scholarly journals Incubation behaviours of oviraptorosaur dinosaurs in relation to body size

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 20180135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kohei Tanaka ◽  
Darla K. Zelenitsky ◽  
Junchang Lü ◽  
Christopher L. DeBuhr ◽  
Laiping Yi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
The Body ◽  
Nest Area ◽  
Ring Configuration ◽  
Incubation Behaviour ◽  
Size Constraints ◽  
Central Opening ◽  
Giant Species

Most birds sit on their eggs during incubation, a behaviour that likely evolved among non-avian dinosaurs. Several ‘brooding' specimens of smaller species of oviraptorosaurs and troodontids reveal these non-avian theropods sat on their eggs, although little is known of incubation behaviour in larger theropod species. Here we examine egg clutches over a large body size range of oviraptorosaurs in order to understand the potential effect of body size on incubation behaviour. Eggshell porosity indicates that the eggs of all oviraptorosaurs were exposed in the nest, similar to brooding birds. Although all oviraptorosaur clutches consist of radially arranged eggs in a ring configuration, clutch morphology varies in that the central opening is small or absent in the smallest species, becomes significantly larger in larger species, and occupies most of the nest area in giant species. Our results suggest that the smallest oviraptorosaurs probably sat directly on the eggs, whereas with increasing body size more weight was likely carried by the central opening, reducing or eliminating the load on the eggs and still potentially allowing for some contact during incubation in giant species. This adaptation, not seen in birds, appears to remove the body size constraints of incubation behaviour in giant oviraptorosaurs.

scholarly journals New records of ring nematodes, Bakernema enormese n. sp. and Criconema (Nothocriconemella) graminicola Loof, Wouts & Yeates, 1997 (Nematoda: Criconematidae) from natural forests of Vietnam

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen Ngoc Chau
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Body Size ◽  
New Records ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Lateral View ◽  
The Body ◽  
Natural Forests ◽  
Large Body Size ◽  
Stylet Length ◽  
North Vietnam

Bakernema enormese sp. n., collected from rhizosphere of forest wood trees in Muong Phang, Dien Bien Province (north Vietnam) is described and illustrated. The new species is characterized by large body size and stylet. In general, this new species is close to two existing species of the same genus, B. inaequale and B. dauniense by cuticle structure in transparent membranous projections which appear in lateral view as spine-like structures on each annulus. These structure arranged into several rows along the body. In morphology, the new species differs from B. inaequale and B. dauniense  by body and stylet length, i.e. 609–842 µm and 143.5–150 µm vs. 391–578 µm and 59–74 µm for B. inaequale and vs. 391–461 µm and 65–74 µm for B. dauniense. In addition, new species can be distinguished from B. inaequale by the longer membranous projection, 8–12 vs. 6–10 µm and vagina shape, curved vs. sigmoid. From B. dauniense, the new species differs by the much longer membranous projection, 8–12 vs. 1.4–2.2 µm and less number annules between vulva and tail end (RV), 3–4 vs. 7.8 annules. The presence of Criconema (Nothocriconemella) graminicola Loof, Wouts & Yeates, in Vietnam with morphometrics, illustrators and remarks given.

Body size and the risk of multiple sclerosis in Norway and Italy: The EnvIMS study

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 388-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin Wesnes ◽  
Trond Riise ◽  
Ilaria Casetta ◽  
Jelena Drulovic ◽  
Enrico Granieri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Risk Factor ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Case Control Study ◽  
Disease Onset ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Population Based ◽  
The Body ◽  
Outdoor Activity ◽  
Control Study

Background: Obesity may be a risk factor for developing multiple sclerosis (MS). Objective: We examined if body size influences the risk of MS in a population-based, case control study. Methods: A total of 953 cases and 1717 controls from Norway and 707 cases and 1333 controls from Italy reported their body size by choosing a silhouette 1 to 9 (largest) every fifth year from age 5 to 30 and at time of study. The body size-related MS risk was defined by odds ratios (ORs) in logistic regression analyses adjusting for age, smoking and outdoor activity. Results: In Norway a large body size (silhouettes 6–9) compared to silhouette 3 increased the risk of MS, especially at age 25 (OR 2.21; 95% CI 1.09–4.46 for men and OR 1.43; 95% CI 0.90–2.27 for women). When comparing silhouette 9 to 1, we found a significant dose-response from age 10 until age 30 peaking at age 25 (sex-adjusted OR 2.83; 95% CI 1.68–4.78). The association was present for at least 15 years prior to disease onset. No significant associations were found in Italy. Conclusions: Obesity from childhood until young adulthood is a likely risk factor for MS with a seemingly stronger effect in Norway than in Italy.

