What's new for 'birdRS' in PubMed: Week 1, March 2015

This message contains My NCBI what's new results from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM).

PubMed Results

1.	J Gen Virol. 2015 Mar 4. pii: vir.0.000110. doi: 10.1099/vir.0.000110. [Epub ahead of print] Isolation and genomic characterization of a novel orthoreovirus from a brown-eared bulbul (Hypsipetes amaurotis) in Japan. Ogasawara Y1, Ueda H1, Kikuchi N1, Kirisawa R 1. Author information: 1 Rakuno Gakuen University. Abstract In the genus Orthoreovirus, five species, Mammalian orthoreovirus, Avian orthoreovirus (ARV), Nelson Bay orthoreovirus (NBV), Baboon orthoreovirus and Reptilian orthoreovirus, have been identified. Their genomes each consist of ten double-stranded RNA segments. A novel orthoreovirus was isolated from the hemorrhagic intestine of a dead brown-eared bulbul in Japan. The virus formed syncytia in Caco-2 and Vero cells. Electron microscopy revealed non-enveloped capsids of approximately 70 nm in diameter, which are characteristic of reoviruses. Complete genomic sequences were determined. The S1 segment was tricistronic and encoded three proteins, p10, p17 and σC, as in the two species ARV and NBV. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses showed that the virus was similar to ARV and NBV but was located on a phylogenetic branch different from that of the two species. The virus had the closest phylogenetic relationship to two reovirus strains, SSRV from a Steller sea lion in Canada and PsRV Ge01 from a psittaciform bird in Europe. The ten RNA segments had a 3' pentanucleotide sequence (UCAUC-3') conserved among all members of the genus Orthoreovirus and a unique 5' terminal heptasequence (5'-GCUUUUC) that was the same as those of SSRV and PsRV Ge01. These results suggest that the novel virus might form a new species with the two strains in the genus Orthoreovirus.
	PMID: 25740958 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

2.	Sci Rep. 2015 Mar 5;5:8800. doi: 10.1038/srep08800. The effects of delayed auditory feedback revealed by bone conduction microphone in adult zebra finches. Fukushima M1, Margoliash D2. Author information: 1 Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago IL 60637 U.S.A. 2 Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago IL 60637 U.S.A [2] Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago IL 60637 U.S.A. Abstract Vocal control and learning are critically dependent on auditory feedback in songbirds and humans. Continuous delayed auditory feedback (cDAF) robustly disrupts speech fluency in normal humans and has ameliorative effects in some stutterers; however, evaluations of the effects of cDAF on songbirds are rare. We exposed singing young (141-151 days old) adult zebra finch males to high-amplitude cDAF. cDAF exposure was achieved by the recording of bone-conducted sounds using a piezoelectric accelerometer, which resulted in high-quality song recordings that were relatively uncontaminated by airborne sounds. Under this condition of cDAF, birds rapidly (2-6 days) changed their song syllable timing. The one bird for which we were able to maintain the accelerometer recordings over a long period of time recovered slowly over more than a month after cDAF was discontinued. These results demonstrate that cDAF can cause substantial changes in the motor program for syllable timing generation over short intervals of time in adult zebra finches.
	PMID: 25739659 [PubMed - in process]

3.	Sensors (Basel). 2015 Mar 2;15(3):5096-111. doi: 10.3390/s150305096. Detection of Bird Nests during Mechanical Weeding by Incremental Background Modeling and Visual Saliency. Steen KA1, Therkildsen OR2, Green O3, Karstoft H4. Author information: 1 Department of Engineering, Aarhus University, Finlandsgade 22, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark. kim.steen@eng.au.dk. 2 Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Grenåvej 14, 8410 Rønde, Denmark. oth@dmu.dk. 3 Kongskilde Industries, Strategic Development, Niels Pedersens Allé 2, 8830 Tjele, Denmark. olg@kongskilde.com. 4 Department of Engineering, Aarhus University, Finlandsgade 22, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark. hka@eng.au.dk. Abstract Mechanical weeding is an important tool in organic farming. However, the use of mechanical weeding in conventional agriculture is increasing, due to public demands to lower the use of pesticides and an increased number of pesticide-resistant weeds. Ground nesting birds are highly susceptible to farming operations, like mechanical weeding, which may destroy the nests and reduce the survival of chicks and incubating females. This problem has limited focus within agricultural engineering. However, when the number of machines increases, destruction of nests will have an impact on various species. It is therefore necessary to explore and develop new technology in order to avoid these negative ethical consequences. This paper presents a vision-based approach to automated ground nest detection. The algorithm is based on the fusion of visual saliency, which mimics human attention, and incremental background modeling, which enables foreground detection with moving cameras. The algorithm achieves a good detection rate, as it detects 28 of 30 nests at an average distance of 3.8 m, with a true positive rate of 0.75. Free Article
	PMID: 25738766 [PubMed - in process]

