Biology subjects

Hita Garcia, F.

Publications and source records attributed to Hita Garcia, F..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Descriptron-GBIF Annotator: A browser-based platform for crowdsourced morphological annotation of biodiversity images to help accelerate morphology based biodiversity data

The accelerating biodiversity crisis demands new approaches to taxonomic description that can scale beyond the capacity of professional taxonomists alone. We present the Descriptron-GBIF Annotator, a zero-installation, browser-based tool for morphological annotation of biodiversity specimen images retrieved directly from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). The application runs entirely client-side as a single HTML file, integrating SAM2 (Segment Anything Model 2) for AI-assisted segmentation, ontology-linked anatomical region templates covering 25 major taxonomic groups across 124 standardized views, 335 ontology Compact URI Expressions (CURIEs), with 745 possible ontology mentions, and structured trait attribute recording. The annotator supports multiple export formats including Darwin Core JSON, COCO JSON, traits CSV, and a novel JSON-LD knowledge graph linking specimens to anatomical regions and morphological traits via UBERON and domain-specific ontologies. A built-in Zenodo publishing pipeline enables users to deposit annotations as citable datasets with DOIs directly from the browser. Additionally users can also annotate images from Zenodo BioSysLit enabling annotation of taxonomic treatments directly. We position this public-facing tool as the first tier of a two-tier architecture complementing the Descriptron Portal, a GPU-accelerated professional workbench for taxonomists providing tools for fine-tuning AI models, geometric morphometrics, and automated species descriptions. Together, these tiers create a feedback loop where public annotations generate training data for expert AI models, while expert-validated outputs improve the public tool. This approach draws on the citizen science model pioneered by Notes from Nature and iNaturalist to engage diverse audiences in structured morphological data collection, addressing a critical gap in biodiversity informatics where specimen images exist in abundance but structured morphological annotations remain scarce. To learn more go here: https://descriptrongbifannotator.org

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2026

How Ant Genomes Repeatedly Reinvent Venom

AO_SCPLOWBSTRACTC_SCPLOWO_ST_ABSBackgroundC_ST_ABSVenoms from ants (Formicidae) are chemically extraordinarily diverse, yet their genomic architecture and evolutionary dynamics remain opaque. The "aculeatoxin hypothesis" assumes that most venom peptides in stinging insects (aculeates) evolutionarily derive from a single gene family, the aculeatoxins. The recent refutation of this hypothesis for bees raises fundamental questions about venom evolution in ants, which contribute most aculeatoxins. MethodsIn order to trace venom peptide evolution, we performed synteny-aware comparative genomics across 25 ant species spanning major subfamilies. We analyzed phylogeny through sequences, structures, and embeddings from Protein Language Models (pLMs). ResultsWe identified three conserved genomic regions (GR1-GR3) as evolutionary hotspots for ant venom genes, each exhibiting distinct evolutionary dynamics. Most remarkably, we discovered genuine melittin orthologs in ants at the conserved bee syntenic position (GR2), pushing the origin of this scaffold back to early aculeates, with a possible origin deeper in Hymenoptera. Gene copy numbers vary dramatically (0-17 genes per region), with predatory species showing expansions and formicine ants (subfamily Formicinae, which rely on formic acid spraying) showing reductions. Twenty-two distinct toxin clades emerge, with region-specific distributions suggesting repeated recruitment to conserved platforms. SignificanceAnts evolutionarily succeed by combining single-copy conservation (bee-like at GR2), massive gene duplication (snake-like at GR1), and repeated lineage-specific recruitment to conserved genomic platforms (GR3). This multi-modal evolution on stable genomic scaffolds, evidenced here, reconciles previously conflicting models of venom evolution and reveals how genomic architecture constrains, yet repeatedly enables, molecular innovation. Our findings highlight a general principle of genome evolution: complex adaptive traits can arise not from a single origin or mechanism, but through recurrent reuse of permissive genomic loci shaped by ecology. Such principles are likely relevant not only to other venomous animals, but more broadly to the evolution of complex multi-genic traits.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2025

