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625 results for “Ruling”
Data from: Cope's Rule in a modular organism: directional evolution without an overarching macroevolutionary trend
Cope's Rule describes increasing body size in evolutionary lineages through geological time. This pattern has been documented in unitary organisms but does it also apply to module size in colonial organisms? We address this using 1169 cheilostome bryozoans ranging through the entire 150 million years of their evolutionary history. The temporal pattern evident in cheilostomes as a whole shows no overall change in zooid (module) size. However, individual subclades show size increases: within a genus, younger species often have larger zooids than older species. Analyses of (paleo)latitudinal shifts show that this pattern cannot be explained by latitudinal effects (Bergmann's Rule) coupled with younger species occupying higher latitudes than older species (an 'out of the tropics' hypothesis). While it is plausible that size increase was linked to the advantages of large zooids in feeding, competition for trophic resources and living space, other proposed mechanisms for Cope's Rule in unitary organisms are either inapplicable to cheilostome zooid size or cannot be easily evaluated. Patterns and mechanisms in colonial organisms cannot and should not be extrapolated from the better-studied unitary organisms. And even if macroevolution simply comprises repeated rounds of microevolution, evolutionary processes occurring with lineages are not always detectable from macroevolutionary patterns.
Data from: Voluntary home and car smoke-free rules in Japan: a cross-sectional study in 2015
Objectives: Recently, the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly passed an ordinance prohibiting smoking in private homes and cars if children are present. However, no previous study has investigated existing, voluntary home and car smoke-free rules in Japan. Therefore, we examined prevalence and determinants of comprehensive home and car smoke-free rules. Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: Internet survey data with adjustments using inverse probability weighting for 'being a respondent in an internet survey'. Participants: 5600 respondents aged 15-69 years in 2015 were analyzed to estimate weighted percentages and prevalence ratios (PRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of having comprehensive home and car smoke-free rules. Main outcome measures: Respondents who answered 'smoking is never allowed' in their home or car were defined as having home and car smoke-free rules. Results: Overall, 47.0% (95% CI = 45.8–48.3) of respondents implemented comprehensive home and car smoke-free rules. People who agreed with 'smoking relieves stress' were less likely to have comprehensive smoke-free rules (PR=0.76 [0.71–0.82]), especially among ever-users of electronic nicotine delivery systems (PR=0.49 [0.30–0.81]). Higher education was significantly associated with higher PR for comprehensive smoke-free rules (PR=1.30 [1.19–1.41]). Living with children was significantly associated with higher PR for smoke-free rules among current smokers than not living with children. Among never and former smokers, electronic device ever-users were less likely to have smoke-free rules than non-users (PR=2.91 [1.99–4.27]). Conclusions: In Japan, about 50% of respondents had voluntary smoke-free rules in the home and car. Information on current voluntary smoke-free rules will be useful as baseline information on home and car smoke-free status before enforcement of the 2018 Tokyo home and car smoke-free legislation.
Data from: Body size evolution in an old insect order: no evidence for Cope's Rule in spite of fitness benefits of large size
We integrate field data and phylogenetic comparative analyses to investigate causes of body size evolution and stasis in an old insect order: odonates ("dragonflies and damselflies"). Fossil evidence for "Cope's Rule" in odonates is weak or non-existent since the last major extinction event 65 million years ago, yet selection studies show consistent positive selection for increased body size among adults. In particular, we find that large males in natural populations of the banded demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) over several generations have consistent fitness benefits both in terms of survival and mating success. Additionally, there was no evidence for stabilizing or conflicting selection between fitness components within the adult life-stage. This lack of stabilizing selection during the adult life-stage was independently supported by a literature survey on different male and female fitness components from several odonate species. We did detect several significant body size shifts among extant taxa using comparative methods and a large new molecular phylogeny for odonates . We suggest that the lack of Cope's rule in odonates results from conflicting selection between fitness advantages of large adult size and costs of long larval development. We also discuss competing explanations for body size stasis in this insect group.
