Publications

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activity time budget during foraging trips of emperor penguins.we developed an automated method using depth and one axis of body acceleration data recorded by animal-borne data loggers to identify activities of penguins over long-term deployments. using this technique, we evaluated the activity time budget of emperor penguins (n = 10) both in water and on sea ice during foraging trips in chick-rearing season. during the foraging trips, emperor penguins alternated dive bouts (4.8 ± 4.5 h) and rest periods on sea ice (2.5 ± 2.3 h). after recorder deployment a ...201223185608
bird communication: two voices are better than one.how do emperor penguins find their mates on a featureless ice flow, packed at densities of ten animals per square meter? a recent study has revealed how use of their 'two-voice' calls enables emperor penguins to locate their mates and chicks under some of nature's most extreme conditions.200010996089
behavioral changes in fasting emperor penguins: evidence for a "refeeding signal" linked to a metabolic shift.this study examines the relationships between metabolic status and behavior in spontaneously fasting birds in the context of long-term regulation of body mass and feeding. locomotor activity, escape behavior, display songs, body mass, and metabolic and endocrine status of captive male emperor penguins were recorded during a breeding fast. we also examined whether body mass at the end of the fast affected further survival. the major part of the fast (phase ii) was characterized by the maintenance ...19989530242
environmental extremes versus ecological extremes: impact of a massive iceberg on the population dynamics of a high-level antarctic marine predator.extreme events have been suggested to play a disproportionate role in shaping ecological processes, but our understanding of the types of environmental conditions that elicit extreme consequences in natural ecosystems is limited. here, we investigated the impact of a massive iceberg on the dynamics of a population of weddell seals. reproductive rates of females were reduced, but survival appeared unaffected. we also found suggestive evidence for a prolonged shift towards higher variability in re ...201223015628
an emperor penguin population estimate: the first global, synoptic survey of a species from space.our aim was to estimate the population of emperor penguins (aptenodytes fosteri) using a single synoptic survey. we examined the whole continental coastline of antarctica using a combination of medium resolution and very high resolution (vhr) satellite imagery to identify emperor penguin colony locations. where colonies were identified, vhr imagery was obtained in the 2009 breeding season. the remotely-sensed images were then analysed using a supervised classification method to separate penguins ...201222514609
muscle energy stores and stroke rates of emperor penguins: implications for muscle metabolism and dive performance.in diving birds and mammals, bradycardia and peripheral vasoconstriction potentially isolate muscle from the circulation. during complete ischemia, atp production is dependent on the size of the myoglobin oxygen (o(2)) store and the concentrations of phosphocreatine (pcr) and glycogen (gly). therefore, we measured pcr and gly concentrations in the primary underwater locomotory muscle of emperor penguin and modeled the depletion of muscle o(2) and those energy stores under conditions of complete ...201722418705
point of no return in diving emperor penguins: is the timing of the decision to return limited by the number of strokes?at some point in a dive, breath-hold divers must decide to return to the surface to breathe. the issue of when to end a dive has been discussed intensively in terms of foraging ecology and behavioral physiology, using dive duration as a temporal parameter. inevitably, however, a time lag exists between the decision of animals to start returning to the surface and the end of the dive, especially in deep dives. in the present study, we examined the decision time in emperor penguins under two diffe ...201222162861
icy insights from emperor penguins. 200919193852
an electrophysiological and behavioral study of sleep in emperor penguins under natural ambient conditions.in two pairs of emperor penguins surgically implanted for chronic recordings of eeg, eog and emg, four arousal stages were characterized on the basis of behavioral and electrophysiological criteria: wakefulness (w), drowsiness (d), slow-wave sleep (sws) and paradoxical sleep (ps). the general patterns of electrographic correlates observed for each arousal stage resemble those reported in other birds. sleep patterns were examined with these two pairs placed under natural ambient conditions of lig ...19863786513
resting metabolic rate and cost of locomotion in long-term fasting emperor penguins.during the antarctic winter emperor penguins fast for up to 120 days when breeding at rookeries, which may be as much as 120 km from open water. emperors have lost almost half of their body mass by the time they walk back to the sea to feed. resting metabolic rate and metabolic rate during treadmill walking at 1.4 km times h-1 were measured regularly along the course of 63-118 days of fasting in four emperors that lost between 33 and 55% of their body mass. resting metabolic rate decreased linea ...19807429912
thermoregulation in fasting emperor penguins under natural conditions.emperor penguins breed during the cold antarctic winter. the males incubate the single egg while fasting for up to 4 mo and losing some 20 kg of their body mass. fasting captive birds under outdoor conditions lost from 0.145 to 0.434 kg day -1. mean resting metabolic rate, 49.06 w for 24.8 kg body mass, is 7 and 27%, respectively, higher than predicted from general metabolic equations for birds. minimal thermal conductance, 1.31 w m-2 degrees c-1, is within the range for other birds. the lower c ...1976970475
