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opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Data from: The cryptic origins of evolutionary novelty: 1,000-fold-faster trophic diversification rates without increased ecological opportunity or hybrid swarm

Ecological opportunity is frequently proposed as the sole ingredient for adaptive radiation into novel niches. An additional trigger may be genome-wide hybridization resulting from 'hybrid swarm'. However, these hypotheses have been difficult to test due to the rarity of comparable control environments lacking adaptive radiations. Here I exploit such a pattern in microendemic radiations of Caribbean pupfishes. I show that a sympatric three-species radiation on San Salvador Island, Bahamas diversified 1,445 times faster than neighboring islands in jaw length due to evolution of a novel scale-eating adaptive zone from a generalist ancestral niche. I then sampled 22 generalist populations on seven neighboring islands and measured morphological diversity, stomach content diversity, dietary isotopic diversity, genetic diversity, lake/island areas, macroalgae richness, and Caribbean-wide patterns of gene flow. None of these standard metrics of ecological opportunity or gene flow were associated with adaptive radiation, except for slight increases in macroalgae richness. Thus, exceptional trophic diversification is highly localized despite myriad generalist populations in comparable environmental and genetic backgrounds. This study provides a strong counterexample to the ecological/hybrid-swarm theories of adaptive radiation and suggests that diversification of novel specialists on a sparse fitness landscape is constrained by more than ecological opportunity and gene flow.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Incorporating disturbance into trophic ecology: fire history shapes mesopredator suppression by an apex predator

1.Apex predators can suppress smaller bodied 'mesopredators'. In doing so, they can provide refuge to species preyed upon by mesopredators, which is particularly important in regions where mesopredators are invasive. While most studies of mesopredator suppression focus on the response of mesopredators to human control of apex predators, other factors –including natural and anthropogenic disturbance – also drive the occurrence of apex predators and, in doing so, might shape spatial patterns of mesopredator suppression. 2.We examined the role of fire in shaping the occurrence of an apex predator and, by extension, mesopredators and small mammals in a fire-prone region of semi-arid Australia. We measured the activity of an apex predator (the dingo, Canis dingo); an invasive mesopredator it is known to suppress, the red fox (Vuples vuples); and two species of native small mammal (Mitchell's hopping mouse, Notomys mitchelli; silky mouse, Pseudomys apodemoides) that are potential prey, across 21 fire mosaics (each 12.56 km2). We used piecewise structural equation modelling and scenario analysis to explore the interactions between fire, predators and prey. 3.We found that dingoes were affected by fire history at the landscape scale, showing a preference for recently burned areas. While foxes were not directly affected by fire history, a negative association between dingoes and foxes meant that fire had an indirect impact on foxes, mediated through dingoes. Despite the suppression of foxes by dingoes, we did not observe a trophic cascade as small mammals were not negatively associated with foxes or positively associated with dingoes. 4.Synthesis and applications. Disturbance regimes have the capacity to shape patterns of mesopredator suppression when they alter the distributions of apex predators. Environmental change that promotes native predators can therefore help suppress mesopredators – a common conservation objective in regions with invasive mesopredators. The indirect consequences of disturbance regimes should be considered when managing disturbance (e.g. fire) for biodiversity conservation.

opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

Data from: Plant – herbivorous beetle networks: molecular characterization of trophic ecology within a threatened steppic environment

