- Illinois State University
School of Biological Sciences
Normal IL, USA
Javier delBarco-Trillo
Illinois State University, Biological Sciences, Faculty Member
- Evolutionary Ecology, Urban Ecology, Rodents, Rodentia, Oxidative Stress, Neuroethology, and 20 moreAnimal Behavior, Reproductive Behaviour, Mating Systems, Mammalogy, Ethology, Communication, Biology, Sexual Selection, Chemical Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, Evolution of Sexual Reproduction, Sperm Competition, Sexuality, Animal Communications, Anthropology, Sexual Behaviour, Mate Choice, Chemical Communication, Prairie Voles, and Behavioral Ecologyedit
- Generally interested in behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology, with an emphasis on sperm competition, urban eco... moreGenerally interested in behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology, with an emphasis on sperm competition, urban ecology, mammalian reproductive physiology, and olfactory communicationedit
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As the natural habitats of many species are degraded or disappear, there is scope for these species to be established in urban habitats. To ease the establishment and maintenance of urban populations of more species we need to better... more
As the natural habitats of many species are degraded or disappear, there is scope for these species to be established in urban habitats. To ease the establishment and maintenance of urban populations of more species we need to better understand what degree of phenotypical change to expect as different species transition into urban environments. During the first stages of urban colonization, behavioural changes such as an increase in boldness are particularly important. A consistent response in urban populations is to decrease the distance at which individuals flee from an approaching human (flight initiation distance, or FID). Performing a phylogenetic generalized least-squares (PGLS) analysis on 130 avian species, I found that the largest changes in FID between rural and urban populations occur in species that are larger-bodied and naturally shy (higher rural FID), two phenotypic traits that are not normally associated with urban colonizers. More unlikely species may thus be able to colonize urban environments, especially if we design cities in ways that promote such urban colonizations.
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Total DNA fragmentation index (tDFI) and high DNA stainability (HDS) results obtained by Sperm Chromatin Structure Assay (SCSA)
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R code used for the analyses
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A comparison of human chorionic gonadotropin releasing hormone on (90 % vs. 75%) by nine hours post-administration. Kouba et al. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology 2012, 10:59
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Animals colonising urban environments are exposed to a series of novel stressors and ecological challenges, which can result in adaptations to alternative urban niches. Tardigrades are cosmopolitan invertebrates present in all types of... more
Animals colonising urban environments are exposed to a series of novel stressors and ecological challenges, which can result in adaptations to alternative urban niches. Tardigrades are cosmopolitan invertebrates present in all types of ecosystems, including urban environments; and they can survive under extreme conditions, including periods of desiccation, thus allowing them to colonise novel harsh habitats. Tardigrades are thus a promising model to investigate the challenges and opportunities encountered by urban colonisers. Our aims were 1, to determine if tardigrade abundance in natural substrates (moss, lichen and leaf litter) differs between rural and urban sites and 2, to assess if tardigrades have successfully colonised urban substrates that are highly anthropogenic (road sediment, and material accumulated under cars and in wall crevices). Among natural substrates, we found fewer tardigrades in Cork city than in rural sites. However, in urban sites we found no differences bet...
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The unprecedented growth rate in human population and the increasing movement of people to urban areas is causing a rapid increase in urbanisation globally. Urban environments may restrict or affect the behaviour of many animal species.... more
The unprecedented growth rate in human population and the increasing movement of people to urban areas is causing a rapid increase in urbanisation globally. Urban environments may restrict or affect the behaviour of many animal species. Importantly, urban populations may change their spatial movement, particularly decreasing their home ranges in response to habitat fragmentation, the presence of landscape barriers and the availability and density of resources. Several species-specific studies suggest that urban animals decrease their home ranges compared with their non-urban counterparts; however, it remained unclear whether this pattern is widespread across taxa or is instead restricted to specific taxonomic groups. Consequently, we conducted a meta-analysis, collecting 41 sets of data comparing home ranges in both natural and urban environments in 32 species of reptiles, birds and mammals. We calculated effect sizes as the difference in animal home range sizes between natural and ...
