Background: The shape of the appendicular bones in mammals usually reflects adaptations towards different locomotor abilities. However, other aspects such as body size and phylogeny also play an important role in shaping bone design. We used 3D landmark-based geometric morphometrics to analyse the shape of the hind limb bones (i.e., femur, tibia, and pelvic girdle bones) of living and extinct terrestrial carnivorans (Mammalia, Carnivora) to quantitatively investigate the influence of body size, phylogeny, and locomotor...

Marsupials show a smaller range of forelimb ecomorphologies than placental mammals, and it is hypothesized that this results from macroevolutionary constraints imposed by the specialised reproductive biology of marsupials. Specifically, the accelerated development of the marsupial forelimb allows neonates to crawl to the mother’s pouch, but may constrain adult morphology. This hypothesis makes three main predictions: (i) that marsupial forelimbs should show less interspecific disparity than their hindlimbs; (ii) that morphological integration within the marsupial...

Dataset with the occurrences of dengue cases from 2013 to 2017. The following information is provided: year, continent, country, admi 1 (largest subnational administrative unit in the country), admi 2 (second largest subnational administrative unit in the country: province, district, municipality or canton), latitude, longitude, and location. The location indicates whether coordinates refer to precise localities or to polygon centroids. In the latter case, only polygons with around 7,774-km2-size area or less were considered.

Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) is a cause for global concern as pressure stemming from IWT threatens wild species and can even lead to extinction. Galapagos giant tortoises are a group of threatened species protected under CITES, which forbids their import-export for international trade; however, IWT of this group persists. In this study, we describe the use of two extensive genetic repositories of mitochondrial and nuclear microsatellite markers for Galapagos giant tortoises to identify an unsuspected...

The present study uses the amphibian species of the Mediterranean Region to develop a consistent procedure based on fuzzy sets with which biogeographic regions and biotic transition zones can be objectively detected and reliably mapped. Biogeographical regionalizations are abstractions of the geographical organization of life on Earth that provide frameworks for cataloguing species and ecosystems, for answering basic questions in biogeography, evolutionary biology and systematics, and for assessing priorities for conservation. On the other hand,...

Thylacoleo carnifex, or the "pouched lion" (Mammalia: Marsupialia: Diprotodontia: Thylacoleonidae) was a carnivorous marsupial that inhabited Australia during the Pleistocene. Although today all authors agree that Thylacoleo had a hypercarnivorous diet, the way in which it killed its prey remains uncertain. Here we use geometric morphometrics to capture the shape of the elbow joint (i.e., the posterior articular surface of the distal humerus) in a wide sample of extant mammals of known behavior to determine...

Although biotic legacies of past agricultural practices are widespread and increasing in contemporary ecosystems, our understanding of the mechanisms driving such legacies is still poor. Forest understories on former agricultural land show low frequencies and abundance of typical woodland species when compared with ancient forests. These community shifts have been ascribed to the effects of dispersal limitation. A rarely considered mechanism is that post-dispersal processes driven by plant-associated communities determine the poor performance and recruitment...

Our knowledge of the diversity, ecology, and phylogeny of Mesozoic birds has increased significantly during recent decades, yet our understanding of their flight competence remains poor. Wing loading (WL) and aspect ratio (AR) are two aerodynamically relevant parameters, as they relate to energy costs of aerial locomotion and flight maneuverability. They can be calculated in living birds (i.e., Neornithes) from body mass (BM), wingspan (B) and lift surface (SL). However, the estimates for extinct birds...

The cave bear (Ursus spelaeus s.l.) is an iconic extinct bear that inhabited the Pleistocene of Eurasia whose extinction causes are controversial. To identify the actual causes of the cave bear extinction, it is crucial to understand their feeding preferences. Here, we quantify shape descriptor metrics (DNE, RFI and OPCR) in three dimensional (3D) models of cave bear upper teeth (P4-M2) to make inferences on its controversial feeding behaviour. We use a comparative sample including...

The acquisition of elongated, sabre-like canines in multiple vertebrate clades during the last 265 million years represents a remarkable example for convergent evolution. Due to striking superficial similarities in the cranial skeleton, the same or similar skull and jaw functions have been inferred for sabre-toothed species and interpreted as an adaptation to subdue large-bodied prey. However, although some sabre-tooth lineages have been classified into different ecomorphs (dirk-tooths and scimitar-tooths) the functional diversity within and between...

Biogeography is an implicit and fundamental component of almost every dimension of modern biology, from natural selection and speciation to invasive species and biodiversity management. However, biogeography has rarely been integrated into human or veterinary medicine nor routinely leveraged for global health management. Here we review the theory and application of biogeography to the research and management of human infectious diseases, an integration we refer to as ‘pathogeography’. Pathogeography represents a promising framework for understanding...

We investigated patterns of evolutionary integration in the appendicular skeleton of mammalian carnivores. The findings are discussed in relation to performance selection in terms of organismal function as a potential mechanism underlying integration. Interspecific shape covariation was quantified by 2B-PLS analysis of 3D landmark data within a phylogenetic context. Specifically, we compared pairs of anatomically connected bones (within-limbs) and pairs of both serially homologous and functional equivalent bones (between-limbs). The statistical results of all the...

