Life Sciences Commons^™

When Curiosity Kills More Than The Cat: The Perils Of Unchecked Scientific Inquiry, Jamie Shannon

Pomona Senior Theses

This work analyzes the ecological, physical, emotional and health impacts of the US nuclear testing done in the Marshall Islands in the mid-20th century.

"Toward Integration: From Quantitative Biology To Mathbio-Biomath?", Pat Marsteller, Lisette G. De Pillis, Ann Findley, Karl Joplin, John Pelesko, Karen Nelson, Katerina Thompson, David Usher, Joseph Watkins

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

In response to the call of BIO2010 for integrating quantitative skills into undergraduate biology education, 30 Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Program Directors at the 2006 HHMI Program Directors Meeting established a consortium to investigate, implement, develop, and disseminate best practices resulting from the integration of math and biology. With the assistance of an HHMI-funded mini-grant, led by Karl Joplin of East Tennessee State University, and support in institutional HHMI grants at Emory and University of Delaware, these institutions held a series of summer institutes and workshops to document progress toward and address the challenges of implementing a more quantitative …

Neural Reuse As A Source Of Developmental Homology, David S. Moore, Chris Moore

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Neural reuse theories should interest developmental psychologists because these theories can potentially illuminate the developmental relations among psychological characteristics observed across the lifespan. Characteristics that develop by exploiting pre-existing neural circuits can be thought of as developmental homologues. And, understood in this way, the homology concept that has proven valuable for evolutionary biologists can be used productively to study psychological/behavioral development.

Kinematic Evidence For Superfast Locomotory Muscle In Two Species Of Teneriffiid Mites, Grace C. Wu, Jonathan C. Wright, Dwight L. Whitaker, Anna N. Ahn

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

Locomotory muscles typically operate over a narrow range of contraction frequencies, characterized by the predominant fiber types and functional roles. The highest documented frequencies in the synchronous sound-producing muscles of insects (550 Hz) and toadfish (200 Hz) far exceed the contraction frequencies observed in weight-bearing locomotory muscles, which have maximum documented frequencies below 15-30 Hz. Laws of scaling, however, predict that smaller arthropods may employ stride frequencies exceeding this range. In this study we measured running speed and stride frequency in two undescribed species of teneriffiid mites from the coastal sage scrub of southern California. Relative speeds of both species …

Cover Page

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

No abstract provided.

The Challenge Of A Siberian Bluegrass (Poa) Phylogeny, Marina V. Olonova

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

In Siberia, the bluegrass genus (Poa) comprises 43 species and 61 subspecies in 12 sections. Diverse modes of speciation, including polyploidy and hybridization, have led to reticulate evolution and adaptive radiation. Cladistic methods that ignore hybridization and reticulate evolution may not be appropriate for morphological data. The number of morphological characters suitable for bluegrass analysis is limited, a majority does not have clear adaptive significance, and the character states cannot be readily polarized, rendering phylogenetic reconstruction very difficult in this group. Other methods of estimating phylogenetic relationships should be used to test hypotheses about relationships and hybridization. Biochemical …

Two New Combinations In Western North American Asteraceae, David J. Keil

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Two new combinations that will be used in the second edition of The Jepson Manual are proposed for western North American Asteraceae: Helianthus petiolaris subsp. canescens and Cirsium scariosum var. loncholepis.

Vascular Plants Of The High Sierra San Pedro Mártir, Baja California, Mexico: An Annotated Checklist, Robert F. Thorne, Reid V. Moran, Richard A. Minnich

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

The Sierra San Pedro Mártir (SSPM) is the highest mountain range in Baja California, Mexico, the summit of Picacho del Diablo peak attaining 3095 meters. An annotated checklist describes the vascular flora of the SSPM high country, defined here as above 1800 m. It comprises almost 500 species in 251 genera and 78 families. The high country is dominated by coniferous forest species known from montane California and Arizona whose southern ranges terminate in the SSPM. The annotated checklist identifies 453 species in 236 genera as indigenous, of which 23 species and one variety are endemic to the SSPM. Over …

A New Combination In Acmispon (Fabaceae: Loteae) For California, Luc Brouillet

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

The new combination Acmispon argophyllus (A.Gray) Brouillet var. niveus (Greene) Brouillet is made.

