Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics illuminate bat immunity and barrier tissue evolution.

Bats have adapted to pathogens through diverse mechanisms, including increased resistance - rapid pathogen elimination, and tolerance - limiting tissue damage following infection. In the Egyptian fruit bat (an important model in comparative immunology) several mechanisms conferring disease tolerance were discovered, but mechanisms underpinning resistance remain poorly understood. Previous studies on other species suggested that elevated basal expression of innate immune genes may lead to increased resistance to infection.

Unveiling Cryptic Diversity in Hylomys: A Commentary on Recent Taxonomic Revisions.

The genus Hylomys now comprises seven species instead of two; the Hylomys species in China should be classified as Hylomys peguensis.

Spur-winged lapwings show spatial behavioural types with different mobility and exploration between urban and rural individuals.

Understanding how wildlife responds to the spread of human-dominated habitats is a major challenge in ecology. It is still poorly understood how urban areas affect wildlife space-use patterns and consistent intra-specific behavioural differences (i.e.

Comparative genomics analyses of Actinobacteriota identify Golgi phosphoprotein 3 (GPP34) as a widespread ancient protein family associated with sponge symbiosis.

Background: Sponges harbor microbial communities that play crucial roles in host health and ecology. However, the genetic adaptations that enable these symbiotic microorganisms to thrive within the sponge environment are still being elucidated. To understand these genetic adaptations, we conducted a comparative genomics analysis on 350 genomes of Actinobacteriota, a phylum commonly associated with sponges.

Deep neural networks and humans both benefit from compositional language structure.

Deep neural networks drive the success of natural language processing. A fundamental property of language is its compositional structure, allowing humans to systematically produce forms for new meanings. For humans, languages with more compositional and transparent structures are typically easier to learn than those with opaque and irregular structures.

Evolution of sexual size dimorphism in tetrapods is driven by varying patterns of sex-specific selection on size.

Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is highly prevalent in nature. Several hypotheses aim to explain its evolution including sexual selection, differential equilibrium and ecological niche divergence. Disentangling the causal mechanism behind the evolution of SSD is challenging, as selection arising from multiple pressures on fitness may act simultaneously to generate observed patterns.

Genetic basis of resistance in hosts facing alternative infection strategies by a virulent bacterial pathogen.

Having alternative infection routes is thought to help parasites circumvent host resistance, provided that these routes are associated with different host resistance loci. This study tests this postulate by examining whether alternate infection routes of the parasite Pasteuria ramosa are linked to distinct resistance loci in its crustacean host, Daphnia magna. We focus on the P.

Cultural transmission, networks, and clusters among Austronesian-speaking peoples.

With its linguistic and cultural diversity, Austronesia is important in the study of evolutionary forces that generate and maintain cultural variation. By analysing publicly available datasets, we have identified four classes of cultural features in Austronesia and distinct clusters within each class. We hypothesized that there are differing modes of transmission and patterns of variation in these cultural classes and that geography alone would be insufficient to explain some of these patterns of variation.

Melatonin as a multifunctional modulator: emerging insights into its role in health, reproductive efficiency, and productive performance in livestock.

Melatonin, a pleiotropic hormone plays a vital role in enhancing livestock performance not only by regulating circadian rhythms but also by exhibiting antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and metabolic regulatory effects that collectively improve resilience, fertility, and productivity. Melatonin's synthesis is predominantly influenced by light exposure, with increased production in darkness; however, factors such as diet and health status further modulate its levels. By helping animals adapt to environmental stressors, melatonin boosts immune responses, mitigates chronic illnesses, and optimizes production efficiency.

Desert ants avoid ambush predator pits depending on position, visual landmarks and trapped nestmates.

Central-place foragers face high predation risk when repeatedly using routes near their nest, as predators can learn to ambush them there. We investigated the factors influencing the likelihood of desert ant foragers falling into pitfall traps, simulating common predators such as antlions or spiders. We varied the spatial configuration of the pitfall traps, the presence of trapped nestmates and the availability of visual landmarks to study the workers' susceptibility to falling into pits and their foraging success.

Social interactions do not affect mycoplasma infection in griffon vultures.

Uncovering the ways in which pathogens spread has important implications for population health and management. Pathogen transmission is influenced by various factors, including patterns of social interactions and shared use of space. We aim to understand how the social behaviour of griffon vultures (), a species of conservation interest, influences the presence or absence of mycoplasma, a group of bacteria known to cause respiratory diseases in birds.