DNA barcoding facilitates many evolutionary and ecological studies, including the examination of the dietary diversity of herbivores. In this study, we present a survey of ecological associations between herbivorous beetles and host plants from seriously threatened European steppic grasslands. We determined host plants for the majority (65%) of steppic leaf beetles (55 species) and weevils (59) known from central Europe using two barcodes (trnL and rbcL) and two sequencing strategies (Sanger for mono/oligophagous species and Illumina for polyphagous taxa). To better understand the ecological associations between steppic beetles and their host plants, we tested the hypothesis that leaf beetles and weevils differ in food selection as a result of their phylogenetic relations (within genera and between families) and interactions with host plants. We found 224 links between the beetles and the plants. Beetles belonging to seven genera feed on the same or related plants. Their preferences were probably inherited from common ancestors and/or resulted from the host plant's chemistry. Beetles from four genera feed on different plants, possibly reducing intrageneric competition and possibly due to an adaptation to different plant chemical defences. We found significant correlations between the numbers of leaf beetle and weevil species feeding on particular plants for polyphagous taxa, but not for nonpolyphagous beetles. Finally, we found that the previous identifications of host plants based on direct observations are generally concordant with host plant barcoding from insect gut. Our results expand basic knowledge about the trophic relations of steppic beetles and plants and are immediately useful for conservation purposes.

opencc-zeroDec 2013View details →

Data from: Novel trophic niches drive variable progress toward ecological speciation within an adaptive radiation of pupfishes

Adaptive radiation is recognized by a rapid burst of phenotypic, ecological, and species diversification. However, it is unknown whether different species within an adaptive radiation evolve reproductive isolation at different rates. We compared patterns of genetic differentiation among nascent species within an adaptive radiation of Cyprinodon pupfishes using genotyping by sequencing. Similar to classic adaptive radiations, this clade exhibits rapid morphological diversification rates and two species are novel trophic specialists, a scale-eater and hard-shelled prey specialist (durophage), yet the radiation is less than 10,000 years old. Both specialists and an abundant generalist species all coexist in the benthic zone of lakes on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Based on 13,912 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), we found consistent differences in genetic differentiation between each specialist species and the generalist across seven lakes. The scale-eater showed the greatest genetic differentiation and clustered by species across lakes, whereas durophage populations often clustered with sympatric generalist populations, consistent with parallel speciation across lakes. However, we found strong evidence of admixture between durophage populations in different lakes, supporting a single origin of this species and genome-wide introgression with sympatric generalist populations. We conclude that the scale-eater is further along the speciation-with-gene-flow continuum than the durophage and suggest that different adaptive landscapes underlying these two niche environments drive variable progress toward speciation within the same habitat. Our previous measurements of fitness surfaces in these lakes support this conclusion: the scale-eating fitness peak may be more distant than the durophage peak on the complex adaptive landscape driving adaptive radiation.

opencc-zeroDec 2012View details →

Data from: Molecular characterisation of trophic ecology within an island radiation of insect herbivores (Curculionidae: Entiminae: Cratopus).

The phytophagous beetle family Curculionidae is the most species-rich insect family known, with much of this diversity having been attributed to both co-evolution with food plants and host-shifts at key points within the early evolutionary history of the group. Less well understood is the extent to which patterns of host use vary within or among related species, largely because of the technical difficulties associated with quantifying this. Here we develop a recently characterised molecular approach to quantify diet within and between two closely related species of weevil occurring primarily within dry forests on the island of Mauritius. Our aim is to quantify dietary variation across populations and assess adaptive and non-adaptive explanations for this, and to characterise the nature of a trophic shift within an ecologically distinct population within one of the species. We find that our study species are polyphagous, consuming a much wider range of plants than would be suggested by the literature. Our data suggest that local diet variation is largely explained by food availability, and locally specialist populations consume food plants that are not phylogenetically novel, but do appear to represent a novel preference. Our results demonstrate the power of molecular methods to unambiguously quantify dietary variation across populations of insect herbivores, providing a valuable approach to understanding trophic interactions within and among local plant and insect herbivore communities.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: SIDER: an R package for predicting trophic discrimination factors of consumers based on their ecology and phylogenetic relatedness

