Animals show among-individual variation in behaviours, including migration behaviours, which are often repeatable across time periods and contexts, commonly termed “personality”. These behaviours can be correlated, forming a behavioural syndrome. In this study, we assessed the repeatability and correlation of different behavioural traits i.e., boldness, exploration and sociality and the link to migration patterns in Atlantic cod juveniles. To do so, we collected repeated measurements within two short-term (three days) and two long-term (two months) intervals of these traits and genotypes of the Pan I locus, which is indirectly correlated to feeding migration patterns in this species. We found that mainly exploration behaviour was repeatable in the short- and long-term intervals, and a trend for the relationship between exploration and the Pan I locus. Boldness and sociality were only repeatable in the second short-term interval indicating a possible development of stability over time and did not show a relation with the Pan I locus. We found no indication of behavioural syndromes among the studied traits. Although we were unable to identify the existence of a migration syndrome for the migratory genotype (Pan IBB), this study is the first one to highlight the existence of a possible link between the personality trait exploration and the migration-linked Pan I locus. This supports the need for further research that should focus on the effect of exploration tendency and other personality traits on cod movement, including the migratory (frontal) ecotype, to develop management strategies based on behavioural units, rather than treating the population as a single homogeneous stock.

Interference competition has the potential to alter avian assemblages at long-lasting arid zone waterholes, particularly in a warming world, as more potentially aggressive species frequent these sites to drink. We used camera traps and observational surveys to investigate interference competition between terrestrial avian species at six long-lasting waterholes across three sampling seasons (two summers and one winter) within the MacDonnell Ranges Bioregion in central Australia. The proportion of individuals drinking for each of four dietary classes (granivores, nectarivores, omnivores, and insectivores) was modelled in relation to their abundance in the immediate waterhole habitat, which informed the potential for competition in each season. We then used the temporal overlap estimators to quantify the degree of competition between species at waterholes with species grouped into families (Meliphagidae, Ptilonorhynchidae, Estrildidae, and Rhipiduridae). We found the proportion of individuals drinking at waterholes was greatest during hot and dry periods, suggesting the potential for interference competition is greatest during these times. This was particularly the case for nectarivores where, in hot and dry conditions, the proportion of drinking individuals increased significantly as their abundance also increased in the waterhole habitat. We predicted that subordinate species would alter their activity periods to avoid competitive interactions with meliphagids (honeyeaters), however, we found there was a high degree of temporal overlap between all families sampled across all seasons. These results suggest subordinate species are unlikely to be excluded from long-lasting waterholes by potentially aggressive species, such as honeyeaters. However, some species may face trade-offs between foraging and accessing waterholes to stay hydrated as they shift their activity to avoid the hottest parts of the day during the summer months. Under global warming, extended hot and dry periods will likely create conditions where balancing energy and hydration requirements becomes increasing difficult and results in the loss of body condition.

Broilers supply humans with an abundance of high-quality chicken, and the utilization of local poultry genetic variety is crucial for the development of high-performing and efficient broiler breeders. Pingwu red chicken is an outstanding native poultry genetic resource in Sichuan Province, yet research on Pingwu red chicken DNA polymorphism lags behind that of standard broiler breeds. To uncover the genetic variety of Pingwu red chickens, blood genomic DNA from 18 Pingwu red chickens was extracted, and high-throughput locus-specific amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) was utilized for SNP marker analysis and phylogenetic tree construction. To investigate the genetic evolutionary relationship of Pingwu red chickens, a total of 952,944 high-quality SNPs (integrity > 0.5 and MAF > 0.05) and SLAF fragments were gathered, according to the study. This study successfully uncovered the genetic foundation of Pingwu red chicken, indicating the existence of three tiny clusters across all samples. Specific-length amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) is a high-resolution technique for identifying and genotyping de novo SNPs. This study concludes that slaf-seq is an effective method for revealing the genetic variety of Pingwu red chickens and provides a scientific basis for its use in Pingwu red chicken evolution.

