Embedded in the tail base of all snakes is a pair of scent glands from which typically foul-smelling secretions are expelled when snakes are disturbed. The tendency of predatory ants to avoid snake cloacal fluids, and the abundance and structural diversity of potentially insecticidal carboxylic acids identified in scent gland secretions (SGS), prompted speculation that SGS function to deter ants. We examined the deterrent prop...

Integrated long-term, in-situ observations are needed to document ongoing environmental change, to “ground-truth” remote sensing and model outputs and to predict future Earth system behaviour. The scientific and societal value of in-situ observations increases with site representativeness, temporal duration, number of parameters measured and comparability within and across sites. Research Infrastructures (RIs) can support harm...

Deciphering patterns of genetic variation within a species is essential for understanding population structure, local adaptation and differences in diversity between populations. Whilst neutrally evolving genetic markers can be used to elucidate demographic processes and genetic structure, they are not subject to selection and therefore are not informative about patterns of adaptive variation. As such, assessments of pertinent...