Zoology Commons^™

Using Scissors To Quantify Hardness Of Insects: Do Bats Select For Size Or Hardness?, Patricia W. Freeman, Cliff A. Lemen

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Scissors are used to determine the hardness of fresh insects of different size and taxa. Our results indicate a strong relationship between the size of an insect and its hardness, which can be expressed as log(F_max) = 0.65 × log(V) + α. F_max is the maximal force needed to cut the insect and is our measure of insect hardness. V is the volume of the insect and α is a constant that can be derived for different insect taxa. The value of 0.65 was found as an average of beetle and moth samples, and this …

Designation Of A Neotype For Leptodactylus Gracilis (Duméril And Bibron, 1840) (Amphibia: Leptodactylidae), Rafael O. De Sá, A. Dubois, A. Ohler

Biology Faculty Publications

The examination of the preserved specimens in the herpetological collection of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, along with a review of the original literature, indicates that no extant specimen can be undoubtedly identified as the holotype of Leptodactylus gracilis (DumCri.l and Bibron, 1840). Furthermore, it revealed that the type locality recently assigned to this taxon is in error.

Nebraska Bird Review (December 2007) 75(4), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Fall Field Report, August-November 2007 by W. Ross Silcock ... 98

Eurasian Tree Sparrow—A First Record for Nebraska by Mark A. Brogie ... 118

NOU Fall Field Days at Halsey, September 28-30, 2007 ... 121

Index to Volume 75 ... 125

Subscription and Organization Information ... 135

Subscription And Organization Information [December 2007]

Nebraska Bird Review

The Nebraska Bird Review is published quarterly by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc., as its official journal, and is sent to members not in arrears of dues. Annual subscription rates (on a calendar-year basis only): $15 in the United States, $18 in Canada and $30 in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $4 each, postpaid, in the United States, $5 in Canada, and $8 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Mary Lou Pritchard, NOU Librarian, c/o University of Nebraska State Museum, W-436 Nebraska Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0514.

Memberships in the NOU (on a calendar-year basis only): …

Index To Volume 75

Nebraska Bird Review

Accipiter species 22-23

Ahlering, M. A. 60

Alexander, Irene 19

Allen, Sue 19

Allwine Prairie Preserve 15

American Ornithologists' Union 93

Ames CBC 17-30

Amiotte, Sue 61

Anderson, Chris 19

Anderson, T. R. 120

Ani, Groove-billed 88

Aubushon, Kathy 18

Avocet, American 41, 76, 106, 122

Eurasian Tree Sparrow—A First Record For Nebraska, Mark A. Brogie

Nebraska Bird Review

On Thursday, 01 February 2007, Scott Raasch of rural Madison County called to say he had what he believed to be a Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) coming to a feeder at his house just east of Enola. The bird had been present for about a week, although he had just identified the species upon purchasing a new field guide. He reported that the bird was very wary and only stayed for a short time at the feeder. The bird was most often observed in the early morning or just before dusk.

Dave Heidt and I arrived the …

Fall Field Report, August-November 2007, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

This was essentially a normal fall season in Nebraska, with no major weather events or significant shifts in breeding or migration ranges, although a possible exception is a first record of Lesser Goldfinch breeding in the state. One observer made the point, though, that the hard freeze in the spring affected seed and fruit crops for fall, most conspicuously resulting in fewer large American Robin flocks. Excellent water conditions in the Rainwater Basin were welcome, but few herons and egrets were present, and no unusual breeding events were reported there.

As winter approached, however, increased numbers of a few finch …

Halsey Fall Field Days

Nebraska Bird Review

The 2007 NOU Fall Field Days were held at the 4-H Camp in the Nebraska National Forest near Halsey on September 28-30, 2007. Among the approximately 45 in attendance were two first time attendees: Juanita Rice of Fairmont and Tim Hajda of Broken Bow.

Wayne Mollhoff spoke on Friday night about the progress on the new breeding bird atlas: "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Atlas," and on Saturday night, Bob Rooney did a multimedia presentation entitled "A Sandhills Odyssey."