Data from: Speciation in Western Scrub-Jays, Haldane's rule, and genetic clines in secondary contact
Background: Haldane's Rule, the tendency for the heterogametic sex to show reduced fertility in hybrid crosses, can obscure the signal of gene flow in mtDNA between species where females are heterogametic. Therefore, it is important when studying speciation and species limits in female-heterogametic species like birds to assess the signature of gene flow in the nuclear genome as well. We studied introgression of microsatellites and mtDNA across a secondary contact zone between coastal and interior lineages of Western Scrub-Jays (Aphelocoma californica) to test for a signature of Haldane's Rule: a narrower cline of introgression in mtDNA compared to nuclear markers. Results: Our initial phylogeographic analysis revealed that there is only one major area of contact between coastal and interior lineages and identified five genetic clusters with strong spatial structuring: Pacific Slope, Interior US, Edwards Plateau (Texas), Northern Mexico, and Southern Mexico. Consistent with predictions from Haldane's Rule, mtDNA showed a narrower cline than nuclear markers across a transect through the hybrid zone. This result is not being driven by female-biased dispersal because neutral diffusion analysis, which included estimates of sex-specific dispersal rates, also showed less diffusion of mtDNA. Lineage-specific plumage traits were associated with nuclear genetic profiles for individuals in the hybrid zone, indicating that these differences are under genetic control. Conclusions: This study adds to a growing list of studies that support predictions of Haldane's Rule using cline analysis of multiple loci of differing inheritance modes, although alternate hypotheses like selection on different mtDNA types cannot be ruled out. That Haldane's Rule appears to be operating in this system suggests a measure of reproductive isolation between the Pacific Slope and interior lineages. Based on a variety of evidence from the phenotype, ecology, and genetics, we recommend elevating three lineages to species level: A. californica (Pacific Slope); A. woodhouseii (Interior US plus Edwards Plateau plus Northern Mexico); A. sumicrasti (Southern Mexico). The distinctive Edwards Plateau population in Texas, which was monophyletic in mtDNA except for one individual, should be studied in greater detail given habitat threat.
Data from: A rare exception to Haldane's rule: Are X chromosomes key to hybrid incompatibilities?
The prevalence of Haldane's rule suggests that sex chromosomes commonly have a key role in reproductive barriers and speciation. However, the majority of research on Haldane's rule has been conducted in species with conventional sex determination systems (XY and ZW) and exceptions to the rule have been understudied. Here we test the role of X-linked incompatibilities in a rare exception to Haldane's rule for female sterility in field cricket sister species (Teleogryllus oceanicus and T. commodus). Both have an XO sex determination system. Using three generations of crosses, we introgressed X chromosomes from each species onto different, mixed genomic backgrounds to test predictions about the fertility and viability of each cross type. We predicted that females with two different species X chromosomes would suffer reduced fertility and viability compared with females with two parental X chromosomes. However, we found no strong support for such X-linked incompatibilities. Our results preclude X–X incompatibilities and instead support an interchromosomal epistatic basis to hybrid female sterility. We discuss the broader implications of these findings, principally whether deviations from Haldane's rule might be more prevalent in species without dimorphic sex chromosomes.
Data from: Behavioral flexibility versus rules of thumb: how do grey squirrels deal with conflicting risks?
In order to test how flexibly animals are able to behave when making trade-offs that involve assessing constantly changing risks, we examined whether wild Eastern grey squirrels showed flexibility of behavioral responses in the face of variation in 2 conflicting risks, cache pilferage, and predation. We established that cache pilferage risk decreased with distance from cover and was thus negatively correlated with long-term predation risk. We then measured changes in foraging and food-caching behavior in the face of changes in the risk of predation and food theft over a short time-scale. We found that, overall, squirrels move further away from the safety of cover when they cache, compared to when they forage, as predicted by pilferage risk. However, there was no effect of immediate pilferage or predation risk (i.e., the presence of potential predators or pilferers) on the distance from cover at which they cached, and only a slight increase in forage distance when predation risk increased. These results suggest that "rules of thumb" based on static cues may be more cost-effective for assessing risk than closely tracking changes over time in the way suggested by a number of models of risk assessment.