4.	PeerJ. 2015 Feb 19;3:e779. doi: 10.7717/peerj.779. eCollection 2015. Bird conservation would complement landslide prevention in the Central Andes of Colombia. Ocampo-Peñuela N1, Pimm SL1. Author information: 1 Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University , Durham, NC , USA. Abstract Conservation and restoration priorities often focus on separate ecosystem problems. Inspired by the November 11th (2011) landslide event near Manizales, and the current poor results of Colombia's Article 111 of Law 99 of 1993 as a conservation measure in this country, we set out to prioritize conservation and restoration areas where landslide prevention would complement bird conservation in the Central Andes. This area is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, but also one of the most threatened. Using the case of the Rio Blanco Reserve, near Manizales, we identified areas for conservation where endemic and small-range bird diversity was high, and where landslide risk was also high. We further prioritized restoration areas by overlapping these conservation priorities with a forest cover map. Restoring forests in bare areas of high landslide risk and important bird diversity yields benefits for both biodiversity and people. We developed a simple landslide susceptibility model using slope, forest cover, aspect, and stream proximity. Using publicly available bird range maps, refined by elevation, we mapped concentrations of endemic and small-range bird species. We identified 1.54 km(2) of potential restoration areas in the Rio Blanco Reserve, and 886 km(2) in the Central Andes region. By prioritizing these areas, we facilitate the application of Article 111 which requires local and regional governments to invest in land purchases for the conservation of watersheds. Free PMC Article
	PMID: 25737819 [PubMed]

5.	Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Mar 3. pii: 201418569. [Epub ahead of print] Salient features of otoacoustic emissions are common across tetrapod groups and suggest shared properties of generation mechanisms. Bergevin C1, Manley GA2, Köppl C2. Author information: 1 Department of Physics & Astronomy and Centre for Vision Research, York University, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada; and cberge@yorku.ca. 2 Cluster of Excellence "Hearing4all," Research Center Neurosensory Science, and Department of Neuroscience, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany. Abstract Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) are faint sounds generated by healthy inner ears that provide a window into the study of auditory mechanics. All vertebrate classes exhibit OAEs to varying degrees, yet the biophysical origins are still not well understood. Here, we analyzed both spontaneous (SOAE) and stimulus-frequency (SFOAE) otoacoustic emissions from a bird (barn owl, Tyto alba) and a lizard (green anole, Anolis carolinensis). These species possess highly disparate macromorphologies of the inner ear relative to each other and to mammals, thereby allowing for novel insights into the biomechanical mechanisms underlying OAE generation. All ears exhibited robust OAE activity, and our chief observation was that SFOAE phase accumulation between adjacent SOAE peak frequencies clustered about an integral number of cycles. Being highly similar to published results from human ears, we argue that these data indicate a common underlying generator mechanism of OAEs across all vertebrates, despite the absence of morphological features thought essential to mammalian cochlear mechanics. We suggest that otoacoustic emissions originate from phase coherence in a system of coupled oscillators, which is consistent with the notion of "coherent reflection" but does not explicitly require a mammalian-type traveling wave. Furthermore, comparison between SFOAE delays and auditory nerve fiber responses for the barn owl strengthens the notion that most OAE delay can be attributed to tuning. Free Article
	PMID: 25737537 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

