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Articles 1 - 12 of 12
Full-Text Articles in Physiology
Importance Of The Microhabitat And Microclimate Conditions In The Northern Gray-Cheeked Salamander (Plethodon Montanus) Across An Elevation Gradient, Trevor Chapman
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The southern Appalachian Mountains have among the highest salamander diversity in the world, largely due to local speciation in the family Plethodontidae. Plethodontid salamanders (i.e., lungless salamanders) are particularly sensitive to habitat climate conditions due to their reliance on cutaneous respiration, and their immediate environmental conditions (microhabitat) likely influence their dispersion and activity more than the large-scale atmospheric conditions. The Northern Gray-cheeked salamander (Plethodon montanus) is restricted to high elevations in the Appalachian Mountains. Our goal was to investigate the relationship between P. montanus and its microhabitat by examining behavioral preference for climatic conditions, characterizing the microclimate with …
Internal Vertebral Morphology Of Bony Fishes Matches The Mechanical Demands Of Different Environments, Dana Baxter, Karly E. Cohen, Cassandra M. Donatelli, Eric D. Tytell
Internal Vertebral Morphology Of Bony Fishes Matches The Mechanical Demands Of Different Environments, Dana Baxter, Karly E. Cohen, Cassandra M. Donatelli, Eric D. Tytell
Engineering Faculty Articles and Research
Fishes have repeatedly evolved characteristic body shapes depending on how close they live to the substrate. Pelagic fishes live in open water and typically have narrow, streamlined body shapes; benthic and demersal fishes live close to the substrate; and demersal fishes often have deeper bodies. These shape differences are often associated with behavioral differences: pelagic fishes swim nearly constantly, demersal fishes tend to maneuver near the substrate, and benthic fishes often lie in wait on the substrate. We hypothesized that these morphological and behavioral differences would be reflected in the mechanical properties of the body, and specifically in vertebral column …
Flexible Phenotypes, Energetics, And Whole-Animal Performance Of Migratory Songbirds, Michael Griego
Flexible Phenotypes, Energetics, And Whole-Animal Performance Of Migratory Songbirds, Michael Griego
Doctoral Dissertations
Animal life has evolved innumerable strategies to adapt to a great range of environmental conditions present on earth. The physiology of free-living animals has thus been shaped to allow for maximal performance under challenging conditions and has given rise to traits that enable animals to overcome daunting ecological pressures. Few life history stages in the animal kingdom rival the intensity of annual avian migration: the extreme metabolic requirements of long-distance flight coupled with navigating vast and hostile ecological barriers results in enormously high mortality for young birds. It is therefore the main focus of this thesis to identify physiological traits …
Maternal Responses In The Face Of Infection Risk, Patricia C. Lopes, Brenna M. G. Gormally, Aubrey Emmi, Delilah Schuerman, Chathuni Liyanage, Ursula K. Beattie, L. Michael Romero
Maternal Responses In The Face Of Infection Risk, Patricia C. Lopes, Brenna M. G. Gormally, Aubrey Emmi, Delilah Schuerman, Chathuni Liyanage, Ursula K. Beattie, L. Michael Romero
Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research
When animals are sick, their physiology and behavior change in ways that can impact their offspring. Research is emerging showing that infection risk alone can also modify the physiology and behavior of healthy animals. If physiological responses to environments with high infection risk take place during reproduction, it is possible that they lead to maternal effects. Understanding whether and how high infection risk triggers maternal effects is important to elucidate how the impacts of infectious agents extend beyond infected individuals and how, in this way, they are even stronger evolutionary forces than already considered. Here, to evaluate the effects of …
Developing A Novel Place Preference Assay To Compare Drosophila Species Over Time, Martha M. Brinson
Developing A Novel Place Preference Assay To Compare Drosophila Species Over Time, Martha M. Brinson
Honors Theses
Across phylogeny, integration of external factors, memory, and internal states of the organism dictate organismal behavior and mechanisms. The underlying genetic components can affect these behaviors such as in genomic changes arising from speciation. In this thesis, a new place preference assay was evaluated in the analysis and investigation of two species of Drosophila flies (D. melanogaster and D. simulans) to measure similarities and differences and their attraction to two different food substrates. Sleep and circadian measurements were also recorded during experimentation. The Drosophila Activity Monitor 5M (DAM5M) System and Sleep Circadian Analysis MATLAB Program (SCAMP) analysis were …
The Influence Of Temperature And Body Size On Food Consumption In Prairie Lizards (Sceloporus Consobrinus), Morgan Pelley
The Influence Of Temperature And Body Size On Food Consumption In Prairie Lizards (Sceloporus Consobrinus), Morgan Pelley
Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses
Understanding the effect of temperature on physiological and digestive processes, such as voluntary consumption rate, is critical for assessing the impact of climate change. Food consumption is required for lizard survival and reproduction and its rate is dependent on temperature. For ectotherms, as temperatures increase, the amount of food consumed to meet the energy requirements related to survival and reproduction must also increase. Information on the amount of food voluntarily consumed may aid in determining if lizards can meet energy requirements. Such information could also aid in predicting survival of lizard populations, through construction of predictive climate change models. In …
