European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) have been exposed to rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) and myxoma virus (MYXV) in their native and invasive ranges for decades. Yet, the long‐term effects of these viruses on rabbit population dynamics remain poorly understood. In this context, we analysed 17 years of detailed capture–mark–recapture data (2000–2016) from Turretfield, South Australia, using a probabilistic state‐space hierarchical modelling framework to estimate rabbit survival and epidemiological dynamics. While RHDV infection and disease‐induced death...

The genetics of lifespan determination is poorly understood. Most research has been done on short-lived animals and it is unclear if these insights can be transferred to long-lived mammals like humans. Some African mole-rats (Bathyergidae) have life expectancies that are multiple times higher than similar sized and phylogenetically closely related rodents. To gain new insights into genetic mechanisms determining mammalian lifespans, we obtained genomic and transcriptomic data from 17 rodent species and scanned eleven evolutionary...

Urbanization is a severe threat to global biodiversity, often leading to taxonomic and functional homogenization. However, current urban ecology research has focused mostly on urban birds and plants, limiting our ability to make generalisations about the drivers of urban biodiversity globally. To address this gap, we conducted a global meta-analysis of 87 studies, including 180 bat species (Chiroptera) from urban areas in Asia, Australia, Europe, North & South America. We aimed to 1) understand the...

High numbers of red deer (Cervus elaphus) pose a challenge for natural forests because of their high browsing intensities, especially during winter months. To mitigate this human–wildlife conflict, conservation management in Central Europe involves luring red deer into fenced winter-feeding sites. The supplementary diet provided in these so-called winter enclosures strongly differs from the natural diet of red deer. Dietary shifts, however, can lead to an imbalance of the gut microbiota, which could promote bacterial...

Silphidae_AbundanceThe file Silphidae_Abundance includes abundance data of all captured silphid species per plot and day after piglet cadaver exposition.

The high energetic demand of parental care requires parents to direct their resources towards the support of existing offspring rather than investing into the production of additional young. However, how such a resource flow is channelled appropriately is poorly understood. In this study, we provide the first comprehensive analysis of the physiological mechanisms coordinating parental and mating effort in an insect exhibiting biparental care. We show a hormone-mediated infertility in female burying beetles during the...

Zygotic genome activation (ZGA), the onset of transcription after initial quiescence, is a major developmental step in many species, which occurs after ten cell divisions in zebrafish embryos. How transcription factor (TF)-chromatin interactions evolve during early development to support ZGA is largely unknown. We establish single molecule tracking in live developing zebrafish embryos using reflected light-sheet microscopy to visualize two fluorescently labeled TF species, mEos2-TBP and mEos2-Sox19b. We further develop a data acquisition and analysis...

Parental care is thought to be costly, as it consumes time and energy. Such costs might be reduced in animal parents that raise their young on valuable food sources such as dung or carcasses, as parents are able to invest in self-maintenance by feeding from the same resource. However, this might lower the nutritional value for other family members and, as a consequence, food competition might arise. To promote our understanding of the outcome of...

Modifiers of Mendelian disorders can provide insights into disease mechanisms and guide therapeutic strategies. A recent genome-wide association (GWA) study discovered genetic modifiers of Huntington's disease (HD) onset in Europeans. Here, we performed whole genome sequencing and GWA analysis of a Venezuelan HD cluster whose families were crucial for the original mapping of the HD gene defect. The Venezuelan HD subjects develop motor symptoms earlier than their European counterparts, implying the potential for population-specific modifiers....

Long-term genetic monitoring of populations is essential for efforts aimed at preserving genetic diversity of endangered species. Here, we employ a framework of long-term genetic monitoring to evaluate the effects of fragmentation and the effectiveness of the establishment of corridors in restoring population connectivity and genetic diversity of mouse lemurs Micocebus ganzhorni. To this end, we supplement estimates of neutral genetic diversity with the assessment of adaptive genetic variability of the MHC. In addition, we...