Life Sciences Commons^™

Distribution Patterns Of Sciurus Niger (Eastern Fox Squirrel) Leaf Nests Within Woodlots Across A Suburban/Urban Landscape, Carmen M. Salsbury

Carmen M. Salsbury

To determine habitat characteristics that influence Sciurus niger (Eastern Fox Squirrel) abundance and distribution within a suburban/urban landscape in the midwestern United States, I documented the density and placement of fox squirrel leaf nests in 20 woodlots in the Indianapolis metropolitan area. Marion County, IN. The woodlots varied in size (0.94 to 19.5 ha), approximate age, shape, and degree of isolation from other woodlots and suitable squirrel habitat in the surrounding area. Only 8.0% of nests were located in a tree with another nest, and nests were randomly distributed in all but one woodlot, where they were uniformly dispersed. Nest …

Reflections On Recycling, Pollution And History Or, How To Beat The High Cost Of Living, Richard B. Philp

Richard B. Philp

Lessons learned during the Great Depression and World War II may have to be relearned. The three Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle) were essential then to individual and national survival. A fourth R, repair, was practised as well. These lessons, if relearned, will stand us in good stead when dealing with the current economic climate as well as with problems of pollution and global warming.

Demographic Parameters Of Yellowfin Croaker, Umbrina Roncador (Perciformes: Sciaenidae), From The Southern California Bight, Daniel Pondella, John Froeschke, Lynne Wetmore, Eric Miller, Charles Valle, Lea Medeiros

Daniel Pondella

The yellowfin croaker, Umbrina roncador Jordan & Gilbert, 1882, is a common nearshore and surf-zone species in the southern California bight. Age was determined for individuals (n = 1,209) using annual increments in otoliths, and size at age was modeled using the von Bertalanffy growth curve (L∞ = 307.754 mm, k = 0.278 yr−1, t0 = −0.995 yr; maximum age = 15 yr). Females (L∞= 313.173 mm, k = 0.307 yr−1, t0 = −0.771 yr) grew significantly faster and larger than males (L∞= 298.886, k = 0.269 yr−1, t0 = −1.072 yr). Age and growth modeling based upon otolith length …

Mexican Jay (Aphelocoma Ultramarina), John Mccormack, L. Brown

John E. McCormack

No abstract provided.

Niche Expansion Leads To Small-Scale Adaptive Divergence Along An Elevation Gradient In A Medium-Sized Passerine Bird, John Mccormack, Thomas Smith

John E. McCormack

Niche expansion can lead to adaptive differentiation and speciation, but there are few examples from contemporary niche expansions about how this process is initiated. We assess the consequences of a niche expansion by Mexican jays (Aphelocoma ultramarina) along an elevation gradient. We predicted that jays at high elevation would have straighter bills adapted to feeding on pine cones, whereas jays at low elevation would have hooked bills adapted to feeding on acorns. We measured morphological and genetic variation of 95 adult jays and found significant differences in hook length between elevations in accordance with predictions, a pattern corroborated by analysis …

Integrating Paleoecology And Genetics Of Bird Populations In Two Sky Island Archipelagos, John Mccormack, Bonnie Bowen, Thomas Smith

John E. McCormack

Background: Genetic tests of paleoecological hypotheses have been rare, partly because recent genetic divergence is difficult to detect and time. According to fossil plant data, continuous woodland in the southwestern USA and northern Mexico became fragmented during the last 10,000 years, as warming caused cool-adapted species to retreat to high elevations. Most genetic studies of resulting 'sky islands' have either failed to detect recent divergence or have found discordant evidence for ancient divergence. We test this paleoecological hypothesis for the region with intraspecific mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite data from sky-island populations of a sedentary bird, the Mexican jay (Aphelocoma ultramarina). …

Writing Research Proposal: Literature Review And Database Search, Mamoudou H. Dicko Prof.

