Soft, malleable, and non-dry on exposure in air are the typical features for plain plasticine, which lead plasticine to be widely used in many industrial fields and our daily life. As a kind of clay, poorly elec- tric...Soft, malleable, and non-dry on exposure in air are the typical features for plain plasticine, which lead plasticine to be widely used in many industrial fields and our daily life. As a kind of clay, poorly elec- tric conductivity and thermal conductivity of plain plasticine seriously limit its applications. Therefore, synthesizing a kind of plasticine having metallic bond is of importance for extending its applications in some special cases, such as thermal-cooling medium, anti-static electricity, electromagnetic shielding, etc. Here, we report a novel GalnSnCdZn2 alloy, which exhibits similar behavior as compared to those of plasticine at near room temperature （30-40 ℃）, and a good electrical conductivity due to its nature of metal. This new GalnSnCdZn2 alloy can be called as metallic plasticine that contains the near-eutectic structure with low melting point and the other relatively high melting point phases. In this metallic plas- ticine, the near-eutectic structure with low melting point plays the same role as the oily ingredient in plain plasticine, dominating the plastic deformation, while the other relatively high melting point phases act as the stuffing like the CaCO3 in plain plasticine. The creation of metallic plasticine offers a general strategy for designing/preparing a new class of plasticine which possesses both the nature of metal and plasticine.展开更多
Many organisms have evolved adaptive coloration that reduces their risk of predation. Cryptic colo- ration reduces the likelihood of detection/recognition by potential predators, while warning or aposematic coloration...Many organisms have evolved adaptive coloration that reduces their risk of predation. Cryptic colo- ration reduces the likelihood of detection/recognition by potential predators, while warning or aposematic coloration advertises unprofitability and thereby reduces the likelihood of attack. Although some studies show that aposematic coloration functions better at decreasing attack rate than crypsis, recent work has suggested and demonstrated that crypsis and aposematism are both successful strategies for avoiding predation. Furthermore, the visual environment （e.g., ambient lighting, background） affects the ability for predators to detect prey. We investigated these 2 related hypoth- eses using 2 well-known visually aposematic species of Heliconius butterflies, which occupy differ- ent habitats （open-canopy vs. closed-canopy）, and one palatable, cryptic, generalist species Junonia coenia. We tested if the differently colored butterflies differ in attack rates by placing plasti- cine models of each of the 3 species in 2 different tropical habitats where the butterflies naturally occur： disturbed, open-canopy habitat and forested, closed-canopy habitat. The cryptic model had fewer attacks than one of the aposematic models. Predation rates differed between the 2 habitats, with the open habitat having much higher predation. However, we did not find an interaction between species and habitat type, which is perplexing due to the different aposematic phenotypes naturally occurring in different habitats. Our findings suggest that during the Panamanian dry sea- son avian predation on perched butterflies is not a leading cause in habitat segregation between the 2 aposematic species and demonstrate that cryptically colored animals at rest may be better than aposematic prey at avoiding avian attacks in certain environments.展开更多
Chemical defenses are frequently accompanied by salient color patterns actively avoided by predators,a phe-nomenon referred to as aposematism.However,the production of both chemical defenses and pigments is costly,and...Chemical defenses are frequently accompanied by salient color patterns actively avoided by predators,a phe-nomenon referred to as aposematism.However,the production of both chemical defenses and pigments is costly,and is thus expected to be reduced under mild predator pressure.In this work,I compared the size and coloration of parotoid glands(2 dorsal,external swollen structures that secrete toxins in toads)of male and female Epidalea calamita toads from agrosystems and from pine groves.I also quantified the predator attacks received by plas-ticine toad models,whose“parotoid glands”differed in size and color conspicuousness,exposed in each habitat.Predators avoided models with large and conspicuous parotoid glands,but models in agrosystems were more of-ten attacked.Concerning actual toads,agrosystem and male individuals had larger parotoid glands,presumably implying greater production of chemical defenses than in pine grove and female conspecifics.Thesefindings are aligned with previous research suggesting that both agrosystem toads and males in this system are subjected to a more intense predator pressure.Difference between parotoid gland and dorsum coloration was greater in agrosys-tem toads.A marked internal pattern could function as an aposematic signal,which could counteract increased predator pressure.展开更多
