Leptin has emerged as the major lipostat, regulating adiposity by affecting feeding behavior and thermogenesis. Leptin levels in normal-weight Western humans and in captive rodents are 5-15 ng/ml. But evidence suggests that these levels are abnormally high and that leptin may have evolved as a more general metabolic signal, with its most robust effects at lower levels. If this is true, then wil...

Risk assessments of new insect-resistant crops will need to estimate the potential for increased weediness of wild crop relatives as a consequence of gene flow. When field experiments are precluded by containment concerns, simulation experiments can identify hazards or measure expected differences between GMOs and parental plants. To measure plant fitness consequences of wild plant protection f...

Indonesia is at the epicenter of Asian Songbird Crisis, i.e., recognition that cage bird trade has a devastating impact on numerous imperiled species in Asia. The Javan pied starling Gracupica jalla, only last five years recognized as distinct from starlings mainland Southeast Asia, been declared extinct wild 2021. Up until 1980s, it used to be one most common open countryside birds islands Jav...

Captive breeding to safeguard against extirpation in the wild is a practice for many animal groups. Animals captivity experience reduced contact with natural substrates and other animals, consume atypical diets that may alter naturally occurring microbial associations. Amphibian skin microbiomes are vital amphibian health, protecting them from pathogens aiding development, immune system trainin...

Classic theories of ageing consider extrinsic mortality (EM) a major factor in shaping longevity and ageing, yet most studies of functional ageing focus on species with low EM. This bias may cause overestimation of the influence of senescent declines in performance over condition-dependent mortality on demographic processes across taxa. To simultaneously investigate the roles of functional sene...

Faecal samples from 163 captive and semi-captive individuals, 61 samples from wild individuals and 38 samples from captive groups of Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) in Kalimantan, Indonesia, were collected during one rainy season (November 2005-May 2006) and screened for intestinal parasites using sodium acetate-acetic acid-formalin-concentration (SAFC), sedimentation, flotation, McMaster- ...