6.	Mol Ecol. 2015 Mar 3. doi: 10.1111/mec.13140. [Epub ahead of print] Differentially expressed genes match bill morphology and plumage despite largely undifferentiated genomes in a Holarctic songbird. Mason NA1, Taylor SA. Author information: 1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, 215 Tower Rd., Ithaca, NY, 14853; Fuller Evolutionary Biology Program, Laboratory of Ornithology, Cornell University, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, New York, 14850, USA. Abstract Understanding the patterns and processes that contribute to phenotypic diversity and speciation is a central goal of evolutionary biology. Recently, high-throughput sequencing has provided unprecedented phylogenetic resolution in many lineages that have experienced rapid diversification. The Holarctic redpoll finches (Genus: Acanthis) provide an intriguing example of a recent, phenotypically diverse lineage; traditional sequencing and genotyping methods have failed to detect any genetic differences between currently recognized species, despite marked variation in plumage and morphology within the genus. We examined variation among 20712 anonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) distributed throughout the redpoll genome in combination with 215825 SNPs within the redpoll transcriptome, gene expression data, and ecological niche modeling to evaluate genetic and ecological differentiation among currently recognized species. Expanding upon previous findings, we present evidence of 1) largely undifferentiated genomes among currently recognized species; 2) substantial niche overlap across the North American Acanthis range; and 3) a strong relationship between polygenic patterns of gene expression and continuous phenotypic variation within a sample of redpolls from North America. The patterns we report may be caused by high levels of ongoing gene flow between polymorphic populations, incomplete lineage sorting accompanying very recent or ongoing divergence, variation in cis-regulatory elements, or phenotypic plasticity, but do not support a scenario of prolonged isolation and subsequent secondary contact. Together, these findings highlight ongoing theoretical and computational challenges presented by recent, rapid bouts of phenotypic diversification and provide new insight into the evolutionary dynamics of an intriguing, understudied non-model system. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
	PMID: 25735539 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

7.	Animal. 2015 Mar 4:1-11. [Epub ahead of print] Inclusion of sorghum, millet and cottonseed meal in broiler diets: a meta-analysis of effects on performance. Batonon-Alavo DI1, Umar Faruk M2, Lescoat P3, Weber GM4, Bastianelli D5. Author information: 1 INRA,UR83 Recherches Avicoles,F-37380 Nouzilly,France. 2 Research Centre for Animal Nutrition and Health,DSM Nutritional Products France,F-68128 Village-Neuf,France. 3 AgroParisTech,UMR 1048 SADAPT,F-75005 Paris,France. 4 DSM Nutritional Products Ltd,Nutrition Innovation Center, CH-4002Basel,Switzerland. 5 CIRAD,UMR SELMET,Systèmes d'élevage méditerranéens et tropicaux,Baillarguet TA C-112/A,F-34398 Montpellier,France. Abstract A meta-analysis was conducted (i) to evaluate broiler response to partial or total substitution of corn by sorghum and millet and (ii) to determine the effect of soybean meal replacement by cottonseed meal in broiler diet. The database included 190 treatments from 29 experiments published from 1990 to 2013. Bird responses to an experimental diet were calculated relative to the control (Experimental-Control), and were submitted to mixed-effect models. Results showed that diets containing millet led to similar performance as the corn-based ones for all parameters, whereas sorghum-based diets decreased growth performance. No major effect of the level of substitution was observed with millet or cottonseed meal. No effect of the level of substitution of sorghum on feed intake was found; however, growth performance decreased when the level of substitution of corn by sorghum increased. Cottonseed meal was substituted to soybean meal up to 40% and found to increase feed intake while reducing growth performance. Young birds were not more sensitive to these ingredients than older birds since there was no negative effect of these ingredients on performance in the starter phase. Results obtained for sorghum pointed out the necessity to find technological improvements that will increase the utilization of these feedstuffs in broiler diet. An additional work is scheduled to validate these statistical results in vivo and to evaluate the interactions induced with the simultaneous inclusions of sorghum, millet and cottonseed meal in broiler feeding.
	PMID: 25735210 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

8.	Curr Biol. 2015 Mar 2;25(5):R177-80. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.12.017. Species, extinct before we know them? Lees AC1, Pimm SL2. Author information: 1 Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, CP 399, Av. Perimetral, 1901, Terra Firme, 66077-530 Belém, Pará, Brazil. 2 Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA. Electronic address: stuartpimm@me.com. Abstract Species are going extinct rapidly, while taxonomic catalogues are still incomplete for even the best-known taxa. Intensive fieldwork is finding species so rare and threatened that some become extinct within years of discovery. Recent bird extinctions in Brazil's coastal forests suggest that some species may have gone extinct before we knew of their existence. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
	PMID: 25734261 [PubMed - in process]

9.	Turkiye Parazitol Derg. 2014 Dec;38(4):248-54. doi: 10.5152/tpd.2014.3828. Recommendations to researchers who will study lice (Phthiraptera) of wild birds (Aves) in Turkey. Dik B1. Author information: 1 Selçuk Üniversitesi Veteriner Fakültesi, Parazitoloji Anabilim Dalı, Konya, Türkiye. bdik@selcuk.edu.tr. Abstract Lice (Antennata: Phthiraptera) fauna in Turkey is not a well-known field. A large number of lice species described up to date parasitize birds. Most bird species of nearly 500 species in Turkey have not been examined from the perspective of louse specimen. No louse was seen on some examined species, and that is why lice fauna on poultry have not been searched out well. This paper emphasizes on what researchers need to pay attention in the course of research, which features and knowledge they need to have, and which morphological criteria they need to examine during diagnosis of lice. Free Article
	PMID: 25732883 [PubMed - in process]

