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Animal Sciences

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Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

2008

Natural history

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

The Natural History And Distribution Of The Mountain Earthsnake (Virginia Valeriae Pulchra) In West Virginia, Daniel Ware Jan 2008

The Natural History And Distribution Of The Mountain Earthsnake (Virginia Valeriae Pulchra) In West Virginia, Daniel Ware

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The Mountain Earthsnake, Virginia valeriae pulchra, has received little attention in the literature to date. It is imperiled in West Virginia with only 6 to 20 populations known throughout the Allegheny Mountain and Ridge and Valley Physiographic provinces. Eighty snakes were collected during the 2006 and 2007 summers. Typical habitat is open fields with short grass, flat to moderate slopes that have scattered fine sandstone rocks near a source of water and forest edge. Fine sandstone rocks were the primary cover objects used. Snakes were sexually dimorphic with males having longer tails expressed as a percent of total body lengths …


A Taxonomic Study Of The Genus Acris And The Status Of Acris Crepitans Blanchardi (Harper), Blanchard's Cricket Frog, In Southern Ohio And Western West Virginia, Amy M. Hamilton Jan 2008

A Taxonomic Study Of The Genus Acris And The Status Of Acris Crepitans Blanchardi (Harper), Blanchard's Cricket Frog, In Southern Ohio And Western West Virginia, Amy M. Hamilton

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Distributions of Acris crepitans and Acris gryllus cover most of the eastern United States with some overlap, and the subspecies Acris crepitans blanchardi and Acris crepitans crepitans also occur sympathric in parts of their ranges. My study analyzed 15 morphological characteristics of A. c. blanchardi, A. c. crepitans, and A. g. gryllus using Canonical Discriminate Analysis. Results support current taxonomy, showing the most separation between A. crepitans and A. gryllus and some overlap between A. c. blanchardi and A. c. crepitans. Sexual dimorphism was seen only in A. c. blanchardi and A. c. crepitans with females being larger …


A Study On The Population Size And Natural History Of The Eastern Six‐Lined Racerunner, Aspidoscelis Sexlineata, In West Virginia, With Notes On Other Lizard Species, Emmy Johnson Jan 2008

A Study On The Population Size And Natural History Of The Eastern Six‐Lined Racerunner, Aspidoscelis Sexlineata, In West Virginia, With Notes On Other Lizard Species, Emmy Johnson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Species will expand ranges through natural or human‐alterations. Such an occurrence has happened in West Virginia with Eastern Six‐lined Racerunner, Aspidsocelis sexlineata, a species that has been found to thrive in areas of high disturbance from humans. While found abundantly in other states, they are thought to occur only in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia (Morgan County) where they are believed to have come from Maryland via a railroad bridge. Without the bridge, the Potomac River forms a natural barrier between these two states. The objectives of my study were to determine the population size and natural history …