Heterospecific Aggression and Dominance in a Guild of Coral-Feeding Fishes: The Roles of Dietary Ecology and Phylogeny

2013 ◽  
Vol 182 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shane A. Blowes ◽  
Morgan S. Pratchett ◽  
Sean R. Connolly
Keyword(s):  
Dietary Ecology ◽  
Coral Feeding ◽  
Heterospecific Aggression

Morphology and diet of two sympatric colubrid snakes, Chironius flavolineatus and Chironius quadricarinatus (Serpentes: Colubridae)

2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Otavio Augusto Vuolo Marques ◽  
Ronaldo Fernandes ◽  
Roberta Richard Pinto
Keyword(s):  
Foraging Behaviour ◽  
Sexual Size Dimorphism ◽  
Sympatric Species ◽  
Colour Pattern ◽  
Ontogenetic Variation ◽  
Brazilian Cerrado ◽  
Size Dimorphism ◽  
Snake Species ◽  
Dietary Ecology ◽  
Arboreal Habit

Abstract The morphometry and diet of two sympatric species of Chironius (C. flavolineatus and C. quadricarinatus) from Brazilian Cerrado are described. The two snake species differ in external morphology, as Chironius flavolineatus was the largest species (body, tail and eyes) whereas C. quadricarinatus the heaviest. Each species also showed marked sexual size dimorphism. In terms of dietary ecology, both species feed exclusively on frogs with a heavy preference for hylids and may have tendency to eat small items, as noticed in other colubrine species. These two snake species showed a brownish colour pattern and exhibited no ontogenetic variation, suggesting that juveniles and adults use similar substrates. Chironius flavolineatus and C. quadricarinatus present a semi-arboreal habit, with active foraging behaviour, feeding in the ground most of time. Chironius flavolineatus uses higher vegetation for resting and, based on morphological results, seems to be more arboreal than C. quadricarinatus.

Dietary ecology of common amphibian species in a seasonal location in northern Sri Lanka

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (27-28) ◽  
pp. 1797-1812
Author(s):  
R. B. Loshitha R. Sarathchandra ◽  
Kanishka D. B. Ukuwela ◽  
Rajnish P. G. Vandercone
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Amphibian Species ◽  
Dietary Ecology

Dietary ecology of Reduncini (Bovidae) from the Shungura Formation, Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
pp. 110789
Author(s):  
Cécile Blondel ◽  
Gildas Merceron ◽  
John Rowan ◽  
Jérôme Surault ◽  
Jean-Renaud Boisserie
Keyword(s):  
Dietary Ecology

scholarly journals The limits of convergence: the roles of phylogeny and dietary ecology in shaping non-avian amniote crania

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 202145
Author(s):  
Keegan M. Melstrom ◽  
Kenneth D. Angielczyk ◽  
Kathleen A. Ritterbush ◽  
Randall B. Irmis
Keyword(s):  
Functional Morphology ◽  
Feeding Ecology ◽  
Cranial Morphology ◽  
Skull Shape ◽  
Morphological Convergence ◽  
Morphometric Methods ◽  
Central Regions ◽  
Dietary Ecology ◽  
Amniote Phylogeny ◽  
Cranial Shape

Cranial morphology is remarkably varied in living amniotes and the diversity of shapes is thought to correspond with feeding ecology, a relationship repeatedly demonstrated at smaller phylogenetic scales, but one that remains untested across amniote phylogeny. Using a combination of morphometric methods, we investigate the links between phylogenetic relationships, diet and skull shape in an expansive dataset of extant toothed amniotes: mammals, lepidosaurs and crocodylians. We find that both phylogeny and dietary ecology have statistically significant effects on cranial shape. The three major clades largely partition morphospace with limited overlap. Dietary generalists often occupy clade-specific central regions of morphospace. Some parallel changes in cranial shape occur in clades with distinct evolutionary histories but similar diets. However, members of a given clade often present distinct cranial shape solutions for a given diet, and the vast majority of species retain the unique aspects of their ancestral skull plan, underscoring the limits of morphological convergence due to ecology in amniotes. These data demonstrate that certain cranial shapes may provide functional advantages suited to particular dietary ecologies, but accounting for both phylogenetic history and ecology can provide a more nuanced approach to inferring the ecology and functional morphology of cryptic or extinct amniotes.

