A5050543062- Bat Biology and Ecology Studies
- Physiological and biochemical adaptations
- Effects of Environmental Stressors on Livestock
- Marine animal studies overview
- Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies
- Livestock and Poultry Management
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Human-Animal Interaction Studies
- Rabbits: Nutrition, Reproduction, Health
- Zoonotic diseases and public health
- Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
- Genetic diversity and population structure
- Fire effects on ecosystems
- Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Isotope Analysis in Ecology
- Primate Behavior and Ecology
Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
2020-2025
University of Konstanz
2017-2025
Max Planck Institute for Ornithology
2017
1. Energy can be limiting, especially for small animals with high metabolisms, particularly if they rely on ephemeral resources. Some energy-saving strategies, such as torpor, impair physiological processes. Alternatively, group living reduce energetic costs through social thermoregulation. This may allow individuals to maintain a metabolism well processes gamete production. Although is common, its benefits heterothermic during the season of sperm production have yet investigated. 2. We...
Small endothermic mammals have high metabolisms, particularly at cold temperatures. In the light of this, some species evolved a seemingly illogical strategy: they reduce size brain and several organs to become even smaller in winter. To test how this morphological strategy affects energy consumption across seasonally shifting ambient temperatures, we measured oxygen behaviour three seasonal phenotypes common shrew ( Sorex araneus ), which differ by about 20%. Body mass was main driver...
Increasing agriculture and pesticide use have led to declines in insect populations biodiversity worldwide. In addition diversity, it is also important consider abundance, due the importance of insects as food for species at higher trophic levels such bats. We monitored spatiotemporal variation abundance nocturnal flying over meadows, a common open landscape structure central Europe, correlated with bat feeding activity. Our most result was that almost always extremely low. This true...
Understanding how animals meet their daily energy requirements is critical in our rapidly changing world. Small organisms with high metabolic rates can conserve stored when food availability low or increase intake energetic are high, but they balance this the wild remains largely unknown. Using miniaturized heart rate transmitters, we continuously quantified expenditure, torpor use and foraging behaviour of free-ranging male bats ( Nyctalus noctula ) spring summer. In spring, used...
Ontogenetic changes in mammalian skulls are complex. For a very few species (i.e. some Sorex shrews), these also include seasonally driven, bidirectional size within individuals, presumably to reduce energy requirements during low resource availabilities. These patterns poorly understood, but likely most pronounced high-metabolic with limited means for conservation. We used generalized additive models quantify the effect of location, Julian day, age and sex on length depth 512 847 stoat (...
Metabolic processes of animals are often studied in controlled laboratory settings. However, these settings do not reflect the animals' natural environment. Thus, results metabolic measurements from studies must be cautiously applied to free-ranging animals. Recent technological advances animal tracking allow detailed eco-physiological that reveal when, where, and how physiological field differ those laboratory. We investigated torpor behavior male common noctule bats (Nyctalus noctula)...
A typical consequence of breeding animal species for domestication is a reduction in relative brain size. When domesticated animals escape from captivity and establish feral populations, the larger wild phenotype usually not regained. In American mink (Neovison vison), we found an exception to this rule. We confirmed previously described braincase size volume compared their North ancestors bred fur Poland, dataset 292 skulls. then also significant regrowth these measures well-established...
Abstract Torpor is characterized by an extreme reduction in metabolism and a common energy-saving strategy of heterothermic animals. often associated with cold temperatures, but the last decades, more diverse flexible forms torpor have been described. For example, tropical bat species maintain low heart rate at high ambient body temperatures. We investigated whether bats ( Nyctalus noctula ) from cooler temperate European regions also show this form metabolic inhibition would be as...
The independent evolution of the two toothed jaws cichlid fishes is thought to have promoted their unparalleled ecological divergence and species richness. However, dental in cichlids could exhibit substantial genetic covariance this dictate how traits like tooth numbers evolve different African Lakes on jaws. To test hypothesis, we used a hybrid mapping cross trophically divergent Lake Victoria (Haplochromis chilotes × Haplochromis nyererei) examine genomic regions associated with...
Small non-migratory mammals with Northern distribution ranges apply a variety of behavioural and physiological wintering strategies. A rare energy saving strategy is Dehnel's phenomenon, involving reduction later regrowth the body, several organs parts skeleton in red-toothed shrews (Soricidae). The size extremes coincide major life stages. Yet, consequences for shrews' metabolism remain poorly understood. In keeping energetic limitations that may induce changes, we hypothesized metabolic...
Torpor is an incredibly efficient energy-saving strategy that many endothermic birds and mammals use to save energy, by lowering their metabolic rates, heart typically body temperatures. Over the last few decades, study of daily torpor-in which torpor used for less than 24 hours per bout-has advanced rapidly. The papers in this issue cover ecological evolutionary drivers torpor, as well some mechanisms governing use. We identified broad focus areas need special attention: clearly defining...