Field trips to Cherry, Logan, and Brown Counties were led by Clem Klaphake, Mark Brogie, and Dave …

The Trade-Off Between Tooth Strength And Tooth Penetration: Predicting Optimal Shape Of Canine Teeth, Patricia W. Freeman, Cliff A. Lemen

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

We investigate the shape of canine teeth under the assumption that the tooth’s morphology is optimized by the evolutionary trade-off to minimize breakage and maximize ease of the penetration of prey. A series of experiments using artificial teeth to puncture the hides of a deer Odocoileus virginianus and pig Sus scrofa domesticus were conducted to establish the relationships between the tooth shape and the force needed to puncture the hide. The shapes of these teeth were also used in a beam theory analysis to calculate the strength of the teeth. Because the relative costs of puncturing and breakage were not …

Initial Sequence And Comparative Analysis Of The Cat Genome, J. U. Pontius, James C. Mullikin, Douglas R. Smith, Agencourt Bioscience Corporation, Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, Sante Gnerre, Michele Clamp, Jean Chang, R. Stephens, Beena A. Neelam, Natalia Volfovsky, Alejandro A. Schaffer, R. Agarwala, Kristina Narfstrom, William J. Murphy, Urs Giger, Alfred L. Roca, Agostinho Antunes, Marilyn Menotti-Raymond, Naoya Yuhki, Jill Pecon-Slattery, Warren E. Johnson, Guillaume Bourque, Glenn Tesler, Nisc Comparative Sequencing Program, Stephen J. O'Brien

Biology Faculty Articles

The genome sequence (1.9-fold coverage) of an inbred Abyssinian domestic cat was assembled, mapped, and annotated with a comparative approach that involved cross-reference to annotated genome assemblies of six mammals (human, chimpanzee, mouse, rat, dog, and cow). The results resolved chromosomal positions for 663,480 contigs, 20,285 putative feline gene orthologs, and 133,499 conserved sequence blocks (CSBs). Additional annotated features include repetitive elements, endogenous retroviral sequences, nuclear mitochondrial (numt) sequences, micro-RNAs, and evolutionary breakpoints that suggest historic balancing of translocation and inversion incidences in distinct mammalian lineages. Large numbers of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), deletion insertion polymorphisms (DIPs), and …

Bats Of Anguilla, Northern Lesser Antilles, Hugh H. Genoways, Carleton J. Phillips, Scott C. Pedersen, Linda K. Gordon

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Five species of bats are known in the literature from Anguilla—Monophyllus plethodon, Brachyphylla cavernarum, Artibeus jamaicensis, Natalus stramineus, and Molossus molossus. These records are scattered in the literature as parts of simple reports of the species from the island or included in revisions of taxonomic groups that occur on the island, but the first comprehensive study of bats of Anguilla is presented herein. In addition to providing morphometric and natural history information for the five species of bats previously known from the island, records of a species of bat new to the fauna of the island of Anguilla—Tadarida …

Bats Of Barbuda, Northern Lesser Antilles, Scott C. Pedersen, Peter A. Larsen, Hugh H. Genoways, Matthew Morton, Kevel C. Lindsay, Jerry Cindric

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Five species of bats are known to occur on the Lesser Antillean island of Barbuda—Noctilio leporinus, Monophyllus plethodon, Brachyphylla cavernarum, Tadarida brasiliensis, and Molossus molossus. During the present study, two additional species of bats—Artibeus jamaicensis and Natalus stramineus—were added to the chiropteran fauna of the island. Although the ecological diversity of Barbuda is limited, this bat fauna matches those of islands in the region such as Antigua, Nevis, and St. Kitts. It is proposed that this biodiversity of bats is maintained because of the geology of Barbuda provides ample roosting sites and access to freshwater …

Antimicrobial Activity Screening Of Recombinant And Synthetic Varasin A Defensin From The Hard Tick Dermacentor Variabilis Against Various Bacteria, Julia A. Sharp

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Hematophagous arthropods, such as ticks and mosquitoes, rely on their innate immune system for defense against pathogens ingested in a blood meal as well as those acquired through injury. In response to pathogen recognition, the production of antimicrobial peptides, such as defensin, is typically upregulated. Varisin, a defensin, is thought to be a key component in the immunocompetence of the hard tick D. variabilis against Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease. To study the antimicrobial effects of varisin, recombinant varisin was expressed by both insect cells and E coli. Purification of the protein followed by enterokinase treatment yielded …

Seasonal Variation In Diet Of The Cotton Rat (Sigmodon Hispidus) Based On Fecal Analysis, Lynn A. Walker

