Biological Reviews最新文献

Human life history is derived compared to that of our closest living relatives, the great apes. It has been suggested that these derived traits are causally related to aspects of our ecology, social behaviour and cognitive abilities. However, resolving this requires that we know the evolutionary trajectory of our distinctive pattern of growth, development, and reproduction. Here, we (i) outline these derived features and the theories that have been proposed for their evolution; (ii) highlight the major gaps in our knowledge related to adult life history (reproduction and post-reproductive lifespan) with a review of our current knowledge, which is mainly based on information extracted from fossil teeth and bones; and (iii) provide an overview of novel analytical methods that leverage the biology of these hard tissues, to generate new information regarding the evolution of some of our peculiar life-history traits, such as short interbirth intervals (high reproductive frequency) and a prolonged female post-reproductive lifespan. Our review of tissue biology and analytical methods focuses on two tissues that are formed continuously during the entire lifespan of the individual and can therefore act as recording structures of adult life: dental cementum and lamellar bone. We conclude by providing specific guidelines for future research to help resolve the following long-standing question in human evolution: how and when did we switch from independent breeding to cooperative breeding, with its high reproductive frequency? Answering this question is crucial for understanding the evolutionary interplay between reproductive physiology and cooperation as well as for understanding how reproductive division of labour might shape societal structure.

Oropharyngeal food processing exhibits a remarkable diversity among vertebrates, reflecting the evolution of specialised 'processing centres' associated with the mandibular, hyoid, and branchial arches. Although studies have detailed various food-processing strategies and mechanisms across vertebrates, a coherent and comprehensive terminology is lacking. Here, we provide a synthesis, including a unified terminology for the intricate complexity of vertebrate oropharyngeal processing. Among gnathostomes, mandibular food processing predominates, ranging from discrete bites to rhythmic, cyclic chewing facilitated by precise tongue mechanics in aquatic and terrestrial environments alike. By contrast, some taxa have abandoned oropharyngeal processing entirely, relying instead on post-oesophageal strategies such as gastric milling and chemical digestion. Interestingly, teleost (bony) fishes illustrate the evolutionary trade-off between increased jaw protrusion for prey capture and reduced mandibular processing capacity. They compensated for this trade-off by developing derived processing behaviours early in their evolutionary development. Through the re-evolution of mandibular chewing, they succeeded in utilising all three known processing centres. Mastication is a specialised, dimensionally complex form of unignathic mandibular chewing (i.e. chewing restricted to the lower jaw) exclusive to mammals. However, our findings demonstrate that dimensionally complex forms of mandibular chewing have arisen independently multiple times and are widespread among gnathostomes. Notably, diverse taxa, including elasmobranch stingrays, Australian lungfish, sirenid salamanders, various songbirds, herbivorous turtles, and the tuatara, exhibit complex jaw movements combining arcuate, longitudinal, and sometimes transverse components enabled by specialised jaw joints, suspensions, and intracranial motions ('cranial kinesis'). From a comparative, functional-morphological perspective, mammalian mastication may best be characterised as dimensionally complex chewing mediated by the secondary or temporomandibular joint. By contrast, analogous dimensionally complex non-mammalian chewing involving motions confined to the primary or quadrate-articular jaw joint qualifies as pseudomastication. Both mastication and pseudomastication resemble functional masticatory behaviours, while those incorporating intracranial motions and movements of the jaw suspension belong to distinct categories. Our anatomical analysis highlights the convergent evolution of dimensionally complex chewing among gnathostomes and emphasises the importance of comprehensive studies on jaw development and function to deepen our understanding of the evolution of oropharyngeal processing.

The alarm call sequences of titi monkeys (genera Plecturocebus, Callicebus and Cheracebus) have sparked important debates over whether they exhibit parallels with human language. Some researchers consider these sequences to involve both semantics and syntax, while others argue that the sequences convey semantic information without syntax. In this review, we revisit this issue by applying fine-grained linguistic analyses to the most comprehensive data set of titi monkey alarm sequences available to date. Specifically, we evaluate three competing hypotheses: one rich hypothesis suggesting that titi alarm sequences are compositional, and two deflationary alternatives. The first deflationary hypothesis holds that an alarm sequence is a single vocalisation that only superficially resembles a combination of discrete calls. The second deflationary hypothesis posits that an alarm sequence consists of a series of independent calls emitted in rapid succession, governed by no syntactic rule. The data set allows us to reject the first deflationary hypothesis but not the second, preventing us from concluding that titi monkey sequences are compositional. This leads us to another important question: if the sequences are not compositional, what information do they convey, and how? We examine the information encoded in the alarm calls and find that alarm calls likely reflect the caller's arousal level at the time of emission of the call: A-calls encode high arousal, B-calls lower arousal, and sequences appear to track dynamic changes in arousal over time. However, strikingly, receivers still manage to extract relevant information about the event eliciting alarm sequences, likely through inferences relying on contextual cues and prior knowledge. This pragmatic enrichment suggests that emotion-based communication can give rise to complex cognitive processes, particularly on the receiver's side. Titi monkeys thus offer a valuable model for investigating the evolutionary roots of pragmatics. More broadly, our review challenges the misconception that emotional communication is cognitively simple, and invites renewed attention to the role of affective communication in the emergence of linguistic-like abilities.