Data from: Whether larval amphibians school does not affect the parasite aggregation rule: testing the effects of host spatial heterogeneity in field and experimental studies
Almost all macroparasites show over-dispersed infections within natural host populations such that most parasites are distributed among a few heavily-infected individuals. Despite the importance of parasite aggregation for understanding system stability, the potential for population regulation, and super-spreading events, many questions persist about its underlying drivers. Theoretically, aggregation results from heterogeneity in host exposure, resistance, and tolerance. However, few studies have examined how host spatial arrangement – which likely affects both parasite encounter and density-dependent interactions – influences infection and dispersion, representing a critical gap in our current knowledge regarding the possible drivers of parasite aggregation. Using field data from over 165 ponds and 8,000 hosts, we evaluated how the spatial clustering of amphibian larvae within ponds 1) varied among different amphibian species, and 2), affected the distribution of parasites within the host population using Taylor's Power Law. A complementary mesocosm experiment used field-guided manipulations of the spatial arrangement of larval amphibians to create a gradient in host clustering while controlling host density, thereby testing for spatial effects on both infection success and aggregation by three different trematode species. Our field data indicated that larval amphibians exhibited significant spatial clustering that was well captured by Taylor's Power Law (R2 0.92 to 0.97 for different host species), but the residual variation only weakly correlated with observed patterns of trematode parasite over-dispersion. Correspondingly, experimental manipulation of host clustering had no effects on parasite infection success or the degree of parasite aggregation among cages or mesocosms. Given the importance of parasite over-dispersion for host populations and disease dynamics, we advocate for further investigations of host and parasite spatial aggregation, particularly studies that incorporate and/or control for heterogeneity in exposure and susceptibility.
Data from: Association of rule of law and health outcomes: an ecological study
Objectives: To explore whether the rule of law is a foundational determinant of health that underlies other socioeconomic, political and cultural factors that have been associated with health outcomes. Setting: Global project. Participants: Data set of 96 countries, comprising 91% of the global population. Primary and secondary outcome measures: The following health indicators, infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate, life expectancy, and cardiovascular disease and diabetes mortality rate, were included to explore their association with the rule of law. We used a novel Rule of Law Index, gathered from survey sources, in a cross-sectional and ecological design. The Index is based on eight subindices: (1) Constraints on Government Powers; (2) Absence of Corruption; (3) Order and Security; (4) Fundamental Rights; (5) Open Government; (6) Regulatory Enforcement, (7) Civil Justice; and (8) Criminal Justice. Results: The rule of law showed an independent association with infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate, life expectancy, and cardiovascular disease and diabetes mortality rate, after adjusting for the countries' level of per capita income, their expenditures in health, their level of political and civil freedom, their Gini measure of inequality and women's status (p<0.05). Rule of law remained significant in all the multivariate models, and the following adjustment for potential confounders remained robust for at least one or more of the health outcomes across all eight subindices of the rule of law. Findings show that the higher the country's level of adherence to the rule of law, the better the health of the population. Conclusions: It is necessary to start considering the country's adherence to the rule of law as a foundational determinant of health. Health advocates should consider the improvement of rule of law as a tool to improve population health. Conversely, lack of progress in rule of law may constitute a structural barrier to health improvement.
