BehavEcolPapers

The effect of bilateral knee osteoarthritis on spatiotemporal gait parameters during incline walking: implications for gait rehabilitation @peerj.bsky.social

BEEhaviourLab: A high-throughput platform for sublethal stressor screening in insects Chemical risk assessment for insects relies largely on mortality endpoints in a few model species, limiting detection of ecologically relevant sublethal effects and cross-taxon comparisons. Behaviour is a sensitive indicator of neurotoxic stress, but scalable, standardised measurement has remained challenging. We present BEEhaviourLab, a low-cost, automated platform for high-throughput behavioural phenotyping. The system integrates parallel video and audio recording with computer vision tracking, acoustic classification, experimental control, and automated analyses, enabling long-duration experiments across many replicates and species. A single lightweight object-detection model tracks multiple untagged insects simultaneously, including individuals from different taxa (e.g., bees and hoverflies). Using this platform, we quantify species-specific circadian activity patterns and assess toxicity of the widely used veterinary pesticide moxidectin in the bumble bee (Bombus terrestris). Acute contact exposure caused dose-dependent reductions in locomotion and buzzing at sublethal concentrations, with acoustic measures more sensitive than video. These results demonstrate that scalable, multimodal behavioural phenotyping can detect biologically meaningful neurotoxic disruption well below lethal thresholds, providing a practical path to integrate sublethal endpoints into chemical risk assessment.

BEEhaviourLab: A high-throughput platform for sublethal stressor screening in insects bioRxivpreprint

Host plant phylogeny predicts arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities, but plant life history and fungal genetic change predict feedback by Robert J. Ramos, Brianna L. Richards, Peggy A. Schultz, James D. Bever Symbioses exert strong influence on host phenotypes; however, benefits from symbionts can increase or degrade over time. Understanding the context-dependence of reinforcing or degrading dynamics is pivotal to predicting stability of symbiotic benefits. Host phylogenetic relationships and host life history traits are two candidate axes that have been proposed to structure symbioses. However, the relative influence of host evolutionary history and life history on symbiont composition, and whether changes in symbiont composition translate into stronger mutualistic benefits is unknown. We tested the influence of plant phylogenetic relationships and plant life history on the composition of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, perhaps the most ancestral and influential of plant symbionts, and then tested whether AM fungal differentiation resulted in improved mutualism as expected from coadaptation. We constructed mycobiomes composed of seven AM fungal isolates derived from tallgrass prairie and grew them for two growing seasons with 38 grassland plant species. We found that host phylogenetic structure was a significant predictor of the composition of AM fungal communities and the genetic composition of AM fungal species, patterns consistent with phylosymbiosis. However, the phylogenetic structure of AM fungi failed to translate to improved benefits to their host. While AM fungi generally improved plant growth and mycorrhizal feedback was generally positive, the strength of feedback was not predicted by plant phylogenetic distance. The composition of the AM fungal community and genetic composition within AM fungal species were also significantly influenced by plant life history and feedbacks between early and late successional species were generally positive. Interestingly, positive mycorrhizal feedback was predicted by changes in genetic composition of the two most abundant AM fungal species, not by changes in species composition. Positive mycorrhizal feedbacks across life history can mediate plant species turnover during succession and suggests that consideration of mycorrhizal dynamics could improve ecosystem restoration.

Host plant phylogeny predicts arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities, but plant life history and fungal genetic change predict feedback @PLOSBiology.org

Real-time eructation event prediction in livestock using head vibrations and machine-learning in an IoT wearable device SciReports

Accelerated discovery of highly active enzyme nanohybrids with parallelized Bayesian optimization in hybrid space @natcomms.nature.com

Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 16, Pages 287: The ‘Conceptual Distance Effect’ in the Causal Effects Under Experimental Manipulation Between Attitude and Stereotype BehSciMDPI

Step-by-step guide and checklists for selecting and conducting an evidence synthesis study using a framework for approaches and methods in evidence synthesis (FRAMES) Findings from multiple studies are used to develop informed decisions for future research and clinical practices. Evidence synthesis methods, in general, are recommended for synthesizing findings from multiple studies. Among all evidence synthesis methods, a high-quality systematic review is required for answering a specific, focused research question from an abundance of literature. Although the choice of a systematic review among all other evidence syntheses depends on the formulated question related to estimation or hypothesis, and the availability of high-quality original studies, evidence syntheses not adhering to systematic review guidelines are also referred to as systematic reviews in the literature. Moreover, planning, designing, analyzing, and reporting a systematic review and meta-analysis requires multiple steps that are not included in the standard checklist documents, such as preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis (PRISMA) or meta-analysis of observational studies in epidemiology (MOOSE). It is also unclear to investigators how to properly select a type of evidence synthesis method and the steps involved in conducting a meta-analysis. Although multiple documents are available for selecting appropriate evidence synthesis methods, writing a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis, and conducting meta-analyses, there is no single report that consolidates all of these in a comprehensive framework. Given emerging challenges in the quality of published systematic reviews, this report aims to facilitate a framework for approaches and methods in evidence synthesis (FRAMES) to readers in (a) understanding types of evidence synthesis methods with specific focus to a systematic reviews and meta-analyses, (b) explaining the objectives of meta-analysis study, (c) describing the steps and resources in conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis, and (d) exemplifying the challenges and their potential solutions in a meta-analysis study. This report provides evidence-based biostatistics checklists for conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis, and writing steps for a systematic review study. I believe the adoption of this guidance document in research and training for the conduct and writing of an evidence synthesis study can have a far-reaching impact on producing high-quality evidence for research and clinical practices.