Dietary Ecology of the Nigeria–Cameroon Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti)

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-104
Author(s):  
Ekwoge E. Abwe ◽  
Bethan J. Morgan ◽  
Roger Doudja ◽  
Fabrice Kentatchime ◽  
Flaubert Mba ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pan Troglodytes ◽  
Dietary Ecology ◽  
Pan Troglodytes Ellioti

Ecology of the rare but irruptive Pilliga mouse, Pseudomys pilligaensis. III. Dietary ecology

2010 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hideyuki Tokushima ◽  
Peter J. Jarman
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Rate ◽  
Wild Fire ◽  
Faecal Samples ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Different Seasons ◽  
Dietary Ecology ◽  
Protein Rich ◽  
Diverse Plant Species ◽  
Diverse Plant ◽  
Seeds And Fruits

The diet of the Pilliga mouse, Pseudomys pilligaensis, was analysed from 430 faecal samples collected from ~340 individuals across different seasons over a period of five years that included a wild fire and subsequent irruption and sharp decline of the population. The primary food items in all seasons were seeds and fruits from diverse plant species, but the mice also consumed a wide range of other foods, including leaves, invertebrates, fungi and mosses. Invertebrates, the second most abundant type of food item, were eaten in all seasons but, with fungi, increased in winter and spring when consumption of seeds and fruits declined. Mice consumed significantly more fungi and mosses before the wild fire than after it. Diets differed between sites rather little in the proportions of food categories, but greatly in the relative proportions of particular seed types in the seed+fruit category. The population irruption could have been triggered by a high reproductive rate that coincided with higher consumption by females of protein-rich foods such as invertebrates and fungi. Population density collapsed at sites as soil stores of utilisable seeds became depleted, mice surviving where their diet could remain diverse.

scholarly journals Origin of raptorial feeding in juvenile euarthropods revealed by a Cambrian radiodontan

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 863-869 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianni Liu ◽  
Rudy Lerosey-Aubril ◽  
Michael Steiner ◽  
Jason A Dunlop ◽  
Degan Shu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Early Developmental Stage ◽  
Rapid Rise ◽  
Juvenile Instar ◽  
History Of ◽  
Dietary Ecology ◽  
Chengjiang Biota ◽  
Early Developmental

Abstract The rapid rise of arthropods during the Cambrian quickly established some clades, such as the euarthropod stem-group called Radiodonta, as the dominant and most diverse predators in marine ecosystems. Recent discoveries have shown that the size and dietary ecology of radiodontans are far more diverse than previously thought, but little is known about the feeding habits of juveniles. Here, we document a very small (∼18-mm-long), near-complete specimen of the radiodontan Lyrarapax unguispinus from the early Cambrian Chengjiang Biota of China. This specimen is the smallest radiodontan individual known, representing a juvenile instar. Its adult-like morphology—especially the fully developed spinose frontal appendages and tetraradial oral cone—indicates that L. unguispinus was a well-equipped predator at an early developmental stage, similar to modern raptorial euarthropods, such as mantises, mantis shrimps and arachnids. This evidence, coupled with the basal phylogenetic position of radiodontans, confirms that raptorial feeding habits in juvenile euarthropods appeared early in the evolutionary history of the group.

Benefits of being a generalist carnivore when threatened by climate change: the comparative dietary ecology of two sympatric semelparous marsupials, including a new endangered species (Antechinus arktos)

2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma L. Gray ◽  
Chris J. Burwell ◽  
Andrew M. Baker
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
National Park ◽  
Diet Composition ◽  
Prey Selection ◽  
Pitfall Traps ◽  
Dietary Ecology ◽  
Late 21St Century ◽  
Dietary Components ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
Selection Of

The endangered black-tailed dusky antechinus (Antechinus arktos) was described in 2014, so most aspects of its ecology are unknown. We examined diet composition and prey selection of A. arktos and a sympatric congener, the northern form of A. stuartii, at two sites in Springbrook National Park. Overall, taxa from 25 invertebrate orders were identified in the diets from 252 scat samples. Dietary components were similar for each species, but A. arktos consumed a higher frequency and volume of dipteran larvae and Diplopoda, while A. stuartii consumed more Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Orthoptera and Isopoda. Both species of Antechinus had a higher percentage of ‘empty’ scats (devoid of any identifiable invertebrate material) in 2014 compared with 2015. The former was a drier year overall. Lower rainfall may have reduced abundance and diversity of arthropod prey, causing both species to supplement their diet with soft-bodied prey items such as earthworms, which are rarely detected in scats. Comparison of prey in scats with invertebrate captures from pitfall traps showed both species to be dietary generalists, despite exhibiting distinct preference and avoidance of certain prey categories. The ability of an endangered generalist marsupial to switch prey may be particularly advantageous considering the anticipated effects of climate change on Gondwanan rainforests during the mid-late 21st century.

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