Are naked and common mole-rats eusocial and if so, why?

Eusociality in mammals is defined in the present paper by the following criteria: reproductive altruism (which involves reproductive division of labor and cooperative alloparental brood care), overlap of adult generations, and permanent (lifelong) philopatry. We argue that additional criteria such as the existence of castes, colony size, reproductive skew, and social cohesion are not pertinent to the definition of eusociality in mammals. According to our definition of mammalian eusociality, several rodent species of the African family Bathyergidae can be considered eusocial, including the naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber), Damaraland mole-rat (Cryptomys damarensis), and several additional, if not all, species in the genus Cryptomys. Furthermore, some species of social voles (like Microtus ochrogaster) may also fulfill criteria of mammalian eusociality. Understanding the evolution of eusociality in mole-rats requires answers to two primary questions: (1) What are the preconditions for the development of their eusocial systems? (2) Why do offspring remain in the natal group rather than dispersing and reproducing? Eusociality in mammals is by definition a special case of monogamy (more specifically: monogyny one female breeding), involving prolonged pair bonding for more than one breeding period. We argue that eusociality in mole-rats evolved from a monogamous mating system where cooperative brood care was already established. A tendency for group living is considered to be an ancestral (plesiomorph) trait among African bathyergid mole-rats, linking them to other hystricognath rodents. A solitary lifestyle seen in some genera, such as Bathyergus, Georychus, and Heliophobius, is assumed to be a derived trait that arose independently in different lineages of bathyergids, possibly as a consequence of selective constraints associated with the subterranean environment. In proximate terms, in eusocial mole-rats either puberty is assumed to be developmentally delayed so that under natural conditions most animals die before dispersal is triggered (e.g., in the case of Heterocephalus) or dispersal is induced only by an incidental encounter with an unfamiliar, yet adequate sexual partner (e.g., in the case of Cryptomys). Ultimately, a combination of strategies involving either dispersal and/or philopatry can be beneficial, especially in a highly unpredictable environment. If genetic relatedness among siblings is high (e.g., a coefficient of relatedness of 0.5 or more), then philopatry would not invoke an appreciable loss of fitness, especially if the cost of dispersing is higher than staying within the natal group. High genetic relatedness is more likely in a monogamous mating system or a highly inbred population. In this paper, we argue that the preconditions for eusociality in bathyergid mole-rats were a monogamous mating system and high genetic relatedness among individuals. We argue against the aridity food-distribution hypothesis (AFDH) that suggests a causal relationship between cooperative foraging for patchily distributed resources and the origin of eusociality. The AFDH may explain group size dynamics of social mole-rats as a function of the distribution and availability of resources but it is inadequate to explain the formation of eusocial societies of mole-rats, especially with respect to providing preconditions conducive for the emergence of eusociality.     

固氮放线菌Frankia与放线菌根植物共生进化的研究进展

固氮放线菌Frankia是能够诱导大范围的放线菌根植物(actinorhizal plants)产生根瘤放线菌.放线菌根植物是植物受Frankia侵染后能够形成根瘤的植物[1].目前,它们之间的进化研究虽然取得了很大进展,但是仍然存在许多不清楚的东西.本文根据最近对植物和Frankia系统进化研究成果、根瘤中放线菌Frankia的多样性研究情况,综述放线菌根植物和共生Frankia进化的研究进展.     

Song ranging by the dusky antbird,Cercomacra tyrannina: ranging without song learning

In a population of dusky antbirds (Cercomacra tyrannina), less aggressive responses to distance-degraded playbacks than to undegraded playbacks of pair duets show that this tropical suboscine passerine uses sound degradation to range distance from singing conspecifics. This is the first example of song-ranging in a species that does not learn songs, supporting the hypothesis that ranging preceded the song learning that occurs in more recently evolved passerine birds (oscines). Both sexes sing and are able to use song degradation to range distance from singers when their sex-specific song is played back. Received: 27 May 1994/Accepted after revision: 24 March 1996     

Female choice on male quantitative traits in lizards — why is it so rare?