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Research Interests: Endocrinology, Biology, Breeding, Endangered Species, Biological Sciences, and 15 moreHumans, Internal Medicine, Spermatogenesis, Animals, Male, Bufonidae, Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone, Hormone, Reproductive behavior, Sperm Count, Luteinizing Hormone, Human Chorionic Gonadotropin, Medical and Health Sciences, Gonadotropin, and Chorionic gonadotropin
Anogenital distance (AGD) in rodents is a useful indicator of masculinization or feminization due to prenatal hormonal effects. If such cues convey useful information about both... more
Anogenital distance (AGD) in rodents is a useful indicator of masculinization or feminization due to prenatal hormonal effects. If such cues convey useful information about both 'maleness' and more importantly mate quality, then females may select males based on this cue or other cues related to it. We tested this hypothesis by asking if female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) preferred males with relatively longer AGDs and if AGD correlated with fitness enhancing characteristics such as sperm count, sperm size, and gonad size. Not only did preferred males have significantly longer AGD and larger testes than nonpreferred males, but AGD was directly related to the testes size, seminal vesicle size, and the number of sperm stored. We re-evaluated data collected in semi-natural field enclosures and discovered that males that were members of a pairbond had longer AGD than single males. This later result, taken under semi-natural conditions, was consistent with results we obtained in the laboratory. Taken together these data indicate that AGD serves as a useful cue of male potency and that females preferentially associate with males that demonstrate this masculinized phenotype. Moreover, these data imply that females may select mates based on their potential to effectively fertilize ova, a potentially important trait for a species that forms life-long pairbonds.
Research Interests: Animal Behavior, Mate Choice, Biology, Medicine, Biological Sciences, and 15 moreFemale, Animals, Prairie Voles, Male, Microtus, Data Collection, Analysis of Variance, Arvicolinae, Prairie Vole, Female Choice, Predictive value of tests, Choice Behavior, Anogenital Distance, Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, and Medical and Health Sciences
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Research Interests: Ethology, Psychology, Communication, Animal Behavior, Social Interaction, and 15 moreBiology, Mammalogy, Social Memory, Animal Behaviour, Behavioral Ecology, Medicine, Biological Sciences, Chemical Communication, Aggression, Field Study, Model System, Information Gain, Individual recognition, Agonistic Behaviour, and Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
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A chemical signal, such as a scent mark, is likely to provide unique and overlapping information about the sender, including its phenotype and genotype, which can be individually distinctive. Thus, the response to scent marks should be... more
A chemical signal, such as a scent mark, is likely to provide unique and overlapping information about the sender, including its phenotype and genotype, which can be individually distinctive. Thus, the response to scent marks should be context-dependent, allowing receivers to adjust their responses accordingly, depending on the identity of the sender, past associations, and context. The response chosen will, in turn, be modulated by the receiver's neuroendocrine system and cognitive ability. The particular response should represent a balance of the costs and benefits associated with that choice and consider the fact that chemical signals provide inadvertent public information, reflecting the selective pressures placed on participants.
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In many species of small mammals, females undergo post-partum oestrus soon after delivering a litter, becoming pregnant while suckling the previous litter. Females raising two concurrent litters need to allocate many more resources to... more
In many species of small mammals, females undergo post-partum oestrus soon after delivering a litter, becoming pregnant while suckling the previous litter. Females raising two concurrent litters need to allocate many more resources to reproduction than females raising only one litter. Consequently, there may be differences between litters raised concurrently or singly. We investigated this issue in the meadow vole, Microtus pennsylvanicus, a species in which most females in the wild reproduce during post-partum oestrus. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that the development of pups in two concurrent litters differs from that of pups in a single litter. To test this hypothesis, we measured the following variables for concurrent and singly reared litters: gestation length; litter size; sex ratio; bodyweight of males and females at different ages; total litter weight at weaning; growth rates; and intra-litter variation in body mass. Except for bodyweight of males at 60 days of age...
