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Simultaneous expression of UV and violet SWS1 opsins expands the visual palette in a group of freshwater snakes (2021)
Journal Article

Snakes are known to express a rod visual opsin and two cone opsins, only (SWS1, LWS), a reduced palette resulting from their supposedly fossorial origins. Dipsadid snakes in the genus Helicops are highly visual predators that successfully invaded fre... Read More about Simultaneous expression of UV and violet SWS1 opsins expands the visual palette in a group of freshwater snakes.

Visual pigment evolution in Characiformes: The dynamic interplay of teleost whole‐genome duplication, surviving opsins and spectral tuning (2020)
Journal Article
Escobar‐Camacho, D., Carleton, K., Narain, D., & Pierotti, M. (2020). Visual pigment evolution in Characiformes: The dynamic interplay of teleost whole‐genome duplication, surviving opsins and spectral tuning. Molecular Ecology, 29(12), 2234-2253. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15474

Vision represents an excellent model for studying adaptation, given the genotype-to-phenotype map that has been characterized in a number of taxa. Fish possess a diverse range of visual sensitivities and adaptations to underwater light, making them a... Read More about Visual pigment evolution in Characiformes: The dynamic interplay of teleost whole‐genome duplication, surviving opsins and spectral tuning.

Diet choice in a generalist predator, the invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) (2020)
Journal Article
Ritger, A. L., Fountain, C. T., Bourne, K., Martín-Fernández, J. A., & Pierotti, M. E. (2020). Diet choice in a generalist predator, the invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 524, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2020.151311

Diet choice in marine species is typically derived from indirect methods such as stomach contents and stable isotope analysis, while choice experiments in controlled laboratory settings are used to infer foraging decisions in the wild. However, these... Read More about Diet choice in a generalist predator, the invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles).

Lens transmittance shapes ultraviolet sensitivity in the eyes of frogs from diverse ecological and phylogenetic backgrounds (2020)
Journal Article
Yovanovich, C. A. M., Pierotti, M. E. R., Kelber, A., Jorgewich-Cohen, G., Ibáñez, R., & Grant, T. (2020). Lens transmittance shapes ultraviolet sensitivity in the eyes of frogs from diverse ecological and phylogenetic backgrounds. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 287(1918), https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.2253

The amount of short wavelength (ultraviolet (UV), violet and blue) light that reaches the retina depends on the transmittance properties of the ocular media, especially the lens, and varies greatly across species in all vertebrate groups studied prev... Read More about Lens transmittance shapes ultraviolet sensitivity in the eyes of frogs from diverse ecological and phylogenetic backgrounds.

Reconstructing reef fish communities using fish otoliths in coral reef sediments (2019)
Journal Article
Lin, C.-H., De Gracia, B., Pierotti, M. E., Andrews, A. H., Griswold, K., & O'Dea, A. (2019). Reconstructing reef fish communities using fish otoliths in coral reef sediments. PloS one, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218413

Little is known about long-term changes in coral reef fish communities. Here we present a new technique that leverages fish otoliths in reef sediments to reconstruct coral reef fish communities. We found over 5,400 otoliths in 169 modern and mid-Holo... Read More about Reconstructing reef fish communities using fish otoliths in coral reef sediments.

A dune with a view: the eyes of a neotropical fossorial lizard (2019)
Journal Article
Yovanovich, C. A., Pierotti, M. E., Trefaut Rodrigues, M., & Grant, T. (2019). A dune with a view: the eyes of a neotropical fossorial lizard. Frontiers in Zoology, 16, Article 17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-019-0320-2

Background
Lizards are excellent models to study the adaptations of the visual system to different scenarios, and surface-dwelling representatives have been relatively well studied. In contrast, very little is known about the functional anatomy of t... Read More about A dune with a view: the eyes of a neotropical fossorial lizard.

Variable vision in variable environments: the visual system of an invasive cichlid (Cichla monoculus) in Lake Gatun, Panama (2019)
Journal Article
Escobar-Camacho, D., Pierotti, M. E., Ferenc, V., Sharpe, D. M., Ramos, E., Martins, C., & Carleton, K. L. (2019). Variable vision in variable environments: the visual system of an invasive cichlid (Cichla monoculus) in Lake Gatun, Panama. Journal of Experimental Biology, 222(6), https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.188300

An adaptive visual system is essential for organisms inhabiting new or changing light environments. The Panama Canal exhibits such variable environments owing to its anthropogenic origin and current human activities. Within the Panama Canal, Lake Gat... Read More about Variable vision in variable environments: the visual system of an invasive cichlid (Cichla monoculus) in Lake Gatun, Panama.

Male red throat coloration, pelvic spine coloration, and courtship behaviours in threespine stickleback (2016)
Journal Article
Wright, D. S., Yong, L., Pierotti, M. E., & McKinnon, J. S. (2016). Male red throat coloration, pelvic spine coloration, and courtship behaviours in threespine stickleback. Evolutionary Ecology Research, 17, 407–418

Background: In addition to exhibiting red nuptial throat coloration, male threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) often possess red coloration on their pelvic spines. Although
variation in throat colour has been shown to be associated with... Read More about Male red throat coloration, pelvic spine coloration, and courtship behaviours in threespine stickleback.

The peril of proportions: robust niche indices for categorical data (2016)
Journal Article
Pierotti, M. E., Martín-Fernández, J. A., & Barceló-Vidal, C. (2017). The peril of proportions: robust niche indices for categorical data. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 8(2), 223-231. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12656

Indices of niche breadth and niche overlap for categorical data are typically expressed in terms of proportions of resources use. These are unit-sum constrained data; hence, direct application of standard general linear modelling methods to such indi... Read More about The peril of proportions: robust niche indices for categorical data.