In 2006, Barát and Thomassen conjectured that the edges of every planar 4-regular 4-edgeconnected graph can be decomposed into claws. Shortly afterward, Lai constructed a counterexample to this conjecture. Using the small subgraph conditioning method of Robinson and Wormald, we find that a random 4-regular graph has a claw-decomposition asymptotically almost surely, provided that the number of ...

The majority of animals possess claws on their legs and they are mainly used for keeping attached to the substrate. Recent studies claw shapes function suggest that not just simple attachment devices but highly specialized morphological traits bearing information about lifestyle, ecology evolution. In respect, knowledge is extremely scarce, especially in diverse groups, as example oribatid mite...

On a piglet producing farm severe lameness was observed in pigs which had been weaned 3 weeks and longer due to severe distortions of joints and claws of fore and/or hind legs. Splaying of claws as well as flexural limb deformations particularly in the carpal joints increased in degree the older and heavier the pigs were. Because of coughing in the weaners, which had started 7-8 weeks before an...

Dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaurs, such as Velociraptor, possess strongly recurved, hypertrophied and hyperextensible ungual claws on the pes (digit II) and manus. The morphology of these unguals has been linked to the capture and despatching of prey. However, the mechanical properties or, more importantly, the mechanical potential of these structures have not been explored. Generation of a 3D f...

Hybridization is a natural or anthropogenic process that can deeply affect the genetic make-up of populations, possibly decreasing individual fitness but sometimes favoring local adaptations. The population of Italian wolves (Canis lupus), after protracted demographic declines and isolation, is currently expanding in anthropic areas, with documented cases of hybridization with stray domestic do...

Pathogenic bacteria constitute a serious threat to viability of many organisms. Because growth of most bacteria is favored by humid and warm environmental conditions, earlier reproducers in seasonal environments should suffer less from the negative consequences of pathogenic bacteria. These relationships, and the effects on reproductive success, should be particularly prominent in predators bec...

This paper describes a new enantiornithine fossil bird, Vescornis hebeiensis, nov. sp. from the Early Cretaceous of China. We refer Vescornis to the crown clade Euenantiornithes based on several characteristics observed in the thoracic girdle and wing. Vescornis also exhibits characteristics that separate it from other enantiornithine birds, such as the short alular phalanx, the vestigial manua...

 Topical use of plants or extracts as poultices and humidifiers of open wounds, as well as for systemic action, by ingestion.  The technique of suturing has a prehistoric origin, having occurred between the primitive peoples of South America, parts of Africa and India, using the claws of giant soldier ants. It is interesting to note that this was occurring on different continents long before ...