Stable isotope mixing models (SIMMs) are an important tool used to study species' trophic ecology. These models are dependent on, and sensitive to, the choice of trophic discrimination factors (TDF) representing the offset in stable isotope delta values between a consumer and their food source when they are at equilibrium. Ideally, controlled feeding trials should be conducted to determine the appropriate TDF for each consumer, tissue type, food source, and isotope combination used in a study. In reality however, this is often not feasible nor practical. In the absence of species-specific information, many researchers either default to an average TDF value for the major taxonomic group of their consumer, or they choose the nearest phylogenetic neighbour for which a TDF is available. Here, we present the SIDER package for R, which uses a phylogenetic regression model based on a compiled dataset to impute (estimate) a TDF of a consumer. We apply information on the tissue type and feeding ecology of the consumer, all of which are known to affect TDFs, using Bayesian inference. Presently, our approach can estimate TDFs for two commonly used isotopes (nitrogen and carbon), for species of mammals and birds with or without previous TDF information. The estimated posterior probability provides both a mean and variance, reflecting the uncertainty of the estimate, and can be subsequently used in the current suite of SIMM software. SIDER allows users to place a greater degree of confidence on their choice of TDF and its associated uncertainty, thereby leading to more robust predictions about trophic relationships in cases where study-specific data from feeding trials is unavailable. The underlying database can be updated readily to incorporate more stable isotope tracers, replicates and taxonomic groups to further increase the confidence in dietary estimates from stable isotope mixing models, as this information becomes available.

opennotspecifiedApr 2022View details →

Figure 3 in Trophic ecology of Pithecopus hypochondrialis (Daudin, 1800) (Phyllomedusidae) in Eastern Brazilian Amazonia

Figure 3. Rose diagram showing the seasonal distribution of the number of stomachs containing food items in males and females of Pithecopus hypochondrialis, in Eastern Brazilian Amazonia.

opennotspecifiedApr 2022View details →

Figure 2 in Trophic ecology of Pithecopus hypochondrialis (Daudin, 1800) (Phyllomedusidae) in Eastern Brazilian Amazonia

Figure 2. (A) Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) of the variation in the diet between male (M) and female (F) Pithecopus hypochondrialis during the dry (D) and rainy (R) seasons. Stress = 0.01. Solid circles = rainy season, open circles = dry season, continuous line = male group, dotted line = female group (the numbers correspond to the SVL classes). The second item most consumed by (B) males (Araneae), and (C) females (plant material). The importance of the item in each season is proportional to the size of the circle.

opennotspecifiedApr 2022View details →

Figure 1 in Trophic ecology of Pithecopus hypochondrialis (Daudin, 1800) (Phyllomedusidae) in Eastern Brazilian Amazonia

Figure 1. Location of the study sites (Fazenda Soté and Gunma Ecological Park) in the municipality of Santa Bárbara, in the Brazilian state of Pará. Scale 1:1000.

opencc-zeroApr 2018View details →

Supplementary material 1 from: Rosenfeld S, Marambio J, Ojeda J, Rodríguez JP, González-Wevar C, Gerard K, Contador T, Pizarro G, Mansilla A (2018) Trophic ecology of two coexisting Sub-Antarctic limpets of the genus Nacella: Spatio-temporal variation in food availability and diet composition of Nacella magellanica and N. deaurata in the Sub-Antarctic Ecoregion of Magellan . ZooKeys 738: 1-25. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.738.21175

Tables S1–S11 : Explanation note: This is a DOC file with all the temporal information of the occurrence of the algae taxa in both localities, and all the information of the PERMANOVA analyzes used in this study.

opencc-by-4.0Sep 2024View details →

Trophic ecology in an anchialine cave: a stable isotope study

Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.

Figure 5 in The atyid shrimp (Crustacea: Decapoda: Atyidae) rostrum: phylogeny versus adaptation, taxonomy versus trophic ecology

Figure 5. Examples of rostra in some populations of Troglocaris s. str. phylogroups according to presumable absence (specimens on left) and presence (specimens on right) of Proteus sp. appropriately chosen to represent adequately the whole variability in shape and length of the rostrum. Sample numbers (as in Table 1) and sex (m, male; f, female) are added. Although probable, the presence of Proteus in localities denoted with hash mark ("#") could not be verified.

