Gregorio Moreno-Rueda

University of Granada | UGR · Departamento de Zoología

Sexual size dimorphism is a hot topic in evolutionary ecology as it is influenced by a plethora of selective pressures. In this study, we investigated this issue in a painted frog Discoglossus pictus auritus population from south Tunisia, while controlling for age effects. Our results showed no significant sexual dimorphism in body size, classifyin...

Parasites impact host fitness and constitute an important selective pressure on the host’s life history. According to parasite-mediated sexual selection, ornaments are presumed to honestly indicate immune capacity or resistance against parasites, and the chooser sex (typically females) obtains an advantage by selecting more ornamented, thus more im...

Telomere dynamics are good markers of stressful conditions because many stressful factors accelerate telomere shortening, and telomere shortening is associated with survival in various taxa. The early-life environment and ectoparasite pressure have been shown to impact telomere length and shortening in nestling birds. Here, we examined the effect o...

Carotenoid-based coloration is an indicator of the fitness of birds, as carotenoids act as a limiting resource obtained through the diet. In many altricial birds, this carotenoid-based coloration is found in the nestling' mouth flanges, signaling their physical condition and acting as a visual indicator for parent-offspring communication. To invest...

Vocalizations and postural begging serve as signals that nestlings use to request food from their parents and express their nutritional needs. Hungry nestlings will increase the frequency and intensity of their begging behavior, which may result in an increase in the parental feeding rate. Furthermore, an increase in brood size leads to higher comp...

Keywords: avian malaria female ornamentation Haemoproteus haemosporidian parasite Leucocytozoon life history trade-off pied flycatcher Plasmodium secondary sexual trait The role of plumage ornamentation as a signal of parasite infection is a key issue in the evolution of animal behaviour. Despite the undeniable role of hosteparasite interactions in...

Female and male hosts may maximise their fitness by evolving different strategies to compensate for the costs of parasite infections. The resulting sexual dimorphism might be apparent in differential relationships between parasite load and body condition, potentially reflecting differences in energy allocation to anti‐parasitic defences. For exampl...

La selección natural es considerada el principal motor de la evolución. El ambiente ofrece una serie de presiones selectivas ante las cuales los organismos mejor adaptados son los que obtienen más descendencia. Pero que un organismo esté bien adaptado en un ambiente no implica que lo esté en otro. De hecho, el ambiente varía en el espacio, por lo q...

The study of host–parasite co‐evolution is a central topic in evolutionary ecology. However, research is still fragmented and the extent to which parasites influence host life history is debated. One reason for this incomplete picture is the frequent omission of environmental conditions in studies analyzing host–parasite dynamics, which may influen...

Aim To date a vicariant event through the mutualistic relationship of a hylid frog and its bromeliad host found across two isolated mountain ranges as part of an island–continental split and to use this information to calibrate a molecular dating analysis of hylids. Location South America. Time Period Pliocene. Major Taxa Studied Treefrogs, Arbo...

Genetic differentiation between populations inhabiting ecologically different habitats might appear because of limited dispersal and gene flow, which may lead to patterns of phenotypic divergence and local adaptation. In this study, we use dispersal, genotypic (24 microsatellite loci) and phenotypic (body size and clutch size) data to analyse patte...

The roles of temperature and humidity in shaping diurnal retreat site occupation and short-term movements in amphibians in desert environments have scarcely been studied. In this work, we investigated retreats and movements in the painted frog (Discoglossus pictus auritus) that inhabits oases in arid southern Tunisia, by using a composite temperatu...

The monospecific genus Tartessiberus was described in the year 2021 including a single species (T. cilbanus). However, its description relied solely on morphological and anatomical data. In the present work, we use a fraction of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) and the nuclear large ribosomal su...

Temperature is one of the most important factors in the life histories of ectotherms, as body temperature has an undeniable effect on growth, activity, and reproduction. Lizards have a wide variety of strategies to acquire and maintain body temperature in an optimal range. The “Thermal Melanism Hypothesis” proposes that individuals with lower skin...

The Iberian Peninsula constitutes a diversity hotspot with a high number of endemisms, where the land snail genus Iberus is likely the best example. Despite this, its species diversity is still debated as it holds several cryptic species. In the present paper, we use molecular evidence (mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase subunit I) to clarify the...

Nestlings normally exhibit a mix of traits that attract parental care, such as postural and vocal begging and carotenoid‐based mouth colouration. These signals are hypothesised to be signs of nestling needs (vocal begging) and quality (mouth colouration). Therefore, we hypothesised that broods, where nestlings beg for less time and display more sat...

Male-killing bacteria are found in a broad range of arthropods. Arsenophonus nasoniae is a male-killing bacterium, causing a 80% reduction of the male progeny in infected Nasonia vitripennis wasps. Although the discovery of A. nasoniae dates from the early 80′s, knowledge about the biology and ecology of this endosymbiont is still scarce. One of th...

