The Parrot AR drone 2 is a commercially available quad rotor with many sensors onboard, such as two cameras, accelerometers, gyrometers, barometer, and a magnetometer. Recently, a GPS-module has become available, which can be used to geo-tag images. We have adapted the particularly versatile and powerful Paparazzi open source autopilot for use with the Parrot AR drone. Hence, just by uploading ...

The international pet trade is a major source of emerging invasive vertebrate species. We used online resources as a novel source of information for accidental bird escapes, and we investigated the factors that influence the frequency and distribution of bird escapes at a continental scale. We collected information on over 5,000 pet birds reported to be missing on animal websites during the las...

Lake Victoria harbors a unique species-rich flock of more than 500 endemic haplochromine cichlid fishes. The origin, age, and mechanism of diversification of this extraordinary radiation are still debated. Geological evidence suggests that the lake dried out completely about 14,700 years ago. On the basis of phylogenetic analyses of almost 300 DNA sequences of the mitochondrial control region o...

Hundreds of species of cichlid fishes have evolved in the Great Lakes of Africa. These colorful fishes are known for their ecological diversity. Here, we discuss the diversity of their visual systems. Cichlids have seven unique cone opsin genes, which produce visual pigments sensitive from the ultraviolet to the red end of the spectrum. Different species typically express three visual pigments ...

The dramatic variation of cichlid fish colour pattern is thought to function in mate choice, evolve by sexual selection, and contribute to explosive speciation. Here, we combine linkage mapping and population genetic analyses to identify a single region of the cichlid genome responsible for the orange blotch (OB) colour phenotype. In each analysis, OB is tightly linked to the c-ski1 gene. Addit...

Most freshwater diversity is arguably located in networks of rivers and streams, but, in contrast to lacustrine systems riverine radiations, are largely understudied. The extensive rapids of the lower Congo River is one of the few river stretches inhabited by a locally endemic cichlid species flock as well as several species pairs, for which we provide evidence that they have radiated in situ. ...

Sex determination mechanisms are highly variable across teleost fishes and sexual development is often plastic. Nevertheless, downstream factors establishing the two sexes are presumably conserved. Here, we study sequence evolution and gene expression of core genes of sexual development in a prime model system in evolutionary biology, the East African cichlid fishes. Using the available five ci...

background: the presence of pesticide due to the huge demand for agricultural purposes is very prevalent in surface waters of iran. these pesticides could finally accumulate in aquatic ecosystems and have been proved to have toxic effects on aquatic animals. the aim of this study was to assess the acute toxicity of diazinon, deltamethrin, butachlor and pretilachlor on zebra cichlid (cryptoheros...

Studies of cichlid evolution have highlighted the importance of visual pigment genes in the spectacular radiation of the African rift lake cichlids. Recent work, however, has also provided strong evidence for adaptive diversification of riverine cichlids in the Neotropics, which inhabit environments of markedly different spectral properties from the African rift lakes. These ecological and/or b...

The polychromatic and trophically polymorphic Midas cichlid fish species complex (Amphilophus cf. citrinellus) is an excellent model system for studying the mechanisms of speciation and patterns of phenotypic diversification in allopatry and in sympatry. Here, we first review research to date on the species complex and the geological history of its habitat. We analyse body shape variation from ...