Pr. Mamoudou H. DICKO, PhD

Speciation In The Highlands Of Mexico: Genetic And Phenotypic Divergence In The Mexican Jay (Aphelocoma Ultramarina), John Mccormack, A. Peterson, E. Bonaccorso, Thomas Smith

John E. McCormack

The pine-oak woodlands of the Mexican highlands harbour significant biological diversity, yet little is known about the evolutionary history of organisms inhabiting this region. We assessed genetic and phenotypic differentiation in 482 individuals representing 27 populations of the Mexican jay (Aphelocoma ultramarina) — a widespread bird species of the Mexican highlands — to test whether populations in the central and northern Mexican sierras display discrete breaks between groups, which would be consistent with a role for the different mountain chains in divergence and speciation. We found abrupt breaks in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA; ND2 and control region) delineating four major genetic …

Why Are Incubation Periods Longer In The Tropics? A Common-Garden Experiment With House Wrens Reveals It Is All In The Egg, Given Harper, W. Douglas Robinson, John D. Styrsky, Brian J. Payne, Charles F. Thompson

Given Harper

David Sedley, Creationism And Its Critics In Antiquity, David Depew

David J Depew

No abstract provided.

Undergraduate Research: Communicating Ecological Field Studies To Local School Children Through Outreach And Curriculum, Lee Kats, Shannon Rollert, Trevor Thurling, Richard Johnson, Daniel Cho, Sean Landis, Randall Van Dragt, Gloria Van Dragt

Lee Kats

The writers describe a program to communicate undergraduate research results to local K–12 students in California. They describe the development of a curriculum and an outreach effort to convey findings of ecological field work undertaken by Pepperdine University students. They then describe program implementation and program benefits.

A New Species Of Phrynopus (Anura, Strabomantidae) From Peru, With Comments On The Osteology, Edgar Lehr, Linda Trueb

Edgar Lehr

A new species of Phrynopus (Anura, Strabomantidae) from Peru, with comments on the osteology of the genus. A new, small species of Phrynopus is described from the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Oriental just north of the Rio Huallaga in central Peru. The species resembles P. montium but is distinguished from it and other congeners by its spatulate snout. The anterior end of the maxillary arcade is broadly rounded in dorsal view, and composed of wide premaxillae that bear extraordinarily large alary processes that are deflected posteriorly at an acute angle. The configuration of the premaxillae accounts for the wide, …

Notes On Variation In Anolis Boettgeri Boulenger 1911, Assessment Of The Status Of Anolis Albimaculatus Henle And Ehrl 1991, And Description Of A New Species Of Anolis (Squamata: Iguania) Similar To Anolis Boettgeri, Edgar Lehr, Steven Poe, Christian Yanez-Miranda

Edgar Lehr

We describe a new species of Anolis from a high-elevation locality in the Department of Cusco, Peru. This species is similar to Anolis boettgeri but differs in characters of scalation and coloration. We reanalyze Anolis albimaculatus and find this species to be a synonym of A. boettgeri. We describe variation in A. boettgeri based on topotypical material, including the first described males of the species. Phylogenetic analysis of the new form places it within the Dactyloallatifrons clade of South American “Alpha" Anolis.

A Minute New Ecuadorian Andean Frog (Anura: Strabomantidae, Pristilnantis), Edgar Lehr, Luis Coloma

Edgar Lehr

We describe a new species of Pristimantis from a cloud forest at 2450–2800 m in the Cordillera Oriental in southern Ecuador (Zamora Chinchipe). The new species has a maximum snout–vent length of 17.9 mm (average SVL of 21 males 5 12.3 mm 6 1.2, and of 19 females 5 15.9 mm 6 1.3). This new species is the second smallest frog from Ecuador and smallest Pristimantis. Morphologically and phylogenetically, the new species is similar to P. caeruleonotus and P. colodactylus. It is distinguished from them and its congeners by its size, tuberculation, a distinct color pattern consisting of tan blotches …

Gene Expression Reveals Unique Skeletal Patterning In The Limb Of The Direct-Developing Frog, Eleutherodactylus Coqui, Ryan Kerney, James Hanken

Ryan Kerney

The growing field of skeletal developmental biology provides new molecular markers for the cellular pre- cursors of cartilage and bone. These markers enable resolution of early features of skeletal development that are otherwise undetectable through conventional staining tech- niques. This study investigates mRNA distributions of skeletal regulators runx2 and sox9 along with the cartilage-dominant collagen 2a1 (col2a1) in embryonic limbs of the direct- developing anuran, Eleutherodactylus coqui. To date, distri- butions of these genes in the limb have only been examined in studies of the two primary amniote models, mouse and chicken. In E. coqui, expression of transcription factors runx2 …

A New Species Of Bryophryne (Anura: Strabomantidae) From Southern Peru, Edgar Lehr, Alessandro Catenazzi

