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Figure 3 in Biogeography and phylogeny of the scavenging amphipod genus Valettietta (Amphipoda: Alicelloidea), with descriptions of two new species from the abyssal Pacific Ocean

Figure 3. Bayesian tree showing the relationships between amphipod species based on a concatenated dataset of 16S, COI, H3, and 28S sequence data. Bayesian posterior probability values above 0.5 (before /) and maximum-likelihood bootstrap values (after /) are shown on branch nodes. Branches are labelled by species name, with collection location and depth (m) in brackets. Asterisks indicate sequences added by this study. Species delimitation results and family are denoted on the right. Scale indicates time relative to root age. Location abbreviations are as follows, CCZ—Clarion-Clipperton Zone; ANS—Afanasy Nikitin Seamount; WZFZ—Wallaby Zenith Fracture Zone; NHT—New Hebrides Trench; MT—Mariana Trench; PAP—Porcupine Abyssal Plain; PCT—Peru-Chile Trench; AnB—Angola Basin; MAR—MidAtlantic Ridge. For complete references and accession numbers for sequences see Supporting information, Tables S2, S3.

Figure 6 in Biogeography and phylogeny of the scavenging amphipod genus Valettietta (Amphipoda: Alicelloidea), with descriptions of two new species from the abyssal Pacific Ocean

Figure 6. Valettietta synchlys holotype, immature, NHMUK 2024.63, 16.1 mm, Clarion-Clipperton Zone, 4230 m. MX = Maxilla; Md = Mandible; MXP = Maxilliped; LL = Lower lip; l = left; r = right. Unfilled circles indicate setal bases.

Figure 8 in Biogeography and phylogeny of the scavenging amphipod genus Valettietta (Amphipoda: Alicelloidea), with descriptions of two new species from the abyssal Pacific Ocean

Figure 8. Valettietta trottarum holotype, immature, NHMUK 2024.37, preserved specimen. Scale bar = 1mm.

Figure 11 in Biogeography and phylogeny of the scavenging amphipod genus Valettietta (Amphipoda: Alicelloidea), with descriptions of two new species from the abyssal Pacific Ocean

Figure 11. Valettietta trottarum holotype, immature, 10.5 mm, NHMUK 2024.37, Clarion-Clipperton Zone, 4313 m. P = Pleopod; U = Uropod; T = Telson. P7 and U3 are illustrated from the paratype, immature, 8.79 mm, NHMUK 2024.53.

Figure 5 in Biogeography and phylogeny of the scavenging amphipod genus Valettietta (Amphipoda: Alicelloidea), with descriptions of two new species from the abyssal Pacific Ocean

Figure 5. Valettietta synchlys holotype, immature, NHMUK 2024.63, 16.1 mm, Clarion-Clipperton Zone, 4230 m. A = Antenna; GN = Gnathopod. Unfilled circles indicate setal bases.

Figure 9 in Biogeography and phylogeny of the scavenging amphipod genus Valettietta (Amphipoda: Alicelloidea), with descriptions of two new species from the abyssal Pacific Ocean

Figure 9. Valettietta trottarum holotype, immature, 10.5 mm, NHMUK 2024.37, Clarion-Clipperton Zone, 4313 m. A = Antenna; GN = Gnathopod.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Viability selection by invertebrate predators in the polyphenic scavenger fly Sepsis thoracica

Predation is a major factor influencing the fitness and life history of animals. Two key traits affecting prey survival are body size and coloration. Sepsis thoracica males display a sigmoid relationship between these two traits, defining a size threshold above which investment in melanin drastically drops, producing small melanic (black) or large amber morphs. In trying to understand the evolution of this rare dimorphism, we performed laboratory predation experiments to estimate the intensity of adult viability selection exerted by various arthropod predators (bugs, flies, spiders) on male body size and coloration. Selection was performed against two different backgrounds mimicking the natural habitat (dung and grass) in which the camouflage and/or warning effect of the morphs should vary. Body size was mainly under positive selection (larger survived better), which overpowered selection on coloration and varied somewhat among predator species but not backgrounds. No disruptive selection was found, nor did selection change the sigmoid relationship between the two traits. We conclude that, for this fly, predator evasion and escaping skills determined by body size are more effective against invertebrate predators than its conspicuousness determined by coloration, contrasting what has been found for vertebrate predators, where prey coloration is important and negative selection on size dominates. Because arthropod predators have strong effects on insect populations, the positive directional selection imposed by invertebrate predators is likely an important force driving the evolution of body size in S. thoracica and insects in general.

opencc-zeroOct 2019View details →

Data from: Carcass predictability but not domestic pet introduction affects functional response of scavenger assemblage in urbanised habitats