Males typically display sexual signals that females use for mating. Male signals usually indicate some aspect of individual quality, which is often heritable. Hence, females increase their fitness by choosing the most attractive males. These signals are often honest because they are expensive to produce or maintain, so the male's investment in the...

Genetic differentiation among populations inhabiting ecologically different habitats might arise as a consequence of limited or non-random dispersal and diversifying selection, which could lead to local patterns of phenotypic divergence and adaptation between habitats. In bird populations, the optimal clutch size (defined as that which maximizes th...

Hematophagous dipterans such as black flies of the genus Simulium or biting midges of the genus Culicoides are common ectoparasites attacking birds in their nests. In addition to their deleterious effects as blood-suckers, these insects are vectors of avian malaria-like parasites of the genera Leucocytozoon and Haemoproteus, respectively. In spite...

The role of plumage ornamentation as a signal of parasite infection is a key issue in the evolution of animal behaviour. Despite the undeniable role of host–parasite interactions in sexual selection, it is still unclear how parasites influence the variance in the expression of females displaying multiple ornaments. Here, by taking advantage of a lo...

The utility of fresh green material in avian nests is still not fully understood. Potential explanations include the effects of plants’ volatile compounds on parasite reduction (nest protection hypothesis) or direct beneficial effects on nestling condition (drug hypothesis). We used correlative data collected during 2020 and 2021 in a Mediterranean...

Varias especies de aves colocan en sus nidos trozos de plantas aromáticas, caracterizadas por la emisión de metabolitos secundarios. Estas plantas no suelen encontrarse en las inmediaciones del nido, sino que componen una fracción no aleatoria de todas las plantas presentes en un área. Debido a que estas aves emplean tiempo y esfuerzo en su búsqued...

Las poblaciones de aves se encuentran en un declive generalizado, por lo que las técnicas de monitoreo eficientes, rápidas y no invasivas pueden ayudar a la conservación de las aves al predecir el éxito reproductivo a corto plazo. Sin embargo, estas técnicas suelen consumir tiempo, ser costosas o tener efectos negativos en el éxito reproductivo de...

Coralsnakes of the genus Micrurus are a diverse group of venomous snakes ranging from the southern United States to southern South America. Much uncertainty remains over the genus diversity, and understanding Micrurus systematics is of medical importance. In particular, the widespread Micrurus nigrocinctus spans from Mexico throughout Central Ameri...

La malaria aviar es una enfermedad propia de las aves producida por protozoos del orden Haemosporida (Plasmodium, Haemoproteus y Leucocytozoon), que son transmitidos por dípteros hematófagos como las moscas del género Simulium. Se desconocen qué factores hacen que en un nido entren más o menos ejemplares de estos dípteros. El objetivo de este estud...

Heritable microbes that exhibit reproductive parasitism are common in insects. One class of these are the male-killing bacteria, which are found in a broad range of insect hosts. Commonly, our knowledge of the incidence of these microbes is based on one or a few sampling sites, and the degree and causes of spatial variation are unclear. In this pap...

Mediterranean woodland environments are characterised by high spatial and temporal heterogeneity, which means the inhabiting species face a wide variety of selective pressures. Species may respond differently to habitat heterogeneity and so distinct eco-evolutionary scenarios may be responsible for the inter-habitat variability in reproductive stra...

Filarioid nematodes (commonly known as filarial worms) are known to impact human and domestic animal health, but studies examining their ecological relevance and impacts on wildlife are still underrepresented. In the case of birds, microfilariae are typically found at low prevalence, but they may negatively affect some fitness-related traits. Here,...

Avian growth has been traditionally examined using logistic, Gompertz or von Bertalanffy non-linear equations. Although many studies have analysed nestling mass increase and the factors affecting growth rates, there is little information on nestling growth curves for several avian groups, such as Nuthatches (Sittidae). Moreover, the breeding biolog...

Due to rapid human expansion in the last century, wildlife roadkill is becoming a concerning threat to biodiversity and human safety. The frequency of roadkill events depends on factors related to specific traits of the road—tortuosity or the presence of fences, among others—and the animal ecology—such as activity patterns, reproductive season, or...

In ectothermic animals, body temperature is the most important factor affecting physiology and behavior. Reptiles depend on environmental temperature to regulate their body temperature, so geographic variation in environmental temperature can affect the biology of these organisms in the short and long term. We may expect physiological and behaviora...

Ecogeographical patterns describe predictable variation in phenotypic traits between ecological communities. For example, high-altitude animals are expected to show elevated hematological values as an adaptation to the lower oxygen pressure. Mountains act like ecological islands and therefore are considered natural laboratories. However, the majori...