scholarly journals Whole-Genome Sequencing of the Giant Devil Catfish, Bagarius yarrelli

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 2071-2077 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wansheng Jiang ◽  
Yunyun Lv ◽  
Le Cheng ◽  
Kunfeng Yang ◽  
Chao Bian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Ictalurus Punctatus ◽  
Genome Assembly ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Single Copy ◽  
The Body ◽  
Flesh Color ◽  
Fish Muscles ◽  
Freshwater Aquaculture

AbstractAs one economically important fish in the southeastern Himalayas, the giant devil catfish (Bagarius yarrelli) has been known for its extraordinarily large body size. It can grow up to 2 m, whereas the non-Bagarius sisorids only reach 10–30 cm. Another outstanding characteristic of Bagarius species is the salmonids-like reddish flesh color. Both body size and flesh color are interesting questions in science and also valuable features in aquaculture that worth of deep investigations. Bagarius species therefore are ideal materials for studying body size evolution and color depositions in fish muscles, and also potential organisms for extensive utilization in Asian freshwater aquaculture. In a combination of Illumina and PacBio sequencing technologies, we de novo assembled a 571-Mb genome for the giant devil catfish from a total of 153.4-Gb clean reads. The scaffold and contig N50 values are 3.1 and 1.6 Mb, respectively. This genome assembly was evaluated with 93.4% of Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs completeness, 98% of transcripts coverage, and highly homologous with a chromosome-level-based genome of channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus). We detected that 35.26% of the genome assembly is composed of repetitive elements. Employing homology, de novo, and transcriptome-based annotations, we annotated a total of 19,027 protein-coding genes for further use. In summary, we generated the first high-quality genome assembly of the giant devil catfish, which provides an important genomic resource for its future studies such as the body size and flesh color issues, and also for facilitating the conservation and utilization of this valuable catfish.

scholarly journals Selection on morphological traits and fluctuating asymmetry by a fungal parasite in the yellow dung fly

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolf U. Blanckenhorn
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Fungal Infection ◽  
Fluctuating Asymmetry ◽  
Large Body ◽  
The Body ◽  
Female Size ◽  
Adult Body Size ◽  
Scathophaga Stercoraria ◽  
Evolutionary Response ◽  
Adult Body

AbstractA Preprint reviewed and recommended by Peer Community Evolutionary Biology: http://dx.doi.org/10.24072/pci.evolbiol.100027Evidence for selective disadvantages of large body size remains scarce in general. Previous phenomenological studies of the yellow dung fly Scathophaga stercoraria have demonstrated strong positive sexual and fecundity selection on male and female size. Nevertheless, the body size of flies from a Swiss study population has declined by almost 10% from 1993 to 2009. Given substantial heritability of body size, this negative evolutionary response of an evidently positively selected trait suggests important selective factors being missed (e.g. size-selective predation or parasitism). A periodic epidemic outbreak of the fungus Entomophthora scatophagae allowedassessment of selection exerted by this parasite fatal to adult flies. Fungal infection varied over the season from ca. 50% in the cooler and more humid spring and autumn to almost 0% in summer. The probability of dying from fungal infection increased with adult body size. All infected females died before laying eggs, so there was no fungus impact on female fecundity beyond its impact on mortality. Large males showed the typical mating advantage in the field, but this pattern of positive sexual selection was nullified by fungal infection. Mean fluctuating asymmetry of paired appendages (legs, wings) did not affect the viability, fecundity or mating success of yellow dung flies in the field. This study demonstrates rare parasite-mediated disadvantages of large adult body size in the field. Reduced ability to combat parasites such as Entomophthora may be an immunity cost of large size in dung flies, although the hypothesized trade-off between fluctuating asymmetry, a presumed indicator of developmental instability and environmental stress, and immunocompetence was not found here.

