Biological Reviews最新文献

For over a century, palaeopathology has been used as a tool for understanding evolution, disease in past communities and populations, and to interpret behaviour of extinct taxa. Physical traumas in particular have frequently been the justification for interpretations about aggressive and even competitive behaviours in extinct taxa. However, the standards used in these interpretations have been inconsistent and occasionally questionable, and knowledge of extant reptile pathology is limited. Interpretations about the timelines and causes of unhealed bone damage are unreliable, and so behavioural implications from these marks are dubious. Even in the case of tooth marks, perimortem damage can be difficult to distinguish from postmortem alteration. In this review, methods from the anthropological sciences are adapted for the purposes of palaeontology, especially in establishing a new framework to distinguish antemortem traumatic damage from other similarly presenting features like sediment encrustation, postmortem damage/taphonomic features, variants of anatomical features, and non-traumatic palaeopathologies. Even in cases where traumatic palaeopathologies are accurately macroscopically identified, noting isolated incidences may not provide sufficient evidence to interpret behaviour at any taxonomic level. Future research directions in modern reptile pathology are proposed to improve the efficacy of traumatic palaeopathologies as a tool in interpreting extinct reptile behaviours.

Parasites exist in every ecosystem, affecting nearly all organisms and playing a complex role in human societies. On the one hand, they contribute substantially to biodiversity and support ecosystem stability by performing essential ecological functions. On the other, they can impose health burdens on their hosts, causing diseases in both animals and humans. Despite their significance, our understanding of how parasitic organisms are affected by human-driven environmental change remains poor. In other well-studied groups such as free-living birds, mammals and insects, long-term ecological data sets have been instrumental in elucidating temporal trends in abundance or diversity and linking them to anthropogenic drivers. For parasites however, overarching long-term trends in infection levels or diversity have yet to be identified. Here we provide an overview of the research approaches developed to study long-term changes in parasite systems and the trends highlighted by these studies. Our aims were to help researchers make informed methodological decisions when designing their research, and to provide recommendations for future long-term research on parasite ecology. To this end, we performed a systematic literature search on long-term analyses of eukaryotic parasites of wild animals and identified four types of approaches deployed to gather long-term data: (i) long-term monitoring; (ii) snapshot resampling; (iii) literature-based research; and (iv) natural history collection-based studies. Our results revealed striking differences in the temporal scope, geographical scale of sampling, sample sizes and taxonomic resolution of parasite identification among these approaches. However, no overarching trends in parasite infection levels or diversity were identified. When detected, significant temporal changes were often linked to anthropogenic disturbances, but these claims were rarely supported by inferential analyses. Overall, our results show that our understanding of long-term trends in parasite systems remains hampered by data scarcity and research biases. To address these issues, we advocate for the establishment of large-scale parasite monitoring programmes combined with existing ecological monitoring projects, as well as the development of new scalable biomonitoring tools. We also highlight the importance of valorising historical data and preserved biological material in museum collections to obtain baseline information on parasite systems.

Brenninger, F. A., Zug, R. & Kokko, H. (2025), Infection dynamics of endosymbionts that manipulate arthropod reproduction. Biological Reviews 100, 1787–1812. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.70024

The following funding statement has been added to the article: Open access publishing facilitated by Universitat Zurich, as part of the Wiley - Universitat Zurich agreement via the Consortium Of Swiss Academic Libraries.

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Sheep and deer calcanei are important models for studying cortical (compact) and trabecular (cancellous) bone adaptation because they are amenable to direct strain measurement (due to lack of surrounding muscles), experience relatively simple/unidirectional bending, exhibit osteon remodelling, and have the most pronounced regional variations in mineralization and other histological characteristics reported in any bone. This simple loading environment is characterized by bending that produces prevalent/predominant tension on the plantar side and predominant compression on the dorsal side of the cantilevered, beam-like shaft of these bones. Histocompositional differences are clear between these opposing cortices, optimizing their mechanical properties for these regional differences in loading environment. This keeps the fracture risk low by enhancing the safety factor of the entire bone. Understanding how mechanosensitive cells within bone accomplish this is fundamentally important for advancing core concepts in bone biology and functional adaptation, and for clinical applications. However, an uncontested 1995 study used qualitative histological observations from a small sample (two sub-adults; three adults) of domesticated sheep calcanei and in vivo strain data from Lanyon's seminal study of sheep calcanei to reject the idea that this bone is simply loaded. That study argued that reversals of bending during the swing phase of gait negate the ‘tension/compression (plantar/dorsal)’ concept, thus invalidating much of the basic and translational value of the model. Their opinion is important because many investigators consider it valid despite contrary conclusions of subsequent biomechanical/histomorphological studies. This review critically evaluates the foundations of the main conclusion of that 1995 study, because their refutation of the simplicity of the artiodactyl calcaneus model has been favourably cited nearly 60 times in the peer-reviewed literature. After exposing and correcting errors and reconciling contradictory observations in that study, this review explores the strengths, limitations, and potential applications of the artiodactyl calcaneus model for advancing understanding of mechanisms and consequences of bone adaptation. Studies reviewed herein support viewing artiodactyl calcanei as simply loaded ‘tension/compression bones’, validating their continued use in this context in a broad spectrum of studies of cortical and trabecular bone adaptation. A particularly promising application of this model is that it can serve as a ‘control bone’ for studies of other presumably simply loaded bone regions, such as the human femoral neck, especially regarding the relationship of its load history, structural and material organization, and propensity to fracture.

