1366 research outputs found
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A juvenile Tristan albatross (Diomedea dabbenena) on land at the Crozet Islands
No full textAbstract: Albatrosses and other seabirds are generally highly philopatric, returning to natal colonies when they achieve breeding age. This is not universal, however, and cases of extraordinary vagrancy are rare. The Tristan Albatross (Diomedea dabbenena) breeds on Gough Island in the South Atlantic Ocean, with a small population on Inaccessible Island, Tristan da Cunha, ca 380 km away. In 2015, we observed an adult male albatross in Gonydale, Gough Island, which had been ringed on Ile de la Possession, Crozet Islands in 2009 when it was assumed to be an immature Wandering Albatross (D. exulans). We sequenced 1109 bp of the cytochrome b mitochondrial gene from this bird, and confirmed it to be a Tristan Albatross, meaning its presence on Crozet 6 years previous, and nearly 5000 km away, was a case of prospecting behaviour in a heterospecific colony. Given the challenges in identifying immature Diomedea albatrosses, such dispersal events may be more common than thought previously.This is an open access article, available to all readers online, published under a creative commons licensing (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).NHM Repositor
A review of records of Downey Woodpecker in Britain
Get PDFTwo historical records of Downy Woodpecker Dryobates pubescens in
Britain are described. These records have not been formally reassessed for more
than a century. A review of the records based on the available evidence is
presented, which concludes that there is no support for Downy Woodpecker
having occurred naturally in Britain.© British Birds. Articles from this journal can be made open access within institutional repositories two years following publication. The attached file is the published version of the article. If you wish to consult the rest of the issue visit the publisher's website.NHM Repositor
Clade-wide variation in bite-force 1 performance is determined primarily by 2 size not ecology.
Get PDFPerformance traits are tightly linked to the fitness of organisms. However, because studies of variation in performance traits generally focus on just one or several closely-related species, we are unable to draw broader conclusions about how and why these traits vary across clades. One important performance trait related to many aspects of an animal’s life history is bite-force. Here we use a clade-wide phylogenetic comparative approach to investigate relationships between size, head dimensions and bite-force among lizards and tuatara (lepidosaurs), using the largest bite-force dataset collated to date for any taxonomic group. We test four predictions: that bite-force will be greater in larger species, and for a given body size, bite-force will be greatest in species with acrodont tooth attachment, herbivorous diets, and non-burrowing habits. We show that bite-force is strongly related to body and head size across lepidosaurs and, as predicted, larger species have the greatest bite-forces. Contrary to our other predictions, tooth attachment, diet and habit have little predictive power when accounting for size. Herbivores bite more forcefully simply because they are larger. Our results also highlight priorities for future sampling to further enhance our understanding of broader evolutionary patterns.Copyright © The Authors 2021. This document is the authors' final accepted version of the journal article. You are advised to consult the published version if you wish to cite from it.NHM Repositor
Plant and fungal collections: Current status, future perspectives
No full textSocietal Impact Statement
Plant and fungal specimens provide the auditable evidence that a particular organism occurred at a particular place, and at a particular point in time, verifying past occurrence and distribution. They also document the aspects of human exploration and culture. Collectively specimens form a global asset with significant potential for new uses to help address societal and environmental challenges. Collections also serve as a platform to engage and educate a broad range of stakeholders from the academic to the public, strengthening engagement and understanding of plant and fungal diversity—the basis of life on Earth.
Summary
We provide a global review of the current state of plant and fungal collections including herbaria and fungaria, botanic gardens, fungal culture collections, and biobanks. The review focuses on the numbers of collections, major taxonomic group and species level coverage, geographical representation and the extent to which the data from collections are digitally accessible. We identify the major gaps in these collections and in digital data. We also consider what collection types need to be further developed to support research, such as environmental DNA and cryopreservation of desiccation-sensitive seeds. Around 31% of vascular plant species are represented in botanic gardens, and 17% of known fungal species are held in culture collections, both these living collections showing a bias toward northern temperate taxa. Only 21% of preserved collections are available via the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) with Asia, central and north Africa and Amazonia being relatively under-represented. Supporting long-term collection facilities in biodiverse areas should be considered by governmental and international aid agencies, in addition to short-term project funding. Institutions should consider how best to speed up digitization of collections and to disseminate all data via aggregators such as GBIF, which will greatly facilitate use, research, and community curation to improve quality. There needs to be greater alignment between biodiversity informatics initiatives and standards to allow more comprehensive analysis of collections data and to facilitate linkage of extended information, facilitating broader use. Much can be achieved with greater coordination through existing initiatives and strengthening relationships with users.This is an open access article, available to all readers online, published under a creative commons licensing (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).NHM Repositor
The early death of Colonel Robert C. Tytler and the afterlife of his collection
Get PDFA letter by Allan Octavian Hume and three by Bertram Bevan-Petman, all written between 1904 and 1911 to Ernst Hartert, bird curator of Rothschild’s Tring Museum, are present in the Rothschild Tring archive, now held by the Natural History Museum. These shed light on both the probable cause of the early death in 1872 of Colonel Robert C. Tytler, British army officer and naturalist in
colonial India, and on the somewhat convoluted fate of his collection subsequently.Copyright: © 2021 Prys-Jones, R et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credite
