Effects of relational and instrumental messaging on human perception of rattlesnakes.

We tested the effects of relational and instrumental message strategies on US residents' perception of rattlesnakes-animals that tend to generate feelings of fear, disgust, or hatred but are nevertheless key members of healthy ecosystems. We deployed an online survey to social media users (n = 1,182) to describe perceptions of rattlesnakes and assess the change after viewing a randomly selected relational or instrumental video message. An 8-item, pre-and post-Rattlesnake Perception Test (RPT) evaluated perception variables along emotional, knowledge, and behavioral gradients on a 5-point Likert scale; the eight responses were combined to produce an Aggregate Rattlesnake Perception (ARP) score for each participant. We found that people from Abrahamic religions (i.e., Christianity, Judaism, Islam) and those identifying as female were associated with low initial perceptions of rattlesnakes, whereas agnostics and individuals residing in the Midwest region and in rural residential areas had relatively favorable perceptions. Overall, both videos produced positive changes in rattlesnake perception, although the instrumental video message led to a greater increase in ARP than the relational message. The relational message was associated with significant increases in ARP only among females, agnostics, Baby Boomers (age 57-75), and Generation-Z (age 18-25 to exclude minors). The instrumental video message was associated with significant increases in ARP, and this result varied by religious group. ARP changed less in those reporting prior experience with a venomous snake bite (to them, a friend, or a pet) than in those with no such experience. Our data suggest that relational and instrumental message strategies can improve people's perceptions of unpopular and potentially dangerous wildlife, but their effectiveness may vary by gender, age, religious beliefs, and experience. These results can be used to hone and personalize communication strategies to improve perceptions of unpopular wildlife species.

Reproductive season-based plasticity in the size and strength of female crayfish (Faxonius obscurus) claws.

Animal weapons are morphological traits that improve the fighting ability of the wielder and are associated with competition. These traits are typically sexually dimorphic, with males possessing weaponry and females lacking weaponry. However, in some cases, like in many crustaceans, both males and females wield enlarged claws, which may function as weapons. Further, animal weapons may vary in their size, shape, and performance, with theory predicting that selection pressure for weaponry should be the highest when the importance of fights is the greatest, such as during a reproductive season. However, the degree and direction of selection may vary based on sex and season, with females potentially benefiting from wielding larger weapons during nonreproductive seasons. Crayfishes offer an ideal system to investigate how weapon phenotypes change across reproductive seasons since both males and females undergo a form alteration associated with reproduction. Thus, we investigated whether female Allegheny crayfish, Faxonius obscurus, claws change in size, shape, or pinching strength based on whether a female is in a reproductive or nonreproductive form. We found that female F. obscurus claws are larger and stronger during the reproductive season. These findings align with previous research on males of the same species. We discuss how predictions about the relationship between seasonality and weapon investment may differ based on sex.

On the surface or down below: Field observations reveal a high degree of surface activity in a burrowing crayfish, the Little Brown Mudbug (Lacunicambarus thomai).

Opposed to most crayfish species that inhabit permanent bodies of water, a unique burrowing lifestyle has evolved several times throughout the crayfish phylogeny. Burrowing crayfish are considered to be semi-terrestrial, as they burrow to the groundwater-creating complex burrows that occasionally reach 3 m in depth. Because burrowing crayfishes spend most of their lives within their burrow, we lack a basic understanding of the behavior and natural history of these species. However, recent work suggests that burrowing crayfishes may exhibit a higher level of surface activity than previously thought. In the current study, we conducted a behavioral study of the Little Brown Mudbug, Lacunicambarus thomai using video surveillance to determine their degree of surface activity and behavioral patterns. Throughout 664 hrs of footage, we observed a surprisingly high amount of activity at the surface of their burrows-both during the day and night. The percentage of time that individual crayfish was observed at the surface ranged from 21% to 69% per individual, with an average of 42.48% of the time spent at the surface across all crayfish. Additionally, we created an ethogram based on six observed behaviors and found that each behavior had a strong circadian effect. For example, we only observed a single observation of foraging on vegetation during the day, whereas 270 observations of this behavior were documented at night. Overall, our results suggest that burrowing crayfishes may exhibit higher levels of surface activity than previously thought. To increase our understanding of burrowing crayfish behaviors ecology, we encourage the continued use of video-recorded observations in the field and the laboratory.

Biomechanics influence sexual dimorphism in the giant mesquite bug, Thasus neocalifornicus.

In many species, males possess specialized weaponry that confers benefits during male-male combat. Because male weapons are often disproportionately larger versions of preexisting body parts, females often possess reduced versions of male weaponry. Most research focuses exclusively on sexual dimorphism in the size of male and female weapons, even though other aspects such as weapon performance can also explain the evolution of weapon sexual dimorphism. In the giant mesquite bug, Thasus neocalifornicus, males wield exaggerated hindlegs that aid in locomotion and are used as weapons to generate forceful squeezes during combat. However, female T. neocalifornicus hindlegs are relatively inconspicuous and only used for locomotion. To understand the intricacies of weapon sexual dimorphism in T. neocalifornicus hindlegs, we measured the allometry of their hindlegs morphology, biomechanics, and performance. Males and females had relatively similar sized legs when concerning only linear measurements: hindleg length did not differ between the sexes (both for intercept and slope), but males do have relatively wider hindlegs (greater intercepts). Regarding performance, however, males were relatively and proportionally stronger than females. Furthermore, the output lever of male hindlegs scales hypoallometrically and the tibial spine maintains its position as the hindlegs grows, both of which maintain the hindlegs' biomechanical efficiency as they increase in size. Overall, our finding demonstrates that selection on the performance and biomechanics of sexually selected weapons can influence the expression of sexual dimorphism, by exaggerating some aspects of the weapons morphology-but constraining others.