Thermal Ecophysiology Of Juvenile Anadromous River Herring, Lian W. Guo
Thermal Ecophysiology Of Juvenile Anadromous River Herring, Lian W. Guo
Doctoral Dissertations
Temperature controls the rate of all biochemical processes, and thus can significantly influence the physiology and ecology of all living organisms on earth. Understanding how temperature influences fitness can therefore provide insight into mechanisms affecting population size, dynamics, and geographic distributions, especially in the context of climate change. Early life stages of fishes experience significant selective pressure to grow large and accumulate energy reserves in order to avoid predation and starvation. Increasing temperatures will increase routine metabolic rates, which may result in less energy being available for growth and energy storage. In this thesis, I examine the effects of temperature, …
Keeping Your Cool: Thermoregulatory Performance And Plasticity In Desert Cricetid Rodents, Richard W. Ramirez, Eric A. Riddell, Steven R. Beissinger, Blair W. Wolf
Keeping Your Cool: Thermoregulatory Performance And Plasticity In Desert Cricetid Rodents, Richard W. Ramirez, Eric A. Riddell, Steven R. Beissinger, Blair W. Wolf
Biology ETDs
Small mammals in hot deserts often avoid heat via nocturnality and fossoriality and are thought to have a limited capacity to dissipate heat using evaporative cooling. Research to date has focused on thermoregulatory responses to air temperatures (Ta) below body temperature (Tb). Consequently, the thermoregulatory performance of small mammals exposed to high air temperatures is poorly understood, particularly responses across geographic and seasonal scales. We quantified the seasonal thermoregulatory performance of four cricetid rodents (Neotoma albigula, N. lepida, Peromyscus eremicus, P. crinitus) exposed to high Ta, at four sites …
Strong Inferences About Pain In Invertebrates Require Stronger Evidence, Edgar T. Walters
Strong Inferences About Pain In Invertebrates Require Stronger Evidence, Edgar T. Walters
Animal Sentience
Evidence for sentience in animals distantly related to humans is often sought in observations of behavioral and neural responses to noxious stimuli that would be painful in humans. Most proposed criteria for painful sentience in “lower” animals such as decapod crustaceans have no necessary links to the affective (“suffering”) component of pain. The best evidence for painful affect in animals is learned aversion to stimuli associated with noxious experience, and conditioned preference for contexts associated with relief from aversive consequences of noxious experience, as expressed in voluntary behavior. Such evidence is currently lacking for any invertebrate except octopus.
Effects Of Melatonin Implantation On The Activity Levels Of Captive Snow Buntings (Plectrophenax Nivalis), Zoë Ward
Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects
In vertebrates, melatonin regulates many components of the circadian rhythm; depending on the organism’s location and time of year, the pineal gland will produce melatonin accordingly, controlling the sleep-wake cycle and breeding physiologies. However, locations at the poles in which the sun is above the horizon for multiple days at a time pose unique challenges for the organisms living there. The goal of this study was to examine how the implantation of melatonin in an arctic-breeding songbird affects its activity levels and circadian rhythm. The subject of this study, the snow bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis), is a small songbird …
Maternal Drivers Of Reproductive Output In The Lizard Family Scincidae: A Phylogenetic Comparative Approach, William Zang
Maternal Drivers Of Reproductive Output In The Lizard Family Scincidae: A Phylogenetic Comparative Approach, William Zang
West Chester University Master’s Theses
Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of squamates, comprising over 1,300 species of lizards with a variety of life history and ecological traits. This diversity includes three reproductive modes, where some species reproduce via oviparity (egg-laying), viviparity (live birth) or use of a mixed strategy (females switch modes). In this study, it was sought whether reproductive output differs between scincid species using these reproductive modes. Reproductive output is defined as the average product of offspring abundance and size per reproductive event, representing the reproductive effort of an individual. Additionally, the importance of phylogeny (evolutionary relatedness) and a suite …
Design And Validation Of Artificial Feeders To Study Feeding Preferences And Growth Of Hematophagous Juvenile Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon Marinus), Gracie Li-Ting-Wai
Design And Validation Of Artificial Feeders To Study Feeding Preferences And Growth Of Hematophagous Juvenile Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon Marinus), Gracie Li-Ting-Wai
Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)
The parasitic and invasive land-locked sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus populations contributed to the collapse of the Great Lakes fisheries in the mid-1900s, while native anadromous populations are currently under threat and require conservation efforts for protection. Despite the increasing concern for both populations of this species, the juvenile stage of the sea lamprey’s life cycle has not been well studied. This is due, in part, to ethical concerns raised around holding live host fish with juveniles and the lack of an alternative feeding method to maintain these juveniles in the laboratory. The feeder should be designed to minimize fouling of …