Secondary sexual coloration and CSF 5-HIAA are correlated in vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus)
BACKGROUND: Identifying indirect markers of the physiology or neuroendocrinology of a primate can provide a powerful tool to scientists. Anecdotal descriptions and recent experimental evidence suggests that the colorful sexual skin in adult male vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus) might be sensitive to social changes, including dominance relationships, which could be related to serotonergic activity. […]
Perch color preference in juvenile green tree pythons, Chondropython viridis
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.1430130106.abs Green tree pythons, Chondropython viridis, are polymorphic for color as juveniles, commonly being primarily yellow or brown until becoming mostly green at about 1 year of age. We tested the hypothesis that the different morphs arose as a result of selection for differential background matching, yellow morphs selecting light-colored backgrounds, and brown morphs […]
Parents take both size and conspicuousness into account when feeding nestlings in dark cavity nests
Parent birds respond to a variety of cues from their offspring when provisioning them with food. Bright flange colours and large body size are two traits of offspring that many parents seem to favour, but little is known about how such traits interact. By experimentally altering the difference in mass between nestmates while concurrently blackening […]
Moths on tree trunks seek out more cryptic positions when their current crypticity is low
Many animals use camouflage to avoid predation. Their crypticity, that is, the degree of a visual match between the animal’s body and the background, affects their survival. Therefore, they may develop the ability to choose an appropriate background, which matches the animal’s own colour pattern. We have previously shown that moths, Hypomecis roboraria, have the […]