Functional differences of the proboscides of short- and long-tongued bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea)

1983 ◽  
Vol 61 (7) ◽  
pp. 1580-1586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence D. Harder
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Ingestion Rates ◽  
Functional Differences ◽  
Morphological Differences ◽  
Similar Body ◽  
Evolutionary Consequences

Ingestion of liquids by a short-tongued bee (Andrena carlini), recorded cinematographically, involved repeated protraction and retraction of the prementum and coordinated lapping by the glossa while the maxillae remained motionless. The action of the proboscis of a long-tongued bee (Bombus pennsylvanicus) differs from this in that the prementum remains stationary. Differences in proboscidial mechanics are associated with morphological differences, which together affect the ingestion rates observed for five species of each of the two types of bees. Although small bees of both morphological types ingested nectar at equivalent rates, large long-tongued bees were more efficient than short-tongued bees of similar body size. The relative abundance of large bees in long-tongued families in two faunas suggests that the comparative efficiencies of these two morphological conditions has had evolutionary consequences.

Notes on the molecular taxonomy of the Proclossiana eunomia complex (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae: Argynnini): analysis of DNA barcodes

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 222-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. V. Yakovlev ◽  
N. A. Shapoval ◽  
G. N. Kuftina ◽  
A. V. Kulak ◽  
S. V. Kovalev
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Molecular Taxonomy ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Molecular Data ◽  
Coi Gene ◽  
Wing Pattern ◽  
Molecular Approach ◽  
Dna Barcodes ◽  
Morphological Differences ◽  
Proclossiana Eunomia

The Proclossiana eunomia (Esper, 1799) complex is currently composed of the several subspecies distributed throughout Palaearсtic region and North America. Despite the fact that some of the taxa have differences in wing pattern and body size, previous assumptions on taxonomy not supported by molecular data. Therefore, the identity of certain populations of this complex has remained unclear and the taxonomic status of several recently described taxa is debated. Here, we provide insights into systematics of some Palaearctic members of this group using molecular approach, based on the analysis of the barcoding fragment of the COI gene taking into account known morphological differences.

Structural adaptations of bovine ungulates modern agrocenosis

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (11) ◽  
pp. 6-15
Author(s):  
Sergey V. Posyabin ◽  
◽  
Elena N. Borkhunova ◽  
Vladislav V. Belogurov ◽  
Mikhail D. Kachalin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Forest Soils ◽  
Distal Part ◽  
Static Load ◽  
High Weight ◽  
Morphometric Characteristics ◽  
Structural Adaptation ◽  
Solid Soil ◽  
Similar Body ◽  
Structural Adaptations

The article presents the results of studies of anatomical, histological and morphometric characteristics of bovine ungulates aimed at identifying signs of structural adaptation of the distal part of the limb to anthropogenically modeled content conditions. The factors that the hoof experiences are the predominance of static load, the high weight of the animal, and the support on solid soil. As a morphological control, elk is considered as a parrotfish animal with similar body size and weight, located in the conditions of natural biotsenose and moving on forest soils. It is shown that constant presence of cattle in conditions of hypokinesia on hard floors leads to change of limb setting and change of hoof shape, which is reflected in change of hoof shape, increase of hoof angle, ratio of plantar and dorsal hoof surfaces length. At the same time, the biomechanical load is redistributed between parts of the hoof so that the load on the wall increases and on the ball decreases. This may be a factor predisposing the hoof to the appearance of microtraumas, later manifested by laminites.

