Up to 27 May 2022, Portugal has detected 96 confirmed cases of monkeypox. We describe 27 confirmed cases (median age: 33 years (range: 22–51); all males), with an earliest symptom onset date of 29 April. Almost all cases (n = 25) live in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley health region. Most cases were neither part of identified transmission chains, nor linked to travel or had contact with symptomatic persons or with animals, suggesting the possible previously undetected spread of monkeypox.
Most animals undergo ontogentic niche shifts during their life. Yet,
standard ecological theory builds on models that ignore this complexity.
Here, we study how complex life cycles, where juvenile and adult
individuals each feed on different sets of resources, affect community
richness. Two different modes of community assembly are considered:
gradual adaptive evolution and immigration of new species with randomly
selected phenotypes. We find that under gradual evolution complex life
cycles can lead to both higher and lower species richness when compared
to a model of species with simple life cycles that lack an ontogenetic
niche shift. Thus, complex life cycles do not per se increase the
scope for gradual adaptive diversification. However, complex life cycles
can lead to significantly higher species richness when communities are
assembled trough immigration, as immigrants can occupy isolated peaks of
the dynamic fitness landscape that are not accessible via gradual
evolution.
Many organisms studied by evolutionary biologists have different sexes, and the evolution of separate sexes and sexual dimorphisms in morphology and behaviour are central questions in evolutionary biology. Considering scientists to be embedded in a social and cultural context, we are also subjected to the risk of gender-biased assumptions and stereotypical thinking to appear when working on topics related to sexual reproduction and sexual dimorphism. Here we present, for continued discussion, a set of good-practice guidelines aimed at (1) helping to improve researchers' awareness of gender-biased assumptions underlying language use, generalizations, and interpretation of observations; and (2) providing recommendations to increase transparency, avoid problematic terminology, and improve study designs.
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