Helianthus Inexpectatus (Asteraceae), A Tetraploid Perennial New Species From Southern California, David J. Keil, Mark A. Elvin

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Helianthus inexpectatus is described as a new species from the Newhall Ranch of northern Los Angeles County, California. It is a tetraploid (2n = 68) perennial that is morphologically similar to--—and intermediate in some characters between--—the diploid H. nuttallii and the hexaploid H. californicus.

Nomenclatural Changes For Some Grasses In California And The Muhlenbergia Clade (Poaceae), J. Travis Columbus, James P. Smith Jr.

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

New combinations and names are here validated for ten grass (Poaceae) taxa in California for the forthcoming revision of The Jepson Manual. In addition, guided by recent molecular phylogenetic studies, ten non-California grass species are here transferred to Muhlenbergia (Chloridoideae: Cynodonteae) to achieve monophyly of the genus. Lolium, long known to be phylogenetically nested within Festuca, is here subsumed into Festuca, and the circumscription of Stipa is expanded to include all Stipeae (native and non-native) in California. In Stipeae, most currently recognized genera are not monophyletic. Attaining monophyly while bearing in mind identification for persons not expert …

List Of Reviewers

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

No abstract provided.

Index

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

No abstract provided.

Habitat Assessment Of A Newly Established Breeding Pond For The Population Of Western Toads, Anaxyrus Boreas, At The Bernard Field Station, Erin Alison Baumler

Scripps Senior Theses

This study was the first research endeavor ever conducted concerning the population of Western toads, Anaxyrus boreas, at the Bernard Field Station. Despite the current lack of information regarding this population, they will become a concern in future years because they are threatened by habitat destruction. Preceding this study, a single breeding pond has been available to this population, which has been in use for the past 20 to 30 years. However, it is likely that the current breeding pond will be destroyed and the will be land developed for human use. In order to provide these toads with …

An Assessment Of The Potential Success Of Translocation As A Conservation Strategy For Western Toads (Anaxyrus Boreas) At The Robert J. Bernard Biological Field Station, Maya Higgins

Scripps Senior Theses

In response to imminent habitat destruction at the Robert J. Bernard Biological Field Station (BFS), translocation was assessed as a conservation strategy for a population of Western toads (Anaxyrus boreas). Currently, the BFS is home to a relatively unstudied population of Western toads, which rely on the existence of a seasonal breeding pond in open land owned by Harvey Mudd College on the west side of the field station. Unfortunately, there are plans to develop this plot of land within the next few years and so the breeding pond will be destroyed. In an effort to protect the …

An Extraordinary Example Of Photokarren In A Sandstone Cave, Cueva Charles Brewer, Chimantá Plateau, Venezuela: Biogeomorphology On A Small Scale, Joyce Lundberg, Donald A. Mcfarlane, Charles Brewer-Carias

WM Keck Science Faculty Papers

A distinctive suite of small-scale erosional forms that are oriented towards the light occur close to the entrance of Cueva Charles Brewer, a large cave in a sandstone tepui, in SE Venezuela. These are the third example of photokarren ever studied in the world, the other two being from Borneo and Ireland. They are the only photokarren ever described from sandstone, and the only example from a non-carbonate environment. The host rock is a poorly-lithified unit of the Precambrian quartz arenite of the Roraima Supergroup. The forms are all oriented towards the light at 30° regardless of rock surface orientation. …

A Unique Population Of Cave Bears (Carnivora: Ursidae) From The Middle Pleistocene Of Kents Cavern, England, Based On Dental Morphometrics, Donald A. Mcfarlane, Martin Sabol, Joyce Lundberg

WM Keck Science Faculty Papers

The ‘breccia’ stratum from Kents (we follow local tradition in using the form ‘Kents’, without an apostrophe) Cavern, England, has been well known for its rich yield of cave-bear material since excavations began in the mid-19th century. Recent work has established that the bears are of latest MIS 12 or earliest MIS 11 age. A life table based on a collection of 67 molariform teeth is consistent with the use of the cave as a hibernaculum. Univariate and morphological assessment of the teeth shows an unusual range of primitive and more derived characters. Multivariate morphometric analysis of cave-bear teeth from …