Figure 1. A in The atyid shrimp (Crustacea: Decapoda: Atyidae) rostrum: phylogeny versus adaptation, taxonomy versus trophic ecology

Figure 1. A simplified phylogenetic tree of the genus Troglocaris, redrawn and adapted from Sket and Zakšek (2009). Phylogenetic relationships among Troglocaris aggr. anophthalmus phylogroups are weakly supported, and T. anophthalmus – Soča has been added manually (dashed line; see also Zakšek et al. 2009). *Our specimens of the putative Istra phylogroup have not been investigated molecularly. Relative rostral length has been estimated for Proteus and Proteus-free localities, within each of the three Dinaric subgenera separately. For comments on few exceptions within Troglocaris s. str. and situation in T. (S.) prasence and T. (Troglocaridella) hercegovinensis see text.

Table 1 in The atyid shrimp (Crustacea: Decapoda: Atyidae) rostrum: phylogeny versus adaptation, taxonomy versus trophic ecology

Table 1. List of Troglocaris s. str. and Troglocaris bosnica samples with data on Proteus sp. presence.<table><tbody><tr><th>SN</th><th>Ph</th><th>Country/Locality</th><th>P</th><th>M</th><th>F</th><th>Nrcl</th><th>G/O</th><th>rclAVG</th></tr></tbody><tbody><tr><th></th><td></td><td>Italy</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>80</th><td>W/S</td><td>Gradisca d’Isonzo, Pozzo dei Frari o de Campiello</td><td>+ d</td><td></td><td></td><td>2</td><td></td><td>0.606</td></tr><tr><th>81</th><td>W/S</td><td>Gradisca d’ Isonzo, Fogliano, Pozzo della Fornace di Polazzo</td><td>+ d</td><td></td><td></td><td>1</td><td></td><td>0.373</td></tr><tr><th>82</th><td>W/S</td><td>Gradisca, Sagrado d’Isonzo, Grotta presso Sagrado</td><td>+ d</td><td></td><td></td><td>12</td><td></td><td>0.591</td></tr><tr><th>83</th><td>W/S</td><td>Sagrado d’Isonzo, Pozzo del Castelvecchio</td><td>+ d</td><td></td><td></td><td>1</td><td></td><td>0.627</td></tr><tr><th>1</th><td>W</td><td>Iamiano/Jamlje, Comarie/Komarje, cave near Comarie (cavernetta</td><td>+</td><td>1/0</td><td>4/3</td><td>6 (32)</td><td>L</td><td>0.678(0.585)</td></tr><tr><th></th><td></td><td>Presso Comarie)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>84</th><td>W</td><td>Iamiano, Grotta Andrea</td><td># d</td><td></td><td></td><td>10</td><td></td><td>0.419</td></tr><tr><th>85</th><td>W</td><td>Iamiano, Pozzo presso Iamiano</td><td># d</td><td></td><td></td><td>3</td><td></td><td>0.580</td></tr><tr><th>86</th><td>W</td><td>Monfalcone, Sablici, abyss at Sablici</td><td># d</td><td></td><td></td><td>22</td><td></td><td>0.668</td></tr><tr><th>87</th><td>W</td><td>Monfalcone, Stazione ferroviaria di Monfalcone, Pozzo dei Protei</td><td>+ d</td><td></td><td></td><td>1</td><td></td><td>0.452</td></tr><tr><th>2</th><td>W</td><td>Duino/Devin, cave near Duino (pozzo presso S. Giovanni di Duino/</td><td>+</td><td>5/0</td><td>1/2</td><td>7 (12)</td><td>L</td><td>0.576 (0.618)</td></tr><tr><th></th><td></td><td>brezno pri &Scaron;tivanu)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>88</th><td>W</td><td>Duino, Grotta Nuova del Villagio del Pescatore</td><td># d</td><td></td><td></td><td>5</td><td></td><td>0.493</td></tr><tr><th>89</th><td>W</td><td>Duino, S. Giovani di Duino, Grotta del Timavo o Grotta del Lago</td><td>+ d</td><td></td><td></td><td>3</td><td></td><td>0.497</td></tr><tr><th>90</th><td>W</td><td>Duino, Villagio del Pescatore, Grotta presso la Peschiera del Timavo</td><td># d</td><td></td><td></td><td>1</td><td></td><td>0.399</td></tr><tr><th>3</th><td>W</td><td>Trieste/Trst, Trebiciano/Treb&ccaron;e, Grotta di Trebiciano/Labodnica</td><td>+</td><td>6/1</td><td>5/1</td><td>10 (2)</td><td>L</td><td>0.535 (0.625)</td></tr><tr><th>4</th><td>W</td><td>Rosandra/Glin&scaron;&ccaron;ica, springs near Fonte Oppia</td><td>–</td><td>1/0</td><td>2/2</td><td>3 (15)</td><td>S</td><td>0.198 (0.290)</td></tr><tr><th>5</th><td>W</td><td>Rosandra/Glin&scaron;&ccaron;ica, cave Antro delle Ninfe/Velika jama</td><td>–</td><td>1/0</td><td>1/1</td><td>3 (2)</td><td>S</td><td>0.279 (0.321)</td></tr><tr><th>91</th><td>W</td><td>Rosandra/Glin&scaron;&ccaron;ica, Cisterna a Bagnoli delle Rosandra</td><td>– d</td><td></td><td></td><td>1</td><td></td><td>0.266</td></tr><tr><th></th><td></td><td>Slovenia</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>6</th><td>S</td><td>Most na So&ccaron;i, cave Vogr&scaron;&ccaron;ek</td><td>–</td><td>5/0</td><td>2/1</td><td>7</td><td>S/2L</td><td>0.350</td></tr><tr><th>7</th><td>S</td><td>Vipava, Vipavska