Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network
The Genetic Mechanisms Underlying Pigmentation And Their Evolutionary Importance In Birds, Nicholas David Sly
The Genetic Mechanisms Underlying Pigmentation And Their Evolutionary Importance In Birds, Nicholas David Sly
Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers
Integumentary pigmentation is a phenotype of fundamental importance to animals, with major impacts on survival and fitness. Thus, understanding the mechanisms underlying pigmentation can help illuminate general principles about how adaptive variation is generated and maintained in populations. Here, I present a dissertation that is aimed at understanding the developmental, regulatory, and genetic mechanisms that underlie variation in avian plumage color, and their evolutionary importance.
In my first chapter, I addressed how the modular organization of plumage traits may impact their evolution. The production of color in developing feathers is a modular process, with several mechanisms combining to produce the …
Rates Of Water Loss And Metabolism In The Eggs Of Stick Insect Eurycantha Calcarata, Garret K. Jolma
Rates Of Water Loss And Metabolism In The Eggs Of Stick Insect Eurycantha Calcarata, Garret K. Jolma
Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts
The thorny devil stick insect (Eurycantha calcarata) of New Guinea has eggs that take four months or more to develop—incredibly long for an insect. Long development times can be a challenge for eggs because of their finite resources, including nutrients, energy to support development, and water. I investigated the physiological mechanisms underlying long development times in stick insect eggs.
The first experiment examined rates of water loss and survival of eggs held in different experimental humidities (0, 75, or 100% RH). Eggs dried quickly in the 0% humidity “dry” container; and more slowly in the 75% humidity “intermediate” …