Preprints

Filtering by Subject: Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology

Temperature-dependant, developmental plasticity and its effects on Allen’s and James’ rule in endotherms

Joshua Kenneth Robertson Tabh, Andreas Nord

Published: 2023-03-07
Subjects: Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology, Integrative Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Ecogeographical rules, describing common trends in animal form across space and time, have provided key insights into the primary factors driving species persistence on our planet. Among the most well-known ecogeographical rules are James’ rule (an intraspecific variant of Bergmann’s rule) and Allen’s rule, with each correlating ambient temperature to the size and shape of endotherms within a [...]

Adaptations and plastic phenotypic responses of marine animals to the environmental challenges of the high intertidal zone

Robine Helena Jannigje Leeuwis, Anthony Kurt Gamperl

Published: 2022-01-16
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Physiology

The high intertidal zone is home to an incredible variety of marine animals, as it offers an escape from low intertidal/subtidal predation and competition, among other advantages. However, this area of the shore also comes with many tide-driven and emersion-associated environmental stressors, such as desiccation, high temperatures and freezing stress, hypoxia, salinity fluctuations, nitrogenous [...]

Latitudinal but not elevational variation in blood glucose level is linked to life history across passerine birds

Oldřich Tomášek, Lukáš Bobek, Tereza Kauzálová, et al.

Published: 2022-01-13
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Biology, Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Integrative Biology, Life Sciences, Physiology, Zoology

Macrophysiological research is vital to our understanding of mechanisms underpinning global life history variation and adaptation under diverse environments. Birds represent an important model taxon in this regard, yet our knowledge is limited to only a few physiological traits, mostly studied in temperate and Neotropical species. Here, we examined latitudinal and elevational variation in an [...]

A rapidly expanding house of cards: the silent loss of cell physiology hampers marine biosciences

Frank Melzner, Imke Podbielski, Felix C Mark, et al.

Published: 2021-11-22
Subjects: Biochemistry, Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology, Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Physiology, Systems and Integrative Physiology Life Sciences

Perspective: An ongoing loss of expertise on the biochemistry and physiology of marine organisms hampers our understanding of biological mechanisms upon rapidly growing “-omics” approaches reply -ultimately affecting our ability to predict organismal responses to climate change.

Repeatability of endocrine traits and dominance rank in female guinea pigs

Taylor Lynne Rystrom, Romy C. Prawitt, S. Helene Richter, et al.

Published: 2021-03-11
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Physiology

Background Glucocorticoids (e.g. cortisol) are associated with variation in social behavior, and previous studies have linked baseline as well as challenge-induced glucocorticoid concentrations to dominance status. It is known that cortisol response to an acute challenge is repeatable and correlates to social behavior in males of many mammal species. However, it is unclear whether these patterns [...]

Rapid-warming tolerance correlates with tolerance to slow warming but not growth at non-optimal temperatures in zebrafish

Eirik Ryvoll Åsheim, Anna H. Andreassen, Rachael Morgan, et al.

Published: 2020-05-08
Subjects: Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology, Life Sciences, Physiology

Global warming is predicted to increase both acute and prolonged thermal challenges for aquatic ectotherms. Severe short and medium-term thermal stress over hours to days may cause mortality, while longer sub-lethal thermal challenges may cause performance declines. The interrelationship between the responses to short, medium and longer thermal challenges is unresolved. We asked if the same [...]

The Evolutionary Ecology of Age at Natural Menopause: Implications for Public Health

Abigail Fraser, Elise Whitley, Cathy Johnman, et al.

Published: 2020-02-11
Subjects: Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Other Medicine and Health Sciences, Other Social and Behavioral Sciences, Physiology, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Evolutionary perspectives on menopause have focused on explaining why early reproductive cessation in females has emerged and why it is rare throughout the animal kingdom, but less attention has been given to exploring patterns of diversity in age at natural menopause. In this paper, we aim to generate new hypotheses for understanding human patterns of diversity in this trait, defined as age at [...]

Aerobic scope protection reduces ectotherm growth under warming

Fredrik Jutfelt, Tommy Norin, Eirik Ryvoll Åsheim, et al.

Published: 2020-01-24
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology, Life Sciences, Physiology, Zoology

Temperature has a dramatic effect on the physiology of ectothermic animals, impacting most of their biology. When temperatures increase above optimal for an animal, their growth gradually decreases. The main mechanism behind this growth rate reduction is unknown. Here, we suggest the ‘aerobic scope protection’ hypothesis as a mechanistic explanation for the reduction in growth. After a meal, [...]

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