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Research Interests: Evolutionary Biology, Ethology, Communication, Animal Behavior, Chemical Ecology, and 15 moreBiology, Mammalogy, Behavioral Ecology, Medicine, Multidisciplinary, Biological Sciences, Female, Animals, Male, Fertilization, Copulation, Body Weight, Arvicolinae, Ejaculation, and Medical and Health Sciences
ABSTRACT For numerous species of terrestrial mammals, postpartum estrus, PPE, is a period of heightened attractivity, proceptivity, and receptivity that occurs shortly after the female delivers her litter. Many mammals mate almost... more
ABSTRACT For numerous species of terrestrial mammals, postpartum estrus, PPE, is a period of heightened attractivity, proceptivity, and receptivity that occurs shortly after the female delivers her litter. Many mammals mate almost exclusively during PPE. However, we know little about the behavior of PPE females and how male conspecifics behave towards them. This review focuses on the results of recent studies that tried to examine systematically the behavior of PPE female meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, and the responses of males to them. Our review is divided in five parts. First, we introduce the topic of PPE in rodents. Second, we discuss the outcome of studies showing that PPE female voles were more attractive to males, directed more proceptive behaviors towards males, and were more sexually receptive and likely to get pregnant compared to females that were not in PPE. Third, we discuss studies that examined how male voles respond and adjust their behavior when they encounter PPE females. Males increase the likelihood of mating with PPE females by recalling the reproductive state of females and the location of their nests, and by anticipating how long or when each of these females would be in PPE. Fourth, we focus in how food availability, an ecological constraint facing gestating female voles, affected their attractivity, proceptivity, and receptivity postpartum. Fifth, we revisit the benefits of seeking out and mating with PPE females and introduce the costs of doing so for both males and PPE females. We close our review with a list of questions that can be used to formulate testable hypotheses surrounding the behavior of PPE females and the responses of male conspecifics to them.
Research Interests: Zoology, Biology, Animal Ecology, Sexual Behavior, Microtus, and 4 moreMating, Litter, Receptivity, and Estrous cycle
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Summary We report the first case of sperm wasting produced by females running away just before a male ejaculates. Consequently, males ejaculate outside the reproductive tract of the female. This behavior was observed at least once in... more
Summary We report the first case of sperm wasting produced by females running away just before a male ejaculates. Consequently, males ejaculate outside the reproductive tract of the female. This behavior was observed at least once in 32.14% of 112 copulatory tests of ...
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Is it possible that voles have a sense of number? To address this question, we determined whether voles discriminate between two different scent-marking individuals and identify the individual whose scent marks was on top more often than... more
Is it possible that voles have a sense of number? To address this question, we determined whether voles discriminate between two different scent-marking individuals and identify the individual whose scent marks was on top more often than the other individual. We tested whether voles show a preference for the individual whose scent marks was on top most often. If so, the simplest explanation was that voles can make a relative size judgement-such as distinguishing an area containing more of one individual's over-marks as compared to less of another individual's over-marks. We found that voles respond preferentially to the donor that provided a greater number of over-marks as compared to the donor that provided a lesser number of over-marks. Thus, we concluded that voles might display the capacity for relative numerousness. Interestingly, female voles were better able than male voles to distinguish between small differences in the relative number of over-marks by the two scent donors.
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Much research has been focused on the 'output'or response of males to particular risks of sperm competition (RSC). Lately, there has also been some interest on the types of information that males may use to assess RSC (RSC... more
Much research has been focused on the 'output'or response of males to particular risks of sperm competition (RSC). Lately, there has also been some interest on the types of information that males may use to assess RSC (RSC inputs). In contrast, there is a lack of studies on how males may process RSC inputs to generate such RSC outputs. Here we propose two modes of input processing (direct and indirect) and ways to test them in order to understand how a male may process and store RSC information. The direct mode of input ...
