Polyploidization is a rare yet sometimes successful way for animals to rapidly create geno- and phenotypes that may colonize new habitats and quickly adapt to environmental changes. In this study, we use water frogs of the Pelophylax esculentus complex, comprising two species (Pelophylax lessonae, genotype LL; Pelophylax ridibundus, RR) and various diploid (LR) and triploid (LLR, LRR) hybrid forms, summarized as P. esculentus, as a model for studying recent hybridization and polyploidization in the context...

We here describe the first Neogene record of the squamate clade Mabuyidae. Although this clade has a cosmopolitan distribution today, no pre-Quarternary fossil record of these reptiles has so far been documented. The material comes from the locality Solnechnodolsk (Russia) and is dated to the late Miocene (MN 13). Although it comprises only jaw elements, it constitutes the first evidence of the occurrence of fossil skinks around the area of the Black Sea. The material...

Manuscritpt and open dataset for the manuscript.Abstract:Our work is focused on finding discrete non-uniform stationary states applicable for chemical computing and oscillations in a ring of coupled cells with glycolytic oscillatory reaction and equal transport rates for all chemical species. The cells (cuvettes) are fed by the Select Yeast Extract Y1625 and D-glucose solution, both enhanced by NaHCO3. The ring of coupled cells is formed by the two cuvettes and two capillaries. The mutual mass...

Artificial light at night (LAN) has become a stressor of global extent. Previous work has highlighted the high potential of LAN to interfere with annual and diel rhythms of seasonal organisms as well as to affect interactions at the community level. However, our understanding how LAN induced alterations of activity and breeding cycles affect the reproductive outcome and fitness of the birds is still limited. Here, we focus on the effects of night time illumination...

A detailed anatomy of the braincase and stapes of the subadult specimen of Diadectes absitus from early Permian sediments of Germany based on the high-resolution X-ray microcomputed tomography are described for the first time. In contrast to previous studies of Diadectes, the bones of the braincase (opisthotic, prootic, supraoccipital, basioccipital, exoccipital, basisphenoid, sphenethmoid), and parasphenoid of D. absitus are not co-ossified, but suturally defined. This has allowed for a reconstruction of a complete braincase with...

Across the distribution of the Caspian whipsnake (Dolichophis caspius), populations have become increasingly disconnected due to habitat alterations. To understand population dynamics and the adaptive potential of this widespread but locally endangered snake, we investigated population structure, admixture and effective migration patterns. We took a landscape-genomic approach to identify selected genotypes associated with environmental variables relevant to D. caspius. With double-digest restriction-site associated DNA (ddRAD) sequencing of 53 samples resulting in 17,518 single nucleotide polymorphisms...

We investigated the recent evolutionary history of the Danube crested newt, Triturus dobrogicus through reconstructions of: (1) the number and position of refugia at the last glacial maximum, (2) the role of major central European rivers in pattern of post-glacial dispersal, and (3) the present-day distribution pattern. We analysed sequences of mitochondrial DNA (ND2, 1065 bp) and six microsatellite loci in 363 T. dobrogicus individuals from 58 populations covering the range of the species. Our...

The scarcity of parthenogenetic vertebrates is often attributed to their ‘inferior’ mode of clonal reproduction, which restricts them to self-reproduce their own genotype lineage and leaves little evolutionary potential with regard to speciation and evolution of sexual reproduction. Here, we show that for some taxa such uniformity does not hold. By using hybridogenetic water frogs (Pelophylax esculentus) as a model system, we demonstrate that triploid hybrid males from two geographic regions exhibit very different reproductive...

Besides several exceptions, asexual metazoans are usually viewed as ephemeral sinks for genomes, which become ‘frozen’ in clonal lineages after their emergence from ancestral sexual species. Here, we investigated whether and at what rate the asexuals are able to introgress their genomes back into the parental sexual population, thus more or less importantly affecting the gene pools of sexual species. We focused on hybridogenetic hybrids of western Palaearctic water frogs (Pelophylax esculentus), which originate through...

