Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Animal Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Animal Sciences

Internal Vertebral Morphology Of Bony Fishes Matches The Mechanical Demands Of Different Environments, Dana Baxter, Karly E. Cohen, Cassandra M. Donatelli, Eric D. Tytell Nov 2022

Internal Vertebral Morphology Of Bony Fishes Matches The Mechanical Demands Of Different Environments, Dana Baxter, Karly E. Cohen, Cassandra M. Donatelli, Eric D. Tytell

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Fishes have repeatedly evolved characteristic body shapes depending on how close they live to the substrate. Pelagic fishes live in open water and typically have narrow, streamlined body shapes; benthic and demersal fishes live close to the substrate; and demersal fishes often have deeper bodies. These shape differences are often associated with behavioral differences: pelagic fishes swim nearly constantly, demersal fishes tend to maneuver near the substrate, and benthic fishes often lie in wait on the substrate. We hypothesized that these morphological and behavioral differences would be reflected in the mechanical properties of the body, and specifically in vertebral column …


The Effect Of Infection Risk On Female Blood Transcriptomics, Brenna M. G. Gormally, Patricia C. Lopes Oct 2022

The Effect Of Infection Risk On Female Blood Transcriptomics, Brenna M. G. Gormally, Patricia C. Lopes

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Defenses against pathogens can take on many forms. For instance, behavioral avoidance of diseased conspecifics is widely documented. Interactions with these infectious conspecifics can also, however, lead to physiological changes in uninfected animals, an effect that is much less well understood. These changes in behavior and physiology are particularly important to study in a reproductive context, where they can impact reproductive decisions and offspring quality. Here, we studied how an acute (3 h) exposure to an immune-challenged male affected female blood transcriptomics and behavior. We predicted that females paired with immune-challenged males would reduce eating and drinking behaviors (as avoidance …


Maternal Responses In The Face Of Infection Risk, Patricia C. Lopes, Brenna M. G. Gormally, Aubrey Emmi, Delilah Schuerman, Chathuni Liyanage, Ursula K. Beattie, L. Michael Romero Jun 2022

Maternal Responses In The Face Of Infection Risk, Patricia C. Lopes, Brenna M. G. Gormally, Aubrey Emmi, Delilah Schuerman, Chathuni Liyanage, Ursula K. Beattie, L. Michael Romero

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

When animals are sick, their physiology and behavior change in ways that can impact their offspring. Research is emerging showing that infection risk alone can also modify the physiology and behavior of healthy animals. If physiological responses to environments with high infection risk take place during reproduction, it is possible that they lead to maternal effects. Understanding whether and how high infection risk triggers maternal effects is important to elucidate how the impacts of infectious agents extend beyond infected individuals and how, in this way, they are even stronger evolutionary forces than already considered. Here, to evaluate the effects of …


Female Presence Does Not Increase Testosterone But Still Ameliorates Sickness Behaviours In Male Japanese Quail, Brenna M. G. Gormally, Kaelyn Bridgette, Aubrey Emmi, Delilah Schuerman, Patricia C. Lopes May 2022

Female Presence Does Not Increase Testosterone But Still Ameliorates Sickness Behaviours In Male Japanese Quail, Brenna M. G. Gormally, Kaelyn Bridgette, Aubrey Emmi, Delilah Schuerman, Patricia C. Lopes

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Infections can dramatically modify animal behaviour. The extent of these changes depends on an animal's environment. It has been proposed that testosterone modulates the suppression of behavioural symptoms of sickness under certain reproductive contexts. To further understand the role played by testosterone in modulating sickness behaviours under reproductive contexts, we studied a species, the Japanese quail, in which female exposure rapidly decreases circulating testosterone in males. Males received either an immune challenge (lipopolysaccharide – LPS) or a control injection and their behaviours, mass change and testosterone levels were quantified in the presence or absence of a female. Both the presence …