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Ben Mocha Y, Frisoni F, Keynan O, Griesser M. Proto-tool use for food processing in wild Arabian babblers: matching processing methods, substrates and prey types. Anim Cogn 2024; 27:35. [PMID: 38656554 PMCID: PMC11043207 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01866-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2023] [Revised: 02/21/2024] [Accepted: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Cognition is a powerful adaptation, enabling animals to utilise resources that are unavailable without manipulation. Tool use and food processing are examples of using cognition to overcome the protective mechanisms of food resources. Here, we describe and examine the flexibility of proto-tool use (defined as the alteration of an object through object-substrate manipulation) for food processing in a cooperatively breeding bird, the Arabian babbler (Argya squamiceps). Field observations demonstrate that the birds transport different caterpillar species to different substrate types depending on the processing method needed to prepare the caterpillar for eating. Species with toxic setae (e.g. Casama innotata) are transported to be rubbed on rough substrates (e.g. sand) before consumption, while other species (e.g. Hyles livornica) are transported to be pounded against hard substrates until their inner organs are removed and only their external body part is consumed. These results are among the few to describe flexible proto-tool use for food processing in wild animals. They thereby contribute to the taxonomic mapping of proto-tool use and food processing in non-human species, which is a fundamental step to advance comparative studies on the evolution of these behaviours and their underlying cognitive mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yitzchak Ben Mocha
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, 78457, Konstanz, Germany.
- Center for the Advanced Study of Collective Behavior, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, 78457, Konstanz, Germany.
| | - Francesca Frisoni
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, 78457, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Oded Keynan
- Dead Sea and Arava Science Center, Hazeva, Israel
- Ben Gurion University of the Negev-Eilat Campus, Eilat, Israel
| | - Michael Griesser
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, 78457, Konstanz, Germany
- Center for the Advanced Study of Collective Behavior, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, 78457, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Universitätsstrasse 10, 78457, Konstanz, Germany
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Hundsdoerfer AK, Schell T, Patzold F, Wright CJ, Yoshido A, Marec F, Daneck H, Winkler S, Greve C, Podsiadlowski L, Hiller M, Pippel M. High-quality haploid genomes corroborate 29 chromosomes and highly conserved synteny of genes in Hyles hawkmoths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). BMC Genomics 2023; 24:443. [PMID: 37550607 PMCID: PMC10405479 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-023-09506-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2023] [Accepted: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Morphological and traditional genetic studies of the young Pliocene genus Hyles have led to the understanding that despite its importance for taxonomy, phenotypic similarity of wing patterns does not correlate with phylogenetic relationship. To gain insights into various aspects of speciation in the Spurge Hawkmoth (Hyles euphorbiae), we assembled a chromosome-level genome and investigated some of its characteristics. RESULTS The genome of a male H. euphorbiae was sequenced using PacBio and Hi-C data, yielding a 504 Mb assembly (scaffold N50 of 18.2 Mb) with 99.9% of data represented by the 29 largest scaffolds forming the haploid chromosome set. Consistent with this, FISH analysis of the karyotype revealed n = 29 chromosomes and a WZ/ZZ (female/male) sex chromosome system. Estimates of chromosome length based on the karyotype image provided an additional quality metric of assembled chromosome size. Rescaffolding the published male H. vespertilio genome resulted in a high-quality assembly (651 Mb, scaffold N50 of 22 Mb) with 98% of sequence data in the 29 chromosomes. The larger genome size of H. vespertilio (average 1C DNA value of 562 Mb) was accompanied by a proportional increase in repeats from 45% in H. euphorbiae (measured as 472 Mb) to almost 55% in H. vespertilio. Several wing pattern genes were found on the same chromosomes in the two species, with varying amounts and positions of repetitive elements and inversions possibly corrupting their function. CONCLUSIONS Our two-fold comparative genomics approach revealed high gene synteny of the Hyles genomes to other Sphingidae and high correspondence to intact Merian elements, the ancestral linkage groups of Lepidoptera, with the exception of three simple fusion events. We propose a standardized approach for genome taxonomy using nucleotide homology via scaffold chaining as the primary tool combined with Oxford plots based on Merian elements to infer and visualize directionality of chromosomal rearrangements. The identification of wing pattern genes promises future understanding of the evolution of forewing patterns in the genus Hyles, although further sequencing data from more individuals are needed. The genomic data obtained provide additional reliable references for further comparative studies in hawkmoths (Sphingidae).
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna K Hundsdoerfer
- Senckenberg Natural History Collections Dresden, Königsbrücker Landstr. 159, 01109, Dresden, Germany.
| | - Tilman Schell
- LOEWE-Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (LOEWE-TBG), Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - Franziska Patzold
- Senckenberg Natural History Collections Dresden, Königsbrücker Landstr. 159, 01109, Dresden, Germany
| | | | - Atsuo Yoshido
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Branišovská 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - František Marec
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Branišovská 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Hana Daneck
- Senckenberg Natural History Collections Dresden, Königsbrücker Landstr. 159, 01109, Dresden, Germany
| | - Sylke Winkler
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstraße 108, 01307, Dresden, Germany
| | - Carola Greve
- LOEWE-Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (LOEWE-TBG), Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - Lars Podsiadlowski
- Centre for Molecular Biodiversity Research, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Adenauerallee 127, 53113, Bonn, Germany
| | - Michael Hiller
- LOEWE-Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (LOEWE-TBG), Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - Martin Pippel
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstraße 108, 01307, Dresden, Germany
- Center for Systems Biology Dresden, Pfotenhauerstr. 108, 01307, Dresden, Germany
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3, Uppsala, 751 23, Sweden
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