Moving in fast waters: the exaggerated claw gape of the New River crayfish (Cambarus chasmodactlyus) aids in locomotor performance.

Humans are inherently fascinated by exaggerated morphological structures such as elk antlers and peacock trains. Because these traits are costly to develop and wield, the environment in which they are used can select for specific sizes or shapes to minimize such costs. In aquatic environments, selection to reduce drag can constrain the form of exaggerated structures; this is presumably why exaggerated morphologies are less common in aquatic environments compared to terrestrial ones. Interestingly, some crayfish species possess claws with an exaggerated gape between their pinching fingers, but the function of this claw gape is unknown. Here, I describe and test the function of the exaggerated claw gape of the New River crayfish, Cambarus chasmodactylus. Specifically, I test the hypothesis that the claw gape aids in movement against flowing currents. I found that both claw size and gape size were sexually dimorphic in this species and that males have disproportionately larger gapes compared to females. By experimentally covering their claw gape and testing crayfish locomotor performance, I found that individuals with their gape blocked were 30% slower than crayfish with a natural gape. My results highlight a unique adaptation that compensates for wielding an exaggerated structure in aquatic environments.

Sex-specific microhabitat use is associated with sex-biased thermal physiology in Anolis lizards.

If fitness optima for a given trait differ between males and females in a population, sexual dimorphism may evolve. Sex-biased trait variation may affect patterns of habitat use, and if the microhabitats used by each sex have dissimilar microclimates, this can drive sex-specific selection on thermal physiology. Nevertheless, tests of differences between the sexes in thermal physiology are uncommon, and studies linking these differences to microhabitat use or behavior are even rarer. We examined microhabitat use and thermal physiology in two ectothermic congeners that are ecologically similar but differ in their degree of sexual size dimorphism. Brown anoles (Anolis sagrei) exhibit male-biased sexual size dimorphism and live in thermally heterogeneous habitats, whereas slender anoles (Anolis apletophallus) are sexually monomorphic in body size and live in thermally homogeneous habitats. We hypothesized that differences in habitat use between the sexes would drive sexual divergence in thermal physiology in brown anoles, but not slender anoles, because male and female brown anoles may be exposed to divergent microclimates. We found that male and female brown anoles, but not slender anoles, used perches with different thermal characteristics and were sexually dimorphic in thermal tolerance traits. However, field-active body temperatures and behavior in a laboratory thermal arena did not differ between females and males in either species. Our results suggest that sexual dimorphism in thermal physiology can arise from phenotypic plasticity or sex-specific selection on traits that are linked to thermal tolerance, rather than from direct effects of thermal environments experienced by males and females.

Ectoparasite extinction in simplified lizard assemblages during experimental island invasion.

Introduced species can become invasive, damaging ecosystems and disrupting economies through explosive population growth. One mechanism underlying population expansion in invasive populations is 'enemy release', whereby the invader experiences relaxation of agonistic interactions with other species, including parasites. However, direct observational evidence of release from parasitism during invasion is rare. We mimicked the early stages of invasion by experimentally translocating populations of mite-parasitized slender anole lizards (Anolis apletophallus) to islands that varied in the number of native anoles. Two islands were anole-free prior to the introduction, whereas a third island had a resident population of Gaige's anole (Anolis gaigei). We then characterized changes in trombiculid mite parasitism over multiple generations post-introduction. We found that mites rapidly went extinct on one-species islands, but that lizards introduced to the two-species island retained mites. After three generations, the two-species island had the highest total density and biomass of lizards, but the lowest density of the introduced species, implying that the 'invasion' had been less successful. This field-transplant study suggests that native species can be 'enemy reservoirs' that facilitate co-colonization of ectoparasites with the invasive host. Broadly, these results indicate that the presence of intact and diverse native communities may help to curb invasiveness.

The longer the better: evidence that narwhal tusks are sexually selected.

Once thought to be the magical horn of a unicorn, narwhal tusks are one of the most charismatic structures in biology. Despite years of speculation, little is known about the tusk's function, because narwhals spend most of their lives hidden underneath the Arctic ice. Some hypotheses propose that the tusk has sexual functions as a weapon or as a signal. By contrast, other hypotheses propose that the tusk functions as an environmental sensor. Since assessing the tusks function in nature is difficult, we can use the morphological relationships of tusk size with body size to understand this mysterious trait. To do so, we collected morphology data on 245 adult male narwhals over the course of 35 years. Based on the disproportional growth and large variation in tusk length we found, we provide the best evidence to date that narwhal tusks are indeed sexually selected. By combining our results on tusk scaling with known material properties of the tusk, we suggest that the narwhal tusk is a sexually selected signal that is used during male-male contests.