Animal physiology articles within Nature Communications

Featured

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) migrate from North America to central Mexico during the fall. Here, Guerra et al. show that, in addition to a sun compass orientation, monarch butterflies use a magnetic compass to help direct their flight towards the equator.

    • Patrick A Guerra
    • , Robert J Gegear
    •  & Steven M Reppert

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Some animal populations are able to shift their birth sex ratio from the expected unity. This study shows, using fluorescencein situhybridization, that in a captive population of pygmy hippopotamus the males appear to be able to adjust the ratio of X- and Y-chromosome-bearing spermatozoa in their ejaculates.

    • Joseph Saragusty
    • , Robert Hermes
    •  & Thomas B. Hildebrandt

  • Article |

    Small endothermic animals often drop their body temperature—a process known as heterothermy—to conserve energy. This study demonstrates heterothermy in king penguin chicks (Aptenodytes patagonicus), a finding unexpected for such large birds, but which may account for the chicks’ fasting capacity of five months.

    • Götz Eichhorn
    • , René Groscolas
    •  & Yves Handrich

  • Article |

    Studies of male genitalia show patterns of divergent evolution, whereas females have been less well studied. Using experimental evolution and quantitative genetic analysis, Simmons and Garcia-Gonzalez show that sexual selection drives the coevolution of female and male genital morphology in the dung beetleOnthophagus taurus.

    • Leigh W. Simmons
    •  & Francisco Garcia-Gonzalez

Browse broader subjects

Browse Animal physiology across other nature.com journals