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51471044, 51525401, 51372215 and 51671044)Dalian Support Plan for Innovation of High-level Talents (Top and Leading Talents, 2015R013)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. DUT16ZD206)
文摘Soft, malleable, and non-dry on exposure in air are the typical features for plain plasticine, which lead plasticine to be widely used in many industrial fields and our daily life. As a kind of clay, poorly elec- tric conductivity and thermal conductivity of plain plasticine seriously limit its applications. Therefore, synthesizing a kind of plasticine having metallic bond is of importance for extending its applications in some special cases, such as thermal-cooling medium, anti-static electricity, electromagnetic shielding, etc. Here, we report a novel GalnSnCdZn2 alloy, which exhibits similar behavior as compared to those of plasticine at near room temperature （30-40 ℃）, and a good electrical conductivity due to its nature of metal. This new GalnSnCdZn2 alloy can be called as metallic plasticine that contains the near-eutectic structure with low melting point and the other relatively high melting point phases. In this metallic plas- ticine, the near-eutectic structure with low melting point plays the same role as the oily ingredient in plain plasticine, dominating the plastic deformation, while the other relatively high melting point phases act as the stuffing like the CaCO3 in plain plasticine. The creation of metallic plasticine offers a general strategy for designing/preparing a new class of plasticine which possesses both the nature of metal and plasticine.
文摘Many organisms have evolved adaptive coloration that reduces their risk of predation. Cryptic colo- ration reduces the likelihood of detection/recognition by potential predators, while warning or aposematic coloration advertises unprofitability and thereby reduces the likelihood of attack. Although some studies show that aposematic coloration functions better at decreasing attack rate than crypsis, recent work has suggested and demonstrated that crypsis and aposematism are both successful strategies for avoiding predation. Furthermore, the visual environment （e.g., ambient lighting, background） affects the ability for predators to detect prey. We investigated these 2 related hypoth- eses using 2 well-known visually aposematic species of Heliconius butterflies, which occupy differ- ent habitats （open-canopy vs. closed-canopy）, and one palatable, cryptic, generalist species Junonia coenia. We tested if the differently colored butterflies differ in attack rates by placing plasti- cine models of each of the 3 species in 2 different tropical habitats where the butterflies naturally occur： disturbed, open-canopy habitat and forested, closed-canopy habitat. The cryptic model had fewer attacks than one of the aposematic models. Predation rates differed between the 2 habitats, with the open habitat having much higher predation. However, we did not find an interaction between species and habitat type, which is perplexing due to the different aposematic phenotypes naturally occurring in different habitats. Our findings suggest that during the Panamanian dry sea- son avian predation on perched butterflies is not a leading cause in habitat segregation between the 2 aposematic species and demonstrate that cryptically colored animals at rest may be better than aposematic prey at avoiding avian attacks in certain environments.
文摘Chemical defenses are frequently accompanied by salient color patterns actively avoided by predators,a phe-nomenon referred to as aposematism.However,the production of both chemical defenses and pigments is costly,and is thus expected to be reduced under mild predator pressure.In this work,I compared the size and coloration of parotoid glands(2 dorsal,external swollen structures that secrete toxins in toads)of male and female Epidalea calamita toads from agrosystems and from pine groves.I also quantified the predator attacks received by plas-ticine toad models,whose“parotoid glands”differed in size and color conspicuousness,exposed in each habitat.Predators avoided models with large and conspicuous parotoid glands,but models in agrosystems were more of-ten attacked.Concerning actual toads,agrosystem and male individuals had larger parotoid glands,presumably implying greater production of chemical defenses than in pine grove and female conspecifics.Thesefindings are aligned with previous research suggesting that both agrosystem toads and males in this system are subjected to a more intense predator pressure.Difference between parotoid gland and dorsum coloration was greater in agrosys-tem toads.A marked internal pattern could function as an aposematic signal,which could counteract increased predator pressure.
