This study was planned to investigate the comparative effect of vitamin E and C, probiotics, protein level and the combination of these treatments on body weight, serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC), total oxidant status (TOS), oxidative stress index (OSI), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), cortisol and some minerals in Z...

Nematodes represent one of the most abundant and species-rich groups of animals on the planet, with parasitic species causing chronic, debilitating infections in both livestock and humans worldwide. The prevalence and success of the nematodes is a direct consequence of the exceptionally protective properties of their cuticle. The synthesis of this cuticle is a complex multi-step process, which ...

Growing evidence suggests that structural feather colours honestly reflect individual quality or body condition but, contrary to pigment-based colours, it is not clear what mechanism links condition to reflectance in structural feather colours. We experimentally accelerated the moult speed of a group of blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) by exposing them to a rapidly decreasing photoperiod and com...

Life-long neurogenesis is a characteristic feature of the olfactory pathways of a phylogenetically diverse array of animals. In both vertebrates and invertebrates, the life-long addition of olfactory interneurons in the brain occurs in parallel with the continuous proliferation of olfactory receptor neurons in the olfactory organ. It has been proposed that these two processes are related functi...

Moulting and growth as a key aspect of the life-history of crustaceans has been reviewed here for Meganyctiphanes norvegica. Moulting is a cyclical process with relatively constrained, uniform phases that have been well documented. The crustacean moult cycle has a large influence on growth-rates, reproduction and metabolism. Moult and growth are under hormonal control with further environmental...

The advent of numerical methods for analysing phylogenetic relationships, along with the study of morphology and molecular data, has driven our understanding of animal relationships for the past three decades. Within the protostome branch of the animal tree of life, these data have sufficed to establish its two main side branches, the moulting Ecdysozoa and the non-moulting Lophotrochozoa. In t...

In the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria, the frontal ganglion (FG) plays a key role in control of foregut movements, and constitutes a source of innervation to the foregut dilator muscles. In this work we studied the generation and characteristics of FG motor outputs in two distinct and fundamental behaviours: feeding and moulting. The FG motor pattern was found to be complex, and strongly ...

Recent data suggest that oxygen limitation may induce moulting in larval insects. This oxygen-dependent induction of moulting (ODIM) hypothesis stems from the fact that the tracheal respiratory system of insects grows primarily at moults, whereas tissue mass increases massively between moults. This may result in a mismatch between oxygen supply and demand at the end of each larval instar becaus...