Insect farming is frequently promoted as a sustainable food solution, yet current evidence challenges many environmental benefits claimed by industry proponents. This review critically examines the scientific foundation for assessing the environmental impacts of insect farming in both human food and animal feed applications. Our analysis reveals substantial limitations in existing research. Most studies have been conducted in small-scale settings, which may not accurately reflect real-world, industrial conditions. There are significant uncertainties, with many authors highlighting the fact that the future environmental impact of large-scale insect production is unknown. This is especially true given claims that insects can be fed on food waste and that insect frass can be used as fertiliser, both of which have considerable challenges to overcome at scale. Furthermore, insect-based foods predominantly substitute for plant products with limited environmental impact rather than meat, while evidence indicates that insect feed and pet food applications, when not utilising genuine food waste, generate greater environmental impacts than conventional alternatives. By providing a comprehensive overview, this review highlights key areas for further research and ensures policymakers have a clearer picture of the remaining uncertainties surrounding this emerging industry.

A series of terminological, technical, conceptual, and statistical challenges present themselves when trying to study correlations between measures of performance abilities (what an animal can do) and behavioural traits (what an animal chooses to do). We attempt to synthesise literature on this topic, with a specific focus on locomotor performance and behavioural traits measured with standardised tests. We argue that measures of forced performance (e.g. endurance on a motorised treadmill) and voluntary behaviour (e.g. wheel running) often fall along a continuum, sometimes grading into each other. On the performance end of the continuum, tests should measure what an animal can do when motivation is maximal and/or it is given no choice but to exert itself maximally. On the behavioural end of the continuum, tests should capture what animals choose to do of their own free volition, with no experimental attempt to affect motivation. Hence, performance tests attempt to eliminate variation in motivation by forcing all individuals to be maximally motivated, whereas variation in motivation is an inherent component of all behavioural tests. In some cases, however, differentiating between measures of performance versus behaviour can seem almost arbitrary. Moreover, individuals may consistently differ in how willing they are to ‘perform’ even when ‘forced’ to do so. We compiled studies reporting any association (covariation, correlation or linear regression) between putative measures of locomotor performance and behaviour in various taxa. The vast majority of those studies report phenotypic correlations, and only a handful have reported genetic correlations or explored potential correlated responses to selection on performance or behaviour. To our knowledge, this is the first global overview of how locomotor performance and behaviour covary in animals, and we believe that our synthesis will be useful to guide future research on locomotor performance and its relationship with other ecologically relevant traits. For example, we argue that a multi-level (co)variance partitioning approach is necessary to gain insights into the importance of how motivation differs across levels (e.g. among- versus within-individual variation, genetic versus environmental variation). Finally, we outline a multitude of compensation and co-specialisation mechanisms that may occur between performance and behaviour, and propose future avenues for research that include selection and manipulative studies to help identify the role of correlational selection, individual experience, and predation detectability on the relationships between behaviour and performance.

Facilitative interspecific interactions (FIIs) confer benefits to at least one participant without detriment to others. Although often less emphasised than antagonistic interactions in ecological studies, this review highlights the significant ecological role of FIIs across biological scales – from individual behaviours to population, community, and ecosystem-level effects – with a focus on mobile marine vertebrates such as birds, mammals, and fish. These interactions enhance foraging success, shape predator–prey dynamics and contribute to the structure and function of marine ecosystems. FIIs include diverse associations such as multi-species aggregations among marine apex predators (e.g. dolphins, seabirds, and surface-feeding fish), mixed-species shoals, fish cleaning mutualisms, and cooperative foraging involving predators, including humans. At the population level, FIIs can improve survival and fitness, impacting the life histories and population dynamics of marine apex predators, with some species exhibiting a clear dependence on heterospecific facilitation. Despite recent advances, gaps remain in our understanding of how FIIs scale up to influence marine communities and ecosystem processes, limiting their integration into management tools. Ecosystem models – often used to inform management decisions – typically focus on principles of resource flow and species interactions driven by predation and competition, often overlooking facilitation. Integrating FIIs into ecosystem modelling could enhance Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management, particularly for conserving vulnerable apex predators that may rely on facilitative interactions. Furthermore, FIIs involving humans and apex predators offer unique opportunities for data collection and model development, improving our understanding of the broader impacts of FII in marine environments, from individual behaviours to ecosystem functioning.

The nervous system's capacity to process complex stimuli has long intrigued neuroscientists, with multiplexing now recognized as a fundamental neural coding strategy. Multiplexing refers to the simultaneous encoding of multiple stimulus features via vi distinct components of neuronal responses, such as firing rates and precise temporal spike patterns. This paper reviews the neural coding mechanisms underlying multiplexing, with a particular emphasis on the somatosensory system and its ability to represent tactile stimuli. The encoding of various sensory attributes, including vibration, texture, motion, and shape, is examined, highlighting the complementary roles of rate and temporal codes in capturing these features. The discussion further addresses how intrinsic and extrinsic noise, often viewed as detrimental, can facilitate multiplexed coding by supporting the concurrent encoding of both stimulus frequency and intensity. The relevance of multiplexing is also considered in translational contexts, such as the development of brain–machine interfaces. By synthesizing recent advances and integrating insights from empirical and theoretical studies, this review establishes multiplexing as a foundational principle in sensory neuroscience and identifies key directions for future research in both basic science and neuroengineering applications.

If brain anatomy and dynamics have a complex network structure as it has become standard to posit, it is reasonable to assume that such a structure should play a key role not only in brain function but also in brain dysfunction. However, exactly how network structure is implicated in brain damage and whether at least some pathologies can be thought of as ‘network diseases’ is not yet clear. Here we discuss ways in which a complex network representation can help in characterising brain pathology, but also in assessing subjects' vulnerability to and likelihood of recovery from disease. We show how the way disease is defined is related to the way function is defined and this, in turn, determines which network property may be functionally relevant to brain disease. Thus, addressing brain disease ‘networkness’ may shed light not only on brain pathology, with potential clinical implications, but also on functional brain activity, and what is functional in it.