don: deep learning and optimization-based framework for detection of novel coronavirus disease using x-ray images.in the hospital, a limited number of covid-19 test kits are available due to the spike in cases every day. for this reason, a rapid alternative diagnostic option should be introduced as an automated detection method to prevent covid-19 spreading among individuals. this article proposes multi-objective optimization and a deep-learning methodology for the detection of infected coronavirus patients with x-rays. j48 decision tree method classifies the deep characteristics of affected x-ray corona im ...202133587262
a paradigm of thermal adaptation in penguins and elephants by tuning cold activation in trpm8.to adapt to habitat temperature, vertebrates have developed sophisticated physiological and ecological mechanisms through evolution. transient receptor potential melastatin 8 (trpm8) serves as the primary sensor for cold. however, how cold activates trpm8 and how this sensor is tuned for thermal adaptation remain largely unknown. here we established a molecular framework of how cold is sensed in trpm8 with a combination of patch-clamp recording, unnatural amino acid imaging, and structural model ...202032220960
chaotic emperor penguin optimised extreme learning machine for microarray cancer classification.microarray technology plays a significant role in cancer classification, where a large number of genes and samples are simultaneously analysed. for the efficient analysis of the microarray data, there is a great demand for the development of intelligent techniques. in this article, the authors propose a novel hybrid technique employing fisher criterion, relieff, and extreme learning machine (elm) based on the principle of chaotic emperor penguin optimisation algorithm (cepo). epo is a recently d ...202032196467
receding ice drove parallel expansions in southern ocean penguins.climate shifts are key drivers of ecosystem change. despite the critical importance of antarctica and the southern ocean for global climate, the extent of climate-driven ecological change in this region remains controversial. in particular, the biological effects of changing sea ice conditions are poorly understood. we hypothesize that rapid postglacial reductions in sea ice drove biological shifts across multiple widespread southern ocean species. we test for demographic shifts driven by climat ...201931843914
trace elements and persistent organic pollutants in chicks of 13 seabird species from antarctica to the subtropics.seabirds from remote regions are mainly exposed to environmental contaminants from non-point contamination of their food webs. pre-fledging seabird chicks are fed by their parents with marine prey captured in the vicinity of breeding colonies. contaminant concentrations in tissues of pre-fledging chicks can thus be mostly related to local dietary sources, and have the potential to unravel spatial patterns of environmental contamination in marine ecosystems. here, mercury (hg), 13 other trace ele ...202031711015
genetic factors for short life span associated with evolution of the loss of flight ability.acquisition or loss of flying ability is evolutionarily linked with maximum life span (mls) in mammals and birds. although ecological factors, such as extrinsic mortality, may lead to either shortened or extended life spans through natural selection, mls is influenced by complex molecular and metabolic processes, and the genetic changes associated with flying ability that have led to either a longer or shorter mls are unknown. here, we examine the parallel evolution of flight in mammals and bird ...202032607209
cameratransform: a python package for perspective corrections and image mapping.camera images and video recordings are simple and non-invasive tools to investigate animals in their natural habitat. quantitative evaluations, however, often require an exact reconstruction of object positions, sizes, and distances in the image. here, we provide an open source software package to perform such calculations. our approach allows the user to correct for perspective distortion, transform images to "bird's-eye" view projections, or transform image-coordinates to real-world coordinate ...202032864407
why the emperor penguin reigns where elephants shiver.accurate sensing of the environmental temperature is crucial for the survival and wellbeing of organisms. in vertebrates, the cold- and menthol-activated ion channel trpm8 acts as the prime molecular sensor of cool temperatures. by comparing trpm8 in vertebrates with different habitat temperatures, from elephants to penguins, yang et al. identify key residues within the pore domain that determine the channel's cold sensitivity. strikingly, mice engineered to express penguin trpm8 show a remarkab ...202032836018
latitudinal, sex and inter-specific differences in mercury and other trace metal concentrations in adélie and emperor penguins in the ross sea, antarctica.we sought to determine mercury (hg) and other trace metal concentrations in adélie (pygoscelis adeliae) and emperor penguin (aptenodytes forsteri) breast feathers from the ross sea, antarctica, and relate those concentrations to the trophic position and the habitats in which each of these species forage. adélie penguin feathers from the southern ross sea colonies were higher in hg than those sampled further north in the ross sea, potentially due to greater exposure to local sources, such as volc ...202032319892
the paris agreement objectives will likely halt future declines of emperor penguins.the paris agreement is a multinational initiative to combat climate change by keeping a global temperature increase in this century to 2°c above preindustrial levels while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°c. until recently, ensembles of coupled climate simulations producing temporal dynamics of climate en route to stable global mean temperature at 1.5 and 2°c above preindustrial levels were not available. hence, the few studies that have assessed the ecological impact of the paris a ...202031696584