The Swift Fox in Rangeland and Cropland in Western Kansas: Relative Abundance, Mortality, and Body Size

2000 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond S. Matlack ◽  
Philip S. Gipson ◽  
Donald W. Kaufman
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Swift Fox

Tooth size and shape and their relevance to studies of hominid evolution

1981 ◽  
Vol 292 (1057) ◽  
pp. 65-76 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Hominid Evolution ◽  
Tooth Size ◽  
Taxonomic Significance ◽  
Early Hominid ◽  
Australopithecus Africanus ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Rate Of Increase ◽  
Crown Shape ◽  
Morphological Differences

Teeth have the potential to provide evidence about both the patterns of diversity of fossil hominids and the functional adaptations of early hominid taxa. Comparative studies of dental function and the direct examination of wear patterns in fossil teeth are now providing data for testing hypotheses that major differences in dietary adaptations underlie lineage diversity in the early hominids. However, this review focuses on the contributions that dental evidence can make to hominid systematic studies. Attention is drawn to the value of tooth enamel as a morphological marker and the major contribution that teeth make to the hominid fossil sample. Systematic analysis of hominid remains must start with the identification of patterns of morphological variation. Only then can the taxonomic significance of the morphological differences be assessed and attempts made to link designated taxa in a phylogenetic scheme. The preliminary results of a detailed metrical survey of early hominid premolar and molar teeth are presented. As part of this study cusp areas of first mandibular molars were measured by planimetry. Analysis of these data, without any prior assumptions about taxonomic groups, has demonstrated that the major axis of variation separates the pooled sample into morphological subgroups. These methods provide a systematic and rigorous way of identifying patterns of tooth crown morphology and will allow a more objective assessment of the affinities of individual specimens. Fossil taxa are described in terms of both absolute and relative tooth size. If canine base area and molar crown area are considered there is considerable overlap between Australopithecus africanus and Australopithecus ( paranthropus) robustus whereas there is little or no overlap between the ranges of Australopithecus africanus and Australopithecus (Parnthopus) boisei . Differences in relative tooth size among fossil taxa are taken as an example of how to attack the problem of assessing the taxonomic significance of morphological differences. Analogues from modern primates are used to derive tooth-body size relations for three relative growth models. The results suggest that increases in body size are usually accompanied by a more rapid rate of increase in canine size than in molar size. This suggests that the relatively smaller canines of the ‘robust’ australopithecines are not the result of simple scaling, but represent the result of selection against an allometric trend. Preliminary results of a survey of the subocclusal morphology of fossil teeth are presented to indicate the potential of radiographic studies and to demonstrate that changes in root morphology can be correlated with crown shape and relative size.

scholarly journals Morphology predicts species' functional roles and their degree of specialization in plant–frugivore interactions

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1823) ◽  
pp. 20152444 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Matthias Dehling ◽  
Pedro Jordano ◽  
H. Martin Schaefer ◽  
Katrin Böhning-Gaese ◽  
Matthias Schleuning
Keyword(s):  
Resource Use ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Functional Roles ◽  
Functional Differences ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Interaction Partners ◽  
Role Based ◽  
Morphological Differences

Species' functional roles in key ecosystem processes such as predation, pollination or seed dispersal are determined by the resource use of consumer species. An interaction between resource and consumer species usually requires trait matching (e.g. a congruence in the morphologies of interaction partners). Species' morphology should therefore determine species' functional roles in ecological processes mediated by mutualistic or antagonistic interactions. We tested this assumption for Neotropical plant–bird mutualisms. We used a new analytical framework that assesses a species's functional role based on the analysis of the traits of its interaction partners in a multidimensional trait space. We employed this framework to test (i) whether there is correspondence between the morphology of bird species and their functional roles and (ii) whether morphologically specialized birds fulfil specialized functional roles. We found that morphological differences between bird species reflected their functional differences: (i) bird species with different morphologies foraged on distinct sets of plant species and (ii) morphologically distinct bird species fulfilled specialized functional roles. These findings encourage further assessments of species' functional roles through the analysis of their interaction partners, and the proposed analytical framework facilitates a wide range of novel analyses for network and community ecology.

scholarly journals The evolutionary consequences of oxygenic photosynthesis: a body size perspective

2010 ◽  
Vol 107 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan L. Payne ◽  
Craig R. McClain ◽  
Alison G. Boyer ◽  
James H. Brown ◽  
Seth Finnegan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Oxygenic Photosynthesis ◽  
Evolutionary Consequences

