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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Ancestral State Reconstruction Of Oviposition Techniques In New World Stick Insects, Ellie Mcgregor, Jackson Linde, Michael F. Whiting
Ancestral State Reconstruction Of Oviposition Techniques In New World Stick Insects, Ellie Mcgregor, Jackson Linde, Michael F. Whiting
Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2022
Phasmids, commonly known as stick bugs, are unique and interesting creatures, both phenotypically and genotypically. Their cryptic abilities are what draws most people to them, but their oviposition techniques, or how they disperse eggs, has become a new source of interest. While most phasmids are known to flick or drop their eggs from the canopy, there are several other techniques including inserting the eggs into the soil or gluing them to a substrate. New world phasmids have not been thoroughly studied, especially in understanding which technique was ancestral. The purpose of this paper was to construct a phylogenetic tree to …
Biotic Filtering In Endophytic Fungal Communities, Kevin Daniel Ricks
Biotic Filtering In Endophytic Fungal Communities, Kevin Daniel Ricks
Theses and Dissertations
Plants can be colonized by complex communities of endophytic fungi. This thesis presents two studies, both of which investigate biotic filtering in endophytic fungal communities. Chapter 1. Endophytic fungi can be acquired horizontally via propagules produced in the environment such as in plant litters of various species. Given that litters from different plant species harbor distinct endophytic fungal communities and that endophytic fungi may be dispersal-limited, the structure of the endophytic fungal community of a given plant may be determined by proximity to particular inoculum sources. Community assembly may also be affected by biotic filtering by the plant. Therefore, a …
Phylogeny And Species Boundaries In The “Flying Dragons” Of The Draco Maculatus Species Complex (Family Aamiedae), Randy Klabacka, Dr. Jack W. Sites
Phylogeny And Species Boundaries In The “Flying Dragons” Of The Draco Maculatus Species Complex (Family Aamiedae), Randy Klabacka, Dr. Jack W. Sites
Journal of Undergraduate Research
Indo-Burma, comprising most of Mainland Southeast Asia east of India and north of Peninsular Malaysia, is a biodiversity hotspot within Southeast Asia that has been called a contender for the “hottest of hotspots” (Mittermeier, 1999). A remarkable majority of this species diversity remains hidden from human recognition in two areas: (1) undiscovered in natural habitat, and (2) conspicuously masquerading under known taxa. While solutions to the former require continued field work, solutions for the latter require further study of already identified taxa for hidden diversity therein. Indo-Burma is the endemic home to the “spotted flying dragon” (Draco maculatus; …
Assessing And Improving Student Understanding Of Tree-Thinking, Tyler A. Kummer
Assessing And Improving Student Understanding Of Tree-Thinking, Tyler A. Kummer
Theses and Dissertations
Evolution is the unifying theory of biology. The importance of understanding evolution by those who study the origins, diversification and diversity life cannot be overstated. Because of its importance, in addition to a scientific study of evolution, many researchers have spent time studying the acceptance and the teaching of evolution. Phylogenetic Systematics is the field of study developed to understand the evolutionary history of organisms, traits, and genes. Tree-thinking is the term by which we identify concepts related to the evolutionary history of organisms. It is vital that those who undertake a study of biology be able to understand and …
The Tettigoniidae (Orthoptera: Ensifera): Phylogeny, Origins, And Leaf-Like Crypsis, Joseph D. Mugleston
The Tettigoniidae (Orthoptera: Ensifera): Phylogeny, Origins, And Leaf-Like Crypsis, Joseph D. Mugleston
Theses and Dissertations
Tettigoniidae (katydids) has more than 7200 species and is the largest family within the insect order Orthoptera. Their unique biology including leaf-like crypsis, acoustic signaling, and courtship rituals garners much of their academic attention. However, the taxonomy of katydids is chaotic and previous to these studies, little work had been done to decipher the phylogenetic relationships within this family. Without a robust phylogenetic framework, questions regarding the evolution of katydid disguises including the leaf-like crypsis cannot be addressed. This dissertation contains three chapters. Chapter 1 provides the first phylogenetic hypothesis focusing on Tettigoniidae. In this chapter we show a character …
A Molecular Phylogeny Of Lampyridae With Insight Into Visual And Bioluminescent Evolution, Gavin Jon Martin
A Molecular Phylogeny Of Lampyridae With Insight Into Visual And Bioluminescent Evolution, Gavin Jon Martin
Theses and Dissertations
Fireflies are some of the most captivating organisms on the planet. Because of this, they have a rich history of study, especially concerning their bioluminescent and visual behavior. Among insects, opsin copy number variation has been shown to be quite diverse. However, within the beetles, very little work on opsins has been conducted. Here we look at the visual system of fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae), which offer an elegant system in which to study visual evolution as it relates to their behavior and broader ecology. They are the best-known case of a terrestrial organism that communicates through the use bioluminescence. The …
