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1. Evolutionary history influences the microbiomes of a female symbiotic reproductive organ in cephalopods

   https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.00990-23  

   Vijayan, Nidhi; McAnulty, Sarah J; Sanchez, Gustavo; Jolly, Jeffrey; Ikeda, Yuzuru; Nishiguchi, Michele K; Réveillac, Elodie; Gestal, Camino; Spady, Blake L; Li, Diana H; et al (February 2024, Applied and Environmental Microbiology)

   Rudi, Knut (Ed.)

   ABSTRACT Many female squids and cuttlefishes have a symbiotic reproductive organ called the accessory nidamental gland (ANG) that hosts a bacterial consortium involved with egg defense against pathogens and fouling organisms. While the ANG is found in multiple cephalopod families, little is known about the global microbial diversity of these ANG bacterial symbionts. We used 16S rRNA gene community analysis to characterize the ANG microbiome from different cephalopod species and assess the relationship between host and symbiont phylogenies. The ANG microbiome of 11 species of cephalopods from four families (superorder: Decapodiformes) that span seven geographic locations was characterized. Bacteria of classAlphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, andFlavobacteriiawere found in all species, yet analysis of amplicon sequence variants by multiple distance metrics revealed a significant difference between ANG microbiomes of cephalopod families (weighted/unweighted UniFrac, Bray–Curtis,P= 0.001). Despite being collected from widely disparate geographic locations, members of the family Sepiolidae (bobtail squid) shared many bacterial taxa including (~50%)Opitutae(Verrucomicrobia) andRuegeria(Alphaproteobacteria) species. Furthermore, we tested for phylosymbiosis and found a positive correlation between host phylogenetic distance and bacterial community dissimilarity (Mantel testr= 0.7). These data suggest that closely related sepiolids select for distinct symbionts from similar bacterial taxa. Overall, the ANGs of different cephalopod species harbor distinct microbiomes and thus offer a diverse symbiont community to explore antimicrobial activity and other functional roles in host fitness. IMPORTANCEMany aquatic organisms recruit microbial symbionts from the environment that provide a variety of functions, including defense from pathogens. Some female cephalopods (squids, bobtail squids, and cuttlefish) have a reproductive organ called the accessory nidamental gland (ANG) that contains a bacterial consortium that protects eggs from pathogens. Despite the wide distribution of these cephalopods, whether they share similar microbiomes is unknown. Here, we studied the microbial diversity of the ANG in 11 species of cephalopods distributed over a broad geographic range and representing 15–120 million years of host divergence. The ANG microbiomes shared some bacterial taxa, but each cephalopod species had unique symbiotic members. Additionally, analysis of host–symbiont phylogenies suggests that the evolutionary histories of the partners have been important in shaping the ANG microbiome. This study advances our knowledge of cephalopod–bacteria relationships and provides a foundation to explore defensive symbionts in other systems. 

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2. A framework for studying behavioral evolution by reconstructing ancestral repertoires

   https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.61806  

   Hernández, Damián G; Rivera, Catalina; Cande, Jessica; Zhou, Baohua; Stern, David L; Berman, Gordon J (September 2021, Evolutionary BiologyPhysics of Living Systems)

   Although different animal species often exhibit extensive variation in many behaviors, typically scientists examine one or a small number of behaviors in any single study. Here, we propose a new framework to simultaneously study the evolution of many behaviors. We measured the behavioral repertoire of individuals from six species of fruit flies using unsupervised techniques and identified all stereotyped movements exhibited by each species. We then fit a Generalized Linear Mixed Model to estimate the intra- and inter-species behavioral covariances, and, by using the known phylogenetic relationships among species, we estimated the (unobserved) behaviors exhibited by ancestral species. We found that much of intra-specific behavioral variation has a similar covariance structure to previously described long-time scale variation in an individual’s behavior, suggesting that much of the measured variation between individuals of a single species in our assay reflects differences in the status of neural networks, rather than genetic or developmental differences between individuals. We then propose a method to identify groups of behaviors that appear to have evolved in a correlated manner, illustrating how sets of behaviors, rather than individual behaviors, likely evolved. Our approach provides a new framework for identifying co-evolving behaviors and may provide new opportunities to study the mechanistic basis of behavioral evolution. 

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3. Orientations of Mistaken Point Fronds Indicate Morphology Impacted Ability to Survive Turbulence

   https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.762824  

   Vixseboxse, Philip B.; Kenchington, Charlotte G.; Dunn, Frances S.; Mitchell, Emily G. (December 2021, Frontiers in Earth Science)