Step-by-step guide and checklists for selecting and conducting an evidence synthesis study using a framework for approaches and methods in evidence synthesis (FRAMES) @peerj.bsky.social

Space-number association in zebrafish Spatial-numerical associations reflect the tendency to map small numerosities to the left and larger numerosities to the right. Although widely documented in humans and some non-human species, its presence in teleost fish has remained unclear. Here, we investigated whether zebrafish exhibit a spatial-numerical association by presenting fish with a left-right numerical discrimination task in a controlled behavioral assay. Zebrafish showed a reliable leftward preference when selecting smaller numerosities and a rightward preference when selecting larger ones, indicating a systematic coupling between numerical magnitude and spatial direction. These results provide the first evidence of a number-space association in zebrafish and demonstrate that number-space mapping extends to a basal vertebrate lineage. This establishes zebrafish as a tractable model for probing the neurobiological foundations of number-space associations.

Space-number association in zebrafish bioRxivpreprint

Post-fledging space use and survival in hand-reared versuswild juvenile herring gulls Parental care can shape post-fledging behaviour through provisioning, guidance and social information, yet its absence may alter how young birds establish space use and habitat preferences. We tested the consequences of absent parental care by comparing, hand-reared juvenile herring gulls released without parents with wild, parent-reared conspecifics, focusing on the first two months after fledging. Wild juveniles frequently revisited their natal nest during the first month, whereas hand-reared birds rarely returned to the release site; revisits declined in both groups by the second month but remained more common in wild birds. Wild juveniles used smaller ranges that subsequently expanded, while hand-reared birds began with larger ranges that later contracted, leading to convergence. Contrary to expectation, wild juveniles occurred in areas with higher human population density than hand-reared birds. Habitat use also differed between groups and changed over time. Early on, wild juveniles concentrated activity in anthropogenic and marine habitats, whereas hand-reared birds used rural green habitats more. Later, both groups shifted away from marine areas towards rural green habitats, reducing but not eliminating between-group differences. Short-term survival, did not differ between hand-reared and wild juveniles, indicating that parental care primarily reshaped early space use and habitat choice rather than immediate survival.

Post-fledging space use and survival in hand-reared versuswild juvenile herring gulls bioRxivpreprint

#behavioral convergence under urbanization: An overlooked dimension of biotic homogenization @PLOSBiology.org

A first approach to investigate characteristics of piling #behavior in individual laying hens AAnimBehS

The effects of normal fault movement on the failure mechanism of water conveyance tunnels considering multi-field interaction SciReports

Clashing in Murky Waters: On Amphibian Mosquito Suppression Ecology and Evolution, Volume 16, Issue 3, March 2026.

Clashing in Murky Waters: On Amphibian Mosquito Suppression Ecol&Evol

ICYMI: USP7 deubiquitinase stabilizes FAN1 to support DNA crosslink repair and suppress CAG repeat expansion @natcomms.nature.com

Humans 40,000 y ago developed a system of conventional signs Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 9, March 2026. SignificanceHumans have carved visual signs into the surfaces of mobile artifacts and cave walls since several hundred thousand years. We here analyze a 40,000 y old assemblage of mobile artifacts bearing sequences of intentionally engraved geometric ...

Humans 40,000 y ago developed a system of conventional signs @PNAS.org

Long‐term, high‐resolution field monitoring reveals increased temporal persistence of larger aggregations in fruit flies Ecological Entomology, EarlyView.

