Norway rats recruit cooperation partners based on previous receipt of help while disregarding kinship.

Norway rats are known to liberate trapped conspecifics, which implies an empathic response to the deplorable situation of the captive. If this is an altruistic behavior reflecting an evolved decision rule, the requisite fitness enhancement to the actor may result either from close relatedness or the expectation of future returns. Neither potential effects of relatedness nor of reciprocal returns have yet been examined.

Establishment and Validation of Fecal Secretory Immunoglobulin A Measurement for Intestinal Mucosal Health Assessment in Wild Lemurs.

The measurement of biomarkers in blood and excreta can enable immune status assessment and provide prognostic information on individual health outcomes. In this respect, the fecal measurement of secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA), the primary mammalian antibody for mucosal defense, has recently received increased interest in a few anthropoid primates, but a fecal sIgA assay for use in strepsirrhine primates has not yet been reported. Here, we develop and analytically validate a cost-effective in-house sandwich enzyme immunoassay for the extraction and measurement of sIgA in feces of redfronted lemurs (Eulemur rufifrons).

Oxidative Stress in Alzheimer's Disease: The Shortcomings of Antioxidant Therapies.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by gradual and progressive cognitive decline leading to dementia. At its core, the neuropathological features of AD include hallmark accumulations of amyloid-β and hyperphosphorylated tau proteins. Other harmful processes, such as oxidative stress and inflammation, contribute to the disease's neuropathological progression.

From two segments and beyond: Investigating the onset of regeneration in Syllis malaquini.

Annelids feature a diverse range of regenerative abilities, but complete whole-body regeneration is less common, particularly in the context of the head and anterior body regeneration. This study provides a detailed morphological description of Syllis malaquini regenerative abilities. By replicating previous experiments and performing diverse surgical procedures, we explored the capacity of this species for whole-body regeneration.

Biotechnology-enhanced genetic controls of the global pest Drosophila suzukii.

Spotted wing Drosophila (Drosophila suzukii Matsumura, or SWD), an insect pest of soft-skinned fruits native to East Asia, has rapidly spread worldwide in the past 15 years. Genetic controls such as sterile insect technique (SIT) have been considered for the environmentally friendly and cost-effective management of this pest. In this review, we provide the latest developments for the genetic control strategies of SWD, including sperm-marking strains, CRISPR-based sex-ratio distortion, neoclassical genetic sexing strains, transgenic sexing strains, a sex-sorting incompatible male system, precision-guided SIT, and gene drives based on synthetic Maternal effect dominant embryonic arrest (Medea) or homing CRISPR systems.

Divergent evolution of male-determining loci on proto-Y chromosomes of the housefly.

Houseflies provide a good experimental model to study the initial evolutionary stages of a primary sex-determining locus because they possess different recently evolved proto-Y chromosomes that contain male-determining loci (M) with the same male-determining gene, Mdmd. We investigate M-loci genomically and cytogenetically revealing distinct molecular architectures among M-loci. M on chromosome V (M) has two intact Mdmd copies in a palindrome.

Independent fitness consequences of group size variation in Verreaux's sifakas.

The costs and benefits of group living are also reflected in intraspecific variation in group size. Yet, little is known about general patterns of fitness consequences of this variation. We use demographic records collected over 25 years to determine how survival and reproductive success vary with group size in a Malagasy primate.

The Tryptophan Metabolite Indole-3-Propionic Acid Raises Kynurenic Acid Levels in the Rat Brain In Vivo.

Alterations in the composition of the gut microbiota may be causally associated with several brain diseases. Indole-3-propionic acid (IPrA) is a tryptophan-derived metabolite, which is produced by intestinal commensal microbes, rapidly enters the circulation, and crosses the blood-brain barrier. IPrA has neuroprotective properties, which have been attributed to its antioxidant and bioenergetic effects.

Species delimitation 4.0: integrative taxonomy meets artificial intelligence.

Although species are central units for biological research, recent findings in genomics are raising awareness that what we call species can be ill-founded entities due to solely morphology-based, regional species descriptions. This particularly applies to groups characterized by intricate evolutionary processes such as hybridization, polyploidy, or asexuality. Here, challenges of current integrative taxonomy (genetics/genomics + morphology + ecology, etc.

New Insights into Tetraplosphaeriaceae Based on Taxonomic Investigations of Bambusicolous Fungi and Freshwater Fungi.