10.	Sci Total Environ. 2015 Feb 27;517C:222-231. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.02.067. [Epub ahead of print] Black spots for aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems: impact of a perennial cormorant colony on the environment. Klimaszyk P1, Brzeg A2, Rzymski P3, Piotrowicz R 4. Author information: 1 Department of Water Protection, Adam Mickiewicz University, Umultowska 89, 61-614 Poznań, Poland. Electronic address: pklim@amu.edu.pl. 2 Department of Plant Ecology and Environment Protection, Adam Mickiewicz University, Umultowska 89, 61-614 Poznań, Poland. 3 Department of Biology and Environmental Protection, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Rokietnicka 8, 60-806 Poznań, Poland. 4 Department of Water Protection, Adam Mickiewicz University, Umultowska 89, 61-614 Poznań, Poland. Abstract The global growth of populations of different cormorant species has raised concern on the consequences of their presence in the environment. This study examined the impact of a perennial colony (160 breeding pairs) of great cormorants on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The deposition of bird-originating nutrients within the area of colony, their accumulation in soils and the fluxed of chemical substances to a nearby lake were investigated. The impact of cormorants on terrestrial vegetation and microbial pollution of the lake were also studied. The soils beneath the colony were found to contain extremely high concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus. The overgrowing vegetation was largely limited with nitrophilous and invasive species being more abundant. Increased loads of organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus were also found in groundwater and particularly, surface runoff. The colony area delivered significant amounts of nutrients to the lake also when the birds were absent. The lake water near colony was also characterized by increased nutrient content and additionally higher number of faecal bacteria. The present results demonstrate the complexity through which the effect of cormorant colonies can be manifested simultaneously in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
	PMID: 25732798 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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11.	Glob Chang Biol. 2015 Mar 2. doi: 10.1111/gcb.12917. [Epub ahead of print] Rapid adjustment of bird community compositions to local climatic variations and its functional consequences. Gaüzère P1, Jiguet F, Devictor V. Author information: 1 Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, Université Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier, cedex 05, France. Abstract The local spatial congruence between climate changes and community changes has rarely been studied over large areas. We proposed one of the first comprehensive frameworks tracking local changes in community composition related to climate changes. First, we investigated whether and how 12 years of changes in the local composition of bird communities were related to local climate variations. Then, we tested the consequences of this climate-induced adjustment of communities on Grinnellian (habitat-related) and Eltonian (function-related) homogenization. A standardized protocol monitoring spatial and temporal trends of birds over France from 2001 to 2012 was used. For each plot and each year, we used the spring temperature, the spring precipitations and calculated three indices reflecting the thermal niche, the habitat specialization, and the functional originality of the species within a community. We then used a moving window approach to estimate the spatial distribution of the temporal trends in each of these indices and their congruency with local climatic variations. Temperature fluctuations and community dynamics were found to be highly variable in space but their variations were finely congruent. More interestingly, the community adjustment to temperature variations was non-monotonous. Instead, unexplained fluctuations in community composition were observed up to a certain threshold of climate change intensity, above which a change in community composition was observed. This shift corresponded to a significant decrease in the relative abundance of habitat specialists and functionally original species within communities, regardless of the direction of temperature change. The investigation of variations in climate and community responses appears to be a central step towards a better understanding of climate change effects on biodiversity. Our results suggest a fine scale and short-term adjustment of community composition to temperature changes. Moreover, significant temperature variations seem to be responsible for both the Grinnellian and Eltonian aspects of functional homogenization. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
	PMID: 25731935 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