<ol> <li>Urbanisation alters species richness and composition, but studies of urbanisation effects on ecological functions have often quantified variation in functional traits and changes in functional diversity rather than measuring directly how ecological functions vary between rural and urban assemblages. </li> <li>Consuming dead animal matter and recycling its nutrients stabilizes and structures food webs and therefore represents a key component of ecosystem functioning. Introduction of free-ranging domestic pet animals adds additional scavenger species to urban habitats, and increased predictability of carcass resources produced by human activities characterizes urban habitats. </li> <li>Here, we investigate the effect of urbanisation on the composition of diurnal and nocturnal scavenger assemblages and on the ecological function of carcass removal by using a carcass placement experiment in Swiss urban and adjacent rural habitats. </li> <li>While diurnal and nocturnal scavenger assemblages changed considerably from rural to urban areas by comprising particularly more domestic cats in the latter, carrion consumption rate did not differ between the two habitats. Predictability of carcass occurrence increased carrion consumption rate in both, urban and rural habitats but mainly native scavengers and not introduced domestic pets responded to the repeated placements.</li> <li>These results suggest that urbanisation shapes scavenger assemblage compositions without affecting their ecological function. The mechanism is likely due to a behavioural change of native scavengers in response to the occurrence of domestic pets resulting in functional plasticity of urban scavenger assemblages. The functional plasticity might be facilitated by the increased carcass predictability and additional anthropogenic food resources in urban habitats exploited by nutritionally flexible native scavenger species.</li> </ol>

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Top carnivore decline has cascading effects on scavengers and carrion persistence

Top carnivores have suffered widespread global declines, with well-documented effects on mesopredators and herbivores. We know less about how carnivores affect ecosystems through scavenging. Tasmania's top carnivore, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), has suffered severe disease-induced population declines, providing a natural experiment on the role of scavenging in structuring communities. Using remote cameras and experimentally-placed carcasses, we show that mesopredators consume more carrion in areas where devils have declined. Carcass consumption by the two native mesopredators was best predicted by exploitation competition for carrion, whereas consumption by the invasive mesopredator, the feral cat (Felis catus), was better predicted by the landscape-level abundance of devils, suggesting a relaxed landscape of fear where devils are suppressed. Reduced discovery of carcasses by devils was balanced by increased discovery by mesopredators. Nonetheless, carcasses persisted ~2.6-fold longer where devils have declined, highlighting their importance for rapid carrion removal. The major beneficiary of increased carrion availability was the forest raven (Corvus tasmanicus). Population trends of ravens increased 2.2-fold from 1998-2017, the period of devil decline, but this increase occurred Tasmania-wide, making the cause unclear. This case study provides a little-studied potential mechanism for mesopredator release, with broad relevance to the vast areas of the world that have suffered carnivore declines.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: Kleptoparasitism and scavenging can stabilize ecosystem dynamics

Scavenging is ubiquitous in nature and yet its implications for ecosystem dynamics have rarely been investigated. We used camera traps on wolf kills to investigate the role of scavenging on predator and multi-prey dynamics in a Northern Apennine system (Italy). In contrast to North American systems, throughout much of Eurasia, the omnivorous wild boar (Sus scrofa) successfully competes with wolves (Canis lupus) for the meat of their kills. We developed a deterministic multi-trophic web model (wolf, vegetation and two prey species, deer and wild boar), tunable through a parameter that governs the impact of prey-sharing between wolves and wild boar. When prey-sharing is absent or scarce, populations oscillate, but above a threshold value the trophic web is stabilized, with the regime solution becoming a fixed stable point. Both deer and wild boar then increase as a function of prey-sharing, and the impact of herbivores on the vegetation increases. When prey-sharing exceeds another threshold, however, the system collapses due to the extinction of both wolves and wild boar, but not of deer. Our analysis shows that scavenging is crucial for the dynamics of this ecosystem and thus, in general, it should not be overlooked in food web modelling. The exploitation of wolf kills by wild boar may allow juveniles and yearlings to obtain high quality resources that are not usually available, helping the omnivorous wild boar to compensate for losses caused by heavy hunting. This is likely to make them even more invasive and difficult to control.

Figure 5 in Stephonyx californiensis sp. nov. (Amphipoda: Lysianassoidea: Uristidae), a new bathyal scavenger species from the Central Gulf of California, Mexico, and comments on the bathymetric and geographic distribution of the Stephonyx species group

Figure 5. Stephonyx californiensis sp. nov., holotype male (22.3 mm length): (a) left maxilla 1; (b) spine teeth of maxilla 1 outer plate (enlarged), a distal margin of right palp mandibular (enlarged); (c) left mandible; (d) maxilla 2; (e) upper lip; (f) lower lip. Scale bar: a, c = 0.9 mm; d = 0.7 mm; e = 0.2 mm; f = 1.2 mm.

