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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Genetic Population Dynamics Of The Critically Endangered Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna Lewini) In The Eastern Tropical Pacific, Sydney P. Harned, Andrea Bernard, Pelayo Salinas-De-Leon, Marissa Mehlrose, Jenifer Suarez, Yolani Robles, Sandra Bessudo Lion, Felipe Ladino, Andrés López Garo, Ilena Zanella, Kevin A. Feldheim, Mahmood Shivji Dec 2022

Genetic Population Dynamics Of The Critically Endangered Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna Lewini) In The Eastern Tropical Pacific, Sydney P. Harned, Andrea Bernard, Pelayo Salinas-De-Leon, Marissa Mehlrose, Jenifer Suarez, Yolani Robles, Sandra Bessudo Lion, Felipe Ladino, Andrés López Garo, Ilena Zanella, Kevin A. Feldheim, Mahmood Shivji

Biology Faculty Articles

The scalloped hammerhead shark, Sphyrna lewini, is a Critically Endangered, migratory species known for its tendency to form iconic and visually spectacular large aggregations. Herein, we investigated the population genetic dynamics of the scalloped hammerhead across much of its distribution in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP), ranging from Costa Rica to Ecuador, focusing on young-of-year animals from putative coastal nursery areas and adult females from seasonal aggregations that form in the northern Galápagos Islands. Nuclear microsatellites and partial mitochondrial control region sequences showed little evidence of population structure suggesting that scalloped hammerheads in this ETP region comprise a single …


Determination Of Atlantic Shortfin Mako Shark (Isurus Oxyrinchus) Population Genetic Structure And Comparison Of Mitogenomic Markers, Marissa Mehlrose Aug 2022

Determination Of Atlantic Shortfin Mako Shark (Isurus Oxyrinchus) Population Genetic Structure And Comparison Of Mitogenomic Markers, Marissa Mehlrose

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

This study provides the first genomics-level, population structure and genetic diversity assessment of the shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) shark. The assessments were based on mitogenome sequences from makos distributed throughout the Atlantic Ocean, with Pacific mako mitogenomes used as a comparative outgroup. In addition to complete mitogenome-based analyses, I assessed individual mitochondrial coding gene and non-coding (Control Region) sequences for their comparative resolution properties as markers for revealing matrilineal population structure and genetic diversity. Sequencing of 125 makos in the western and eastern Atlantic across northern and southern hemispheres yielded 92 complete mitogenomes (16,698-16,702 bp) and 33 partial …


A Genomic Investigation Of Divergence Between Tuna Species, Pavel V. Dimens Aug 2022

A Genomic Investigation Of Divergence Between Tuna Species, Pavel V. Dimens

Dissertations

Effective management and conservation of marine pelagic fishes is heavily dependent on a robust understanding of their population structure, their evolutionary history, and the delineation of appropriate management units. The Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) and the Blackfin tuna (Thunnus atlanticus) are two exploited epipelagic marine species with overlapping ranges in the tropical and sub-tropical Atlantic Ocean. This work analyzed genome-wide genetic variation of both species in the Atlantic basin to investigate the occurrence of population subdivision and adaptive variation. A de novo assembly of the Blackfin tuna genome was generated using Illumina paired-end sequencing data and …


The Importance Of Understanding And Developing Identification Techniques In Wildlife Crime, Savannah Nguyen Jun 2022

The Importance Of Understanding And Developing Identification Techniques In Wildlife Crime, Savannah Nguyen

D.U.Quark

Wildlife crime continues to grow annually and globally, impacting several species and ecosystems. New advancements of technologies and techniques can track criminals and aid the affected victims. Highlighting the complexity of conservation and the development of identification techniques helps tackle this widespread dilemma. New developing techniques in wildlife forensics can differentiate an animal between wild and poached to pave the way for further advancement in understanding wildlife crimes. Hence, though the wildlife forensics field is still new, emphasizing the need for intricate identification techniques can help save threatened species.


Molecular Evolution And Biogeography Of The New World Eptesicus Bats, Xueling Yi May 2022

Molecular Evolution And Biogeography Of The New World Eptesicus Bats, Xueling Yi

Theses and Dissertations

Molecular evolution refers to a broad field of studies ranging from microevolution (e.g., population genetics) to macroevolution (e.g., phylogeny), including the bridging field of phylogeography. In natural populations, molecular studies are also combined with biogeography that links biological diversity with geographic distributions to provide a comprehensive understanding of evolutionary processes. The field of molecular evolution has been largely advanced from early exploratory descriptions to statistical tests on biological hypotheses and integrative analyses using sophisticated modeling. However, studies of molecular evolution still face some unresolved questions and challenges, especially in non-model systems. For example, the application of new technology has largely …


Conservation Status Assessment Of The Egg-Mimic Darter (Percidae: Etheostoma Pseudovulatum) Using A Multi-Faceted Approach, Zachary L. Wolf, John W. Johansen, Rebecca E. Blanton Mar 2022

Conservation Status Assessment Of The Egg-Mimic Darter (Percidae: Etheostoma Pseudovulatum) Using A Multi-Faceted Approach, Zachary L. Wolf, John W. Johansen, Rebecca E. Blanton

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

The imperiled Egg-mimic Darter (Etheostoma pseudovulatum) is a headwater-adapted fish restricted to an area less than 1000 km2 in Tennessee. It is found in only six tributaries of the Duck River and the large, mainstem of this system may act as a barrier to dispersal, restricting population connectivity. The only status assessment of this species was over two decades ago; genetic diversity and the degree of population connectivity have never been evaluated. We conducted a conservation status assessment using a multi-faceted approach to better inform conservation management plans, including examining its current distribution, assessing habitat quality, estimating …


Why Sequence All Eukaryotes?, Mark Blaxter, John M. Archibald, Anna K. Childers, Jonathan A. Coddington, Keith A. Crandall, Federica Di Palma, Richard Durbin, Scott V. Edwards, Jennifer A.M. Graves, Kevin J. Hackett, Neil Hall, Erich D. Jarvis, Rebecca N. Johnson, Elinor K. Karlsson, W. John Kress, Shigehiro Kuraku, Mara K. N. Lawniczak, Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, Jose V. Lopez, Nancy A. Moran, Gene E. Robinson, Oliver A. Ryder, Beth Shapiro, Pamela S. Soltis, Tandy Warnow, Guojie Zhang, Harris A. Lewin Jan 2022

Why Sequence All Eukaryotes?, Mark Blaxter, John M. Archibald, Anna K. Childers, Jonathan A. Coddington, Keith A. Crandall, Federica Di Palma, Richard Durbin, Scott V. Edwards, Jennifer A.M. Graves, Kevin J. Hackett, Neil Hall, Erich D. Jarvis, Rebecca N. Johnson, Elinor K. Karlsson, W. John Kress, Shigehiro Kuraku, Mara K. N. Lawniczak, Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, Jose V. Lopez, Nancy A. Moran, Gene E. Robinson, Oliver A. Ryder, Beth Shapiro, Pamela S. Soltis, Tandy Warnow, Guojie Zhang, Harris A. Lewin

Biology Faculty Articles

Life on Earth has evolved from initial simplicity to the astounding complexity we experience today. Bacteria and archaea have largely excelled in metabolic diversification, but eukaryotes additionally display abundant morphological innovation. How have these innovations come about and what constraints are there on the origins of novelty and the continuing maintenance of biodiversity on Earth? The history of life and the code for the working parts of cells and systems are written in the genome. The Earth BioGenome Project has proposed that the genomes of all extant, named eukaryotes—about 2 million species—should be sequenced to high quality to produce a …