The effects of temperature change and domestication on the body size of Late Pleistocene to Holocene mammals of Israel

Paleobiology ◽  
1981 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon J. M. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Temperature Change ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Late Pleistocene To Holocene

Size variation among several species of large mammals is examined both throughout a wide geographical range today and within the Late Pleistocene-Holocene archaeo-faunal sequence of Israel. A regression of log dental size on environmental temperature produces similar negative slopes for recent Palaearctic foxes, wolves and boars as well as for Nearctic foxes. These species, and others which also exhibit an inverse correlation between size and temperature today, became dwarfed at the end of the Pleistocene in Israel. Abundant fossil gazelle and fox mensural data indicate that this diminution coincided with the temperature elevation 12,000 yr ago. Both the similarity of regression slopes for the recent material and the temporal coincidence of dwarfing among fossil species, representing different ecologies, strongly implicate temperature as the main body-size determining factor. Changes evidenced in the fossil record for boar, wolf and fox approximate a 15°C temperature change (Δt) based on their respective present-day size-temperature regressions. This Δt, if taken as an estimate for the eastern Mediterranean, is considerably higher than generally accepted values.An additional size reduction of aurochs, wolf and boar at the end of the Pleistocene or several millenia later is associated with their domestication. It may reflect man's preference for a large “head count” over individual large body size.

Analysis about the Effect on the Design of the Diffusers

2012 ◽  
Vol 174-177 ◽  
pp. 2016-2019
Author(s):  
Hui Yu Chen ◽  
Jing Gong
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Absorption Coefficient ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Groove Depth ◽  
The Body ◽  
Frequency Sound ◽  
High Absorption Coefficient ◽  
High Absorption

In order to study the effect of the diffusers,there has been designed a variety of diffusers.If groove depth is large , the diffuser will become a high absorption coefficient, low-frequency sounds will reduce significantly. So we have spread the body size nested within each other, a small has been nested in a large body .The smaller parts expand of high-frequency sound, the larger parts for low-frequency sound, so over a wide frequency band can been spreading.

scholarly journals Behavior and body size modulate the defense of toxin-containing sawfly larvae against ants

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Luc Boevé
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Large Body ◽  
The Body ◽  
Larval Body ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Sawfly Larvae ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Toxic Peptides ◽  
Laboratory Bioassays

AbstractThe sawfly larvae of most Argidae and Pergidae (Hymenoptera: Symphyta) species contain toxic peptides, and these along with other traits contribute to their defense. However, the effectiveness of their defense strategy, especially against ants, remains poorly quantified. Here, five Arge species, A. berberidis, A. nigripes, A. ochropus, A. pagana, A. pullata, plus three Pergidae species, Lophyrotoma analis, Lophyrotoma zonalis, Philomastix macleaii, were tested in laboratory bioassays on ant workers mainly of Myrmica rubra. The experiments focused on short-term predator–prey interactions, sawfly survival rate after long-term interactions, and feeding deterrence of the sawfly hemolymph. The larvae of Arge species were generally surrounded by few ants, which rarely bit them, whereas larvae of Pergidae, especially P. macleaii, had more ants around with more biting. A detailed behavioral analysis of Arge-ant interactions revealed that larval body size and abdomen raising behavior were two determinants of ant responses. Another determinant may be the emission of a volatile secretion by non-eversible ventro-abdominal glands. The crude hemolymph of all tested species, the five Arge species and L. zonalis, was a strong feeding deterrent and remained active at a ten-fold dilution. Furthermore, the study revealed that the taxon-specific behavior of ants, sting or spray, impacted the survival of A. pagana but not the large body-sized A. pullata. The overall results suggest that the ability of Arge and Pergidae larvae to defend against ants is influenced by the body size and behavior of the larvae, as well as by chemicals.

scholarly journals Siphonophoridae from Brazilian Amazonia Part 1 – The genus Columbianum Verhoeff, 1941 (Diplopoda, Siphonophorida)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen J. Read ◽  
Henrik Enghoff
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Large Body ◽  
The Body ◽  
Small Body Size ◽  
Large Body Size ◽  
Small Head ◽  
Three New Species ◽  
Seasonally Flooded