A Tree Theory Case Study In Steinernema, Camille Eileen Finlinson Porter
A Tree Theory Case Study In Steinernema, Camille Eileen Finlinson Porter
Theses and Dissertations
It is widely assumed that current phylogenetic methods are fairly accurate at recovering the evolutionary relationships among different species, but evaluating the relative success of this enterprise is a difficult task. This study addresses some fundamental questions associated with generating phylogenetic trees. The complete genomes of five species of Steinernema were sequenced and assembled. Genes were predicted in AUGUSTUS and orthologous genes were found from those data using OrthoMCL. I aligned 3890 genes in MAFFT and eliminated poorly aligned positions with GBlocks. I created individual trees for each gene as well as a supermatrix tree in PAUP*, using a closely …
Phylogenetics Of Thysanoptera (Insecta: Paraneoptera), Rebecca S. Buckman
Phylogenetics Of Thysanoptera (Insecta: Paraneoptera), Rebecca S. Buckman
Theses and Dissertations
The order Thysanoptera (Insecta: Paraneoptera), commonly known as thrips, includes organisms that exhibit a wide range of social and feeding behaviors that are of particular interest in evolutionary studies. These studies within thrips have been inhibited by the lack of knowledge of thrips relationships. The recognized classification scheme strives to reflect evolutionary relationships and is based upon morphology. Molecular data is next as morphology alone is not enough to resolve relationships. Few molecular studies have been conducted and all were limited in their taxon sampling and genetic sampling. To provide a foundation of future evolutionary studies, the objectives of this …
Utilization Of Phylogenetic Systematics, Molecular Evolution, And Comparative Transcriptomics To Address Aspects Of Nematode And Bacterial Evolution, Scott M. Peat
Theses and Dissertations
Both insect parasitic/entomopathogenic nematodes and plant parasitic nematodes are of great economic importance. Insect parasitic/entomopathogenic nematodes provide an environmentally safe and effective method to control numerous insect pests worldwide. Alternatively, plant parasitic nematodes cause billions of dollars in crop loss worldwide. Because of these impacts, it is important to understand how these nematodes evolve, and, in the case of entomopathogenic nematodes, how their bacterial symbionts evolve. This dissertation contains six chapters. Chapter one is a review of DNA markers and their use in the phylogenetic systematics of entomopathogenic and insect-parasitic nematodes as well as a review of phylogenetic, co-phylogenetic, and …
Phylogenetic Relationship Of Forest Spiny Pocket Mice (Genus Heteromys) Inferred From Mitochondrial And Nuclear Markers With Implications For Species Boundaries, Malinda Wallentine Gonzalez
Phylogenetic Relationship Of Forest Spiny Pocket Mice (Genus Heteromys) Inferred From Mitochondrial And Nuclear Markers With Implications For Species Boundaries, Malinda Wallentine Gonzalez
Theses and Dissertations
I constructed a best estimate phylogeny based on congruence of multiple data sources. In recent years molecular data has been used both to construct phylogenies of taxonomic groups and to aid in the delimitation of new species. I generated and analyzed sequence data for forest spiny pocket mice (Genus Heteromys) for the mitochondrial gene cyt b (1143 bp) and two nuclear gene segments MYH2 (252 bp) and EN2 (189 bp). I used maximum parsimony and Bayesian analyses to infer relationships among species and to provide a framework for using a species delimitation method to investigate the possibility of multiple …
Evolution And Phylogeny Of Basal Winged Insects With Emphasis On Mayflies (Ephemeroptera), Thomas H. Ogden
Evolution And Phylogeny Of Basal Winged Insects With Emphasis On Mayflies (Ephemeroptera), Thomas H. Ogden
Theses and Dissertations
Ephemeroptera (mayflies) is a monophyletic group of semi-aquatic pterygote insects, comprising 3083 species, 376 genera, and 37 described families and are present on all continents, excluding Antarctica, being associated with freshwater and brackish water habitats. The order is unique among pterygote insects in possessing functional wings at the penultimate molt (subimago stage), prior to the full development of genitalia; in all other insects the presence of functional wings occurs only after the final molt. The purpose of this dissertation is to use molecular and morphological data, in order to investigate the position of the order Ephemeroptera among other insect orders, …
Phylogeny Of The Polyneopterous Insects With Emphasis On Plecoptera: Molecular And Morpological Evidence, Matthew Dana Terry
Phylogeny Of The Polyneopterous Insects With Emphasis On Plecoptera: Molecular And Morpological Evidence, Matthew Dana Terry
Theses and Dissertations
Polyneoptera is an assemblage of eleven insect orders comprising the "orthopteroid" insects. It includes familiar insects such as grasshoppers, roaches, termites, earwigs and preying mantises; as well as the more obscure web-spinners, angel insects and ice-crawlers. We present a phylogenetic analysis of the polyneopteran orders based on 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, Histone 3, and a coded morphology matrix for an extensive sampling of taxa. We investigate the use of congruence between separate datasets as an a priori measure of alignment quality. Our results support the paraphyly of Polyneoptera, the monophyly of Dictyoptera, sister taxon relationships between Embiidina + Phasmatodea and …