12.	Eur J Neurosci. 2015 Mar;41(5):725-33. doi: 10.1111/ejn.12831. Subthreshold membrane responses underlying sparse spiking to natural vocal signals in auditory cortex. Perks KE1, Gentner TQ. Author information: 1 Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA, USA. Abstract Natural acoustic communication signals, such as speech, are typically high-dimensional with a wide range of co-varying spectro-temporal features at multiple timescales. The synaptic and network mechanisms for encoding these complex signals are largely unknown. We are investigating these mechanisms in high-level sensory regions of the songbird auditory forebrain, where single neurons show sparse, object-selective spiking responses to conspecific songs. Using whole-cell in vivo patch clamp techniques in the caudal mesopallium and the caudal nidopallium of starlings, we examine song-driven subthreshold and spiking activity. We find that both the subthreshold and the spiking activity are reliable (i.e. the same song drives a similar response each time it is presented) and specific (i.e. responses to different songs are distinct). Surprisingly, however, the reliability and specificity of the subthreshold response was uniformly high regardless of when the cell spiked, even for song stimuli that drove no spikes. We conclude that despite a selective and sparse spiking response, high-level auditory cortical neurons are under continuous, non-selective, stimulus-specific synaptic control. To investigate the role of local network inhibition in this synaptic control, we then recorded extracellularly while pharmacologically blocking local GABAergic transmission. This manipulation modulated the strength and the reliability of stimulus-driven spiking, consistent with a role for local inhibition in regulating the reliability of network activity and the stimulus specificity of the subthreshold response in single cells. We discuss these results in the context of underlying computations that could generate sparse, stimulus-selective spiking responses, and models for hierarchical pooling. © 2015 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. PMCID: PMC4347871 [Available on 2016-03-01]
	PMID: 25728189 [PubMed - in process]

13.	Parasitol Int. 2015 Feb 25. pii: S1383-5769(15)00032-X. doi: 10.1016/j.parint.2015.02.003. [Epub ahead of print] Integrative taxonomy of central European parasitic flatworms of the family Prosthogonimidae Lühe, 1909 (Trematoda: Plagiorchiida). Heneberg P1, Sitko J2, Bizos J3. Author information: 1 Charles University in Prague, Third Faculty of Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic. Electronic address: petr.heneberg@lf3.cuni.cz. 2 Comenius Museum, Moravian Ornithological Station, Přerov, Czech Republic. 3 Charles University in Prague, Third Faculty of Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic. Abstract Species of the family Prosthogonimidae are considered the most pathogenic poultry trematodes worldwide, affecting particularly low intensity farming in rural areas. Adults of Prosthogonimus occur mainly in the bursa of Fabricius, oviduct and cloaca of ducks, geese, fowl and other birds feeding at least occasionally on dragonflies or damselflies (Odonata). We analyzed the central European species of the Prosthogonimidae, namely Prosthogonimus cuneatus, P. ovatus, P. pellucidus and P. rarus. We sequenced three nuclear (ITS2) and mitochondrial (CO1, ND1) DNA loci of four species isolated from Anas clypeata, Anas strepera, Anas platyrhynchos, Aythya ferina, Passer domesticus and Turdus merula. Intra- and inter-specific sequence variability revealed that all four species represent distinct well-defined entities. Our data, combined with previously published studies, suggest the return of the name Prosthogonimus rarus Braun, 1901 for Schistogonimus rarus (Braun, 1901). The genus name Schistogonimus Lühe, 1909 is considered a junior synonym of Prosthogonimus Lühe, 1899. We identified the existence of two clades, one represented by P. cuneatus and P. pellucidus, and another one formed by P. ovatus and P. rarus. We also provide comparative measurements of these four central European prosthogonimids, and address their tissue specificity, host-specific prevalence (based on the extensive bird cohort examined in years 1962-2014), and for some bird hosts we address also differences in the prevalence of Prosthogonimus spp. in natural and near-natural wetlands in comparison with fishponds utilized for intense carp production. We provide an updated key to European Prosthogonimus spp. based on their morphological characters. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
	PMID: 25724855 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

