The Experts below are selected from a list of 273 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Theodore Garland - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Ecological and phylogenetic variability in the Spinalis muscle of snakes
Journal of evolutionary biology, 2017Co-Authors: Jessica L. Tingle, Bruce C. Jayne, Gabriel E. A. Gartner, Theodore GarlandAbstract:Understanding the origin and maintenance of functionally important subordinate traits is a major goal of evolutionary physiologists and ecomorphologists. Within the confines of a limbless body plan, snakes are diverse in terms of body size and ecology, but we know little about the functional traits that underlie this diversity. We used a phylogenetically diverse group of 131 snake species to examine associations between habitat use, sidewinding locomotion, and constriction behavior with the number of body vertebrae spanned by a single segment of the Spinalis muscle, with total numbers of body vertebrae used as a covariate in statistical analyses. We compared models with combinations of these predictors to determine which best fit the data among all species and for the advanced snakes only (N = 114). We used both ordinary least squares models and phylogenetic models in which the residuals were modeled as evolving by the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. Snakes with greater numbers of vertebrae tended to have Spinalis muscles that spanned more vertebrae. Habitat effects dominated models for analyses of all species and advanced snakes only, with the Spinalis length spanning more vertebrae in arboreal species and fewer vertebrae in aquatic and burrowing species. Sidewinding specialists had shorter muscle lengths than non-specialists. The relationship between prey constriction and Spinalis length was less clear. Differences among clades were also strong when considering all species, but not for advanced snakes alone. Overall, these results suggest that muscle morphology may have played a key role in the adaptive radiation of snakes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Jessica L. Tingle - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Ecological and phylogenetic variability in the Spinalis muscle of snakes
Journal of evolutionary biology, 2017Co-Authors: Jessica L. Tingle, Bruce C. Jayne, Gabriel E. A. Gartner, Theodore GarlandAbstract:Understanding the origin and maintenance of functionally important subordinate traits is a major goal of evolutionary physiologists and ecomorphologists. Within the confines of a limbless body plan, snakes are diverse in terms of body size and ecology, but we know little about the functional traits that underlie this diversity. We used a phylogenetically diverse group of 131 snake species to examine associations between habitat use, sidewinding locomotion, and constriction behavior with the number of body vertebrae spanned by a single segment of the Spinalis muscle, with total numbers of body vertebrae used as a covariate in statistical analyses. We compared models with combinations of these predictors to determine which best fit the data among all species and for the advanced snakes only (N = 114). We used both ordinary least squares models and phylogenetic models in which the residuals were modeled as evolving by the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. Snakes with greater numbers of vertebrae tended to have Spinalis muscles that spanned more vertebrae. Habitat effects dominated models for analyses of all species and advanced snakes only, with the Spinalis length spanning more vertebrae in arboreal species and fewer vertebrae in aquatic and burrowing species. Sidewinding specialists had shorter muscle lengths than non-specialists. The relationship between prey constriction and Spinalis length was less clear. Differences among clades were also strong when considering all species, but not for advanced snakes alone. Overall, these results suggest that muscle morphology may have played a key role in the adaptive radiation of snakes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Bruce C. Jayne - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Ecological and phylogenetic variability in the Spinalis muscle of snakes
Journal of evolutionary biology, 2017Co-Authors: Jessica L. Tingle, Bruce C. Jayne, Gabriel E. A. Gartner, Theodore GarlandAbstract:Understanding the origin and maintenance of functionally important subordinate traits is a major goal of evolutionary physiologists and ecomorphologists. Within the confines of a limbless body plan, snakes are diverse in terms of body size and ecology, but we know little about the functional traits that underlie this diversity. We used a phylogenetically diverse group of 131 snake species to examine associations between habitat use, sidewinding locomotion, and constriction behavior with the number of body vertebrae spanned by a single segment of the Spinalis muscle, with total numbers of body vertebrae used as a covariate in statistical analyses. We compared models with combinations of these predictors to determine which best fit the data among all species and for