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Cotton rats, Sigmodon hispidus, live in oldfields, habitats with a variety of mostly herbaceous plants. Based on other studies, the hispid cotton rat eats predominantly grasses, but grasses rarely are the only food. Fecal samples were collected each month during an ongoing capture-mark-release demographic study of the rodent community at a location in southern Chesapeake, Virginia. In the lab, five fecal pellets per animal were stained, placed on a microscope slide, and covered with starch-gel medium and coverslip. Then a clear nail polish was applied to produce a semi-permanent slide. Using a microscope and a set of reference slides, plant …

2006 (18th) Report Of The Nou Records Committee, Mark A. Brogie

Nebraska Bird Review

The functions and methods of the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union (NOU) Records Committee are described in its bylaws (NOU Records Committee 1986). The committee's purpose is to provide a procedure for documenting unusual bird sightings and to establish a list of all documented birds for Nebraska. The "'Official List of the Birds of Nebraska" was first published in 1988 (NOU Records Committee 1988) and has been updated two times (NOU Records Committee 1997, 2004).

The "Official List" has been appended sixteen times: (Mollhoff 1989; Grenon 1990, 1991; Gubanyi 1996a, 1996b, 1996c; Brogie 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006; Jorgensen 2001, …

Subscription And Organization Information [September 2007]

Nebraska Bird Review

The Nebraska Bird Review is published quarterly by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc., as its official journal, and is sent to members not in arrears of dues. Annual subscription rates (on a calendar-year basis only): $15 in the United States, $18 in Canada and $30 in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $4 each, postpaid, in the United States, $5 in Canada, and $8 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Mary Lou Pritchard, NOU Librarian, c/o University of Nebraska State Museum, W-436 Nebraska Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0514.

Memberships in the NOU (on a calendar-year basis only): …

Summer Field Report, June-July 2007, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

This summer was a "something for everyone" season. Ecologists, already excited by the apparent ability of Greater Prairie-Chickens to lek in improbable habitats, such as corn fields and dirt edges of Rainwater Basin playas, will welcome the use by Lark Buntings and Vesper Sparrows of wheat stubble fields with a growing corn crop. The Vesper Sparrows of the east, a different subspecies from those in the north and west, have been at the mercy of full-tillage cropping systems, but now have a reprieve and may even be increasing because of no-till and minimum tillage methods currently in vogue due to …

Nebraska Bird Review (September 2007) 75(3), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Summer Field Report, June-July 2007 by W. Ross Silcock ... 70

2006 (18th) Report of the NOU Records Committee compiled by Mark A. Brogie ... 86

Subscription and Organization Information ... 95

Eleutherodactylus Ridens (Pygmy Rainfrog) Predation, Tobias Eisenberg, Twan Leenders

Biology Faculty Publications

Workers of the large ponerine ant Paraponera clavata typically forage on small to medium-sized arthropods or collect pieces of plants or nectar but have been suspected of predating small vertebrates.

"Species Accounts," From Nebraska Bird Review (September 2007) 75(3)., Nebraska Ornithologists' Union

Nebraska Bird Review

Greater White-fronted Goose: Summer stragglers are rare, but one was in Clay Co 17 Jun (JGJ).

Snow Goose: About 25 stragglers or non-migrants were found; largest group was 20 at Harvard Marsh 2 Jun (PD), and westerly, where rare, was one at LM 10 Jun (SJD).

Ross's Goose: One at LM 9 Jun (SJD) was only the 3rd Jun record.

Canada Goose: Routine reports.

Trumpeter Swan: Routine reports.

Wood Duck: Routine reports.

Gadwall: Routine reports.

American Wigeon: A male at LM 9 Jun (SJD) was likely a late migrant; breeding is not known …

2006 (18th) Report Of The Nou Records Committee, Mark A. Brogie

Nebraska Bird Review

The functions and methods of the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union (NOU) Records Committee are described in its bylaws (NOU Records Committee 1986). The committee's purpose is to provide a procedure for documenting unusual bird sightings and to establish a list of all documented birds for Nebraska. The "Official List of the Birds of Nebraska" was first published in 1988 (NOU Records Committee 1988) and has been updated two times (NOU Records Committee 1997, 2004).

The "Official List" has been appended sixteen times: (Mollhoff 1989; Grenon 1990, 1991; Gubanyi 1996a, 1996b, 1996c; Brogie 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006; Jorgensen 2001, …