Vol 84, No 1 (2023)

The influence of the French scientific school on the development of bioacoustics in the Soviet Union in the 1960–70s is discussed. The main influence on the development of Soviet bioacoustics was provided by the Laboratory of Physiological Acoustics at the National Institute for Agricultural Research of France, created and directed by René-Guy Busnel. Soviet bioacoustics adopted the research experience of France in three main areas: 1) acoustic orientation and signaling of insects; 2) theory and practice of acoustic repellents in agriculture and aviation; 3) sonar systems, acoustic communication and orientation of marine mammals, echolocation. The main research centers in the Soviet Union are listed and the role of Soviet scientists in the development of various areas of bioacoustics in the Soviet Union is considered.

Reptiles, birds, and mammals inhabiting oceanic islands tend to change many ecological, behavioral, and genetic characteristics. These changes are referred to as the “island syndrome”. The behavioral components of these changes have been little studied so far. Based on a 40-year study of the biology of the Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) on the Mednyi Island, we show that the island Arctic foxes changed many behavioral characteristics compared to mainland foxes. They use smaller home ranges, travel shorter daily distances, and their dispersal distance from the natal territory is much smaller. An increase in the family size of the island Arctic foxes, together with a decrease in litter size, leads to an increase in parental and kin investment and increased cooperation between family members. At the same time, the island foxes, to a large extent, lost their fear of humans. These features are consistent with those found in other island populations. On the other hand, in contrast to other island populations, Mednyi Arctic foxes have increased territoriality, apparently in response to an increased risk of infanticide. Furthermore, Mednyi Arctic foxes expose sex-biased dispersal and maternal inheritance of home range, which are absent in the mainland foxes. The sex-biased dispersal can be considered a mechanism for avoiding inbreeding. Comparison with island fox (Urocyon littoralis) populations in the Channel Islands (Southern California) suggests that these traits have evolved under the influence of specific environmental drivers of the Mednyi Island: patchy and highly predictable resource distribution. The particular resource distribution led to the increased importance of another driver, social landscape, and a new behavioral metatrait of the Mednyi fox – increased conservatism in spatial, reproductive, and foraging behavior.

Two approaches to typing (analysis of intraspecific diversity) and reconstruction of the phylogeny (evolutionary history) of the causative agent of the plague – the microbe Yersinia pestis – molecular genetic (MG) and ecological (adaptationist, on the basis of host adaptation) are considered. It is shown that each of the approaches has its advantages and disadvantages. MG-typing of pathogen strains in the studied foci of the world made it possible to characterize up to 30 subspecies/genovariants of the plague microbe, but the phylogeny of the microbe built on the basis of this diversity contradicts some obvious environmental facts. The ecological scenario of the origin and evolution of the causative agent of the plague has no obvious contradictions and, as an evolutionarily based hypothesis, it should be taken into account in MG reconstructions of the phylogeny of the plague microbe. The prospect of research in this direction is seen in integrating molecular-genetic (statistical) and ecological (adaptationist) approaches.