Edgar Lehr

A new species of Bryophryne from southern Peru (Cusco Region) is described. Specimens were found in the leaf litter of cloud forest at elevations of 2350-3215 m. The new species has a maximum snout-vent length of 21.9 mm in adult females, 18.9 mm in adult males and is the smallest species of the genus. It lacks a tympanum and dentigerous processes of vomers, has dorsolateral folds, and males without vocal slits and without nuptial pads. The new species is most similar to B. bustamantei but differs in being smaller, having discontinuous dorsolateral folds, the males lacking vocal slits, and an …

A New Species Of Atelopus (Anura: Bufonidae) From The Cordillera Oriental Of Central Peru, Edgar Lehr, Stefan Lotters, Mikael Lundberg

Edgar Lehr

A new species of Atelopus is described from three localities near Oxapampa between 1700 and 2200 m elevation in central Peru, representing the first record for the genus in the Department of Pasco. The new species is readily distinguished from all congeners by its small size (maximum SVL 22.1 mm in males), numerous gray coni on dorsal and lateral body surfaces, and a coloration pattern consisting of a cream dorsolateral stripe, narrow dark brown middorsal stripe, arms and legs dorsally dark brown with grayish brown reticulation, and ventral surfaces of hands and feet reddish orange. Females are unknown.

Inheriting Inherit The Wind: Debating The Play As A Teaching Tool, Edward Larson, David Depew, Ronald Isetti

David J Depew

No abstract provided.

The Decline And Recovery Of Four Predatory Fishes From The Southern California Bight, Daniel J. Pondella Ii, Larry G. Allen

Daniel Pondella

What to do about fisheries collapse and the decline of large fishes in marine ecosystems is a critical debate on a global scale. To address one aspect of this debate, a major fisheries management action, the removal of gill nets in 1994 from the nearshore arena in the Southern California Bight (34°26′30″N, 120°27′09″W to 33°32′03″N, 117°07′28″W) was analyzed. First, the impetus for the gill net ban was the crash of the commercial fishery for white seabass (Atractoscion nobilis; Sciaenidae) in the early 1980s. From 1982 to 1997 catch remained at a historically low level (47.8 ± 3.0 mt) when compared …

Population Genetic Analysis Of Myzopoda (Chiroptera: Myzopodidae) In Madagascar, Amy L. Russell, Steven M. Goodman, Isabella Fiorentino, Anne D. Yoder

Amy L. Russell

Biology Of The Epichloë-Botanophila Interaction: An Intriguing Association Between Fungi And Insects, Thomas L. Bultman, Adrian Leuchtmann

Thomas L. Bultman

Epichloë fungi (Ascomycota: Clavicipitaceae) are endophytes of grasses that can produce epiphytic stromata on the culms of their hosts. The fungal stromata are visited by Botanophila flies for feeding and egg laying. We review research over the past 20 years that has documented the heterothallic mating system of Epichloë, the mutualistic service of spermatization flies provide for the fungus, and host selection by flies. Flies display an active, stereotypical behavior immediately following oviposition by which spermatia are transferred endozoochorously to stromata. After eggs hatch larvae feed on developing perithecia. Several studies have focused on the cost (consumption of ascospores) to …

Identifying The Fundamental Units Of Bacterial Diversity: A Paradigm Shift To Incorporate Ecology Into Bacterial Systematics, A. F. Koeppel, E. B. Perry, J. Sikorski, A. Warner, D. M. Ward, A. P. Rooney, E. Brambilla, N. Connor, E. Nevo, R. M. Ratcliff, Frederick M. Cohan

Frederick M. Cohan

No abstract provided.

Coalescent Analyses Support Multiple Mainland-To-Island Dispersals In The Evolution Of Malagasy Triaenops Bats (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae), Amy L. Russell, Steven M. Goodman, Murray P. Cox

Amy L. Russell

Evidence Of Population-Level Lateralized Behaviour In Giant Water Bugs, Belostoma Flumineum Say (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae): T-Maze Turning Is Left Biased, Scott Kight

Scott Kight

Prescribed Fire, Snag Population Dynamics, And Avian Nest Site Selection, Karen Bagne, Kathryn Purcell, John T. Rotenberry

Karen Bagne

No abstract provided.

The Dynamic Evolutionary History Of The Bananaquit (Coereba Flaveola) In The Caribbean Revealed By A Multigene Analysis, Eva Bellemain, Eldredge Bermingham, Robert E. Ricklefs

Robert Ricklefs