Evolution of reproductive strategies in the species-rich land snail subfamily Phaedusinae (Stylommatophora: Clausiliidae)
Get PDFMost of the present knowledge on animal reproductive mode evolution, and possible factors driving transitions between oviparity and viviparity is based on studies on vertebrates. The species rich door snail (Clausiliidae) subfamily Phaedusinae represents a suitable and unique model for further examining parity evolution, as three different strategies, oviparity, viviparity, and the intermediate mode of embryo-retention, occur in this group. The present study reconstructs the evolution of reproductive strategies in Phaedusinae based on time-calibrated molecular phylogenetics, reproductive mode examinations and ancestral state reconstruction. Our phylogenetic analysis employing multiple mitochondrial and nuclear markers identified a well-supported clade (including the tribes Phaedusini and Serrulinini) that contains species exhibiting various reproductive strategies. This clade evolved from an oviparous most recent common ancestor according to our reconstruction. All non-oviparous taxa are confined to a highly supported subclade, coinciding with the tribe Phaedusini. Both oviparity and viviparity occur frequently in different lineages of this subclade that are not closely related. During Phaedusini diversification, multiple transitions in reproductive strategy must have taken place, which could have been promoted by a high fitness of embryo-retaining species. The evolutionary success of this group might result from the maintenance of various strategies.© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.NHM Repositor
Pentaradial eukaryote suggests expansion of suspension feeding in White Sea-aged Ediacaran communities
No full textSuspension feeding is a key ecological strategy in modern oceans that provides a link between pelagic and benthic systems. Establishing when suspension feeding first became widespread is thus a crucial research area in ecology and evolution, with implications for understanding the origins of the modern marine biosphere. Here, we use three-dimensional modelling and computational fluid dynamics to establish the feeding mode of the enigmatic Ediacaran pentaradial eukaryote Arkarua. Through comparisons with two Cambrian echinoderms,Cambraster and Stromatocystites, we show that flow patterns around Arkarua strongly support its interpretation as a passive suspension feeder.Arkarua is added to the growing number of Ediacaran benthic suspension feeders, suggesting that the energy link between pelagic and benthic ecosystems was likely expanding in the White Sea assemblage (~ 558–550 Ma). The advent of widespread suspension feeding could therefore have played an important role in the subsequent waves of ecological innovation and escalation that culminated with the Cambrian explosion.This is an open access article, available to all readers online, published under a creative commons licensing (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Assessing plastic size distribution and quantity on a remote island in the South Pacific
Get PDFPlastics are an environmental threat; however, their fate once in the pelagic environment is poorly known. We compare results from assessments of floating plastics in the South Pacific Ocean with accumulated beach plastics from Henderson Island. We also compare accumulated plastic mass on Henderson during 2015 and 2019 and investigate the presence of nanoplastics. There were differences between the size classes of beach and pelagic plastics, and an increase in microplastics (0.33-5 mm) on the beach between 2015 and 2019. Micro- and nanoplastics were found at all sites (mean ± SE: 1960 ± 356 pieces/kg dw). Across the whole beach this translates to >4 billion plastic particles in the upper 5 cm. This is concerning, particularly given Henderson is uninhabited and distant from urban centres (~2350 km from Pape'ete, French Polynesia). The vast number of small particles on Henderson may make nearshore filter feeders susceptible to ingestion and subsequent detrimental impacts.Copyright © 2021, The Authors. This document is the author’s final accepted version of the journal article. You are advised to consult the published version if you wish to cite from it.NHM Repositor
Plastic debris increases circadian temperature extremes in beach sediments
Get PDFPlastic pollution is the focus of substantial scientific and public interest, leading many to believe the issue is well documented and managed, with effective mitigation in place. However, many aspects are poorly understood, including fundamental questions relating to the scope and severity of impacts (e.g., demographic consequences at the population level). Plastics accumulate in significant quantities on beaches globally, yet the consequences for these terrestrial environments are largely unknown. Using real world, in situ measurements of circadian thermal fluctuations of beach sediment on Henderson Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands, we demonstrate that plastics increase circadian temperature extremes. Particular plastic levels were associated with increases in daily maximum temperatures of 2.45 °C and decreases of daily minimum by − 1.50 °C at 5 cm depth below the accumulated plastic. Mass of surface plastic was high on both islands (Henderson: 571 ± 197 g/m2; Cocos: 3164 ± 1989 g/m2), but did not affect thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, thermal diffusivity, or moisture content of beach sediments. Therefore, we suggest plastic effects sediment temperatures by altering thermal inputs and outputs (e.g., infrared radiation absorption). The resulting circadian temperature fluctuations have potentially significant implications for terrestrial ectotherms, many of which have narrow thermal tolerance limits and are functionally important in beach habitats.Copyright © 2021, The Authors. This document is the author’s final accepted version of the journal article. You are advised to consult the published version if you wish to cite from it.NHM Repositor
The easternmost record of Macratriinae LeConte, 1862 (Coleoptera: Anthicidae), with a new species from Fiji and a genus-rank synonymy in Macratriini LeConte, 1862
Get PDFThe easternmost record of Macratria Newman, 1838 from Fiji is presented, and M. fijiana sp. nov. is described and illustrated. Biogeographical patterns and diversity of Pacific Macratriinae are briefly discussed. Additionally, a new genus rank synonymy in Macratriinae is proposed: Thambospasta Werner, 1974 syn. nov. of Salimuzzamania Abdullah, 1968. New combination is made for Salimuzzamania howdeni (Werner, 1974) comb. nov. (from Thambospasta).Copyright © 2021, Magnolia Press. This is an article published under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. The attached file is the published version of the article.NHM Repositor