Background; We here present a first intraspecific eco-variant post natal attempt at evaluation of skull signaling in the small African pangolin (Boreoeutheria) family, sub-family phatagininae emphasizing evolutionary trend in ontogeny. Forty; digitally processed skulls and foramen magnum outlines of this species from different geo-locations were assessed for asymmetry, foramen magnum shape variations and modularity hypotheses on skull areas using geometric and Elliptical Fourier analyses methods. Results; Regression of log transformed centroid size and asymmetric components suggested significant expression of asymmetry through ontogeny (p˂0.03) with size accounting for 81.34% of asymmetric shape changes. Multivariate analysis of regression confirmed directional but low (p˂0.5) fluctuating asymmetry (F1539=3.4045, F882= 3.2665, for dorsal and ventral views respectively). Intraspecific ontogenetic allometric trajectories followed rostro-caudal and caudo-lateral directions; intercepts for shape/size predictions were parallel. Mahalanobis distances between centroids (2.42) of specimens were significant (p˂ 0.01). Variance-covariance matrix in ontogeny lies between 0.0017 and 0.56 suggestive of shape overlaps and variations. Foramen magnum outline descriptors by incremental harmonics explained morphologic details; the first 4 effective principal components defined 96.98% of shape properties, while (3.02%) constituted finer details. 74.1% accuracy decline after size factor elimination. Modulation PCA: of Covariance Matrix and Asymmetry component was 88.38% and 7.48% (PC1 and 2) variance % predicted 10.08%. Conclusions; The study confirmed directional ‘handedness’ and fluctuating asymmetries among skull samples studied, an attenuated ability to maintain paired symmetric bilaterality irrespective of geo-location. Foramen magnum shape assumed priority over size in ontogeny with profound asymmetry (from the 5th harmonic); an indication of precocity and early presumptive form for arboreal adaptation this observation in conjunction with modularity inference suggested instability and global weakness of cranial integration processes and modules. These findings will be of value for species conservation and may be vital in pangolin evolutionary systematics.

Abstract: Aim: Severe anthropic actions in the landscape are, currently, the main cause of threat to species conservation. The Brazilian Atlantic Forest is priority focus for conservation, due to the high degree of endemism and the pressures suffered since colonization. Despite the effort employed in studies on the impact of forest fragmentation on the fauna, understanding its effects on functional diversity is still limited. Considering that forest fragmentation it affects each organism in a different way, the relationships between species and with the environment are affected also, including human communities. So, this work aimed to identify emerging fragilities of the transformations on the biological systems through the modifications of the landscapes, on the avifauna of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Location: Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Methods: The purpose of the research was achieved through the analysis of the species data available on the database GBIF, with the calculation of functional diversity (FD) for the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and models of species extinction included in global red list (IUCN). Results: The high values of functional diversity are concentrated in the Brazilian Southeast region, coinciding with the location of the largest and most connected Conservation Units and of lesser intensity of the forest fragmentation process. However, the functional loss caused by the extinction of vulnerable species is distributed in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Evidencing that the functional diversity of birds presents great spatial clustering, while functional vulnerability is widespread throughout the biome. Main conclusions: The results demonstrate that forest fragmentation acts as an ecological filter, directly affecting habitat specialist species and reducing the functional diversity in forest communities. Key words: forest birds, functional traits, conservations, landscape analysis, biological system, forest communities, Conservation Areas, modified landscape, anthropization, habitat patches.

