Background The origin of birds is one of the most enduring and dramatic evolutionary
debates. The hypothesis that the primarily small-sized birds are nested within a theropod …

Butterflies display extreme variation in wing shape associated with tremendous ecological
diversity. Disentangling the role of neutral versus adaptive processes in wing shape …

When comparative biologists observe that animal species living in caves also tend to have
reduced eyes, they may see such correlation as evidence that the traits are adaptively or …

The metabolic costs of animal movement have been studied extensively under laboratory
conditions, although frequently these are a poor approximation of the costs of operating in …

Comprising a substantial part of living biomass on earth, ants are integral to the functioning
of terrestrial ecosystems. More than 12,000 species have been described to date, and it is …

Abstract Current Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) are greatly limited by being able to operate in
air only. Designing multimodal MAVs that can fly effectively, dive into the water and retake …

Controlled gliding is one of the most energetically efficient modes of transportation for
natural and human powered fliers. Here we demonstrate that gliding and landing strategies …

We summarize all available amphibian and reptile species distribution data from the
northeast Mindanao faunal region, including small islands associated with this subcenter of …

The leaf or monkey frogs of the hylid subfamily Phyllomedusinae are a unique group of
charismatic anurans. We present a molecular phylogenetic analysis that includes 45 of the …

Insects are one of the few groups of animals that developed the ability of active flight. Such
mobility allowed the group to successfully explore and thrive in nearly all kinds of ecological …