The origin of amniotes was a key event in vertebrate evolution, enabling tetrapods to break their ties with water and invade terrestrial environments. Two pivotal clades of early tetrapods, the diadectomorphs and the seymouriamorphs, have played an unsurpassed role in debates about the ancestry of amniotes for over a century, but their skeletal morphology has provided conflicting evidence for their affinities. Using high-resolution X-ray microcomputed tomography, we reveal the three-dimensional architecture of the well preserved...

We here present the first detailed study of the specimen KNM-RU 18340 from Rusinga Island (Kenya), the only known complete early Miocene chameleon skull, using micro-CT. This specimen represents one of the oldest chameleon fossils ever recovered. For the first time, the skull bone internal surfaces, their sutures, and elements contained inside the rocky matrix are observed. Our morphological comparisons and phylogenetic analyses place this specimen confidently in the genus Calumma and a new species,...

Semi-flexible docking was performed using AutoDock Vina 1.2.2 software on the SARS-CoV-2 main protease Mpro (PDB ID: 6WQF). Two data sets are provided in the xyz format containing the AutoDock Vina docking scores. These files were used as input and/or reference in the machine learning models using TensorFlow, XGBoost, and SchNetPack to study their docking scores prediction capability. The first data set originally contained 60,411 in-vivo labeled compounds selected for the training of ML models....

1. When prevention of invasive species’ introductions fails, society faces the challenge to manage these invasive species in an effective and efficient way. The success of this depends on biological aspects and on cooperation between decision makers and scientists. Using the case of the round goby Neogobius melanostomus, one of Europe’s worst invasive species, we propose an approach guiding scientists to co-produce effective and efficient population control measures in collaboration with decision makers. 2. We...

Rapid adaptation to global change can counter vulnerability of species to population declines and extinction. Theoretically, under such circumstances both genetic variation and phenotypic plasticity can maintain population fitness, but empirical support for this is currently limited. Here, we aim to characterise the role of environmental and genetic diversity, and their prior evolutionary history (via haplogroup profiles) in shaping patterns of life history traits during biological invasion. Data were derived from both genetic and life...

Morphological variation in three rarely collected European species of the genus Lasiochernes Beier, 1932 is thoroughly examined in the present study. Detailed descriptions of previously ignored morphological characters of L. cretonatus Henderickx, 1998, L. jonicus (Beier, 1929) and L. pilosus (Ellingsen, 1910) are presented. The female of L. cretonatus and the nymphs of L. pilosus are described for the first time. Multivariate morphometric techniques (principal coordinate analysis and discriminant analyses) were employed to confirm morphological...

Sex-linkage is predicted to evolve in response to sex-specific or sexually antagonistic selection. In line with this prediction, most sex-linked genes are associated with reproduction in the respective sex. In addition to traits directly involved in fertility and fecundity, mediators of maternal effects may be predisposed to evolve sex-linkage, because they indirectly affect female fitness through their effect on offspring phenotype. Here, we test for sex-linked inheritance of a key mediator of prenatal maternal effects...

What is the tempo and mode of evolution – how fast and in what pattern do traits evolve – is a major question of evolutionary biology. Here we studied patterns of evolutionary change in visual and acoustic signals in Old World orioles. Since producing multiple signals may be costly, we also tested whether there was an evolutionary trade-off between the elaboration of those two types of signals. We studied 30 Oriolus taxa using comparative methods...

While the general patterns of age-specific changes in reproductive success are quite well established in long-lived animals, we still do not know if allocation patterns of maternally-transmitted compounds are related to maternal age. We measured yolk testosterone, carotenoids and vitamins A and E levels in a population of known-aged common gulls (Larus canus) and found an age-specific pattern in yolk lutein and vitamin A concentrations. Middle-aged mothers allocated more of these substances to yolk compared...

Within the Balkan Peninsula, topographic and climatic agents have promoted biodiversity and shaped the speciation history of many ectotherms. Here, we targeted an iconic European reptile, the nose-horned viper species-complex (Vipera ammodytes), and explored its spatial and temporal evolution. We (1) utilized genome-wide SNPs to infer genetic structure and build a time-calibrated species tree, and (2) applied species distribution modeling (SDM) with niche-divergence tests among major phylogenomic clades. Geographically structured genetic diversity was found. Cycles...