The evolution of body size, both within and between species, has been long predicted to be influenced by multifarious environmental factors. However, the specific drivers of body size variation have remained difficult to understand because of the wide range of proximate factors that consistently covary with ectotherm body sizes across populations with varying local environmental conditions. Here, we used a widely distributed lizard (Eremias argus) collected from different populations situated across China to assess how climatic conditions and/or available resources at different altitudes shape the geographical patterns of lizard body size across populations. We used body size data from locations differing in altitudes across China to construct linear mixed models to test the relationship between lizard body size and ecological and climate conditions across altitudes. Lizard populations showed significant differences in body size across altitudes. Furthermore, we found that variation in body size among populations was also explained by climatic and seasonal changes along the altitudinal gradient. Specifically, body size decreased with colder and drier environmental conditions at high altitudes, resulting in a reversal of Bergmann’s rule. Limited resources at high altitudes, as measured by net primary productivity, may also constrain body size. Therefore, our study demonstrates that the intraspecific variation in female lizards’ body size may be strongly influenced by multifarious local environments as adaptive plasticity for female organisms to possibly maximise reproductive ecology along geographic clines.

Texas horned lizards (Phrynosoma cornutum) have disappeared from many areas in Texas, especially from urbanized areas, probably in large part due to loss of suitable habitat. Our previous studies have found that horned lizards persist and occur at high densities in some small towns in southern Texas. Nevertheless, this species has continued to decline and disappear from these towns. Long-term data from Kenedy and Karnes City indicate that when study sites experienced significant shrub and vegetation removal horned lizards declined by 79%. We hypothesize this may in part be due to the degradation of the thermal landscape for these lizards. We determined the preferred temperature range (Tset25 −Tset75) of lizards at our study sites and took field measurements of body temperature (Tb). Temperature loggers were also placed in three microhabitats across our study sites. Shrubs and vegetation provided the highest quality thermal environment, especially for about 5 hours midday when temperatures in the open and buried under the surface exceeded the lizards’ critical maximum temperature (CTmax) or were above their preferred temperature range. Horned lizard density was positively related to the thermal quality of the habitat across our sites. Texas horned lizards in these towns require a heterogenous mix of closely spaced microhabitats and especially thermal refugia, such as shrubs and vegetation along fence lines and in open fields. Maintaining thermal refugia is one of the most important and practical conservation actions that can be taken to help small ectotherms persist in human modified landscapes and cope with increasing temperatures due to climate change.

Conversion of the North American prairies to cropland remains a prominent threat to grassland bird populations. Yet, a few species nest in these vastly modified systems. The thick-billed longspur (Rhynchophanes mccownii) is an obligate grassland bird whose populations have declined 4% annually during the past 50 years. Thick-billed longspurs historically nested in recently disturbed or sparsely vegetated patches within native mixed-grass prairie, but observations of longspurs in crop fields during the breeding season suggest such fields also provide cues for habitat selection. Maladaptive selection for poor quality habitat may contribute to ongoing declines in longspur populations, but information on thick-billed longspur breeding ecology in crop fields is lacking. We hypothesized that crop fields may function as ecological traps; specifically, we expected that crop fields may provide cues for territory selection but frequent human disturbance and increased exposure to weather and predators would have negative consequences for reproduction. To address this hypothesis, we compared measures of habitat selection (settlement patterns and trends in abundance) and productivity (nest density, nest survival, and number of young fledged) between crop fields and native sites in northeastern Montana, USA. Settlement patterns were similar across site types and occupancy ranged from 0.52 ± 0.17SE to 0.99 ± 0.01 on April 7 and 30, respectively. Early season abundance differed by year and changes in abundance during the breeding season were associated with precipitation-driven vegetation conditions, rather than habitat type. Standardized nest density (0.19 ± 0.27SD nests/plot/hour), the number of young fledged per successful nest (2.9 ± 0.18SE), and nest survival (0.24 ± 0.03 SE; n=222 nests) were similar for crop and native sites. Collectively, the data did not support our hypothesis that crop fields are ecological traps: longspurs did not exhibit a clear preference for cropland and reproductive output was not significantly reduced. Our results indicate that crop fields provide alternative breeding habitat within a human-dominated landscape.

