Affiliated with:
Research article
Hox gene clusters with at least 13 paralog group (PG) members are common in vertebrate genomes and in that of amphioxus. Ascidians, which belong to the subphylum Tunicata (Urochordata), are phylogenetically po...
Zoological Letters 2017 3:17
Published on: 15 September 2017
Research article
Plant-dwelling beetles overcome challenging attachment hurdles by means of ellaborated, tarsal attachment devices, which are frequently equipped with hairy adhesive pads. While the tarsal functional morphology...
Zoological Letters 2017 3:16
Published on: 8 September 2017
Research article
The structural and biochemical features of the tymbal (sound-producing) muscle of cicadas were studied by X-ray diffraction and immunochemistry, and compared with those of flight muscles from the same species.
Zoological Letters 2017 3:15
Published on: 1 September 2017
Research article
We have found that the spectral sensitivity of the compound eye in the summer fruit tortrix moth (Adoxophyes orana) differs in laboratory strains originating from different regions of Japan. We have investigated ...
Zoological Letters 2017 3:14
Published on: 30 August 2017
Research article
The lesser grain borer Rhyzopertha dominica (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae) is a stored-product pest beetle. Early histological studies dating back to 1930s have reported that R. dominica and other bostrichid species ...
Zoological Letters 2017 3:13
Published on: 19 August 2017
Research article
Bacterial symbionts transmitted from mothers to offspring are found in the majority of arthropods. Numerous studies have illustrated their wide impact on host biology, such as reproduction, behavior, and physi...
Zoological Letters 2017 3:12
Published on: 14 August 2017
Research article
The three known subtypes of the retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor (ROR) have been implicated in the control of immunity, brain function, and circadian rhythm in mammals. Here, we demonstrate by ph...
Zoological Letters 2017 3:11
Published on: 11 August 2017
Research article
The CRISPR/Cas system is a powerful genome editing tool that enables targeted genome modifications in various organisms. In medaka (Oryzias latipes), targeted mutagenesis with small insertions and deletions using...
Zoological Letters 2017 3:10
Published on: 6 July 2017
Research article
Given the numerous hypotheses concerning arthropod phylogeny, independent data are needed to supplement knowledge based on traditional external morphology and modern molecular sequence information. One promisi...
Zoological Letters 2017 3:9
Published on: 4 July 2017
Research article
The importance of the cervical vertebrae as part of the skull–neck system in facilitating the success and diversity of tetrapods is clear. The reconstruction of its evolution, however, is problematic because o...
Zoological Letters 2017 3:8
Published on: 13 June 2017
Research article
Tunic is a cellulosic, integumentary matrix found in tunicates (Subphylum Tunicata or Urochordata). The tunics of some ascidian species and pelagic tunicates, such as salps, are nearly transparent, which is us...
Zoological Letters 2017 3:7
Published on: 30 May 2017
Research article
Obtaining phylogenomic data for enigmatic taxa is essential to achieve a better understanding of animal evolution. Dicyemids have long fascinated biologists because of their highly simplified body organization...
Zoological Letters 2017 3:6
Published on: 29 May 2017
Research article
Animals exhibit circadian rhythms with a period of approximately 24 h in various physiological functions, including locomotor activity. This rhythm is controlled by an endogenous oscillatory mechanism, or circ...
Zoological Letters 2017 3:5
Published on: 6 April 2017
Research article
The T-box family transcription-factor gene, Brachyury, has two expression domains with discrete functions during animal embryogenesis. The primary domain, associated with the blastopore, is shared by most metazoa...
Zoological Letters 2017 3:4
Published on: 23 March 2017
Research article
Facultative parthenogenesis, seen in many animal phyla, is a reproductive strategy in which females are able to generate offspring when mating partners are unavailable. In some subsocial and eusocial insects, ...
Zoological Letters 2017 3:3
Published on: 13 March 2017
Research article
Two essential processes, oocyte maturation and ovulation, are independently induced, but proceed cooperatively as the final step in oogenesis before oocytes become fertilizable. Although these two processes ar...
Zoological Letters 2017 3:2
Published on: 28 February 2017
Review
An overview of the literature on the chondrocranium of marsupial mammals reveals a relative conservatism in shape and structures. We document the histological cranial anatomy of individuals representing Monodelph...
Zoological Letters 2017 3:1
Published on: 12 February 2017
Research article
Phylactolaemata is the earliest branch and the sister group to all extant bryozoans. It is considered a small relict group that, perhaps due to the invasion of freshwater, has retained ancestral features. Reco...
Zoological Letters 2016 2:25
Published on: 8 December 2016
Research article
Diverse animals are intimately associated with microbial symbionts. How such host–symbiont associations have evolved is a fundamental biological issue. Recent studies have revealed a variety of evolutionary re...
Zoological Letters 2016 2:24
Published on: 30 November 2016
Research article
Among both plants and arthropods, super-hydrophobic surfaces have evolved that enable self-cleaning, locomotion on water surfaces, or plastron respiration. Super-hydrophobicity is achieved by a combination of ...
Zoological Letters 2016 2:23
Published on: 28 November 2016
Research article
This is the first report of two-headed (bicephaly) lamprey twins. Although lampreys sit at a crucial phylogenetic position, there are only a few reports on their teratology and developmental abnormalities.
Zoological Letters 2016 2:22
Published on: 16 November 2016
Research article
Diuronotus is one of the most recently described genera of Paucitubulatina, one of the three major clades in Gastrotricha. Its morphology suggests that Diuronotus is an early branch of...
Zoological Letters 2016 2:21
Published on: 22 September 2016
Research article
The taxonomic position of the Middle Devonian fish-like animal Palaeospondylus has remained enigmatic, due mainly to the inability to identify homologous cranial elements. This animal has been classified into nea...
Zoological Letters 2016 2:20
Published on: 8 September 2016
Research article
The discovery of differentially organized sex chromosome systems suggests that heteromorphic sex chromosomes evolved from a pair of homologous chromosomes. Whereas karyotypes are highly conserved in alethinoph...
Zoological Letters 2016 2:19
Published on: 26 August 2016
Research article
Vibrational senses are vital for plant-dwelling animals because vibrations transmitted through plants allow them to detect approaching predators or conspecifics. Little is known, however, about how coleopteran...
Zoological Letters 2016 2:18
Published on: 26 August 2016
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