Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Biology
Sleep elasticity: accessory, useful and vital components of a single state
Published: 2026-08-19
Subjects: Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Neuroscience and Neurobiology, Systems Biology
Sleep is universal, homeostatically defended and apparently costly, and for half a century this combination has been read as evidence of a vital, conserved function still awaiting identification. The search has not converged. Instead, it has accumulated a dozen candidate functions, each defensible but none commanding assent. I argue that the difficulty lies with the question rather than with the [...]
The knowledge landscape of jaguar science: rapid growth, thematic structure, and regional inequalities
Published: 2026-08-17
Subjects: Biodiversity, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Understanding how scientific effort is distributed is essential for evaluating the evidence available to guide species conservation. We assessed the temporal, thematic, methodological, and spatial organization of jaguar (Panthera onca) research across the species’ range. Using 1,028 bibliographic records, we applied a metadata-based scope filter, defining a primary analytical corpus of 857 [...]
Life-history traits do not always evolve in response to changing thermal environments
Published: 2026-08-04
Subjects: Biodiversity, Biology, Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Integrative Biology, Zoology
Quantifying animals' capacity to evolve in response to changing environments is central to predicting ecological responses to climate change. However, empirical evidence for evolutionary responses to changing temperatures remains mixed, and we know little about how selection alters trait variance or generates trade-offs among traits. Here, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 44 [...]
varKodes extend DNA barcoding to ultrafine-grained identity, place, and state
Published: 2026-07-23
Subjects: Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Genetics and Genomics, Life Sciences
DNA barcoding has transformed biodiversity science, but locus-based markers often fail across taxa, at shallow phylogenetic depths, and in mixed or spatially structured samples. Here, we test whether varKoder, an alignment-free framework that converts low-coverage genomic reads into image-based genomic signatures (varKodes), can extend barcoding from taxonomic identification to broader inference [...]
Species Traits Predict Local Population Change Above and Beyond Regional Trend
Published: 2026-07-23
Subjects: Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Population Biology
Why do some populations persist in the face of environmental change while others decline? We tested the extent to which variation in local population change across species is attributable to three species traits: (i) habitat selectivity, (ii) temperature niche position, and (iii) degree of insectivory, with the null hypothesis that local trends are simply a reflection of broader regional trends. [...]
Swept ashore: Transoceanic dispersals and the biogeographic origins of Australian gekkonid lizards
Published: 2026-07-20
Subjects: Biology, Life Sciences
Oceanic dispersal is a rare mode of long-distance dispersal where taxa colonize disconnected islands or continents, sometimes resulting in new radiations. Australia has been isolated from other continental landmasses during the last 45 million years, and overwater colonisation has played a critical role in shaping its contemporary biota. Here, we investigate the biogeographic origins of [...]
Is Biology Necessary to Advance Biology?
Published: 2026-07-14
Subjects: Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology, Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Biology, Cell and Developmental Biology, Computational Biology, Philosophy, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Systems Biology
AI is transforming the workflow of biological science. But what role remains for human cognition when the priority is deep theory? We propose a division of labor based on a “coverage asymmetry” between artificial and biological agents. AI excels at extending the encounterable: scaling known mechanisms and exploring complex parameter regimes. However, AI cannot (yet) perform kind formation – the [...]
Sniffing for fungi: Use of a conservation dog uncovers high regional truffle diversity
Published: 2026-07-09
Subjects: Biodiversity, Biology, Botany, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Life Sciences, Forest Biology, Forest Sciences, Plant Sciences, Research Methods in Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Hypogeous aromatic fungi (‘truffles’) contribute significantly to overall fungal diversity but are difficult to find using traditional survey methods because they fruit underground, leading to under-documentation and a lack of understanding of truffle ecology. Truffles evolved to emit strong aromatic compounds to attract mycophagists for spore dispersal, a trait that culinary truffle harvesters [...]
Avian Population Genomics: Latest Findings and Future Prospects
Published: 2026-06-25
Subjects: Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Genetics and Genomics, Life Sciences
Birds are one of the most recognizable and diverse groups of organisms on Earth. This group has played an important role in many fields, including the development of methods in behavioral ecology and evolutionary theory. The use of population genomics took off following the increased accessibility of high-throughput sequencing across taxa. Several features of bird genomes make them particularly [...]
Parasitic zoosporic eufungi: taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity, ecology, and impacts
Published: 2026-06-16
Subjects: Biodiversity, Biology, Parasitology, Plant Pathology
Zoosporic eufungi (i.e., chytrids, sensu lato) comprise a phylogenetically and ecologically diverse guild of early diverging fungal phyla (Chytridiomycota, Monoblepharomycota, Neocallimastigomycota, Blastocladiomycota, Sanchytriomycota, Aphelidiomycota, Cryptomycota/Rozellomycota, and Olpidiomycota). While most circumscribed zoosporic eufungi function as decomposers of recalcitrant materials, [...]
An integrated framework for unifying our understanding of nonconsumptive predation risk effects
Published: 2026-06-12
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Integrative Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Population Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Predation risk can induce risk-induced trait responses (RITRs) – changes in prey defensive traits including behavior, morphology, life history, and physiology – thought to have profound effects on prey fitness and population dynamics (termed ‘nonconsumptive effects’). Yet, predicting the magnitude of RITRs and their fitness consequences remains difficult because outcomes depend heavily on [...]
Nest architecture as overlooked material culture: the case for systematic study of construction behaviour across nest-building primates
Published: 2026-06-10
Subjects: Animal Studies, Anthropology, Biological Psychology, Biology, Comparative Psychology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Frans de Waal's work highlighted an uncomfortable question: not whether animals have complex cognitive lives, but why we are so reluctant to recognise them. Nest building in great apes is perhaps the most striking example of this problem. Every great ape builds a nest, every day, for the entirety of its adult life. The behaviour has been documented ecologically for decades. Yet the internal [...]
Predator Experience Shapes Behaviour: Comparing Stone Wētā (Hemideina maori) Populations With and Without Weka (Gallirallus australis hectori)
Published: 2026-06-10
Subjects: Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Life Sciences
Antipredator behaviour reflects both evolutionary history and individual experience, yet how populations respond to changes in predator exposure remains poorly understood, particularly for large invertebrates. We examined antipredator behaviour in two populations of stone wētā (Hemideina maori Pictet & Saussure, 1891) inhabiting weka-free Mou Tapu and nearby Mou Waho, where weka (Gallirallus [...]
Predicting substrate size at a watershed scale to inform conservation planning for a declining salmonid species
Published: 2026-06-02
Subjects: Biology, Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Sciences, Hydrology, Life Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Good quality spawning habitat is critical for fish embryo development, survival, and overall population productivity. Appropriate riverbed substrate size is particularly important for riverine-spawning salmonids but the availability of suitable substrate may vary across a watershed. Predicting substrate size at watershed extents may therefore be critical to inform management and conservation of [...]
From Social Experience to Social Behaviour: Hormonal and Behavioural Phenotypes During Adolescence in Male Guinea Pigs
Published: 2026-06-02
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Biology, Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Adolescence is the transition from juvenility to adulthood and is characterised by prominent endocrine, neural and behavioural alterations. Thus, adolescence represents a sensitive phase during which social experiences can shape endocrine and behavioural phenotypes. Although the influence of the social environment during adolescence has been widely investigated, most studies assessed such effects [...]