Combining individual movement and home range data can allow us to better understand how an animal interacts with its surroundings and how this influences ecological dynamics. Previous studies about the movement and home range of snakes have shown several factors influencing them. Usually, these studies were made with different species, using different methods and in different regions, hampering a comparative analysis to identify general patterns. The present study aims to review all available literature about snake movement and home range identifying the influence of phylogenetic, ecological, and morphological factors on these behaviors. We conducted an exhaustive survey of specialized journals and online databases for papers that used radio telemetry to track snakes. We found 448 papers and after applying filter selected 74 of them to determine the influence of the ecological factors and of the phylogeny on snake movement and home range in 1010 snakes. Our results show that movement and home range have no phylogenetic signal, however, functional traits are linked to snake's habits and reflect the particularities of survival strategies and morphologies of each group. Larger and heavier snakes move more and occupy larger areas. Snake movement seems to be more efficient in aquatic environments. Our results provide useful data to understand the dynamics of snake movements and space use and outline strategies for their conservation.

The Philippine native pig (PhNP) is a unique genetic resource with complex genetics due to multiple ancestries and hybridizations with wild pigs. No prior study has determined the population structure and genetic diversity of PhNPs on multiple islands and provinces, which is essential for establishing conservation priorities. In this study, we explore the population structure and genetic diversity of various PhNP populations in Luzon and the Visayas, Philippines, to identify conservation priorities. We analyzed 157 native pigs representing 7 populations (Benguet (B), Kalinga (K), Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela (I), Quezon (Q), Marinduque (M), and Samar (S)) and 39 pigs of transboundary distribution (Duroc, Large White, Landrace, and Berkshire). The pigs were compared against a panel of 21 ISAG–FAO recommended microsatellite markers. We tested for population structure at the island, administrative region and province levels. Strong genetic differentiation between native and transboundary breeds was confirmed by analysis of molecular variance (Frt: 0.08; F’st: 0.288-0.728), Bayesian clustering (k = 2) and Nei’s DA genetic distance (98% bootstrap support for the PhNP cluster). PhNP exhibited high heterozygosity (Ho: 0.72), a high allele count (Na: 9.24) and a low inbreeding coefficient (Fis: -0.022 to 0.150). Bayesian clustering supported genetic differentiation at the island (k = 2; North Luzon and South Luzon-Visayas cluster), administrative region (k = 4) and population (k= 9) levels. The pairwise F’st between PhNP populations ranged from 0.130 (Q and M) to 0.427 (Q and K), confirming that PhNP populations exhibited sufficient genetic distance to be considered separate populations. This study shows that the seven previously assigned PhNP populations, roughly delimited by provincial origin, are unique genetic units for conservation. Furthermore, the small effective population sizes of B, Q, I, and S (Ne: 5, 17, 24, and 26, respectively) necessitate immediate conservation actions, such as incentivizing the farming of PhNP.

Rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) is the most extensively studied nonhuman primate species for human biomedical modeling. However, little is known about the biological pattern of genome-wide structural variations (SVs) and the evolutionary forces underlying SVs in this species. Here, we conducted genomic sequencing and analyses based on Nanopore long-reads and Illumina short-reads technologies. We called SVs between the two subspecies (China vs. India), using three methods of assembly-based and long-reads-based algorithms. Interestingly, we found significantly more SVs in the X-chromosome than in autosomes, consistent with the expectation of the faster-X divergence at the subspecies level. With the fine-scale methylation frequencies and recombination rates, we found duplications with significantly lower methylation frequencies while higher recombination rates than other types of SVs, suggesting a higher level of transcriptional and evolutionary potential for duplications than for other SVs types. A genome-wide scan of selective sweeps revealed that over 3% of SVs are under positive selection and that X chromosome showed significantly higher number of positively selected SVs than do autosomes, suggesting the “faster-X effect” of SVs. Thus, our study revealed a different evolutionary importance of duplications compared with other SVs forms in producing raw material upon which selective forces, including the faster-X effect, can further play.

