Biology subjects

Otto, H. W.

Publications and source records attributed to Otto, H. W..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2022

Spatiotemporal variation in the competitive environment, with implications for how climate change may affect a species with parental care.

Burying beetles of the genus Nicrophorus have become a model for studying the evolution of complex parental care in a laboratory. Nicrophorus species depend on small vertebrate carcasses to breed, which they process and provision to their begging offspring. However, vertebrate carcasses are highly sought after by a wide variety of species and so competition is expected to be critical to the evolution of parental care. Despite this, the competitive environment for Nicrophorus is rarely characterized in the wild and remains a missing factor in laboratory studies. Here, we performed a systematic sampling of Nicrophorus orbicollis living near the southern extent of their range at Whitehall Forest in Clarke County, Georgia, USA. We determined the density of N. orbicollis and other necrophilous species that may affect the availability of this breeding resource through interference or exploitation competition. In addition, we characterize body size, a key trait involved in competitive ability, for all Nicrophorus species at Whitehall Forest throughout the season. Finally, we compare our findings to other published natural history data for Nicrophorines. We document a significantly longer active season than was observed twenty years previously at Whitehall Forest for both N. orbicollis and Nicrophorus tomentosus, potentially due to climate change. As expected, the adult body size of N. orbicollis was larger than N. tomentosus, the only other Nicrophorus species that was captured in 2022 at Whitehall Forest. The other most prevalent interspecific insects captured included species in the families Staphylinidae, Histeridae, Scarabaeidae, and Elateridae, which may act as competitors or predators of Nicrophorus eggs and larvae. Together, our results indicate significant variation in intra- and interspecific competition relative to populations within the N. orbicollis range. These findings suggest that the competitive environment varies extensively over space and time, which help to inform the role of ecology in the evolution of parental care in this species.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

Isolation and Divergence of Peromyscus melanotis Populations Across the Madrean Sky Islands in Arizona

The Madrean sky islands have been studied for decades due to their high biodiversity, which results from the intersection of biomes and their role as refugia for populations isolated on mountain tops during the last ice age. There has been controversy and confusion about the identification of Peromyscus sp. found in the montane forests on these sky islands, which is often assumed to be the widespread and ubiquitous P. maniculatus. Here, we provide mitochondrial phylogenetic data suggesting that all individuals of Peromyscus captured on three isolated mountains in southern Arizona are Peromyscus melanotis, a species previously thought endemic to Mexico. Furthermore, with molecular clock analyses on two mitochondrial loci we show these populations have been isolated from each other for [~]11,000-50,000 years, corresponding to the transition from the last ice age. These isolated populations represent important conservation targets due to habitat loss. In addition, we suggest that future genomic and ecological research is warranted to better understand these unique populations.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2021

Evolution and diversity of bat and rodent Paramyxoviruses from North America

Paramyxoviruses are a diverse group of negative-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses of which several species cause significant mortality and morbidity. In recent years the collection of paramyxoviruses sequences detected in wild mammals has substantially grown, however little is known about paramyxovirus diversity in North American mammals. To better understand natural paramyxovirus diversity, host range, and host specificity, we sought to comprehensively characterize paramyxoviruses across a range of diverse co-occurring wild small mammals in Southern Arizona. We used highly degenerate primers to screen fecal and urine samples and obtained a total of 55 paramyxovirus sequences from 12 rodent species and 6 bat species. We also performed illumina RNA-seq and de novo assembly on 14 of the positive samples to recover a total of 5 near full-length viral genomes. We show there are at least 2 clades of rodent-borne paramyxoviruses in Arizona, while bat-associated paramyxoviruses formed a putative single clade. Using structural homology modeling of the viral attachment protein, we infer that three of the five novel viruses likely bind sialic acid in a manner similar to other Respiroviruses, while the other two viruses from Heteromyid rodents likely bind a novel host receptor. We find no evidence for cross-species transmission, even among closely related sympatric host species. Taken together, these data suggest paramyxoviruses are a common viral infection in some bat and rodent species present in North America, and illuminate the evolution of these viruses. ImportanceThere are a number of viral lineages that are potential zoonotic threats to humans. One of these, paramyxoviruses, have jumped into humans multiple times from wild and domestic animals. We conducted one of the largest viral surveys of wild mammals in the United States to better understand paramyxovirus diversity and evolution.

evolutionary biology↗