This article evaluates the evidence for sentience - the capacity to have feelings - in cephalopod molluscs: octopus, cuttlefish, squid, and nautilus. Our framework includes eight criteria, covering both whether the animal's nervous system could support sentience and whether their behaviour indicates sentience. There is strong evidence of sentience in octopuses and cuttlefish, which are assessed with very high or high confidence in meeting six of eight criteria. There is also substantial evidence for squid (very high or high confidence in five of eight criteria). By contrast, whether nautiluses are sentient remains unknown (high confidence in only one of eight criteria), since this group of cephalopods have attracted little research. This reflects a general pattern: cases where a taxon did not satisfy a criterion were invariably due to insufficient evidence, rather than evidence that the criterion was not met. In no cases were we confident that a taxon failed a criterion. We explore the nuances of evidence for sentience, examining both neural and behavioural markers, drawing from and updating our previous review (Birch et al., 2021), and shedding light on the implications for ethical treatment and welfare within this class of animals while also revealing areas where further research is needed.

Investigating how animals perceive and interpret emotional signals across a variety of species is essential for deepening our understanding of the complexities underlying animal communication and social behaviour. Empirical evidence suggests that many animal species can extract valuable, contextually relevant information from their acoustic environments, including vocalisations produced by heterospecific organisms in their vicinity. This review examines the cross-species perception of vocal emotional expressions among terrestrial tetrapods, demonstrating that many of these animals recognise a range of emotions in the vocalisations of other species in a manner qualitatively similar to their perception of conspecific emotions. First, we outline the diverse methodologies employed to assess emotion perception, including behavioural and vocal responses, psychoacoustic playback experiments, physiological analyses linked to the autonomic nervous system, and neural imaging techniques. Then, we explore the relationships between emotional valence and arousal with various acoustic features of animal vocalisations such as fundamental frequency (perceived as pitch), harshness resulting from non-linear acoustic phenomena, call duration, and inter-call intervals. Lastly, we evaluate potential factors influencing the accuracy of cross-species emotion perception. Notably, familiarity with the vocalising species and domestication are identified as potential enhancers of cross-species emotion recognition. This review highlights significant research gaps, particularly in understanding how specific acoustic parameters shape emotion perception in interspecies vocal communication, and a heavy bias toward human subjects. Advancing knowledge in this domain is crucial, as it will not only deepen our understanding of emotional expression and perception across species but also provide broader insights into the evolution of animal communication.

Effective knowledge of ecological connectivity at sea and at the land-sea interface is key to supporting global policy goals to conserve and restore ocean biodiversity and function. However, a persistent lack of commonality in terminology and understanding around the concept of connectivity in marine ecological studies hampers its integration across disciplines, and its application in spatial planning and policy. Building on an extensive literature review, we clarify definitions and subcategories of marine connectivity, and propose a unified conceptual framework for Marine Functional Connectivity (MFC) research to support the integration of multidisciplinary scientific knowledge into management and policy. We identify key challenges and future directions for advancing this emerging field, bringing together most strands of marine science to understand changes in biodiversity and functional interdependencies between habitats and regions. Embedding this new integrated MFC research at the core of marine environmental science promises to improve significantly predictions of environmental and socio-economic change and the sustainable use of ecosystems and resources at sea and at the land-sea interface.

Tool use research has long made the distinction between tool using that is considered learned and flexible, and that which appears to be instinctive and stereotyped. However, animals with an inherited tool use specialisation can exhibit flexibility, while tool use that is spontaneously innovated can be limited in its expression and facilitated by predispositions for ecological specialisations. Furthermore, recent evidence does not support the proposed division of flexible tool use along primate-bird taxonomic lines. Instead, we hypothesise that tool use is a more complementary phenomenon than previously believed, in that the intrinsic motivation for combinatory object manipulation underlies the onset of all allocentric tool use, resulting in a spectrum. What influences the initial tool use that does emerge is the form of a species' object combinations, which is itself influenced by ecological niche. Therefore, an opportunistic extractive forager will likely develop more diverse forms of tool use than a specialist.