Reproductive patterns of European pond turtles differ between sites: a small scale scenario

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-349
Author(s):  
Marco A.L. Zuffi ◽  
Elena Foschi
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Egg Production ◽  
Shell Height ◽  
The Body ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Population Structures ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Reproductive Females ◽  
Similar Body

From 1996 to 2002, we studied the body size, measures of reproductive strategy (relative clutch mass and delayed reproduction at sexual maturity), and reproductive output (clutch frequency and annual egg production) of female European Pond turtles,Emys orbicularis, at two sites separated by 12 km in central Mediterranean Tuscany (San Rossore and Camp Darby, central northern Italy). Females did not reproduce at the first appearance of external sexual characters, but reproduced at larger sizes, probably as older turtles. Among years, reproductive females were more common than were non-reproductive females, yet both groups had similar body sizes. Body size (carapace length and width, plastron length and width, shell height and body mass) varied between localities and among years. Body size differed between reproductive and non reproductive females in Camp Darby, but not in San Rossore females. Shell volume did not vary among years, nor between localities, nor between reproductive status. Reproductive females had higher body condition indices (BCI) than did non-reproductive females, while BCI did not differ between females laying one clutch and females laying multiple clutches. Clutch size did not vary among years. One clutch per year was much more frequent than multiple clutches, and multiple clutches were more frequent in Camp Darby than in San Rossore females, likely due to differences in population structures between sites.

Body size, energetics, and the Ordovician restructuring of marine ecosystems

Paleobiology ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 342-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth Finnegan ◽  
Mary L. Droser
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Depositional Environments ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Widespread Occurrence ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Shallow Subtidal ◽  
Ecological Dominance ◽  
Benthic Ecosystems

Major shifts in ecological dominance are one of the most conspicuous but poorly understood features of the fossil record. Here we examine one of the most prominent such shifts, the Ordovician shift from trilobite to brachiopod dominance of benthic ecosystems. Using an integrated database of high-resolution paleoecological samples and body size data, we show that while the average local richness and relative abundance of trilobites declined significantly through the Ordovician, the estimated standing biomass of trilobites, and by implication the amount of energy that they used, remained relatively invariant. This is attributable to an increase in the average body size of trilobite species in our data set, and especially to the widespread occurrence of the exceptionally large Middle-Late Ordovician trilobite genus Isotelus. Brachiopods increase in both mean body size and relative abundance throughout the Ordovician, so that estimates of brachiopod biomass and energetic use increase substantially between the Early and Late Ordovician. Although the data set includes a range of depositional environments, similar trends are observed in both shallow subtidal and deep subtidal settings. These results suggest that diversification of the Paleozoic Fauna did not come at the energetic expense of the Cambrian Fauna. The declining relative abundance of trilobites may reflect a combination of numerical dilution and the necessary energetic trade-offs between body size and abundance.

scholarly journals Spiders associated with Psychotria carthagenensis Jacquin. (Rubiaceae): vegetative branches versus inflorescences, and the influence of Crematogaster sp. (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), in South-Pantanal, Brazil

2008 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
RR. Faria ◽  
TN. Lima
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Size Distribution ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Behavioral Experiment ◽  
Control Treatment ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Spider Community ◽  
Guild Composition ◽  
Spider Abundance ◽  
Different Parts

The aim of this study was to analyze: i) the spider community in vegetative and reproductive branches of Psychotria carthagenensis concerning relative abundance, guild composition and body size distribution; ii) ant abundance in diferent types of branches and iii) the spider behavior when experimentally put in contact with inflorescences covered with ants. There was no difference between vegetative and reproductive branches in relation to spider abundance, composition of guilds and body size distribution of spiders. However, there was a significant difference in ant abundance. In the behavioral experiment, 90% of the spiders were expelled from inflorescences by ants; in control treatment, 100% remained in the inflorescences. The ant density in different parts of the plant may explain the spider distribution.

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