Figure 7 in Stephonyx californiensis sp. nov. (Amphipoda: Lysianassoidea: Uristidae), a new bathyal scavenger species from the Central Gulf of California, Mexico, and comments on the bathymetric and geographic distribution of the Stephonyx species group

Figure 7. Stephonyx californiensis sp. nov., holotype male (22.3 mm length): (a) pereopod 3; (b) pereopod 4; (c) pereopod 5; (d) pereopod 6; (e) pereopod 7. Scale bar: a = 2.4 mm; b, c = 3.1 mm; d, e = 3.2 mm.

Figure 6 in Stephonyx californiensis sp. nov. (Amphipoda: Lysianassoidea: Uristidae), a new bathyal scavenger species from the Central Gulf of California, Mexico, and comments on the bathymetric and geographic distribution of the Stephonyx species group

Figure 6. Stephonyx californiensis sp. nov., holotype male (22.3 mm length): (a) maxilliped; (b) inner plate of same (tip without setae); (c) telson (tip enlarged); (d) uropod 3; (e) uropod 2; (f) uropod 1. Scale bar: a = 0.8 mm; c = 1.2 mm; d = 1.6 mm; e, f = 2.0 mm.

Figure 3 in Stephonyx californiensis sp. nov. (Amphipoda: Lysianassoidea: Uristidae), a new bathyal scavenger species from the Central Gulf of California, Mexico, and comments on the bathymetric and geographic distribution of the Stephonyx species group

Figure 3. Stephonyx californiensis sp. nov., holotype male (22.3 mm length): (a) antenna 1; (b) antenna 2; (c) ventral view of head. Scale bar: a = 0.5 mm; b = 0.7 mm.

Figure 4 in Stephonyx californiensis sp. nov. (Amphipoda: Lysianassoidea: Uristidae), a new bathyal scavenger species from the Central Gulf of California, Mexico, and comments on the bathymetric and geographic distribution of the Stephonyx species group

Figure 4. Stephonyx californiensis sp. nov., holotype male (22.3 mm length): (a) gnathopod 1; (b) gnathopod 1 propodus and dactylus (tip enlarged); (c) gnathopod 2; (d) gnathopod 2 propodus (tip enlarged) and dactylus. Scale bar = 1.8 mm.

Figure 2 in Stephonyx californiensis sp. nov. (Amphipoda: Lysianassoidea: Uristidae), a new bathyal scavenger species from the Central Gulf of California, Mexico, and comments on the bathymetric and geographic distribution of the Stephonyx species group

Figure 2. Stephonyx californiensis sp. nov., holotype male (22.3 mm length): habitus. Setae on antennae and uropods not included. Scale bar = 4.0 mm.

Figure 7 in Predator-prey-scavenging interactions between Nucella lapillus, Carcinus maenas and Eulalia viridis all exploiting Mytilus galloprovincialis on a rocky shore recovering from tributyl-tin (TBT) pollution

Figure 7. The numbers of Eulalia viridis recorded from the eastern side of the Mewsbrook Groyne (and the western side in September 2010) on the occasions when they were observed to be moving over the rock surfaces.

Figure 6 in Predator-prey-scavenging interactions between Nucella lapillus, Carcinus maenas and Eulalia viridis all exploiting Mytilus galloprovincialis on a rocky shore recovering from tributyl-tin (TBT) pollution

Figure 6. An experimentally derived plot of the relationship between Carcinus maenas carapace widths and the shell lengths of their chosen Mytilus galloprovincialis prey items attacked by marginal chipping. Open circles represent failed attempts; closed circles represent successful attacks.

Figure 8. A in Predator-prey-scavenging interactions between Nucella lapillus, Carcinus maenas and Eulalia viridis all exploiting Mytilus galloprovincialis on a rocky shore recovering from tributyl-tin (TBT) pollution

Figure 8. A diagrammatic outline of the shell of Mytilus galloprovincialis divided into the four quadrants identified by Morton (2010) and showing the positions of the 17 series of chip marks (♦) and 18 drill holes (open circles represent successful attacks; closed circles represent failed attempts) made by experimentally held individuals of Carcinus maenas and Nucella lapillus, respectively.

Figure 5 in Predator-prey-scavenging interactions between Nucella lapillus, Carcinus maenas and Eulalia viridis all exploiting Mytilus galloprovincialis on a rocky shore recovering from tributyl-tin (TBT) pollution

Figure 5. Scanning electrom micrographs of the posterior margins of Mytilus galloprovincialis shells that have been accessed by Carcinus maenas in an experimental situation by (A) Chelal insertion and breaking and by (B) mandibular chipping.