A large sample of Siphonophoridae from Brazil was studied; two morphological groups could be distinguished. Here species considered to be from the genus Columbianum Verhoeff, 1941 are examined in detail. The genus is known from Central and South America (Guatemala, Panama, Honduras, Guiana, Colombia, Peru and Brazil) and is characterised by a clear demarcation between head and rostrum in combination with long antennae, clearly surpassing the tip of the rostrum. A list of previously described species considered to belong to the genus is given; three new species are described: C. major sp. nov. has a large body size and a small head, C. nahvalr sp. nov. has a particularly pronounced domed head and a more castellated appearance to the body, C. adisi sp. nov. has a small body size and a very characteristic hind margin to the pleurites. Variation in the state of preservation of specimens hinders a diagnosis, but the examination of the accessory claw and details of the metazonital limbus and pleurite edges are helpful. Unusually for Diplopoda, the male gonopods are not very useful for identification. Ecological comments are given for each new species, one of which, C. adisi sp. nov., is from the seasonally flooded forest and appears to avoid inundation by climbing trees.

scholarly journals The postcranial skeleton of the erythrosuchid archosauriform Garjainia prima from the Early Triassic of European Russia

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 201089
Author(s):  
Susannah C. R. Maidment ◽  
Andrey G. Sennikov ◽  
Martín D. Ezcurra ◽  
Emma M. Dunne ◽  
David J. Gower ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Middle Triassic ◽  
Large Body ◽  
The Body ◽  
European Russia ◽  
Early Triassic ◽  
Postcranial Skeleton ◽  
Large Body Size ◽  
First Time

Erythrosuchidae were large-bodied, quadrupedal, predatory archosauriforms that dominated the hypercarnivorous niche in the aftermath of the Permo-Triassic mass extinction. Garjainia , one of the oldest members of the clade, is known from the late Olenekian of European Russia. The holotype of Garjainia prima comprises a well-preserved skull, but highly incomplete postcranium. Recent taxonomic reappraisal demonstrates that material from a bone bed found close to the type locality, previously referred to as ‘ Vjushkovia triplicostata ', is referable to G. prima. At least, seven individuals comprising cranial remains and virtually the entire postcranium are represented, and we describe this material in detail for the first time. An updated phylogenetic analysis confirms previous results that a monophyletic Garjainia is the sister taxon to a clade containing Erythrosuchus, Shansisuchus and Chalishevia . Muscle scars on many limb elements are clear, allowing reconstruction of the proximal locomotor musculature. We calculate the body mass of G. prima to have been 147–248 kg, similar to that of an adult male lion. Large body size in erythrosuchids may have been attained as part of a trend of increasing body size after the Permo-Triassic mass extinction and allowed erythrosuchids to become the dominant carnivores of the Early and Middle Triassic.

scholarly journals New insights into the genetic mechanisms of body size evolution in Carnivora

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Huang ◽  
Di Sun ◽  
Tianzhen Wu ◽  
Xing Liu ◽  
Shixia Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Rapid Evolution ◽  
Large Body ◽  
The Body ◽  
Molecular Evidence ◽  
Size Evolution ◽  
Body Size Evolution

Abstract Background The range of body sizes in Carnivora is unparalleled in any other mammalian order, with more than 130,000 times in body mass and 50 times in length. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the huge difference in body size of Carnivora have not been explored so far. Results Herein, we performed a comparative genomics analysis of 20 carnivores to explore the genetic basis of great body size variation in carnivores. Phylogenetic generalized least squares (PGLS) revealed that 337 genes were significantly related to both head body length and body mass, these genes were defined as body size associated genes (BSAGs). Fourteen positively related BSAGs were found to be associated with obesity and three of which were identified to be under rapid evolution in the extremely large body-sized carnivores, which suggested that these obesity-related BSAGs might have driven the body size expansion in carnivores. Interestingly, 100 BSAGs were examined to be associated with cancer control in carnivores, particularly 15 cancer-related genes were found to be under rapid evolution in extremely large carnivores. These results strongly suggested that large body-sized carnivores might have evolved effective mechanism to resist cancer, which could be regarded as molecular evidence to support for the Peto’s paradox. For small carnivores, we identified 15 rapidly evolving genes and found six genes with fixed amino acid changes that were reported to reduce body size. Conclusion This study brings new insights into the molecular mechanisms that drove the diversifying evolution of body size in carnivores, and provides new target genes for exploring the mysteries of body size evolution in mammals.

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