Long‐term, high‐resolution field monitoring reveals increased temporal persistence of larger aggregations in fruit flies EcolEntomol

Light spectra influence biomass and phenolics while sustaining high fucoxanthin in the tropical indigenous diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii Microalgae are promising sustainable sources of bioactive compounds for food and pharmaceutical applications. In this study, the tropical indigenous diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii TRG10-P105 (TW P105) was investigated under various light spectra to evaluate biomass and metabolite productivity for industrial cultivation. Cultures were grown under white, red, blue, combined red–blue, and white supplemented with UV-A light, and assessed for growth, pigment composition, fucoxanthin (Fx), and total phenolic content (TPC). Broad-spectrum white light supported the highest growth (30.17 ± 2.06% d−1), biomass productivity, chlorophylls, carotenoids, and TPC (8.63 ± 0.07 mg GAE g−1 dw). Conversely, growth in the white-UV group was initially suppressed but resumed from day 5 onwards as UV-A was introduced, resulting in a specific growth rate (SGR) of 10.94 ± 3.96% d−1, biomass accumulation of 0.017 ± 0.00 g L−1, and productivity of 0.002 ± 0.000 g L−1 d−1. The reduced pigment content and TPC observed in the white–UV treatment suggest that the short UV-A exposure period (days 5–7) limited the induction of photoprotective and antioxidant responses. However, Fx levels remained consistently high across spectra (17.27–18.49 mg g−1 dw), indicating that TW P105 maintains near-maximal Fx accumulation even under low-light conditions or suppressive white-UV conditions (15.06 ± 0.69 mg g−1 dw). These values exceeded most previously reported values by 1.9–13.2 fold. Collectively, these findings show that spectral quality can be used to fine-tune phenolic and antioxidant production, while white light maximizes biomass, carotenoid, and TPC yields. This study provides a technical foundation for spectral control in large-scale algal production and supports the industrial potential of TW P105 as a scalable, cost-effective source of fucoxanthin-rich biomass for nutraceutical, functional food, and pharmaceutical applications.

Light spectra influence biomass and phenolics while sustaining high fucoxanthin in the tropical indigenous diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii @peerj.bsky.social

Inhibitory control training and unhealthy behaviours: a meta-analysis testing short and long- term effects in clinical and at-risk populations SciReports

Different Paradigms from Computer Vision Align with Human Assessment of the Mouse Grimace Scale Animal welfare is a central aspect in animal-based research where mice are most commonly used. Their facial expression can be analyzed to assess their well-being status using the Mouse Grimace Scale. However, its manual application becomes increasingly impractical when used on a large number of animals. This lead to the ongoing integration of computer vision methods to automate the analysis. While such methods have proven effective qualitatively, a systematic assessment to verify their reliability largely remains an open research gap. In this work, we attempted to close this gap as we evaluated three dominant paradigms (i.e., classification from supervised learning features, self-supervised learning features, or landmark locations) for the binary (i.e., well-being un-/impaired) classification of facial mouse images. Our quantitative results showed that such methods can be employed successfully with as low as 16% type II error rates. For qualitative assessment, we visualized the decision-making process and demonstrated that mainly pixels associated with the mouse rather than its environment are used. We further discovered that visual characteristics of the mice beyond those described by the Mouse Grimace Scale contributed to the classification. Our work showed that the automated well-being status assessment in mice is trustworthy and urges towards widespread adoption.

Different Paradigms from Computer Vision Align with Human Assessment of the Mouse Grimace Scale bioRxivpreprint

ICYMI: Altering the carbohydrate-binding specificity of the legume lectin FRIL through structure-guided engineering @natcomms.nature.com

Deep learning in biology faces a transferability crisis @PLOSBiology.org

Vocal and display differences in an island form of a lekking species with an acrobatic dance routine AnimBeh

Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 16, Pages 284: The Impact of Experience on Motion Information Processing: An ERP Study The purpose is to investigate how sports experience influences the processing of motor-related information. Sixty participants with differing levels of sports experience were recruited: 20 table tennis athletes, 20 athletes from other sports, and 20 non-athletes. A total of 150 images depicting table-tennis scenarios, divided into competitive and non-competitive, were shown to participates and recorded their electroencephalographic responses. We found that both table tennis and ordinary athletes exhibited significantly smaller P3 amplitudes in the parietal region compared with non-athletes. In addition, under competitive conditions, athletes showed larger N2 amplitudes in the central region than non-athletes. However, no significant difference in N2 amplitude was observed between table tennis athletes and athletes from other sports. These findings indicate that greater sports experience reduces the cognitive resources required for processing motor-related information and enhances individuals’ abilities in conflict monitoring and response inhibition. Furthermore, the effects of sports experience appear to be transferable across different athletic domains.

Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 16, Pages 284: The Impact of Experience on Motion Information Processing: An ERP Study BehSciMDPI

Escaping bottlenecks: The demographic path to genetic recovery in koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) | Science Population bottlenecks can lead to evolutionary dead ends by eroding genetic diversity and intensifying inbreeding. Although theory predicts possible escape routes, direct observations of this process are rare. Using whole-genome data from 418 koalas, we ...

