Church has been a pivotal institution in the development of Chilean society, debate on evolutionism—creationism issues has been largely absent both in public and academic discussions. The influence of religion on science education has been sporadic, and mostly related to omission rather than tergiversation of scientific information in biology textbooks. Currently, schools are obliged by law to teach the basics of evolution in K-12 and K-16 levels (or their local equivalents). Because of this, there is little at present that suggests an organized creationist or intelligent design movement surge in the near future. Nevertheless, the high percentage of religiosity in Chile, together with the observation that the moral values of Chilean society are among the most conservative in the world, provide good reasons to remain vigilant.     

Gene Duplication and the Evolution of Hemoglobin Isoform Differentiation in Birds

The majority of bird species co-express two functionally distinct hemoglobin (Hb) isoforms in definitive erythrocytes as follows: HbA (the major adult Hb isoform, with α-chain subunits encoded by the α^A-globin gene) and HbD (the minor adult Hb isoform, with α-chain subunits encoded by the α^D-globin gene). The α^D-globin gene originated via tandem duplication of an embryonic α-like globin gene in the stem lineage of tetrapod vertebrates, which suggests the possibility that functional differentiation between the HbA and HbD isoforms may be attributable to a retained ancestral character state in HbD that harkens back to a primordial, embryonic function. To investigate this possibility, we conducted a combined analysis of protein biochemistry and sequence evolution to characterize the structural and functional basis of Hb isoform differentiation in birds. Functional experiments involving purified HbA and HbD isoforms from 11 different bird species revealed that HbD is characterized by a consistently higher O₂ affinity in the presence of allosteric effectors such as organic phosphates and Cl⁻ ions. In the case of both HbA and HbD, analyses of oxygenation properties under the two-state Monod-Wyman-Changeux allosteric model revealed that the pH dependence of Hb-O₂ affinity stems primarily from changes in the O₂ association constant of deoxy (T-state)-Hb. Ancestral sequence reconstructions revealed that the amino acid substitutions that distinguish the adult-expressed Hb isoforms are not attributable to the retention of an ancestral (pre-duplication) character state in the α^D-globin gene that is shared with the embryonic α-like globin gene.