Due to rapid human expansion in the last century, wildlife roadkill is becoming a concerning threat to biodiversity and human safety. The frequency of roadkill events depends on factors related to speci c traits of the road-fencing, tortuosity, or type of habitat, among others-and the animal ecology-such as activity patterns, reproductive season, t...

La coloración basada en carotenoides es un indicador de la aptitud biológica de aves, ya que los carotenoides actúan como recursos limitantes al obtenerse de la dieta. En muchas aves altriciales, esta coloración basada en carotenoides señaliza la condición física de los pollos y altera el cuidado parental. Para comprobar qué factores ecológicos afe...

Culicoides biting midges are blood-sucking insects that play a key role in the transmission of different parasites to wildlife. Birds are hosts of Culicoides from as early on as the nesting stage, when constrained to their nests, and they may impact their body condition. However, the ecological factors that determine the abundance and composition o...

The use of fresh green material in avian nests has been reported for several species, but its utility is still not fully understood. Potential explanations include the effects of plants’ volatile compounds on parasite reduction (“nest protection hypothesis”) or the direct beneficial effects on the nestling condition (e.g., through the stimulation o...

Los mosquitos desempeñan un importante papel en los ecosistemas ya que actúan como vectores (transmisores) de numerosos patógenos que circulan en la naturaleza y causan enfermedades en los humanos y otros animales. El mosquito común (Culex pipiens), por ejemplo, es un buen transmisor del parásito causante de la malaria aviar, Plasmodium relictum, y...

Mixed-species broods appear to be an uncommon phenomenon in altricial birds. In secondary hole-nesting birds, such as tits (Paridae), mixed-species clutches occur as a consequence of facultative interspecific brood parasitism or as a byproduct of nest takeover. Here, we report a case of a mixed-species brood composed of one Coal Tit Periparus ater...

Several ectoparasites parasitise nestlings decreasing their body condition, growth and survival. To minimise any loss of fitness due to ectoparasites, birds have developed a wide variety of defence mechanisms, potentially including hatching asynchrony. According to the Tasty Chick Hypothesis (TCH), the cost of parasitism would be reduced if ectopar...

Wild birds are hosts of Culicoides from as early on as the nesting stage when constrained to their nests. However, the environmental factors which determine the abundance and composition of Culicoides species within each bird nest are still understudied. We sampled Culicoides from Eurasian blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) nests found in two types of...

Several nest-dwelling ectoparasites parasitize nestlings and can decrease their body condition, growth or survival. To minimise these negative effects, birds have developed different defence mechanisms, potentially including hatching asynchrony. In altricial birds, nestlings often establish a body size hierarchy because eggs typically hatch sequent...

The diets of the Barn Owl Tyto alba and the Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus have been extensively studied worldwide over the past few years, especially on the Iberian Peninsula. Nevertheless, very few studies have examined the diets and the trophic niche overlap in areas where these two raptor species occur in sympatry. As such, in this study we comp...

Climate change is predicted to cause shifts in parasite distributions, leading to encounters with new hosts. Mountains offer a natural experimental background to study how parasite distributions vary across climatic gradients. Parasite abundance is generally assumed to decrease with ascending elevation, as colder climates may preclude several paras...

Sprint speed is a major performance trait in animal fitness involved in escaping from predators, obtaining food, and defending territory. Biotic and abiotic factors may influence sprint speed in lizards. Temperature decreases at higher altitude. Therefore, lizards at high elevations may require longer basking times to reach optimal body temperature...

El estrés oxidativo, definido como el desequilibrio entre la producción de especies reactivas de oxígeno (ROS) y moléculas antioxidantes a favor de las primeras, favorece la aparición de daños en las moléculas integrantes de células y tejidos, los cuales pueden afectar a su función y por tanto ocasionar a la larga efectos perjudiciales en los organ...

La lechuza campestre (Asio flammeus) es una rapaz con una distribución muy amplia, por lo que es de esperar que su dieta varíe enormemente entre regiones geográficas. Su dieta en la Península Ibérica es una de las más desconocidas entre las rapaces nocturnas, más aún en el sur de ésta. En el presente trabajo se estudió la dieta de A. flammeus en la...

Oxidative status has been proposed as an important ecological and evolutionary force given that pro-oxidant metabolites damage molecules, cells and tissues, with fitness consequences for organisms. Consequently, organisms usually face a trade-off between regulating their oxidative status and other physiological traits. However, environmental stress...

Animals frequently show complex colour patterns involved in social communication, which attracts great interest in evolutionary and behavioural ecology. Most researchers interpret that each colour in animals with multiple patches may either signal a different bearer’s trait or redundantly convey the same information. Colour signals, moreover, may v...