Female choice on the basis of male traits has been described in an array of taxa but has rarely been demonstrated in reptiles. In the sand lizard (Lacerta agilis), and possibly in other non-territorial reptiles, a male's contribution to a female's fitness is restricted to his genes. In order to choose males of high genetic quality, females have to trade the fitness gain against the costs of active choice. In a Swedish population of sand lizards, long-lived males sired offspring with higher embryonic survival compared to offspring sired by short-lived males. In spite of this female sand lizards did not mate selectively with older and/or larger males. There appeared to be mo reliable cues to male longevity; age-specific male body size was highly variable. Furthermore, estimates of male nuptial coloration did not covary with ectoparasite load and, hence, females cannot use male coloration as a cue to heritable resistance to pathogenic parasite effects. When cues to male genetic quality are poor, or inaccurate, and males make no parental investment, we predict that female choice will be rare. Sand lizard females mating with many partners lay clutches with higher hatching success. Thus, females may obtain good genes for their young by multiple mating, thereby avoiding costs associated with mate choice.     

A test of reproductive skew models in a field population of a multiple-queen ant

Determining the evolutionary basis of variation in reproductive skew (degree of sharing of reproduction among coexisting individuals) is an important task both because skew varies widely across social taxa and because testing models of skew evolution permits tests of kin selection theory. Using parentage analyses based on microsatellite markers, we measured skew among female eggs (n=32.3 eggs per colony, range=20–68) in 17 polygynous colonies from a UK field population of the ant Leptothorax acervorum. We used skew among eggs as our principal measure of skew because of the high degree of queen turnover in the study population. Queens within colonies did not make significantly unequal contributions to queen and worker adult or pupal offspring, indicating that skew among female eggs reflected skew among daughter queens. On average, both skew among female eggs (measured by the B index) and queen–queen relatedness proved to be low (means±SE=0.06±0.02 and 0.28±0.08, respectively). However, contrary to current skew models, there was no significant association of skew with either relatedness or worker number (used as a measure of productivity). In L. acervorum, predictions of the concession model of skew may hold between but not within populations because queens are unable to assess their relatedness to other queens within colonies. Additional phenomena that may help maintain low skew in the study population include indiscriminate infanticide in the form of egg cannibalism and split sex ratios that penalize reproductive monopoly by single queens within polygynous colonies.     

Selection on social traits in greater spear-nosed bats, Phyllostomus hastatus

Many studies assume that selection molds social traits and have investigated the manner in which this occurs, yet very few studies have measured the strength of selection on social traits in natural populations. In this paper, I report results of phenotypic selection analyses on two social traits – the size of social groups and the frequency of group foraging – in Phyllostomus hastatus, the greater spear-nosed bat. I found significant positive directional selection on individual group foraging frequency, but no directional selection on individuals in different-sized social groups. These results have implications for the structure of social groups, cooperative behavior among group mates, and maternal investment strategies. I argue that combining studies of natural selection on wild populations with experiments to identify the agents and mechanisms of selection can do much to increase our understanding of social evolution.     

The two reindeer parasites,Hypoderma tarandi andCephenemyia trompe (Oestridae), have evolved similar olfactory receptor abilities to volatiles from their common host

Summary Using the linked gas chromatographical/electroantennogram (GC/EAG) technique it was revealed that the reindeer warble fly (H. tarandi) was specifically able to sense the same components from reindeer interdigital pheromone gland as the reindeer nose bot fly (C. trompe) another reindeer endoparasite. These two species belong to the same family (Oestridae), but different subfamilies, and the evolution towards an endoparasitic life cycle is thought to have been independent. The development of olfactory abilities to find reindeer from long distances is hypothesized to have taken place through convergent evolution or exists because of their common ancestry.     

湿式煤气柜施工安全措施的制订

针对正在运行的湿式煤气柜防火间距不够的位置动火建造大10倍的湿式煤气柜的实际情况,采取现场调查、安全系统分析,制订切实可行的措施,顺利完成施工任务。     

长江上游沿江产业带产业结构演进研究

长江上游沿江产业带是一个资源富集,开发潜力巨大的区域,既是长江产业带的重要组成部分,也是西南地区经济发展的重心地带。区域经济的快速发展有赖于区域产业结构的有序演进。本文在分析长江上游沿江产业带产业结构演进背景－产业基础,经济基础,资源基础和宏观环境的基础上,根据国外产业结构演进手一般经验,对本区产业结构演进的历史进程和目前所处阶段进行了分析和判定。     

粉煤灰改性吸附材料处理沥青烟气

分析了粉煤灰改性后的物质基础 ,采用吸附法 ,利用改性粉煤灰作为吸附剂对沥青烟气进行处理 ,通过实验研究得到一定的运行参数 ,为沥青烟气的处理提供了理论依据