Phylogenetic analysis of macroecological patterns of home range area in snakes.

A home range is the area animals use to carry out routine activities such as mating, foraging, and caring for young. Thus, the area of a home range is an important indicator of an animal's behavioural and energetic requirements. While several studies have identified the factors that influence home range area (HRA), none of them has investigated global patterns of HRA among and within snake species.

Altered trophic pathway and parasitism in a native predator (Lepomis gibbosus) feeding on introduced prey (Dreissena polymorpha).

Populations of invasive species tend to have fewer parasites in their introduced ranges than in their native ranges and are also thought to have fewer parasites than native prey. This 'release' from parasites has unstudied implications for native predators feeding on exotic prey. In particular, shifts from native to exotic prey should reduce levels of trophically transmitted parasites.

Is there such thing as a parasite free lunch? The direct and indirect consequences of eating invasive prey.

As the number of invasive species increases globally, more and more native predators are reported to shift their diet toward invasive prey. The consequences of such diet shifts for the health of populations of native predators are poorly studied, but diet shifts are expected to have important parasitological and immunological consequences, ultimately affecting predator fitness. We reviewed evidence that diet shifts from native to invasive prey can alter parasite exposure directly and also indirectly affect immune functions via changes in condition and contaminant exposure.

Implications of extreme sexual size dimorphism for thermoregulation in a freshwater turtle.

Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is a common phenomenon in animals. In many species females are substantially larger than males. Because body size plays a central role in modulating the body temperature (T (b)) of ectotherms, intersexual differences in body size may lead to important intersexual differences in thermoregulation.