We report a new analysis of haemosporidian occurrence in 392 Southern Grey Shrike Lanius meridionalis nestlings previously reported in Hernández et al. (2017. Haemosporidian prevalence in Southern Grey Shrike Lanius meridionalis nestlings: impact on body condition and geographic distribution in the Iberian Peninsula. Bird Study 64: 362–373). The pr...

In terrestrial snails, thermal selection acts on shell coloration. However, the biological relevance of small differences in the intensity of shell pigmentation and the associated thermodynamic, physiological, and evolutionary consequences for snail diversity within the course of environmental warming are still insufficiently understood. To relate...

Lifespan is one of the main components of life history. Shorter lifespans can be expected in marginal habitats. However, in the case of ectotherms, lifespan typically increases with altitude, even though temperature –one of the main factors to determine ectotherms’ life history– declines with elevation. This pattern can be explained by the fact tha...

Body temperature is important in determining individual performance in ectotherms such as lizards. Environmental temperature decreases with increasing altitude, but nevertheless many lizards inhabit high-altitude environments. The ‘thermal melanism hypothesis’ proposes that a dark dorsal coloration enables darker individuals to heat up faster becau...

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a very powerful method to detect and identify pathogens. The high sensitivity of the method however comes with a cost; any of the millions of artificial DNA copies generated by PCR can serve as a template in a following experiment. If not identified as contaminations, these may result in erroneous conclusions...

Animals may face trade-offs when several simultaneous functions or processes compete for limiting resources. In that context, allocation of resources to the most fitness-enhancing competing function can be prioritized. Immune response and locomotor performance are relevant fitness components, mainly due to their important roles as defence against p...

Predation is one of the main selective forces in nature, frequently selecting potential prey for developing escape strategies. Escape ability is typically influenced by several morphological parameters, such as morphology of the locomotor SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALes, muscular capacity, body mass, or fluctuating asymmetry, and may differ between sexes...

The timing of organisms' senescence is developmentally programmed but also shaped by the interaction between environmental inputs and life-history traits. In ectotherms, ageing dynamics are still poorly understood even though their body temperature, metabolism, or growth trajectory are very sensitive to environmental changes. Here, we investigated...

Several ectoparasites, such as fleas and blowflies, parasitize nestling birds with detrimental effects on their health. To fight against ectoparasites and minimize fitness loss, birds have developed several defence mechanisms. The Tasty Chick Hypothesis (TCH) suggests that hatching asynchrony could be a defence against ectoparasites, given that ect...

The article can be read here for a limited time https://rdcu.be/b0P1v Parasitoid wasps may act as hyperparasites and sometimes regulate the populations of their hosts by a top-down dynamic. Nasonia vitripennis (Walker, 1836) is a generalist gregarious parasitoid that parasitizes several host flies, including the blowfly Protocalliphora Hough, 1899...

Predation usually selects for visual crypsis, the colour matching between an animal and its background. Geographic co-variation between animal and background colourations is well known, but how crypsis varies along elevational gradients remains unknown. We predict that dorsal colouration in the lizard Psammodromus algirus should covary with the col...

Las avispas parasitoides suelen ocupar el tercer nivel de la mayoría de los sistemas multitróficos, actuando así como hiperparásitos y, en ocasiones, regulando las poblaciones de sus hospedadores mediante una dinámica top-down. Nasonia (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) es una avispa parasitoide gregaria y generalista capaz de parasitar pupas de varias mo...

Nasonia vitripennis is a generalist gregarious parasitoid wasp that parasitizes several host blowflies, which, in turn, parasitize vertebrates. Protocalliphora azurea is one of the host of this parasitoid, whose larvae are hematophagous parasites of bird nestlings. We studied the prevalence of N. vitripennis in P. azurea puparia parasitizing wild p...

The timing of organisms' senescence is developmentally programmed but also shaped by the interaction between environmental inputs and life-history traits. In ectotherms, ageing dynamics are still poorly understood despite their particularities concerning thermoregulation, regeneration capacity, or growth trajectory. Here, we investigate the role of...

Telomere length is a marker of cellular senescence that relates to different components of individual fitness. Oxidative stress is often claimed as a main proximate factor contributing to telomere attrition, although the importance of this factor in vivo has recently been challenged. Early development represents an ideal scenario to address this hy...

Current climate warming has already contributed to local extinctions. Amphibians are one of the most sensitive animal groups to climate change, currently undergoing a global decline. Predictive models for Europe and Iberian Peninsula forecast that the future impact of climate change on amphibians will depend on their capacity to alter their distrib...

In Mediterranean environments, wildfires are key in modelling landscapes, ecological succession and the dynamics of species and communities. however, in recent years, wildfires have increased in number and extent, resulting in a conservation concern. still, it is generally thought that reptiles are usually not harmed by wildfires, or even may be be...