jama</td><td>+</td><td>9/0</td><td>8/3</td><td>20</td><td>L/2S</td><td>0.511</td></tr><tr><th>8</th><td>W</td><td>Komen, Brestovica, Dolenca jama</td><td>+</td><td>2/0</td><td>9/1</td><td>12</td><td>L</td><td>0.627</td></tr><tr><th>9</th><td>W</td><td>Diva&ccaron;a, Ka&ccaron;na jama, lake Ogabno jezero</td><td>+</td><td>5/0</td><td>6/0</td><td>8 (34)</td><td>L</td><td>0.588 (0.553)</td></tr><tr><th>10</th><td>W</td><td>Diva&ccaron;a, Ka&ccaron;i&ccaron;e, cave Mejame</td><td>+</td><td>2/0</td><td>6/2</td><td>9</td><td>L</td><td>0.702</td></tr><tr><th>65</th><td>A</td><td>&Scaron;ibenik, Pirovac, cave Bikovica</td><td>–</td><td>2/0</td><td>13/3</td><td>16</td><td>L/2S</td><td>0.505</td></tr><tr><th>66</th><td>A</td><td>Pirovac, spring near Pirovac</td><td>–</td><td>0/0</td><td>2/1</td><td>3</td><td>L/2S</td><td>0.435</td></tr><tr><th>67</th><td>A</td><td>&Scaron;ibenik, under hydroelectric station Manojlovac; spring-cave, river Krka</td><td># d</td><td>0/0</td><td>3/0</td><td>3</td><td>L</td><td>0.582</td></tr><tr><th>68</th><td>A</td><td>&Scaron;ibenik, cave Rasline, river Krka</td><td># d</td><td>1/0</td><td>1/0</td><td>2</td><td>L</td><td>0.448</td></tr><tr><th>69</th><td>A</td><td>&Scaron;ibenik, Mandalina &scaron;pilja</td><td>–</td><td>1/0</td><td>7/0</td><td>7</td><td>L/2S</td><td>0.472</td></tr><tr><th>70</th><td>A</td><td>Split, Ðuderina pe&cacute;ina</td><td>+</td><td>0/0</td><td>3/0</td><td>3</td><td>L</td><td>0.604</td></tr><tr><th></th><td></td><td>Bosnia and Herzegovina</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>71*</th><td>B</td><td>Dabar, Dabarska pe&cacute;ina</td><td>+</td><td>0/0</td><td>1/0</td><td>1</td><td>L</td><td>0.563</td></tr><tr><th>72*</th><td>B</td><td>Sanski Most, Lu&scaron;ci Palanka, Suvaja pe&cacute;ina</td><td>+</td><td>0/1</td><td>13/5</td><td>12</td><td>L</td><td>0.739</td></tr><tr><th>73</th><td>A</td><td>Popovo polje, &Ccaron;valjina, Baba pe&cacute;ina</td><td>+</td><td>0/0</td><td>2/0</td><td>2</td><td>L/1S</td><td>0.463</td></tr><tr><th>74</th><td>A</td><td>Popovo polje, Zavala, spring Lukavac</td><td>+</td><td>1/0</td><td>0/0</td><td>1</td><td>L</td><td>0.497</td></tr><tr><th>75</th><td>A</td><td>Popovo polje, Zavala, cave Vjetrenica</td><td>+</td><td>0/0</td><td>7/1</td><td>7</td><td>L/1S</td><td>0.497</td></tr><tr><th>76</th><td>A</td><td>Mokro polje,Trebinje, &Ccaron;i&ccaron;evo, under mountain Velja gora, &Scaron;umet pe&cacute;ina</td><td>+</td><td>8/0</td><td>10/0</td><td>18</td><td>L/1S</td><td>0.525</td></tr><tr><th>77</th><td>A</td><td>Mokro polje, Trebinje, cave Vu&ccaron;onica</td><td>+</td><td>0/0</td><td>2/0</td><td>2</td><td>L</td><td>0.489</td></tr></tbody></table>(Continued)SN, sample number (data in parentheses and data for samples 80–92 after Fabjan 2001); Ph, phylogenetic group (from Zak&scaron;ek et al. 2009): W, West Slovenia; S, So&ccaron;a, E, East Slovenia; A, Adriatic; I, Istra; B, T. bosnica (marked with “*”). The samples not analysed molecularly were attributed to the group according to geography; where the attribution is uncertain, dot “ • ” is added; P, presence or supposed absence (+/–) of Proteus sp.; M, number of measured males (adults/juveniles); F, number of measured females (adults/juveniles); Nrcl, number of specimens for the analysis of a relative rostral length; rclAVG, sample average of the relative rostral lengths; G/O, group determined by rclAVG (see Figure 4), with number of specimens in outgroup, where S and L denote short and long rostrum respectively with border of the interval set at S <43% ≤ L; “+”, “–” and “#” designate Proteus sp. presence, presumable absence and uncertain presence of Proteus sp., respectively. In toponyms, “grotta”, “jama”, “pe&cacute;ina”, “&scaron;pilja” means “cave”. X, damaged at the tip.a,b Proteus was reportedly observed in Vodna jama v Lozi which is a part of the Markov spodmol cave system, but there are no exact data.c Proteus was found in the near proximity, but the stream is polluted now; some field work was done there in recent years (e.g. by Zak&scaron;ek in 2005, and by Jugovic in 2008), but neither Troglocaris and/or Proteus was found there.d Samples excluded from statistical analysis.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: Assessing the trophic ecology of top predators across a recolonisation frontier using DNA metabarcoding of diets