   The Ediacaran fossils of the Mistaken Point E surface have provided crucial insight into early animal communities, including how they reproduced, the importance of Ediacaran height and what the most important factors were to their community dynamics. Here, we use this iconic community to investigate how morphological variation between eight taxa affected their ability to withstand different flow conditions. For each ofBeothukis,Bradgatia,Charniodiscus procerus,Charniodiscus spinosus,Plumeropriscum,Primocandelabrum,ThectardisandFractofususwe measured the orientation and length of their stems (if present) and their fronds. We statistically tested each taxon’s stem and frond orientation distributions to see whether they displayed a uniform or multimodal distribution. Where multimodal distributions were identified, the stem/frond length of each cohort was tested to identify if there were differences in size between different orientation groups. We find thatBradgatiaandThectardisshow a bimodal felling direction, and infer that they were felled by the turbulent head of the felling flow. In contrast, the frondose rangeomorphs includingBeothukis, Plumeropriscum, Primocandelabrum, and the arboreomorphs were felled in a single direction, indicating that they were upright in the water column, and were likely felled by the laminar tail of the felling flow. These differences in directionality suggests that an elongate habit, and particularly possession of a stem, lent greater resilience to frondose taxa against turbulent flows, suggesting that such taxa would have had improved survivability in conditions with higher background turbulence than taxa likeBradgatiaandThectardis, that lacked a stem and had a higher centre of mass, which may have fared better in quieter water conditions. 

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4. Roadside Dining: The Collective Movement Behavior of Sulawesi Moor Macaques in a Provisioning Context

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23727  

   Trinidad, Joshua; Scharf, Henry R; Ngakan, Putu Oka; Riley, Erin P (January 2025, American Journal of Primatology)

   ABSTRACT How group‐living primates come to a consensus about navigating their environment is a result of their decision‐making processes. Although decision‐making has been examined in several primate taxa, it remains underexplored for primates living in anthropogenic landscapes. To shed light on consensus decision‐making and flexibility in this process, we examined collective movement behavior in a group of wild moor macaques (Macaca maura) experiencing a risk‐reward tradeoff as a result of roadside provisioning within Bantimurung Bulusaraung National Park in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Our goal was to determine whether individual characteristics (e.g., sex, dominance rank, and/or social network centrality) predict the likelihood of initiating a collective movement and if the opportunity to receive food provisions along the road alters these patterns. Using the all‐occurrences method, we recorded the location, time, and identity of initiators and followers of each collective movement observed from April to June 2023 (N = 61). We used conditional logistic regression models to examine which individual characteristics predicted initiation overall and based on two destination categories: forest‐ and road‐directed collective movements. Initiation was distributed amongst most of the group, indicating a partially‐shared decision‐making style. Overall, adult males were more likely to initiate collective movements than adult females. However, for collective movements directed toward the risky roadside, dominance, rather than sex, was a better predictor of initiation, with higher ranked individuals being more likely to initiate collective movements. Examining the decision‐making processes in this species through collective movements can provide insight into how primates come to a consensus and the extent to which anthropogenic factors shape these processes. By shedding light on how moor macaques navigate the risk‐reward tradeoff at this site, our results can also inform the management of human‐macaque interfaces. 

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5. State of the California Current Ecosystem in 2021: Winter is coming?

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.958727  

   Thompson, Andrew R.; Bjorkstedt, Eric P.; Bograd, Steven J.; Fisher, Jennifer L.; Hazen, Elliott L.; Leising, Andrew; Santora, Jarrod A.; Satterthwaite, Erin V.; Sydeman, William J.; Alksne, Michaela; et al (September 2022, Frontiers in Marine Science)

   In late 2020, models predicted that a strong La Niña would take place for the first time since 2013, and we assessed whether physical and biological indicators in 2021 were similar to past La Niñas in the California Current Ecosystem (CCE). The Pacific Decadal Oscillation and Oceanic Niño Index indeed remained negative throughout 2021; the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation Index, however, remained strongly negative. The seventh largest marine heatwave on record was unexpectedly present from April to the end of 2021; however, similar to past La Niñas, this mass of warm water mostly remained seaward of the continental shelf. As expected from past La Niñas, upwelling and chlorophyll were mostly high and sea surface temperature was low throughout the CCE; however, values were close to average south of Point Conception. Similar to past La Niñas, abundances of lipid-rich, northern copepods off Oregon increased. In northern California, unlike past La Niñas, the body size of North Pacific krill (Euphausia pacifica) was close to average. Predictably, overall krill abundance was above average in far northern California but, unexpectedly, below average south of Cape Mendocino. Off Oregon, similar to past La Niñas, larval abundances of three of six coastal species rose, while five of six southern/offshore taxa decreased in 2021. Off California, as expected based on 2020, Northern Anchovy (Engraulis mordax) were very abundant, while Pacific Sardine (Sardinops sagax) were low. Similar to past La Niñas, market squid (Doryteuthis opalescens) and young of the year (YOY) Pacific Hake (Merluccius pacificus), YOY sanddabs (Citharichthysspp.), and YOY rockfishes (Sebastesspp.) increased. Southern mesopelagic (e.g., Panama lightfishVinciguerria lucetia, Mexican lampfishTriphoturus mexicanus) larvae decreased as expected but were still well above average, while northern mesopelagic (e.g., northern lampfishStenobrachius leucopsarus) larvae increased but were still below average. In line with predictions, most monitored bird species had above-average reproduction in Oregon and California. California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) pup count, growth, and weight were high given the abundant Anchovy forage. The CCE entered an enduring La Niña in 2021, and assessing the responses of various ecosystem components helped articulate aspects of the system that are well understood and those that need further study. 

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