the advanced snakes only (N = 114). We used both ordinary least squares models and phylogenetic models in which the residuals were modeled as evolving by the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. Snakes with greater numbers of vertebrae tended to have Spinalis muscles that spanned more vertebrae. Habitat effects dominated models for analyses of all species and advanced snakes only, with the Spinalis length spanning more vertebrae in arboreal species and fewer vertebrae in aquatic and burrowing species. Sidewinding specialists had shorter muscle lengths than non-specialists. The relationship between prey constriction and Spinalis length was less clear. Differences among clades were also strong when considering all species, but not for advanced snakes alone. Overall, these results suggest that muscle morphology may have played a key role in the adaptive radiation of snakes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Gabriel E. A. Gartner - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Ecological and phylogenetic variability in the Spinalis muscle of snakes
Journal of evolutionary biology, 2017Co-Authors: Jessica L. Tingle, Bruce C. Jayne, Gabriel E. A. Gartner, Theodore GarlandAbstract:Understanding the origin and maintenance of functionally important subordinate traits is a major goal of evolutionary physiologists and ecomorphologists. Within the confines of a limbless body plan, snakes are diverse in terms of body size and ecology, but we know little about the functional traits that underlie this diversity. We used a phylogenetically diverse group of 131 snake species to examine associations between habitat use, sidewinding locomotion, and constriction behavior with the number of body vertebrae spanned by a single segment of the Spinalis muscle, with total numbers of body vertebrae used as a covariate in statistical analyses. We compared models with combinations of these predictors to determine which best fit the data among all species and for the advanced snakes only (N = 114). We used both ordinary least squares models and phylogenetic models in which the residuals were modeled as evolving by the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. Snakes with greater numbers of vertebrae tended to have Spinalis muscles that spanned more vertebrae. Habitat effects dominated models for analyses of all species and advanced snakes only, with the Spinalis length spanning more vertebrae in arboreal species and fewer vertebrae in aquatic and burrowing species. Sidewinding specialists had shorter muscle lengths than non-specialists. The relationship between prey constriction and Spinalis length was less clear. Differences among clades were also strong when considering all species, but not for advanced snakes alone. Overall, these results suggest that muscle morphology may have played a key role in the adaptive radiation of snakes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Pedro Steffan - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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The immature stages of Dermestes maculatus, Sarcophaga sp. and Phaenicia sericata as potential paratenic hosts for Trichinella spiralis in nature
Parasitology Research, 2015Co-Authors: Eliana Riva, César Fiel, Pedro SteffanAbstract:The role of some insect populations in the transmission of Trichinella sp . has been demonstrated. However, most of the studies have been conducted under controlled conditions which may influence the real role that they could play as a paratenic host in nature. To enlight this issue, a series of studies to determine the infective capability of the muscle larva of Trichinella spiralis recovered from immature stages of insect populations that fed on infected tissues exposed to natural conditions were carried out. Mice harbouring T. spiralis muscle larvae (ML) were sacrificed and deposited on a pitfall trap which was established in an open and safe area through 25 days in summer. Necrophilous and necrophagous insects that fed on corpses were recovered, identified and processed to search for live ML of T. spiralis . A complementary study in which maggots of Dermestes maculatus recovered from nature were induced to feed on muscle tissues harbouring T. spiralis larvae was also performed. The muscle larvae recovered from insects at different times of exposition were counted and inoculated to mice to determine the reproductive capability index (RCI). At day 3 of exposition, 29 live ML of T. spiralis were recovered from maggots of Phaenicia sericata . The RCI for these larvae was 133.6. On day 5 of exposition, maggots of Sarcophaga sp . were identified and 17 live T. spiralis larvae were recovered; the RCI of these larvae was 43.4. The T. spiralis ML recovered from maggots of D. maculatus obtained after 2 days of feeding on experimentally infected tissue showed a RCI of 24. The results suggest that larval stages of P. sericata , Sarcophaga sp. and D. maculatus might have an important role as a paratenic host of T. spiralis , which, in terms, may influence the epidemiology of this nematode in endemic areas of trichinellosis.