Species within Tetraplosphaeriaceae have been frequently documented in recent years with the extensive investigations of microfungi along a latitudinal gradient from north to south in the Asian/Australian region. Both bamboo substrates and freshwater habitats serve as extensive reservoirs, hosting a rich diversity of fungi that exhibit broad geographical distributions. The most common fungi in these two environments are generally distributed in distinct families.

Enhancement of soil aggregation and physical properties through fungal amendments under varying moisture conditions.

Soil structure and aggregation are crucial for soil functionality, particularly under drought conditions. Saprobic soil fungi, known for their resilience in low moisture conditions, are recognized for their influence on soil aggregate dynamics. In this study, we explored the potential of fungal amendments to enhance soil aggregation and hydrological properties across different moisture regimes.

A comparison of scan and focal sampling in estimating activity budgets, diet composition, and proximity patterns of a wild pair-living primate.

The choice of behavioral sampling method can impact the outcome of data collection, however, few direct comparisons between methods have been made. We compared the performance of instantaneous group scan sampling (scan sampling) and focal continuous sampling with variable session durations (focal sampling) in estimating activity patterns, diet composition, and spatial proximity in seven groups of wild coppery titi monkeys (Plecturocebus cupreus) in Peruvian Amazonia. We used a series of paired samples Wilcoxon tests to compare daily proportions of time allocated to each type of activity/food/proximity category in each sampling method.

Modulation of cell-mediated immunity during pregnancy in wild bonobos.

During pregnancy, the mammalian immune system must simultaneously protect against pathogens while being accommodating to the foreign fetal tissues. Our current understanding of this immune modulation derives predominantly from industrialized human populations and laboratory animals. However, their environments differ considerably from the pathogen-rich, resource-scarce environments in which pregnancy and the immune system co-evolved.

Social network shrinking is explained by active and passive effects but not increasing selectivity with age in wild macaques.

Evidence of social disengagement, network narrowing and social selectivity with advancing age in several non-human animals challenges our understanding of the causes of social ageing. Natural animal populations are needed to test whether social ageing and selectivity occur under natural predation and extrinsic mortality pressures, and longitudinal studies are particularly valuable to disentangle the contribution of within-individual ageing from the demographic processes that shape social ageing at the population level. Data on wild Assamese macaques () were collected between 2013 and 2020 at the Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand.

Global fine-resolution data on springtail abundance and community structure.

Springtails (Collembola) inhabit soils from the Arctic to the Antarctic and comprise an estimated ~32% of all terrestrial arthropods on Earth. Here, we present a global, spatially-explicit database on springtail communities that includes 249,912 occurrences from 44,999 samples and 2,990 sites. These data are mainly raw sample-level records at the species level collected predominantly from private archives of the authors that were quality-controlled and taxonomically-standardised.

High disparity in repellent gland anatomy across major lineages of stick and leaf insects (Insecta: Phasmatodea).

Background: Phasmatodea are well known for their ability to disguise themselves by mimicking twigs, leaves, or bark, and are therefore commonly referred to as stick and leaf insects. In addition to this and other defensive strategies, many phasmatodean species use paired prothoracic repellent glands to release defensive chemicals when disturbed by predators or parasites. These glands are considered as an autapomorphic trait of the Phasmatodea.

Climate-dependent plant responses to earthworms in two land-use types.

Plant nutrient uptake and productivity are driven by a multitude of factors that have been modified by human activities, like climate change and the activity of decomposers. However, interactive effects of climate change and key decomposer groups like earthworms have rarely been studied. In a field microcosm experiment, we investigated the effects of a mean future climate scenario with warming (+ 0.

Stillbirth of a mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) in the wild: perinatal behaviors and delivery sequences.

Birth is a fundamental event in the life of animals, including our own species. More reports of wild non-human primate births and stillbirths are thus needed to better understand the evolutionary pressures shaping parturition behaviors in our lineage. In diurnal non-human primates, births generally occur at night, when individuals are resting.

Evidence suggesting that reindeer mothers allonurse according to the direct reciprocity and generalized reciprocity decision rules.

Allonursing is the nursing of the offspring of other mothers. Cooperation is an emergent property of evolved decision rules. Cooperation can be explained by at least three evolved decision rules: 1) direct reciprocity, i.