The study of the eukaryotic fraction of the microbiota using a metabarcoding approach is usually hindered by the high host to eukaryotic microbiota DNA ratio in samples. Indeed, the 18S rRNA gene is very similar for both the host and its eukaryotic communities, leading to a preferential amplification of the predominant host DNA when using universal primers. Multiple approaches have been developed to reduce host DNA amplification. One method is based on elongation arrest blocking primers, oligonucleotides modified with a C3 Spacer that stops the advancement of the DNA polymerase at non-conserved regions of a target gene. In this paper, we successfully developed and tested species-specific elongation arrest blocking primers to block the Flag cichlid, Mesonauta festivus, 18S rRNA SSU. Our elongation arrest blocking primers significantly reduced the amount of host DNA amplicons by 66 %. In addition to reducing the amount of sequencing wasted, the blocking primers increased the detectability of potentially dangerous parasitic taxa in fish gut, highlighting the potential of the method for parasitic screening. For instance, we discovered a case of infection by the parasitic ciliate Nyctotherus sp. and detected the presence of a parasitic Trematode and an Amoebae. While our data support the possibility of achieving a complete inhibition of host DNA amplification using elongation arrest blocking primers, more research is still required. Still, there is a need for the development and additional testing of protocols to study the eukaryotic diversity present in fish gut, a slow-growing field of study in comparison to its prokaryotic counterpart.

The behavior of animals potentially affects their survival and reproduction. The activity budget of the Critically Endangered giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis camelopardalis has been investigated in populations across Africa and found to be influenced by body size, diet and sex. Foraging patterns show how an animal chooses to forage in its environment, and is influenced by resource availability, competition and predation risk. The activity budget and foraging patterns of Nubian giraffes vary considerably between ecosystems. The Nubian giraffe is a recently identified subspecies G. camelopardalis camelopardalis). This Critically Endangered giraffes which includes Rothschild’s giraffes, occurs only within Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Southern Sudan. We observed the behavior of a population of Nubian giraffes in Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya, to assess seasonal activity budgets and foraging patterns. In the wet and dry seasons, giraffes spent approximately the same amount of time (53 and 57%, respectively) foraging. Movement and resting duration decreased slightly from the dry to the wet season (22 to 20% and 25 to 22%, respectively. Across both seasons, Vachellia xanthophloea (67%), Maytenus senegalensis (19%), and Solanum incanum (9%) made up the bulk of the giraffe’s diet. In the dry season, giraffe additionally foraged on Maerua triphylla (2%), Vachellia gerrardi (2%), and Grewia similis (1%); in the wet season, they added Vachellia abyssinica (2%) and Rhus natalensis (2%) to their diet. The most utilized browsing height was 3.5 m below their average height.. Overall, season did not appear to influence the Nubian giraffe’s activity time budget or foraging patterns in Lake Nakuru National Park. Improved knowledge of the behavioral patterns of this subspecies will allow managers to manage and conserve the species and its habitat better. For instance, planting perennial plants in all vegetation types used by giraffes in the park minimizes browsing pressure on the already over browsed Vachellia.

Sweet taste is a primary sensation for the preference and adaption of primates to diet, which is crucial for their survival and fitness. It is clear now that the sweet perception is mediated by a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-sweet taste receptor T1R2/T1R3, and many behavioral or physiological experiments have revealed the diverse sweet taste preferences and sensitivities in primates. However, the structure-function relationship of T1R2s/T1R3s in primates, especially the molecular basis for their species-specific sweet taste, has not be well understood until now. In this study, we performed a comprehensive sequence, structural and functional analysis of sweet taste receptors in primates to elucidate the molecular determinants mediating their species-dependent sweet taste recognition. Our results indicate that distinct taxonomic distribution and classification are present in both T1R2s and T1R3s, which are demonstrated by the conservation/variation of sequences in sequence similarity networks and phylogenetic analysis. Furthermore, significant characteristics (interaction, coevolution and epistasis) for several subsets of function-related potential residues, which could partly account for the previously reported behavioral and physiological results of taste perception in primates, are also revealed. Moreover, the prosimians Lemuriformes species, which were reported to have no sensitivity to aspartame, could be proposed to be aspartame tasters based on the present analysis. This hypothesis was further validated by the cell-based functional analysis of the T1R2/T1R3 of the Lemuriformes species Coquerel’s sifaka and its two site-directed mutants. Collectively, our study provides new insights and promotes a better understanding for the diversity, function and evolution of sweet taste receptors in primates.