High-throughput phenomics of global ant biodiversity

The big data era in biology is underway, but the study of organismal form has been slow to capitalize on advances in imaging and computation. Modern imaging can digitize whole organisms, but low throughput has limited the effort to document morphological diversity. Within the open science initiative Antscan, we applied high-throughput synchrotron X-ray microtomography to capture phenotypes across a diverse and ecologically dominant insect group -- ants. We provide 2193 whole-body 3D ant datasets from 792 species to broadly cover the ant phylogeny with a global scope, also pairing phenomic data with genome sequencing projects. Scans acquired with standardized parameters facilitate automated analysis and free access to data can broaden the audience and incentivize methods development. Antscan presents a scalable approach to create libraries of diverse anatomies, heralding a new era of studies on the evolution, structure, and function of organismal phenotypes.

zoology↗

bioRxiv2023

Parallel and divergent morphological adaptations underlying the evolution of jumping ability in ants

Jumping is a rapid locomotory mode widespread in terrestrial organisms. However, it is a rare specialization in ants. Forward jumping has been reported within four distantly related ant genera: Gigantiops, Harpegnathos, Myrmecia, and Odontomachus. The temporal engagement of legs/body parts during jump, however, varies across these genera. It is unknown what morphological adaptations underlie such behaviors, and whether jumping in ants is solely driven directly by muscle contraction or additionally relies on elastic recoil mechanism. We investigate the morphological adaptations for jumping behavior by comparing differences in the locomotory musculature between jumping and non-jumping relatives using x-ray micro- CT and 3D morphometrics. We found that the size-specific volumes of the trochanter depressor muscle (scm6) of the middle and hind legs are 3-5 times larger in jumping ants, and that one coxal remotor muscle (scm2) is reduced in volume in the middle and/or hind legs. Notably, the enlargement in the volume of other muscle groups is directly linked to the legs or body parts engaged during the jump. Furthermore, a direct comparison of the muscle architecture revealed two significant differences between in jumping versus non-jumping ants: First, the relative Physiological Cross-Sectional Area (PCSA) of the trochanter depressor muscles of all three legs were larger in jumping ants, except in the front legs of O. rixosus and M. nigrocincta; second, the relative muscle fiber length was shorter in jumping ants compared to non-jumping counterparts, except in the front legs of O. rixosus and M. nigrocincta. This suggests that the difference in relative muscle volume in jumping ants is largely invested in the area (PCSA), and not in fiber length. There was no clear difference in the pennation angle between jumping and non-jumping ants. However, the length of hind legs relative to body length was longer in jumping ants. Based on direct comparison of the observed vs. possible work and power output during jumps, we surmise that direct muscle contractions suffice to explain jumping performance, in two species, but elastic recoil is likely important in one. We suggest that increased investment in jumping-relevant musculature is a primary morphological adaptation that separates jumping from non-jumping ants. These results elucidate the common and idiosyncratic morphological changes underlying this rare adaptation in ants.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Breakdown in seasonal dynamics of ant communities with land-cover change

Concerns about widespread human-induced declines in insect populations are mounting, yet little is known about how land-use change modifies the dynamics of insect communities, particularly in understudied biomes. Here, we examine how the seasonal patterns of ant activity--key drivers of terrestrial ecosystem functioning--vary with human-induced land cover change on a subtropical island landscape. Using trap captures sampled biweekly from a biodiversity monitoring network covering Okinawa Island, Japan, we processed 1.2 million individuals and reconstructed activity patterns within and across habitat types. Forest communities exhibited greater variability than those in more developed areas. Using time-series decomposition to deconstruct this pattern, we found that ant communities at sites with greater human development exhibited diminished seasonality, reduced synchrony, and higher stochasticity compared to those at sites with greater forest cover. Our results cannot be explained by variation in either regional or in situ temperature patterns, or by differences in species richness or composition among sites. We conclude that the breakdown of natural seasonal patterns of functionally key insect communities may comprise an important and underappreciated consequence of global environmental change that must be better understood across Earths biomes.

ecology↗