The red (Ailurus fulgens) and giant (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) pandas are mammalian carnivores convergently adapted to a bamboo feeding diet. However, whereas Ailurus forage almost entirely on younger leaves, fruits and tender trunks, Ailuropoda rely more on trunks and stems. Such a difference in foraging mode is considered as strategy for resource partitioning where they are sympatric. Here we use FEA to test for mechanical differences and similarities in skull performance between Ailurus and Ailuropoda related...

Behavioural plasticity can drive the evolution of new traits in animals. In oviparous species, plasticity in oviposition behaviour could promote the evolution of new egg traits by exposing them to different selective pressures in novel oviposition sites. Individual females of the predatory stink bug Podisus maculiventris are able to selectively colour their eggs depending on leaf side, laying lightly pigmented eggs on leaf undersides and more pigmented eggs, which are more resistant to ultraviolet (UV)...

Species distributions are typically represented by records of their observed occurrence at a given spatial and temporal scale. Such records are inevitably incomplete and contingent on the spatial-temporal circumstances under which the observations were made. Moreover, organisms may respond differently to similar environmental conditions at different places or moments, so their distribution is, in principle, not completely predictable. We argue that this uncertainty exists, and warrants considering species distributions as analogous to coherent quantum objects,...

The Black Sea catchment (BSC) is facing important demographic, climatic and landuse changes that may increase pollution, vulnerability and scarcity of water resources, as well as beach erosion through sea level rise. Limited access to reliable time-series monitoring data from environmental, statistical, and socio-economical sources is a major barrier to policy development and decision-making. To address these issues, a web-based platform was developed to enable discovery and access to key environmental information for the region....

Aim: The boundaries of species distributions are often shaped by natural barriers such as mountains and rivers, but species distribution models usually fail to include these constraints. We tested several approaches that include barriers as explanatory variables in species distribution models. Location: Africa and South America. Time period: Current Major taxa studied: Primates Methods: We modelled the ranges of pairs of species separated by a river taking into account three explanatory components: the environment (ecosystems,...

Phenological phases, as adaptive strategies, have been studied in Mediterranean serpentine shrubland vegetation and their endemisms, in the South of the Iberian Peninsula. The aim of this research is to obtain the phenological characterization of the serpentine flora and to make a comparison between endemic serpentine and non‐serpentine plants in different years and altitudes. For this purpose, data were taken in the serpentine ecosystem of Sierra Bermeja (Andalusia, Spain) establishing two plots on two altitudinal...

Explaining the origin and evolution of a vertebral column with anatomically distinct regions that characterizes the tetrapod body plan provides understanding of how metameric structures become repeated and how they acquire the ability to perform different functions. However, despite many decades of inquiry, the advantages and costs of vertebral column regionalization in anatomically distinct blocks, their functional specialization, and how they channel new evolutionary outcomes are poorly understood. Here, we investigate morphological integration (and how...

The Middle Jurassic witnessed the early diversification of mammal groups, including the stem-mammalian clade, Docodonta. Recent discoveries in China indicate docodontans exhibited ecomorphological diversity akin to small-bodied mammals living >100 million years later, in the Cenozoic. Our understanding of the emergence of this ecological diversity is hindered by a lack of Middle Jurassic fossil material from other parts of the world. The two partial postcranial skeletons of Borealestes described here come from the Kilmaluag Formation,...

Distribution models should take into account the different limiting factors that simultaneously influence species ranges. Species distribution models built with different explanatory variables can be combined into more comprehensive ones, but the resulting models should maximize complementarity and avoid redundancy. Our aim was to compare the different methods available for combining species distribution models. We modelled 19 threatened vertebrate species in mainland Spain, producing models according to three individual explanatory factors: spatial constraints, topography and...

Birds today follow different aerial strategies to deal with the high costs of flapping flight. Intermittent flight, through either flap-gliding or bounding, is commonly used among small birds as a strategy to optimize aerial efficiency. The broad morphological disparity of the different lineages of Mesozoic birds suggests that a range of aerial strategies could have evolved early in avian evolution. Based on biomechanics and aerodynamic theory, this study reconstructs the flying properties of two small...

Over the Cenozoic, large cat-like forms have convergently evolved into specialized killers of ‘megaherbivores’ that relied on their large, and laterally-compressed (saber-like) canines to rapidly subdue their prey [1-5]. Scimitar- and dirk-toothed sabertooths are distinct ecomorphs that differ in canine tooth length, degree of serration, and postcranial features indicative of dissimilar predatory behavior [6-13]. Despite these differences, it is assumed that they used a similar ‘canine-shear’ bite to kill their prey [14,15]. We investigated the...

The interactions between animals and their environment vary across species, regions, but also with gender. Sex‐specific relations between individuals and the ecosystem may entail different behavioral choices and be expressed through different patterns of habitat use. Regardless, only rarely sex‐specific traits are addressed in ecological modeling approaches. The European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) is a species of conservation concern in Europe, with a highly fragmented and declining distribution across most of its range. We assessed...

Aim: To assess if the parapatry of the three viper species present in the Iberian Peninsula is mainly caused by environmental conditions, historical events, interspecific competition among them, or a combination of these factors. Location: The Iberian Peninsula Taxon: Vipera aspis, V. latastei, and V. seoanei. Methods: We applied the concept of favourability of occurrence to produce commensurate distribution units unaffected by the prevalence of different species in the Iberian Peninsula. We compared the favourability...