Equid Nutritional Physiology and Behavior: An Evolutionary Perspective

Clauss, Marcus; Codron, Daryl; Hummel, Jürgen

doi:10.1016/j.jevs.2023.104265

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 97 publications

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“…contributing to explanations for the demise in species diversity and the extinction of whole clades of the Perissodactyla. For this group, no adaptations for using their microbiome as a food source are known, in contrast to microbe farming clades such as the Ruminantia [47].…”

Section: Gastrointestinal Tract Evolution In Mammalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teeth and the gastrointestinal tract in mammals: when 1 + 1 = 3

Clauss,

Fritz,

Hummel

2023

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Both teeth and the digestive tract show adaptations that are commonly interpreted in the context of trophic guilds—faunivory, herbivory and omnivory. Teeth prepare food for the digestive tract, and dental evolution focuses on increasing durability and functionality; in particular, size reduction of plant particles is an important preparation for microbial fermentative digestion. In narratives of digestive adaptations, microbes are typically considered as service providers, facilitating digestion. That the majority of ‘herbivorous’ (and possibly ‘omnivorous’) mammals display adaptations to maximize microbes' use as prey—by harvesting the microbes multiplying in their guts—is less emphasized and not reflected in trophic labels. Harvesting of microbes occurs either via coprophagy after separation from indigestible material by a separation mechanism in the hindgut, or from a forestomach by a ‘washing mechanism’ that selectively removes fines, including microbes, to the lower digestive tract. The evolution of this washing mechanism as part of the microbe farming niche opened the opportunity for the evolution of another mechanism that links teeth and guts in an innovative way—the sorting and cleaning of not-yet-sufficiently-size-reduced food that is then re-submitted to repeated mastication (rumination), leading to unprecedented chewing and digestive efficiency. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Food processing and nutritional assimilation in animals’.

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Section: Gastrointestinal Tract Evolution In Mammalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teeth and the gastrointestinal tract in mammals: when 1 + 1 = 3

Clauss,

Fritz,

Hummel

2023

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Morphological disparity of mammalian limb bones throughout the Cenozoic: the role of biotic and abiotic factors

Serio,

Brown,

Clauss

et al. 2024

Palaeontology

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Mammals exhibit ecology‐related diversity in long bone morphology, revealing an ample spectrum of adaptations both within and between clades. Their occupation of unique ecological niches in postcranial morphology is thought to have occurred at different chronological phases in relation to abiotic factors such as climate and biotic interactions amongst major clades. Mammalian morphologies rapidly evolved throughout the Cenozoic, with several orders following different paths in locomotory adaptations. We assessed morphological variation in limb proportions for a rich sample of extant and fossil large mammalian clades (mainly carnivores and ungulates) to test associations with ecological adaptations and to identify temporal patterns of diversification. Phylogenetic relationships among species were incorporated into the analysis of limb bone proportions, showing significant morphological changes in relation to species substrate preference. Major climatic events appeared to have no temporal impact on patterns of morphological diversification, expressed as morphological disparity, in either clades or ecological groups. Linear stochastic differential equations supported a double‐wedge diversification model for limb proportions of carnivorous clades (‘Creodonta’ and Carnivora). The concomitant increase in morphological disparity throughout the Cenozoic for the orders Carnivora and Artiodactyla had a significative impact on the disparity of Perissodactyla supporting biotic interaction as primary driver of mammalian morphological diversification. Our findings challenge the classic idea of abiotic factors as primary driving forces in the evolution of postcranial morphologies for large terrestrial mammals, and propose clade competition as a key factor in temporal diversification.

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Gene Expression Analysis before and after the Pelvic Flexure in the Epithelium of the Equine Hindgut

Moss,

Wilson,

Reed

et al. 2024

Animals

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Previous research demonstrated the distribution of distinct microbial communities in the equine hindgut surrounding the pelvic flexure. The current study evaluated gene expression in epithelial tissues surrounding the pelvic flexure to characterize patterns that might correlate with microbial distribution. Gene expression was determined by analyzing RNA sequence data from the pelvic flexure, the left and right ventral colon, and the left and right dorsal colon. An average of 18,330 genes were expressed across the five tissues sampled. Most of the genes showed some level of expression in all five tissues. Tissue-restricted patterns of expression were also observed. Genes with restricted expression in the left ventral and left dorsal colons have communication, signaling, and regulatory functions that correlate with their known physiology. In contrast, genes expressed exclusively in the pelvic flexure have diverse functions. The ontology of genes differentially expressed between the pelvic flexure and the surrounding tissues was associated with immune functions and signaling processes. Despite being non-significant, these enrichment trends were reinforced by the functions of statistically significant expression differences between tissues of the hindgut. These results provide insight into the physiology of the equine hindgut epithelium that might influence the microbiota and its distribution.

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Equid Nutritional Physiology and Behavior: An Evolutionary Perspective

Cited by 3 publications

References 97 publications

Teeth and the gastrointestinal tract in mammals: when 1 + 1 = 3

Teeth and the gastrointestinal tract in mammals: when 1 + 1 = 3

Morphological disparity of mammalian limb bones throughout the Cenozoic: the role of biotic and abiotic factors

Gene Expression Analysis before and after the Pelvic Flexure in the Epithelium of the Equine Hindgut

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