Data from: Temperature-dependent oxygen limitation and the rise of Bergmann's Rule in species with aquatic respiration
Bergmann's Rule is the propensity for species-mean body size to decrease with increasing temperature. Temperature-dependent oxygen limitation has been hypothesized to help drive temperature–size relationships among ectotherms, including Bergmann's Rule, where organisms reduce body size under warm oxygen-limited conditions, thereby maintaining aerobic scope. Temperature-dependent oxygen limitation should be most pronounced among aquatic ectotherms that cannot breathe aerially, as oxygen solubility in water decreases with increasing temperature. We use phylogenetically-explicit analyses to show that species-mean adult size of aquatic salamanders with branchial or cutaneous oxygen uptake becomes small in warm environments and large in cool environments, whereas body size of aquatic species with lungs (i.e., that respire aerially), as well as size of semi aquatic and terrestrial species do not decrease with temperature. We argue that oxygen limitation drives the evolution of small size in warm aquatic environments for species with aquatic respiration. More broadly, the stronger decline in size with temperature observed in aquatic vs terrestrial salamander species mirrors the relatively strong plastic declines in size observed previously among aquatic vs terrestrial invertebrates, suggesting that temperature-dependent oxygen availability can help drive patterns of plasticity, micro- and macroevolution.
Data from: Haldane's rule revisited: do hybrid females have a shorter lifespan? Survival of hybrids in a recent contact zone between two large gull species
Haldane's rule predicts that particularly high fitness reduction should affect the heterogametic sex of interspecific hybrids. Despite the fact that hybridization is widespread in birds, survival of hybrid individuals is rarely addressed in studies of avian hybrid zones, possibly because of methodological constraints. Here, having applied capture-mark-recapture models to an extensive, 19-year-long dataset on individually marked birds, we estimate annual survival rates of hybrid individuals in the hybrid zone between herring (Larus argentatus) and Caspian (L. cachinnans) gulls. In both parental species, males have a slightly higher survival rate than females (model-weighted mean ± SE: herring gull males 0.88 ± 0.01, females 0.87 ± 0.01, Caspian gull males 0.88 ± 0.01, females 0.87 ± 0.01). Hybrid males do not survive for a shorter time than non-hybrid ones (0.88 ± 0.01), whereas hybrid females have the lowest survival rate among all groups of individuals (0.83 ± 0.03). This translates to a shorter adult (reproductive) lifespan (on average by 1.7-1.8 years, i.e. ca 25%) compared to non-hybrid females. We conclude that, in line with Haldane's rule, the lower survival rate of female hybrids may contribute to selection against hybrids in this hybrid zone.
Data from: Understanding patch departure rules for large carnivores: lion movements support a patch-disturbance hypothesis
We test two hypotheses that could account for patch departure by large mammalian carnivores. One hypothesis is the unsuccessful hunt hypothesis, where carnivores leave an area after an unsuccessful hunt but continue hunting in the same area after a successful hunt. The second hypothesis is the patch disturbance hypothesis, where carnivores depart the area after a successful hunt because of behavioral responses of prey to predator presence. We used GPS-collars to monitor the movements of African lions (Panthera leo) and identified their kill sites to distinguish between these two hypotheses. Lions moved to a different area (>5 km) after 87 percent of the kills, which supports the patch disturbance hypothesis for patch departure behavior of large mammalian carnivores.
Data from: Migratory shorebird adheres to Bergmann's Rule by responding to environmental conditions through the annual lifecycle
The inverse relationship between body size and environmental temperature is a widespread ecogeographic pattern. However, the underlying forces that produce this pattern are unclear in many taxa. Expectations are particularly unclear for migratory species, as individuals may escape environmental extremes and reorient themselves along the environmental gradient. In addition, some aspects of body size are largely fixed while others are environmentally flexible and may vary seasonally. Here, we used a long‐term dataset that tracked multiple populations of the migratory piping plover Charadrius melodus across their breeding and non‐breeding ranges to investigate ecogeographic patterns of phenotypically flexible (body mass) and fixed (wing length) size traits in relation to latitude (Bergmann's Rule), environmental temperature (heat conservation hypothesis), and migratory distance. We found that body mass was correlated with both latitude and temperature across the breeding and non‐breeding ranges, which is consistent with predictions of Bergmann's Rule and heat conservation. However, wing length was correlated with latitude and temperature only on the breeding range. This discrepancy resulted from low migratory connectivity across seasons and the tendency for individuals with longer wings to migrate farther than those with shorter wings. Ultimately, these results suggest that wing length may be driven more by conditions experienced during the breeding season or trade‐offs related to migration, whereas body mass is modified by environmental conditions experienced throughout the annual lifecycle.