Seagrass-microbe interactions are crucial for seagrass performance and the coastal ecosystem services they support. However, significant variation in experimental and analytical approaches has hindered our broader understanding of seagrass-microbe interactions and the potential existence of a functional core microbiome, i.e. microbial taxa that are consistently present on hosts and likely exert a disproportionate impact on host function. Through a systematic review, we aimed first to understand current trends and knowledge gaps in seagrass-microbe research. Additionally, we conducted a systematic mapping of global 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing data to characterise core bacterial taxa in three plant microenvironments (leaves, roots and rhizosphere) across multiple species and within a highly studied seagrass species, Zostera marina. The results revealed a growing number of studies since the 2010s manipulating environmental variables and/or seagrass microbes to investigate their roles in seagrass performance and responses to stressors. Most studies have primarily focused on seagrass leaves, examined a limited number of species, and investigated only bacteria via 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. A few studies attempted to characterise seagrass core microbiomes, often using highly variable approaches to define core taxa. Our systematic mapping based on global sequencing data allowed the identification of prevalent bacterial taxa belonging to the families Desulfocapsaceae and Sulfurovaceae in the seagrass rhizosphere, which may play an important role in the performance of Z. marina and other seagrass species. The results also showed that many other bacterial families were prevalent across different seagrass microenvironments, such as Rhodobacteraceae and Flavobacteriaceae, with substantial taxonomic variability and functional metabolic redundancy. We identified key challenges stemming from available data and variable methodologies and provided insights to guide future experimental work and deepen our understanding of seagrass-microbe interactions. We argue that such knowledge may improve seagrass management outcomes, especially by informing restoration strategies based on core microbial taxa.

The Anthropocene is characterised by a continuous human-mediated reshuffling of the distributions of species globally. Both intentional and unintentional introductions have resulted in numerous species being translocated beyond their native ranges, often leading to their establishment and subsequent spread - a process referred to as biological invasion. Biological invasions are associated with profound changes in the composition, structure, and functioning of recipient ecosystems, plus substantial financial losses and disruptions to society, culture, and human well-being. These ecological, economic, and socio-cultural impacts are interrelated, ubiquitous, and detrimental, yet they are often subjectively perceived or inaccurately quantified. Persistent knowledge gaps remain, however, which limit our understanding of the complex and multifaceted causes and mechanisms of invasion impacts. To overcome these gaps and comprehensively capture all related facets pertaining to the nature and diversity of invasion impact, this scoping review of academic studies, grey literature, and expert reports provides a conceptual model for interpreting invasion impacts, structured around three interrelated pillars: impact domains, challenges in the study of impacts, and available risk- and impact assessments. We initially explore the various mechanisms and consequences of ecological, economic, and socio-cultural invasion impacts and their temporal dynamics, substantiating these with relevant empirical examples. We then review common challenges and fallacies in studying invasion impacts, including context specificity and inter-comparability of impact magnitudes, challenges associated with quantifying non-ecological impacts, and research biases, before synthesising how risks are analysed and impacts assessed, and how these assessments ultimately inform management decisions. Our review underscores the multifaceted and complex nature of invasion impacts, and that effectively addressing biological invasions requires more than isolated, reactive interventions; it calls for globally coordinated, proactive action underpinned by reliable scientific knowledge, sincere political commitment, and broad public engagement. Drawing on nearly a century of literature and global expert contributions, this work offers a comprehensive, nuanced, and timely overview of the potential consequences of biological invasions, providing a valuable foundation for informing future research directions, management interventions, and policy development.

Endothelial cells (ECs) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are key cells in the formation of nascent vascular units. These cells, in collaboration with other cell types, support the formation of blood vessels and supply essential components to target ischemic sites. EPCs can exit the bone medullary cavity and enter the circulation to reach the injured tissues, where they commit to becoming functionally mature ECs. Like other cell lineages, several signalling factors can dictate specific behaviour in EPCs after exposure to different biological conditions. Among these signalling pathways, the autophagy machinery is a focus of attention because of its diverse biological effects in different cell lineages. Autophagy, an early-stage cell mechanism, is activated in response to diverse external stimuli. Upon its activation, several signalling molecules are produced with the ability to influence cell functions and behaviour, especially in terms of angiogenesis. Herein, we collect recent data related to the stimulatory/inhibitory role of autophagy in the vascularization properties of EPCs. We hope that this review will help in the development of de novo therapeutic strategies for the alleviation of ischemic injuries and/or inhibition of blood support to the tumour niche.