Top predator populations, once intensively hunted, are rebounding in size and geographic distribution. The cessation of sealing along coastal Australia and subsequent recovery of Australian Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus and long-nosed A. forsteri fur seals represents a unique opportunity to investigate trophic linkages at a frontier of predator recolonisation. We characterised the diets of both species across 2 locations of recolonisation, one site an established breeding colony, and the other, a new but permanent haul-out site. Using DNA metabarcoding, high taxonomic resolution data on diets was used to inform ecological trait-based analyses across time and location. Australian and long-nosed fur seals consumed 76 and 73 prey taxa, respectively, a prey diversity greater than previously reported. We found unexpected overlap of prey functional traits in the diets of both seal species at the haul-out site, where we observed strong trophic linkages with coastal ecosystems due to the prevalence of benthic, demersal and reef-associated prey. The diets of both seal species at the breeding colony were consistent with foraging patterns observed in the centre of their geographic range regarding diet partitioning between predator species and seasonal trends typically observed. The unexpected differences between sites in this region and the convergence of both predators' effective ecological roles at the range-edge haul-out site correlate with known differences in seal population densities and demographics at these and other newly recolonised locations. This study provides a baseline for the diets and trophic interactions for recovering fur seal populations and from which to understand the evolving ecology of predator recolonisation.

opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

Data from: Molecular detection of invertebrate prey in vertebrate diets: trophic ecology of Caribbean island lizards

Understanding community assembly and population dynamics frequently requires detailed knowledge of food web structure. For many consumers, obtaining precise information about diet composition has traditionally required sacrificing animals or other highly invasive procedures, generating tension between maintaining intact study populations and knowing what they eat. We developed 16S mitochondrial DNA sequencing methods to identify arthropods in the diets of generalist vertebrate predators without requiring a blocking primer. We demonstrate the utility of these methods for a common Caribbean lizard that has been intensively studied in the context of small island food webs: Anolis sagrei (a semi-arboreal 'trunk-ground' anole ecomorph). Novel PCR primers were identified in silico and tested in vitro. Illumina sequencing successfully characterized the arthropod component of 168 faecal DNA samples collected during three field trips spanning 12 months, revealing 217 molecular operational taxonomic units (mOTUs) from at least nine arthropod orders (including Araneae, Blattodea, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Isoptera, Lepidoptera and Orthoptera). Three mOTUs (one beetle, one cockroach and one ant) were particularly frequent, occurring in ≥50% of samples, but the majority of mOTUs were infrequent (180, or 83%, occurred in ≤5% of samples). Species accumulation curves showed that dietary richness and composition were similar between size-dimorphic sexes; however, female lizards had greater per-sample dietary richness than males. Overall diet composition (but not richness) was significantly different across seasons, and we found more pronounced interindividual variation in December than in May. These methods will be generally useful in characterizing the diets of diverse insectivorous vertebrates.

Figure 3 in The atyid shrimp (Crustacea: Decapoda: Atyidae) rostrum: phylogeny versus adaptation, taxonomy versus trophic ecology

Figure 3. Coincidence of the relative rostral length (rcl) in six phylogroups of Troglocaris s. str. and occurrence of Proteus. Outliers (i. e. single specimens) denoted with open circles. Group sizes, when Proteus present/presumably absent: W-Slo 115/46; E-Slo 66/76; Adriatic 49/ 34; Soča 20/7; Istra 4/–; T. bosnica 13/–.

Figure 2 in The atyid shrimp (Crustacea: Decapoda: Atyidae) rostrum: phylogeny versus adaptation, taxonomy versus trophic ecology

Figure 2. Diagram of Troglocaris carapace with designated morphometric characters. Numerical counted characters are written in italics. CL, post-orbital carapace length; RO, rostral length; CT, length of post-orbital part of the carapace with teeth; ROT1–3, number of teeth on dorsal (ROT1) and ventral (ROT3) sides of rostrum and on carapace behind the eyes (ROT2).

Figure 4 in The atyid shrimp (Crustacea: Decapoda: Atyidae) rostrum: phylogeny versus adaptation, taxonomy versus trophic ecology

Figure 4. Coincidence between the relative rostral length in Troglocaris s. str. and co-occurrence of Proteus sp. Sample numbers are as in Table 1; diamonds and plus symbols denote samples with relative rostrum average <43% and> 43%, respectively; asterisks (*) denote samples of T. bosnica. SLO, Slovenia; I, Italy; CRO, Croatia; BIH, Bosnia and Herzegovina.