This study aims to assess the occurrence of external arthropods on deceased raptors in rescue centers Tuscany, central Italy. The examined diurnal include 17 common buzzards (Buteo buteo), two European honey (Pernis apivorus), seven sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus), six kestrels (Falco tinnunculus), a western osprey (Pandion haliaetus), and peregrine falcon peregrinus). Nocturnal included barn ow...

Many inferences on the biology, behaviour and ecology of extinct vertebrates are based on the reconstruction of the musculature and rely considerably on its accuracy. Although the advent of digital reconstruction techniques has facilitated the creation and testing of musculoskeletal hypotheses in recent years, muscle strain capabilities have rarely been considered. Here, a digital modelling app...

Borrelia (B.) burgdorferi sensu lato, the causative agent of Lyme disease, is the most important arthropod-borne zoonosis-pathogen in the Northern hemisphere. Besides small mammals, birds, primarily Passeriformes and sea birds, play an important role in the transmission, distribution and maintenance of this disease. Previous studies on birds have focused mainly on the detection of Borrelia-infe...

The retinae of many bird species contain a depression with high photoreceptor density known as the fovea. Many species of raptors have two foveae, a deep central fovea and a shallower temporal fovea. Birds have six types of photoreceptors: rods, active in dim light, double cones that are thought to mediate achromatic discrimination, and four types of single cones mediating color vision. To maxi...