Publications by authors named "S Spiro"
Cancer is pervasive across multicellular species, but what explains the differences in cancer prevalence across species? Using 16,049 necropsy records for 292 species spanning three clades of tetrapods (amphibians, sauropsids, and mammals), we found that neoplasia and malignancy prevalence increases with adult mass (contrary to Peto's paradox) and somatic mutation rate but decreases with gestation time. The relationship between adult mass and malignancy prevalence was only apparent when we controlled for gestation time. Evolution of cancer susceptibility appears to have undergone sudden shifts followed by stabilizing selection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPolyglucosan bodies are accumulations of insoluble glucose polymers and proteins that form intracytoplasmic inclusions in the brain, large numbers of which can be indicative of neurodegenerative diseases such as Lafora disease. Montserrat orioles () are an icterid passerine endemic to Montserrat with conservation populations maintained in captivity abroad. We demonstrate that polyglucosan bodies are unusually abundant in the cerebellar molecular and Purkinje cell layers and cerebellar peduncles of captive-bred and wild-caught Montserrat orioles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKomodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) are the largest extant predatory lizards and their ziphodont (serrated, curved and blade-shaped) teeth make them valuable analogues for studying tooth structure, function and comparing with extinct ziphodont taxa, such as theropod dinosaurs. Like other ziphodont reptiles, V. komodoensis teeth possess only a thin coating of enamel that is nevertheless able to cope with the demands of their puncture-pull feeding.
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- Sulawesi crested macaques (SCMs) are critically endangered and often experience chronic intestinal disease in captivity, with cases frequently labeled as chronic enterocolitis due to unidentified causes despite signs of intestinal inflammation.
- This study analyzed gastrointestinal tissues from 23 SCMs, using a scoring system (Nancy index) from human medicine to assess the severity of disease, finding significant inflammation in colons of affected macaques and a correlation between the index score and clinical disease severity.
- The research revealed that 57% of SCMs with clinical signs had moderate to severe intestinal disease, but some with rectal prolapse showed no intestinal inflammation, indicating the need for standardized histopathological evaluations in this species.
Although neoplasia has been documented in invertebrates, it has not been reported in scorpions. This report describes presumed hemocytic neoplasia in 2 scorpions: a >3-year-old, female emperor scorpion ( and a >4-year-old, male, Asian forest scorpion ( sp.).
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