Intrinsic and environmental drivers of pairwise cohesion in wild Canis social groups.

Animals within social groups respond to costs and benefits of sociality by adjusting the proportion of time they spend in close proximity to other individuals in the group (cohesion). Variation in cohesion between individuals, in turn, shapes important group-level processes such as subgroup formation and fission-fusion dynamics. Although critical to animal sociality, a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing cohesion remains a gap in our knowledge of cooperative behavior in animals.

The visual stimuli attributes instrumental for collective-motion-related decision-making in locusts.

Visual interactions play an instrumental role in collective-motion-related decision-making. However, our understanding of the various tentative mechanisms that can serve the visual-based decision-making is limited. We investigated the role that different attributes of the visual stimuli play in the collective-motion-related motor response of locust nymphs.

Bio-inspiration unveiled: Dissecting nature's designs through the lens of the female locust's oviposition mechanism.

Investigating nature's ingenious designs and systems has become a cornerstone of innovation, influencing fields from robotics, biomechanics, and physics to material sciences. Two key questions, however, regarding bio-inspired innovation are those of how and where does one find bio-inspiration? The perspective presented here is aimed at providing insights into the evolving landscape of bio-inspiration discovery. We present the unique case of the female locust's oviposition as a valuable example for researchers and engineers seeking to pursue multifaceted research, encompassing diverse aspects of biological and bio-inspired systems.

Type catalogue of the Orthoptera collection in the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University, Israel.

Types represent the most important specimens in natural history museums as they define a species and should usually be studied within the framework of revisions and new taxon descriptions, hence their documentation is of high importance. Orthoptera is a medium-size order of insects, but its members are important in many food chains as herbivores and as food for other animals. While the documentation of types in Orthoptera is overall very good thanks to the Orthoptera Species File site, there are still many gaps that need to be filled.

Active sensing: Silencing the bat midbrain to study echolocation.

A new method makes it possible to temporarily silence part of the bat midbrain while the animal is performing a sensorimotor task. Bats respond to this manipulation by increasing echolocation acquisition rate and adjusting their movement in a way that likely improves sensory acquisition.

Acoustic cognitive map-based navigation in echolocating bats.

Bats are known for their ability to use echolocation for obstacle avoidance and orientation. However, the extent to which bats utilize their highly local and directional echolocation for kilometer-scale navigation is unknown. In this study, we translocated wild Kuhl's pipistrelle bats and tracked their homing abilities while manipulating their visual, magnetic, and olfactory sensing and accurately tracked them using a new reverse GPS system.

Diversity and Activity of Bacteria Cultured from a Cup-The Sponge .

Marine sponges are well-known for hosting rich microbial communities. Sponges are the most prolific source of marine bioactive compounds, which are frequently synthesized by their associated microbiota. is an endemic Mediterranean sponge with scarce information regarding its (bioactive) secondary metabolites.

Post-Hatching Development of Posture and Behavior in the Barn Owl (): From a General Behavioral Pattern of Vertebrates to the Typical Owl Behavior.

Hatching captive barn owl chicks underwent four developmental phases. In the first 10 days (phase 1), behavior consisted of lateral movements that gradually changed to forward progression and peaked a few days before and after eye-opening. This behavior resembled a general developmental pattern that characterizes other vertebrates.

Elevated vitamin D levels in diurnally-active female fruit bats.

Animal species have evolved to enhance their survival by focusing their temporal activity on specific parts of the diurnal-nocturnal cycle. Various factors, including inter-specific competition and anti-predator behavior, as well as anthropogenic effects like light pollution, have prompted some species to expand or shift their temporal niches. Our study focuses on the temporal niche shift of the Egyptian fruit bat () to diurnal activity in Israel.

Effects of biological filtration by ascidians on microplastic composition in the water column.

Plastic pollution, a widespread environmental challenge, significantly impacts marine ecosystems. The degradation of plastic under environmental conditions results in the generation of microplastic (MP; <5 mm) fragments, frequently ingested by marine life, including filter-feeders such as ascidians (Chordata, Ascidiacea). These organisms are integral to benthic-pelagic coupling, transporting MP from the water column through marine food web.