Adaptation of Vertebrates to Diverse Environments

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Ecology and Conservation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2025) | Viewed by 650

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. MIGAL–Galilee Research Institute, POB 831, Kiryat Shmona 1101602, Israel
2. Faculty of Science and Technology, Tel-Hai Academic College, Upper Galilee 1220800, Israel
Interests: gene expression mechanisms in hormonal control of fish growth and reproduction; animals and fish in the ecological system and environmental effects on habitat selection; fish and amphibian nutrition; molecular markers in fish; aquacultural biotechnology
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to the Special Issue “Adaptation of Vertebrates to Diverse Environments”.

The articles submitted to the proposed SI will explore various aspects of vertebrate adaptations to habitats existing in different environments across the Earth, from the Arctic and Antarctic regions to the equator. These habitats range from various types of water to land, including desert areas. We will focus on the adaptation of animals to life underground, different types of plants, and more. This volume will concentrate on the different classes of vertebrates. Research areas and methodologies will span various biological levels, from molecular biology to whole organisms. We welcome experimental studies, literature reviews, and theoretical research, all maintaining a connection between the organism and its environment in the broadest sense of the word. We also invite contributions that examine interactions between animals and plants, geographical adaptations, and differences between populations. This includes adaptations to the environment in various behaviors such as movement, migration, and reproduction, among others.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Gad Degani
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • vertebrate
  • adaptations
  • habitats
  • environments
  • water
  • land
  • whole organisms’ variations
  • interactions between animals and plants
  • geographical adaptations
  • differences between populations

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 851 KiB  
Article
How Rodent Species Adapt to the Food Resources of Their Habitat
by Sergio Del Arco and Jose María Del Arco
Animals 2025, 15(13), 1874; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15131874 - 25 Jun 2025
Viewed by 298
Abstract
Three rodent species with similar characteristics coexist in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula (Wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus, Algerian mouse Mus spretus and Common vole Microtus arvalis). This study examines if habitat segregation exists between the species, as a means of [...] Read more.
Three rodent species with similar characteristics coexist in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula (Wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus, Algerian mouse Mus spretus and Common vole Microtus arvalis). This study examines if habitat segregation exists between the species, as a means of preventing the intense competition that may exclude any of these species. One of the three species recently arrived in the area. The other two have been consuming resources for a long time. Our aim is to check whether adaptations have been acquired during this time. To do this, we placed the three rodent species in semi-wild enclosures consisting of three different habitats and fed them acorns from the two most abundant oak species of the area for one week. We estimated the number of acorns and the mass per acorn that each species consumed in each habitat. It was found that each species prefers different habitats. The two species that were first installed in the area participated in acorn dissemination through transport and storage. They also conserved the embryos of the acorns consumed. The newly arrived species did not transport acorns and destroys them during consumption, behaving as a true predator species. The three species segregate their habitats to avoid competition. The two species that have been in the area for a longer time exhibit a relationship with the oaks that is akin to mutualism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adaptation of Vertebrates to Diverse Environments)
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