In this study, which was carried out between 2015-2019, were taken 3730 photographs and video recordings with the number of 6380 camera trap days at 142 different points with the camera traps. At the end of the study, 13 different large mammal wild animal species were identified. In the study area, wild boar (Sus scrofa) 845, hare (Lepus europaeus) 634, red fox (Vulpes vulpes) 565, gray wolf (Canis lupus) 549, golden jackal (Canis aureus) 322, red deer (Cervus elaphus) 224, stone marten (Martes foina) 174, European badger (Meles meles) 89, brown bear (Ursus arctos) 86, Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) 84, jungle cat (Felis chaus) 69, wildcat (Felis silvestris) 52 and Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) 28 times have been observed. The distribution of the identified species according to altitude and stand type, and their activities according to months and hours of the day were evaluated. It has been determined that the determined species prefer mixed and degraded stand types, they are more intense between 1200-1400 meters, daily activities are more frequent at night and they are more active in the spring and autumn seasons.

Indian pangolin is distributed throughout South Asia, from eastern Pakistan to much of India, south of the Himalayas, southern Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. It is classified as an Endangered (EN) species, listed under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Although its population is declining at an alarming rate there seems to be little information available on this species across its range. This has created a knowledge gap for sustainable management and conservation of the species. For effective planning, it is necessary to study the trends in research of the species and monitor these gaps to realign research focus on current conservation needs. We systematically reviewed all the published English literature on Indian pangolin between 1980 and 2020 to synthesize range-wide current state of knowledge on this species. Internet-based searches in Google Scholar produced 3320 results. After a set of selection processes, 64 literature were assessed. During the 1980–2020 time period, 31 journals published articles on Indian pangolins. The maximum number of the study was conducted in 2020 (n=10). Among the range countries, most literature was based on India (n=24), whereas the least was on Nepal (n=1). Studies on the Indian pangolin were mostly focused on the theme ecology (48%, n=31). More than 63% of the research (n=40) was based on primary sources of information or empirical studies. We recorded a total of 12 distinct methods used to study Indian pangolin where community interview (n=19) was the most often utilized approach. We investigated the trend and spatial distribution of Indian pangolin research, identified research gaps, assessed methods employed in Indian pangolin research and provided conservation recommendations. We expect that findings from our study will help to fill in gaps on Indian pangolins and be useful in their conservation.

Aim: To test whether the occupancy of shorebirds has changed in the eastern Canadian Arctic, and whether these changes could indicate that shorebird distributions are shifting in response to long-term climate change Location: Foxe Basin and Rasmussen Lowlands, Nunavut, Canada Methods: We used a unique set of observations, made 25 years apart, using general linear models to test if there was a relationship between changes in shorebird species’ occupancy and their Species Temperature Index, a simple version of a species climate envelope. Results: Changes in occupancy and density varied widely across species, with some increasing and some decreasing. This is despite that overall population trends are known to be negative for all of these species, based on surveys during migration. The changes in occupancy that we observed were positively related to the Species Temperature Index, such that the warmer-breeding species appear to be moving into these regions, while colder-breeding species appear to be shifting out of the regions, likely northwards. Main Conclusions: Our results suggest that we should be concerned about declining breeding habitat availability for bird species whose current breeding ranges are centred on higher and colder latitudes.