Data from: Testing the CREA 'rule' in Galliformes
Recent comparative studies have indicated the existence of a common cranial evolutionary allometric (CREA) pattern in mammals and birds, in which smaller species have relatively smaller faces and bigger braincases than larger species. In these studies, cranial allometry was tested using a multivariate regression between shape (described using landmarks coordinates) and size (i.e. centroid size), after accounting for phylogenetic relatedness. Alternatively, cranial allometry can be determined by comparing the sizes of two anatomical parts using a bivariate regression analysis. In this analysis, a slope higher or lower than 1 indicates the existence of positive or negative allometry, respectively. Thus, in those species that support the CREA 'rule', positive allometry is expected for the association between face size and braincase size, which would indicate that larger species have disproportionally larger faces. In the present study, I applied these two approaches to explore cranial allometry in 83 Galliformes (Aves, Galloanserae), ranging in body weight from 30 g to 2.5 kg. The multivariate regression between shape and centroid size revealed the existence of a significant allometric pattern resembling CREA, whereas the second analysis revealed a negative allometry for beak size and braincase size (i.e. contrary to the CREA 'rule', larger galliform species have disproportionally shorter beaks than smaller galliform species). This study suggests that the presence of CREA may be overestimated when using cranium size as the standard measurement.
Data from: Cope's rule and the universal scaling law of ornament complexity
Luxuriant, bushy antlers, bizarre crests, and huge, twisting horns and tusks are conventionally understood as products of sexual selection. This view stems from both direct observation and from the empirical finding that the size of these structures grows faster than body size (i.e., ornament size shows positive allometry). We contend that the familiar evolutionary increase in the complexity of ornaments over time in many animal clades is decoupled from ornament size evolution. Increased body size comes with extended growth. Since growth scales to the quarter power of body size, we predicted that ornament complexity should scale according to the quarter power law as well, irrespective of the role of sexual selection in the evolution and function of the ornament. To test this hypothesis, we selected three clades (ammonites, deer, and ceratopsian dinosaurs) whose species bore ornaments that differ in terms of the importance of sexual selection to their evolution. We found that the exponent of the regression of ornament complexity to body size is the same for the three groups and is statistically indistinguishable from 0.25. We suggest that the evolution of ornament complexity is a by-product of Cope's rule. We argue that although sexual selection may control size in most ornaments, it does not influence their shape.
Data from: Bergmann's Rule rules body size in an ectotherm: heat conservation in a lizard along a 2200-meter elevational gradient
Bergmann's Rule predicts larger body sizes in colder habitats, increasing organisms' ability to conserve heat. Originally formulated for endotherms, it is controversial whether Bergmann's Rule may be applicable to ectotherms, given that larger ectotherms show diminished capacity for heating up. We predict that Bergmann's Rule will be applicable to ectotherms when the benefits of a higher conservation of heat due to a larger body size overcompensate for decreased capacity to heating up. We test this hypothesis in the lizard Psammodromus algirus, which shows increased body size with elevation in Sierra Nevada (SE Spain). We measured heating and cooling rates of lizards from different elevations (from 300 to 2500 meters above sea level) under controlled conditions. We found no significant differences in the heating rate along an elevational gradient. However, the cooling rate diminished with elevation and body size: highland lizards, with larger masses, have a higher thermal inertia for cooling, which allows them to maintain heat for more time and keep a high body temperature despite the lower thermal availability. Consequently, the net gaining of heat increased with elevation and body size. This study highlights that the heat conservation mechanism for explaining Bergmann's Rule works and is applicable to ectotherms, depending on the thermal benefits and costs associated with larger body sizes.