14.	Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2015 Jan;82 Pt A:95-110. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2014.09.023. Epub 2014 Oct 5. Cryptic speciation in the white-shouldered antshrike (Thamnophilus aethiops, Aves - Thamnophilidae): the tale of a transcontinental radiation across rivers in lowland Amazonia and the northeastern Atlantic Forest. Thom G1, Aleixo A2. Author information: 1 Curso de Pós-graduação em Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Pará/Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Caixa Postal 399, CEP 66040-170 Belém, PA, Brazil. 2 Coordenação de Zoologia, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Caixa Postal 399, CEP 66040-170 Belém, PA, Brazil. Electronic address: aleixo@museu-goeldi.br. Abstract The growing knowledge on paleogeography and the recent applications of molecular biology and phylogeography to the study of the Amazonian biota have provided a framework for testing competing hypotheses of biotic diversification in this region. Here, we reconstruct the spatio-temporal context of diversification of a widespread understory polytypic Amazonian bird species (Thamnophilus aethiops) and contrast it with different hypotheses of diversification and the taxonomy currently practiced in the group. Sequences of mtDNA (cytochrome b and ND2) and nuclear (β-fibrinogen introns 5 and 7 and the Z-liked Musk4) genes, adding up to 4093bp of 89 individuals covering the Amazonian, Andean, and Atlantic Forest populations of T. aethiops were analyzed. Phylogenetic and population genetics analyses revealed ten reciprocally monophyletic and genetically isolated or nearly-isolated lineages in T. aethiops, highlighting several inconsistencies between taxonomy and evolutionary history in this group. Our data suggest that the diversification of T. aethiops started in the Andean highlands, and then proceeded into the Amazonian lowlands probably after the consolidation of the modern Amazonian drainage. The main cladogenetic events in T. aethiops may be related to the formation and structuring of large Amazonian rivers during the Late Miocene-Early Pleistocene, coinciding with the dates proposed for other lineages of Amazonian organisms. Population genetics data do not support climatic fluctuations as a major source of diversification in T. aethiops. Even though not entirely concordant with paleobiogeographic models derived from phylogenies of other vertebrate lineages, our results support a prominent role for rivers as major drivers of diversification in Amazonia, while underscoring that different diversification scenarios are probably related to the distinct evolutionary origins of groups being compared. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
	PMID: 25291073 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

15.	Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2014 Dec;81:96-108. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2014.09.008. Epub 2014 Sep 23. Deep global evolutionary radiation in birds: diversification and trait evolution in the cosmopolitan bird family Rallidae. Garcia-R JC1, Gibb GC2, Trewick SA2. Author information: 1 Ecology Group, Institute of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North, New Zealand. Electronic address: j.c.garciaramirez@massey.ac.nz. 2 Ecology Group, Institute of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North, New Zealand. Abstract Sufficient breadth of taxon sampling in major organisms groups is important to identify more realistic biological diversification processes that reveal the degree of historical biogeographic signal and net diversification retained in the current lineage distribution. We examine the mechanisms driving diversity in one of the major avian clades with an exceptional large-scale radiation, the family Rallidae, using the most complete species-level (∼70%) time calibrated hypothesis of evolutionary relationships produced to date. We find that Rallidae exhibit a pattern of diversification involving episodes of range expansion and regional speciation that results in most clades represented in all habitable continents. Our results suggest that several features may have played an important role on the diversification rates in Rallidae. Lineage accumulation is nearly constant and morphology (frontal shield and body size), innovate (flightlessness), habitat (forest) and distribution (insular) traits are possibly associated with increasing diversification rates along with spatial and ecological processes during the Miocene and Pliocene. Diversification and the global retention of lineage diversity have occurred in multiple lineages in Rallidae due to their dispersal ability and exploitation of ecological opportunities. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
	PMID: 25255711 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

16.	Environ Pollut. 2014 Dec;195:109-14. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2014.08.010. Epub 2014 Sep 13. Incubation stage and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congener patterns in an altricial and precocial bird species. Custer CM1, Custer TW2, Thyen S3, Becker PH4. Author information: 1 USGS, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, 2630 Fanta Reed Rd., La Crosse, WI 54603, USA. Electronic address: ccuster@usgs.gov. 2 USGS, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, 2630 Fanta Reed Rd., La Crosse, WI 54603, USA. Electronic address: tcuster@usgs.gov. 3 Schlossstrasse 30, D-53115 Bonn, Germany. Electronic address: s.thyen@t-online.de. 4 Institut für Vogelforschung "Vogelwarte Helgoland", An der Vogelwarte 21, D-26386 Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Electronic address: peter.becker@ifv-vogelwarte.de. Abstract The composition of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners was compared between non-incubated and embryonated eggs of tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) and little terns (Sterna albifrons) to determine if measurable changes in PCB congeners occurred during the embryonic period. There was no indication of changes in PCB congener patterns over the incubation period in tree swallows in 1999 and 2000 at a site with very high PCB exposure or a site with more modest PCB exposure. Additionally, congeners known to be either quickly metabolized or conserved based on experimental studies did not generally respond as predicted. Similarly, PCB congener patterns in eggs of little terns from Bottsand, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, did not differ between non-incubated and embryonated eggs. The results from both species suggest that the stage of incubation is not an important consideration when evaluating PCB congener patterns; comparisons and assessments can be made with eggs collected at all stages of incubation. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
	PMID: 25213805 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]