ICYMI: Escaping bottlenecks: The demographic path to genetic recovery in koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) | Science @Science.org

Role of apelin as a biomarker in functional recovery and post-stroke-associated sarcopenia: insights from rehabilitation therapy Background Skeletal muscles play critical roles in mobility, respiratory function, and metabolic regulation by releasing myokines. Age-related sarcopenia, characterized by the loss of muscle mass and function, exacerbates health outcomes, including disability and mortality. Stroke survivors are particularly vulnerable to muscle wasting, known as stroke-related sarcopenia, which affects their recovery and quality of life. This study aimed to investigate the effects of rehabilitation on apelin expression, clinical outcomes, and psychosocial well-being in stroke survivors. Methods This single-center observational study enrolled 23 patients with stroke who underwent rehabilitation. Outcome measures included apelin concentration using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, cytokine profiling, skeletal muscle index (SMI), phase angle, grip strength, balance, functional scores (Modified Barthel Index, Berg Balance Scale), and psychosocial measures (SF-12, Fatigue Severity Scale). Data were collected at baseline and discharge after 4–6 weeks of rehabilitation. Results Apelin levels increased significantly after rehabilitation (46.81–59.23 ng/mL, p 

Role of apelin as a biomarker in functional recovery and post-stroke-associated sarcopenia: insights from rehabilitation therapy @peerj.bsky.social

Orang-utans and chimpanzees cooperate strategically based on the partner’s incentives AnimBeh

Acquisition and extinction of drug-context memories are linked to distinct epigenetic and transcriptional mechanisms in the mouse dentate gyrus Acquisition and extinction of drug-context associations both involve learning, yet whether extinction erases the original drug memory remains unresolved. As learning is associated with epigenetically mediated transcriptional plasticity, we asked whether acquisition-induced DNA methylation and gene expression changes are reversed by extinction, or whether extinction induces its own distinct methylation and transcriptional changes. Here, we show that both acquisition and extinction of cocaine conditioned place preference (CPP) preferentially hypomethylated cis-regulatory elements and upregulated transcription, but at largely non-overlapping genomic regions and genes in the dorsal dentate gyrus, a key region in contextual learning. In both learning paradigms, the number of differentially expressed genes was an order of magnitude smaller than those differentially methylated, highlighting the robustness of the transcriptional network to epigenetic modifications, and implicating a non-linear relationship between regulatory elements and transcription characteristic for gene regulatory networks (GRNs). Notably, animals that failed to extinguish cocaine CPP displayed attenuated DNA methylation changes and minimal transcriptional response, consistent with the stochastic output of GRNs to produce alternative outcomes across individuals. Acquisition-upregulated genes were enriched in neuronal cilium functions, consistent with the known role of primary cilia in hippocampal learning and the persistence of drug-context memories through stable axo-ciliary signaling. In contrast, extinction-upregulated genes were overrepresented in mitochondrial energy homeostasis functions, suggesting their role in meeting rapid energy demands during learning. Overall, acquisition and extinction engage fundamentally distinct molecular mechanisms, providing a potential mechanistic explanation for why drug-context memories are suppressed but not erased by extinction.

Acquisition and extinction of drug-context memories are linked to distinct epigenetic and transcriptional mechanisms in the mouse dentate gyrus bioRxivpreprint

A preliminary study on the impacts of exercise intensity and duration on gastrointestinal temperature and odor detection performance of #dogs AAnimBehS

Contact calling is predicted by cooperative relationships in vampire bats Group-living animals often coordinate their behavior using "contact calls". Identifying the function of these calls requires testing whether they are intended for any group member or targeted to specific preferred associates. If contact calling is used to coordinate with preferred associates, then higher rates of contact calling are expected between group members with a history of more frequent affiliation and cooperation. To test this hypothesis, we constructed a contact-calling network using synchronized recordings of vocal interactions between all 28 possible pairs of 8 female common vampire bats with well-sampled histories of social grooming and regurgitated food sharing. Bayesian multilevel models show that pairwise rates of contact calling were clearly predicted by social grooming and cooperative allofeeding rates in ways not explained by kinship. These findings show that common vampire bats use contact calls to coordinate with specific same-sex associates, unlike other studied bat species where individuals produce contact calls at similar rates towards different group members. We also found that, compared to white-winged vampire bats, common vampire bats are ten times less likely to rapidly respond to a contact call; this suggests yet-to-be-discovered differences in social behavior between vampire bat species. Finally, we discuss implications for the "vocal grooming" hypothesis.

Contact calling is predicted by cooperative relationships in vampire bats bioRxivpreprint

Social tolerance mediates social learning in wild red-fronted lemurs, Eulemur rufifrons, and ring-tailed lemurs, Lemur catta AnimBeh