The freshwater sleeper, Sineleotris saccharae, endemic to southeastern of China belongs to the family of Odontobutiae. The composition of the Odontobutidae is controversial due to the lack of molecular data. Information about genetic characteristics of S. saccharae was still not reported. In the present study, we determined the complete mitochondrial genome of S. saccharae for the first time and analyzed its evolutionary relationship. The complete mitochondrial genome of S. saccharae was 16,487 bp in length, and consisted of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNAs (tRNAs), 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNAs) and a control region (CR). The gene arrangement and orientation of S. saccharae mitogenome was identical to those of other teleosts. Phylogenetic analysis by Maximum likelihood (ML) methods strongly supported the monophyly of Odontobutidae containing two clades. The genus Odontobutis was sister to the clade consisting of Perccottus and Neodontobutis. Meanwhile, Microdous, Sineleotris and Micropercops formed another clade. These data will be helpful for understanding the genetic information of S. saccharae and systematics of the odontobutids.

Eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) exhibit social hierarchies wherein dominance is established through agnostic interactions within social groups. When dominant individuals effectively monopolize reproductive opportunities, asynchronous breeding can occur, which may disproportionately influence individual fitness within social groups. For females, higher ranked individuals may witness reproductive advantages associated with earlier nesting than subordinate conspecifics. We evaluated reproductive synchrony within and between presumed social groups of GPS-tagged female eastern wild turkeys by inferring female social rank based on timing of nest initiation. We examined 30 social groups with an average of 7 females per group (range 2 - 15) during 2014-2019 in west-central Louisiana. We found that the estimated number of days between first nest initiation across females within social groups varied between 3-7 days across years, and the number of days between nest attempts was lower for successful than failed attempts. Our findings suggest that social hierarchies may influence reproductive success in female wild turkeys, and we postulate that social constraints could cause variation in timing of nest initiation for females within social groups.

Ontogenetic colour change in animals is an interesting evolutional question, which has been studied by evolutionary biologist for decades. However, the main challenge is how to measure the colour quantitively and continuously in a full life cycle for lizards. We used the spectrometer approach to measure the tail colour of Blue-tailed Skink (Plestiodon elegans) from birth to sexual mature. The spectrometer approach is simple, fast, and accurate depending on animals’ visual sense, to measure the tail colour of skink. We showed a strong relationship between colour indexes (values of L*, a*, b*) and growth time of skink. Moreover, we found colour rhythms are different between sexes, which may influenced by their unique behavior strategies between sexes. Therefore, our study carried out a continuously measuring the tail colour change from larva to adults to investigate the mechanism for ontogenetic colour change in reptiles and to explain the potential factors that driving the dichromatism between sexes in lizards.

Major aridification events in Australia during the Pliocene may have had significant impact on the distribution and structure of widespread species. To explore the potential impact of Pliocene and Pleistocene climate oscillations we estimated the timing of population fragmentation and past connectivity of the currently isolated but morphologically similar subspecies of the widespread brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula). We use ecological niche modelling (ENM) with the current fragmented distribution of brushtail possum to estimate the environmental envelope of this marsupial. We projected the ENM on models of past climatic conditions in Australia to infer the potential distribution of brushtail possums over six million years. D-loop haplotypes were used to describe population structure. From shotgun sequencing we assembled whole mitochondrial DNA genomes and estimated timing of intraspecific divergence. Our projections of ENMs suggest current possum populations were unlikely to have been in contact during the Pleistocene. Although lowered sea level during glacial periods enabled colonisation of Tasmania, climate fluctuation during this time would not have facilitated gene flow. The most recent common ancestor of sampled intraspecific diversity dates to the early Pliocene when continental aridification caused significant changes to Australian ecology and Trichosurus vulpecula distribution was likely fragmented. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the subspecies T. v. hypoleucus (koomal; southwest), T. v. arnhemensis (langkurr; north) and T. v. vulpecula (bilda; southeast) correspond to distinct mitochondrial lineages. Despite little phenotypic differentiation, Trichosurus vulpecula populations probably experienced little gene flow with one another since the Pliocene, supporting the recognition of several subspecies and explaining their adaptations to the regional plant assemblages on which they feed.