blood transcriptome resources of chinstrap (pygoscelis antarcticus) and gentoo (pygoscelis papua) penguins from the south shetland islands, antarctica.the chinstrap (pygoscelis antarcticus) and gentoo (p. papua) penguins are distributed throughout antarctica and the sub-antarctic islands. in this study, high-quality de novo assemblies of blood transcriptomes from these penguins were generated using the illumina miseq platform. a total of 22.2 and 21.8 raw reads were obtained from chinstrap and gentoo penguins, respectively. these reads were assembled using the oases assembly platform and resulted in 26,036 and 21,854 contigs with n50 values of ...201930929406
phase transitions in huddling emperor penguins.emperor penguins (aptenodytes forsteri) are highly adapted to the harsh conditions of the antarctic winter: they are able to fast for up to 134 days during breeding. to conserve energy, emperor penguins form tight groups (huddles), which is key for their reproductive success. the effect of different meteorological factors on the huddling behaviour, however, is not well understood. using time-lapse image recordings of an emperor penguin colony, we show that huddling can be described as a phase tr ...201830416209
comparative population genomics reveals key barriers to dispersal in southern ocean penguins.the mechanisms that determine patterns of species dispersal are important factors in the production and maintenance of biodiversity. understanding these mechanisms helps to forecast the responses of species to environmental change. here, we used a comparative framework and genomewide data obtained through rad-seq to compare the patterns of connectivity among breeding colonies for five penguin species with shared ancestry, overlapping distributions and differing ecological niches, allowing an exa ...201830308702
a well-preserved partial scapula from japan and the reconstruction of the triosseal canal of plotopterids.the discovery of a well-preserved cranial end of a plotopterid scapula from the early oligocene jinnobaru formation in southwestern japan has provided a fine example of its bone structure and has enabled the reconstruction of the triosseal canal (canalis triosseus) of the unique extinct penguin-like bird. it is believed that plotopterids performed penguin-like underwater propulsion using wings that were similar to those of penguins. until this discovery, the lack of well-preserved plotopterid sc ...201830155348
a buoyancy, balance and stability challenge to the hypothesis of a semi-aquatic spinosaurus stromer, 1915 (dinosauria: theropoda).a recent interpretation of the fossil remains of the enigmatic, large predatory dinosaur spinosaurus aegyptiacus stromer 1915 proposed that it was specially adapted for a semi-aquatic mode of life-a first for any predatory dinosaur. to test some aspects of this suggestion, a three-dimensional, digital model of the animal that incorporates regional density variations, lungs and air sacs was generated, and the flotation potential of the model was investigated using specially written software. it w ...201830128195
population response of an apex antarctic consumer to its prey and climate fluctuations.a fundamental endeavor in population ecology is to identify the drivers of population dynamics. a few empirical studies included the effect of prey abundance when investigating simultaneously the effects of density-dependence and climate factors on marine top-predator population dynamics. our aim was to unravel the mechanisms forcing population dynamics of an apex consumer seabird, the south polar skua, using long-term climatic and population time series of the consumer and its prey in terre adé ...201930116877
biophysical characterization of aptenodytes forsteri cytochrome p450 aromatase.cytochrome p450 19 (cyp19, aromatase) catalyzes the conversion of androgens to estrogens in a sequence of three reactions that each depend on nadph and o2. aromatase is a phylogenetically-ancient enzyme and its breadth of expression in other species has highlighted distinct physiological functions. in songbirds, estrogen production is required for programming the neural circuits controlling song and in the determination of sex in fish and reptiles. this work describes the expression, purificatio ...201829684698
crozier's penguin: an object history of maritime and museum science.in november 1843 john cassidy, curator in the belfast museum received, perhaps rather dolefully, a collection of bird skins. the museum was barely managing to cope with the constant flow of donations from the 'four quarters of the globe'. but the gift of bird skins could not be ignored. sent by captain francis crozier, recently returned from the british antarctic expedition, the bequest contained 150 species of southern ocean birds, including the remains of two immature 'great penguins'. taking ...201829503030
night diving by some emperor penguins during the winter breeding period at cape washington.all through the bird literature and feature films, there is much ado about dedicated emperor penguin males fasting for 115 days while they do all the incubation of the single egg. sometimes, they may not fast for so long. based on a winter visit to cape washington, we obtained evidence that some birds may feed before the egg is laid, and if they do, and some are males, then their fast is much less than 115 days. the consequence of a shorter fast for the male is a better chance of completing the ...201829317482
emperor penguins break their fast with night-time snacks. 201831467434
morphometric patterns in recent and fossil penguins (aves, sphenisciformes).a total of 622 skin specimens, 527 skeletons, and myological data compiled by schreiweis (1972) were used to investigate morphometric patterns within and among the 18 recent species of spheniscidae, and to compare the family with a fighted species, the common diving-petrel (pelecanoides urinator), considered by some authorities to be similar to the flighted ancestor of penguins. fossil penguins also were studied using measurements from 111 skeletal elements representing 18 species. most external ...198932336888
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