Jane: A New Tool For The Cophylogeny Reconstruction Problem, Chris Conow, Daniel Fielder '11, Yaniv J. Ovadia '10, Ran Libeskind-Hadas

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

Background

This paper describes the theory and implementation of a new software tool, called Jane, for the study of historical associations. This problem arises in parasitology (associations of hosts and parasites), molecular systematics (associations of orderings and genes), and biogeography (associations of regions and orderings). The underlying problem is that of reconciling pairs of trees subject to biologically plausible events and costs associated with these events. Existing software tools for this problem have strengths and limitations, and the new Jane tool described here provides functionality that complements existing tools.

Results

The Jane software tool uses a polynomial time dynamic …

Sex, Mixability, And Modularity, Adi Livnat, Christos Papadimitriou, Nicholas Pippenger, Marcus W. Feldman

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

The assumption that different genetic elements can make separate contributions to the same quantitative trait was originally made in order to reconcile biometry and Mendelism and ever since has been used in population genetics, specifically for the trait of fitness. Here we show that sex is responsible for the existence of separate genetic effects on fitness and, more generally, for the existence of a hierarchy of genetic evolutionary modules. Using the tools developed in the process, we also demonstrate that in terms of their fitness effects, separation and fusion of genes are associated with the increase and decrease of the …

Figs, Wasps, Gophers, And Lice: A Computational Exploration Of Coevolution, Ran Libeskind-Hadas

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

This chapter explores the topic of coevolution: the genetic change in one species in response to the change in another. For example, in some cases, a parasite species might evolve to specialize with its host species. In other cases, the relationship between two species may be mutually beneficial and coevolution may serve to strengthen the benefits of that relationship.

Mathematical Biology At An Undergraduate Liberal Arts College, Stephen C. Adolph, Lisette G. De Pillis

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

Since 2002 we have offered an undergraduate major in Mathematical Biology at Harvey Mudd College. The major was developed and is administered jointly by the mathematics and biology faculty. In this paper we describe the major, courses, and faculty and student research and discuss some of the challenges and opportunities we have experienced.

Electromyographic Analysis Of Trunk Muscle Activation During A Throwing Pattern Following Rotator Cuff Mobilization, Aubrey L. Doede

CMC Senior Theses

Correct muscular activation of the body segments during an overhand throw is achieved when movement originates in the larger and more proximal legs and trunk and moves sequentially to the smaller, distal segments of the shoulder and arm. This sequence permits angular velocity to transfer progressively through the throw as part of an open kinetic chain. The athlete can summate angular velocity and segmental forces only if he is able to create a separation between the body segments during the movement pattern, and this separation is thus essential to effective segmental sequencing for activation of the trunk muscles to occur …

Canopy Demographics At The Firestone Reserve, Costa Rica, Gizelle M. Pera

CMC Senior Theses

Though Costa Rica has suffered numerous bouts of deforestation to its valuable tropical rainforest area, especially in the 1970s, it has become a leader in its efforts to regenerate and restore its rainforest. However, studies and protocols for the assessment of forest regeneration are urgently required. Research has shown that the percentage of light penetrating the canopy floor, or light fraction, is a good indicator of rainforest maturity. In this study, digital rectilinear photography and a global positioning system receiver were used to survey the Firestone Reserve inCosta Rica in order to measure the light fraction differences between primary/riparian …

The Vascular Flora Of Greater San Quintín, Baja California, Mexico, Sula E. Vanderplank

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The plants of San Quintín (Baja California, Mexico) were documented through intensive fieldwork and the collection of herbarium specimens to create a checklist of species. This region is home to a diverse flora with high levels of local endemism and many rare plants. The flora documented in this study was compared to historical records from the region and shows the impact of agriculture and urbanization on the plants, including several extirpated species. A study of the perennial vegetation using a 1 km grid provides species distribution data for 140 native species, which were assessed to highlight areas of significant species …