Frontiers in Zoology最新文献

The current classification of extant Zoraptera is based on the results of molecular phylogeny combined with the morphology of male genitalia and supplemented by the characters on the male abdomen and the number of metatibial spurs. However, fossil representatives of Zoraptera have not yet been classified into the modern system, and most of them remain in the catch-all genus Zorotypus Silvestri, 1913, because the genitalia are either not observable or have not been examined in detail. In this study, for the first time, we describe and critically evaluate the male genitalia and other principal diagnostic characters of all available Mesozoic Zoraptera. Our results have led to the first proposal of a generic classification of Mesozoic Zoraptera. We describe two new genera, Cretozoros gen. nov. and Burmazoros gen. nov., reinstate Paleospinosus Kaddumi, 2005, stat. restit. from synonymy with the subgenus Octozoros Engel, 2003 (in Zorotypus), and elevate Octozoros Engel, 2003 to the genus level. Cretozoros gen. nov., Paleospinosus Kaddumi, 2005, stat. restit., and Octozoros stat. nov. are classified in Spiralizoridae: Latinozorinae, whereas Burmazoros gen. nov. and Xenozorotypus Engel & Grimaldi, 2002 are classified in Zorotypidae: Zorotypinae. Altogether, it was possible to classify nine of the 11 currently recognized species of Mesozoic Zoraptera. To evaluate the phylogenetic relationships of fossil zorapterans, including the newly established taxa, we estimated the evolutionary histories of selected morphological features using ancestral character state reconstruction. The classification of Mesozoic Zoraptera within the modern system enables us to better understand the early evolution of this insect order.

The wolf (Canis lupus) is a species of great conservation interest and has recently highlighted management challenges throughout Europe. Over the past 50 years, the establishment of National Parks, forest cover changes as well as the expansion of wild ungulates seem to have played a crucial role in shaping the demographic trend of the wolf. We investigated prey-predator associations in the Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni National Park (Southern Italy), one of the most ecologically significant areas contributing to the recovery of wolf in Southern Apennine. During the wolf bottleneck in the 70's, the protected area hosted only a few wolves and wild prey were scarce, while nowadays the wolf population has exceeded two hundred individuals, the wild boar number has increased significantly, and both roe deer and red deer are steadily rising following reintroduction actions. We aim to examine the relationship between the wolf population and its three primary wild prey considering the environmental changes that have occurred over the past few decades to underpin the current and future complex ecological relationships in Mediterranean forest ecosystems. Overall, our study lays the groundwork for future management strategies aimed at reconciling large carnivore conservation with sustainable forest use and human-wildlife coexistence.

Background: Exaggerated traits in insects often evolve through nutrition-sensitive growth, yet studies have focused largely on male exaggeration widespread in nature, leaving the developmental and evolutionary basis of female exaggeration and the extent to which plasticity differs between sexes poorly understood.

Results: Here, we investigated the transcriptomic basis of female horn plasticity in three Onthophagus beetles that differ in horn morphology and nutritional responsiveness. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that rudimentary female horns represent the ancestral condition, with exaggerated, nutrition-sensitive horns evolving in derived lineages. Comparative transcriptomics reveal that enhanced female horn plasticity arises primarily through the recruitment and modulation of conserved regulatory networks, with limited contributions from taxon-restricted genes. Despite the shared reliance on conserved modules in two species with enhanced female horn plasticity, the transcriptional repertoires underlying horn plasticity are largely lineage-specific. In O. rectecornutus, where both sexes bear exaggerated horns, sex comparisons demonstrate that males and females rely on the expression of largely distinct gene sets, with only a small fraction of shared nutrition-responsive genes.

Conclusions: Together, our results show that exaggerated female horns arise through a mosaic of conserved and lineage-specific regulatory mechanisms, with strong sex bias in transcriptional control. More generally, our findings highlight how conserved developmental toolkits can be rewired in lineage- and sex-specific ways to evolve novel, plastic, and exaggerated traits.