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Research Interests: Zoology, Biology, Medicine, Animal communication, Female, and 7 moreAnimals, Smell, Male, Urine, Primate, Urinary System, and Urinary Bladder
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Sperm competition, a prevalent evolutionary process in which the spermatozoa of two or more males compete for the fertilization of the same ovum, leads to morphological and physiological adaptations, including increases in energetic... more
Sperm competition, a prevalent evolutionary process in which the spermatozoa of two or more males compete for the fertilization of the same ovum, leads to morphological and physiological adaptations, including increases in energetic metabolism that may serve to propel sperm faster but that may have negative effects on DNA integrity. Sperm DNA damage is associated with reduced rates of fertilization, embryo and fetal loss, offspring mortality, and mutations leading to genetic disease. We tested whether high levels of sperm competition affect sperm DNA integrity. We evaluated sperm DNA integrity in 18 species of rodents that differ in their levels of sperm competition using the sperm chromatin structure assay. DNA integrity was assessed upon sperm collection, in response to incubation under capacitating or non-capacitating conditions, and after exposure to physical and chemical stressors. Sperm DNA was very resistant to physical and chemical stressors, whereas incubation in non-capaci...
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Research Interests: Evolutionary Biology, Zoology, Sperm Competition, Sexual Selection, Biology, and 5 moreEvolution, Medicine, Mammals, QL, and Wiley
Sperm competition is a prevalent phenomenon that drives the evolution of sperm function. High levels of sperm competition lead to increased metabolism to fuel higher sperm velocities. This enhanced metabolism can result in oxidative... more
Sperm competition is a prevalent phenomenon that drives the evolution of sperm function. High levels of sperm competition lead to increased metabolism to fuel higher sperm velocities. This enhanced metabolism can result in oxidative damage (including lipid peroxidation) and damage to the membrane. We hypothesized that in those species experiencing high levels of sperm competition there are changes in the fatty-acid composition of the sperm membrane that makes the membrane more resistant to oxidative damage. Given that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are the most prone to lipid peroxidation, we predicted that higher sperm competition leads to a reduction in the proportion of sperm PUFAs. In contrast, we predicted that levels of sperm competition should not affect the proportion of PUFAs in somatic cells. To test these predictions, we quantified the fatty-acid composition of sperm, testis and liver cells in four mouse species (genus Mus) that differ in their levels of sperm compet...
Research Interests: Sperm Competition, Sexual Selection, Biology, Evolution, Medicine, and 3 moreFatty acids, Sperm, and Rodents
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Meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, self-groom before, during and after copulation, which may convey olfactory information to nearby conspecifics. Since males who self-groom at high rates were found to be attractive to females, it is... more
Meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, self-groom before, during and after copulation, which may convey olfactory information to nearby conspecifics. Since males who self-groom at high rates were found to be attractive to females, it is possible that the copulating male may attempt to increase his attractiveness over that of other males who are present or nearby. In that the presence of other males affects sperm investment and can be used by males as an indicator of sperm competition, we tested the hypothesis that the presence of scent marks of other males near a sexually receptive female affects the self-grooming behaviour of males that encounter them. We did so by pairing a male and a female vole in the presence of the odours of one male conspecific, five male conspecifics, or no male conspecifics. The amount of time male voles self-groomed was not affected by the risk or intensity of sperm competition. We also tested the hypothesis that self-grooming behaviour of males differed depending on whether it was performed before, during, or after copulation. Male voles differed in the amount of time and the location on their body that they self-groomed before, during, and after copulation.
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Phylogenetic reconstruction used in PGLS analyses
in the fatty-acid composition of rodent spermatozoa are associated to levels of sperm competition
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[摘要]: 正 Sperm competition occurs when the sperm of two or more males compete to fertilize the available eggs of a particular female. Sperm competition is very common in mammals, given the high prevalence of female promiscuity in the... more
[摘要]: 正 Sperm competition occurs when the sperm of two or more males compete to fertilize the available eggs of a particular female. Sperm competition is very common in mammals, given the high prevalence of female promiscuity in the majority of mammalian species. Males, therefore, have developed different strategies