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Life Sciences

Honors Theses

Theses/Dissertations

2011

Physiology

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Evidence Of A Rudimentary Colon In Leucoraja Erinacea, Alyssa M. Simeone Jun 2011

Evidence Of A Rudimentary Colon In Leucoraja Erinacea, Alyssa M. Simeone

Honors Theses

During the transition of animals from water onto land, the colon is believed to have evolved as an essential water-absorbing organ in terrestrial vertebrates to prevent desiccation. The class Chondrichthyes, comprised of sharks, rays, and skates, are isotonic to their marine environment, and thus do not require a functional colon. The Chondrichthyes are an excellent organism for developmental and physiological studies in evolutionary context because they have undergone little evolutionary change since their appearance 450 million years ago. Previous histochemical studies demonstrate potential water absorbing properties in the digestive tract of the little skate, Leucoraja erinacea (Theodosiou et al., 2007). …


Do Male Physiological Condition And Territory Quality Affect Female Choice In The Brown Anole, Anolis Sagrei?, Sarah P. Flanagan Jan 2011

Do Male Physiological Condition And Territory Quality Affect Female Choice In The Brown Anole, Anolis Sagrei?, Sarah P. Flanagan

Honors Theses

Female mate choice is an important component of sexual selection because traits that influence male mate preference, such as physiology, and proficiency in acquiring resources, are favored. In lizards, the importance of mate choice remains unclear as reported results from experiments are contradictory. In this study, I investigated whether male physiology and territory quality are important to female mate choice for male Brown Anoles, Anolis sagrei. I tested the hypotheses that female A. sagrei prefer males with greater physiological capacities, and prefer higher quality territories, regardless of male phenotype. To test these, male A. sagrei were first rated for …