Data from: Cross-ontology multi-level association rule mining in the Gene Ontology
The Gene Ontology (GO) has become the internationally accepted standard for representing function, process, and location aspects of gene products. The wealth of GO annotation data provides a valuable source of implicit knowledge of relationships among these aspects. We describe a new method for association rule mining to discover implicit co-occurrence relationships across the GO sub-ontologies at multiple levels of abstraction. Prior work on association rule mining in the GO has concentrated on mining knowledge at a single level of abstraction and/or between terms from the same sub-ontology. We have developed a bottom-up generalization procedure called Cross-ontology Data Mining-Level by Level (COLL) that takes into account the structure and semantics of the GO, generates generalized transactions from annotation data and mines interesting multi-level cross-ontology association rules. We applied our method on publicly available chicken and mouse GO annotation datasets and mined 5368 and 3959 multi-level cross ontology rules from the two datasets respectively. We show that our approach discovers more and higher quality association rules from the GO as evaluated by biologists in comparison to previously published methods. Biologically interesting rules discovered by our method reveal unknown and surprising knowledge about co-occurring GO terms.
Data from: Resurrection of the island rule - human-driven extinctions have obscured a basic evolutionary pattern
Islands are or have been occupied by unusual species, such as dwarf proboscideans and giant rodents. The discussion of the classical, but controversial "island rule," which states that mammalian body sizes converge on intermediate sizes on islands, has been stimulated by these unusual species. In this study, we use an unprecedented global data set of the distributions and body sizes of late-Quaternary mammal species and a novel analytical method to analyze body size evolution on islands. The analyses produced strong support for the island rule. Islands have suffered massive human-driven losses of species, and we found that the support for the island rule was substantially stronger when the many late-Quaternary extinct species were also considered (particularly, the tendency for dwarfing in large taxa). The decisive support for the island rule in this study confirms that evolution plays out markedly different on islands and that human impact may obscure even fundamental evolutionary patterns.
A long tail of truth and beauty: a simple rule of pattern formation explains symmetry, complexity and beauty in the peacock's tail
<p><span>Darwin's theory of sexual selection by female choice has become a standard explanation for exaggerated sexually dimorphic traits, such as the peacock's (<i>Pavo cristatus</i>) long tail. Eyespot beauty-based female choice requires genetic variation in female preference and the number of eyespots, as well as a genetic correlation between the two. However, little genetic variation has been documented in either of these traits in natural and feral peacock populations. We examined the anatomical plan underlying feather development and discovered that eyespot feather follicles originate in alternating rows of 10/11, which uniquely determines the train's feather complexity, bilateral symmetry, and eyespot arrangement and beauty. This pattern precludes intrinsic variation in eyespot number, resulting in a fixed number of total eyespots in fully mature individuals. Since number of eyespots and tail length are independent traits and function of the age of the animal, the only variation available in these trats is also function of age. We propose an alternate, male drive, hypothesis in which females choose males based on their overall dominance (size, vigour, call, courting), and beauty of the train may (or may not) be a factor in female choice but it cannot affect the train length. This hypothesis can explain all known results. </span></p>
FIGURE 5. Maximum Parsimony majority rule consensus tree from 33 in Revision of the genus Caenota Mosely (Trichoptera: Calocidae), with descriptions of 2 new species and the larva of C. nemorosa Neboiss
FIGURE 5. Maximum Parsimony majority rule consensus tree from 33 morphological characters of 7 species of Caenota and 1 species of Tamasia. Values on the branches are bootstrap values calculated from 1000 bootstrap replications.
FIGURE 3. Bayesian majority-rule consensus tree inferred from 16S and H3 in Revision of the genus Pseudopomatias and its relatives (Gastropoda: Cyclophoroidea: Pupinidae)
FIGURE 3. Bayesian majority-rule consensus tree inferred from 16S and H3 sequences. Posterior probability percentage estimates are indicated above branches. The scale bar represents the estimated number of nucleotide substitutions per site. The tree was rooted with Pomacea insularum (not indicated).
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Allen Brain Atlas
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