Quantifying space use and segregation, as well as the extrinsic and intrinsic factors affecting them, is crucial to increase our knowledge of species-specific movement ecology and to design effective management and conservation measures. This is particularly relevant in the case of species that are highly mobile and dependent on sparse and unpredictable trophic resources, such as vultures. Here, we used the GPS-tagged data of 127 adult Griffon Vultures Gyps fulvus captured at five different breeding regions in Spain to describe the movement patterns (home-range size and fidelity, and monthly cumulative distance). We also examined how individual sex, season and breeding region determined the cumulative distance travelled and the size and overlap between consecutive monthly home-ranges. Overall, Griffon Vultures exhibited very large annual home-range sizes of 5,027 ± 2,123 km2, mean monthly cumulative distances of 1,776 ± 1,497 km, and showed a monthly home-range fidelity of 67.8 ± 25.5 %. However, individuals from northern breeding regions showed smaller home-ranges and travelled shorter monthly distances than those from southern ones. In all cases, home-ranges were larger in spring and summer than in winter and autumn. Moreover, females showed larger home-ranges and less monthly fidelity than males, indicating that the latter tended to use the similar areas throughout the year. Overall, our results indicate that both extrinsic and intrinsic factors modulate the home-range the social Griffon Vulture and that spatial segregation depend on sex and season at the individual level, without relevant differences between breeding regions in individual site fidelity.

A combination of short-read paired-end and mate-pair libraries of large insert sizes is used as a standard method to generate genome assemblies with high contiguity. The third-generation sequencing techniques also are used to improve the quality of assembled genomes. However, both mate-pair libraries and the third-generation libraries require high-molecular-weight DNA, making the use of these libraries inappropriate for samples with only degraded DNA. An in silico method that generates mate-pair libraries using a reference genome was devised for the task of assembling target genomes. Although the contiguity and completeness of assembled genomes were significantly improved by this method, a high level of errors manifested in the assembly, further to which the methods for using reference genomes were not optimized. Here, we tested different strategies for using reference genomes to generate in silico mate-pairs. The results showed that using a closely related reference genome from the same genus was more effective than using divergent references. Conservation of in silico mate-pairs by comparing two references and using those to guide genome assembly reduced the number of misassemblies (18.6% – 46.1%) and increased the contiguity of assembled genomes (9.7% – 70.7%), while maintaining gene completeness at a level that was either similar or marginally lower than that obtained via the current method. Finally, we developed a pipeline of optimized method and compared it with another reference-guided assembler, Ragtag. We found that Ragtag produced longer scaffolds (17.8 Mbp vs. 3.0 Mbp), but resulted in a much higher misassembly rate (85.68%) than our optimized in silico mate-pair method. This optimized in silico pipeline developed in this study should facilitate further studies on genomics, population genetics and conservation of endangered species.

Conservation and management professionals often works across jurisdictional boundaries to identify broad ecological patterns. These collaborations help to protect populations whose distributions span political borders. One common limitation to multijurisdictional collaboration is consistency in data recording and reporting. This limitation can impact genetic research which relies on data about specific markers in an organism’s genome. Incomplete overlap of markers between separate studies can prevent direct comparisons. Standardized marker panels can reduce the impact this issue and provide a common starting place for new research. Genotyping-in-thousands (GTSeq) is one approach used to create standardized marker panels for non-model organisms. Here we describe the development, optimization, and early assessments of a new GTSeq panel for use with walleye (Sander vitreus) from the Great Lakes region of North America. High genome-coverage sequencing conducted using RAD-capture provided genotypes for thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). From these markers, SNP and microhaplotype makers were chosen that were informative for genetic stock identification (GSI) and kinship analysis. The final GTSeq panel contained 500 markers, including 197 microhaplotypes and 303 SNPs. Leave-one-out GSI simulations indicated that GSI accuracy should be greater than 80% in most jurisdictions. The false-positive rates of parent-offspring and full-sibling kinship identification was found to be low. Finally, genotypes could be consistently scored among separate sequencing runs >94% of the time. Results indicate that the GTSeq panel we developed should perform well for multijurisdictional research throughout the Great Lakes region.