Yanoviak SP

Ultrasound and ultraviolet: crypsis in gliding mammals 1Environmental and Life Sciences, Trent University, Peterborough, ON, Canada 2Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia 3Faculty of Biology, Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON, Canada 4Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Foresty, Peterborough, ON, Canada DOI 10.7717/peerj.17048 Academic Editor Clement Kent Subject Areas Animal Behavior, Evolutionary Studies, Zoology Keywords Mammalian phylogeny, Nocturnal,...

1. Introduction The tropical rainforest canopy supports tremendous macroarthropod abundance and diversity [1]. Volant inhabitants of the canopy can readily fly to escape predators or to pursue dispersed resources despite living 30 m or more above the ground. By contrast, wingless arthropods dwelling within tree crowns face significant hazards if they fall to the forest floor.

Discussion A major challenge of attempting to create models that examine evolutionary transitions is that of efficiency versus effectiveness. Evolved traits may need to only function at some basic level, rather than contribute high degrees of functional adaptation. Thus, an argument against our use of thresholds, such as a 6% body weight support as the minimum for WAIR, is that smaller values, such as 5% or even 1%, may still provide selective advantages for individuals.