Digital Commons Network^™

Abundance And Occurrence Of Common Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) In Three Estuaries Of The Northwestern Gulf Of Mexico, Errol Ronje, Heidi Whitehead, Kevin Barry, Sarah Piwetz, Juliane Struve, Vincent Lecours, Lance Garrison, Randall S. Wells, Keith D. Mullin

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Current abundance estimates for populations of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus, Montagu, 1821) in bays, sounds, and estuaries are lacking throughout most of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, including areas of Texas and western Louisiana. To address this issue, we conducted 92 small-boat photographic identification surveys covering ~2000 km² and comprising ~11,000 km of track-line in winter and summer seasons in West Bay, TX (2014 – 2015, n = 25), the Galveston Bay, TX system (2016, n = 50), Sabine Lake, TX (2017, n = 17), and adjacent coastal waters. Individual dolphin encounter histories were constrained by …

Correlates Of Bird Collisions With Buildings Across Three North American Countries, Jared A. Elmore, Stephen B. Hager, Bradley J. Cosentino, Nastasha Hagemeyer, Eric Walters, Scott R. Loss, Et Al.

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Collisions with buildings cause up to 1 billion bird fatalities annually in North America. Bird-building collisions have recently received increased conservation, research, and policy attention. However, efforts to reduce collisions would benefit from studies conducted at large spatial scales across multiple study sites, with standardized methods, and with consideration of species- and life history-related variation and correlates of collisions. We addressed these research needs with a coordinated data collection effort at 40 sites across North America. We estimated collision vulnerability for 40 bird species by accounting for their North American population abundance, distribution overlap with study sites, and sampling effort. …

A Survey Of The Reptiles And Amphibians At The University Of Georgia Costa Rica Field Station In San Luis De Monteverde, Costa Rica, John David Curlis, Elliot Convery Fisher, W. Kody Muhic, James Moy, Martha Garro-Cruz, José Joaquín Montero-Ramírez

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Reptiles and amphibians are experiencing declines across the globe. In Monteverde, Costa Rica, these declines and their underlying causes have been relatively well studied since the early 1990s, and many protected areas have been set aside to conserve these species. However, thorough surveys of the herpetofaunal diversity in these areas have been scarce over the last 20 years. We conducted a survey of all reptile and amphibian species at the University of Georgia Costa Rica (UGACR), a field station in San Luis de Monteverde. Herein, we present an annotated checklist of the 48 species (35 reptiles and 13 amphibians) that …

The Natural History Of The Marsh Rice Rat, Oryzomys Palustris, In Eastern Virginia, Robert K. Rose

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The marsh rice rat, Oryzomys palustris, is a common rodent in tidal marshes of eastern Virginia, including those on the barrier islands. It also is present in grassy old fields in upland habitats in the coastal plain and parts of the piedmont of Virginia. This report summarizes what has been learned in recent decades about the population biology of this species in Virginia, including aspects of behavior, density, diet, distribution, genetics, habitats, mammal associates, and reproduction.

Golden Eagle Resource Selection And Environmental Drivers Of Reproduction In The Northern Range Of Yellowstone National Park, David Brown Haines

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In the United States (US), National Parks are considered the “crown jewels” of protected lands. However, the importance of National Parks to wildlife populations and the species that inhabit them is not often quantified, thus, requiring a better understanding of National Parks as a conservation tool. Golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) are a North American species of conservation concern and territories in the northern range of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) are relatively dense. However, average reproductive rates over the past ten years (2011-2020) have been low (productivity = 0.34, nest success = 28%). The contrast of high density and …

Temperature Effects On Moose (Alces Alces) Activity Patterns In Isle Royale National Park, Isabella C. Evavold

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Moose (Alces alces) in Isle Royale National Park impact the ecosystem by browsing tree species and serving as the primary food source for wolves. As a heat-sensitive species, moose are susceptible to the impacts of climate change in the southern extent of their range which includes Isle Royale. Understanding how temperature impacts moose behavior is valuable and can be used to predict how moose may respond to changing temperature in the future. GPS enabled radio-collars with three-axis accelerometers were used to collect one year of temperature and activity data from 6 cow moose in Isle Royale National Park. …

The Role Of Melatonin In Biological Rhythms Of Songbirds, Clifford E. Harpole

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

In vertebrates, melatonin is a hormone that is produced and secreted at night and inhibited by light. This unique “darkness-only” expression profile makes it an intellectually appealing candidate for a means of transmitting temporal information to an individual, both time of day and time of year.

In passerine birds, “time of day” information is certainly transmitted via melatonin secretion. The primary producer of systemic melatonin in this family of birds is the pineal gland, and surgical removal of it causes a bird to become arrhythmic in constant conditions. I find that as pinealectomized house sparrows (Passer domesticus) become …

Diet Of A Recently Reintroduced River Otter (Lontra Canadensis) Population In Taos County, New Mexico, Gabriela Alexandra Wolf-Gonzalez

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

North American river otters (Lontra canadensis), native to every U.S. state and Canada, experienced extensive population decreases and range reduction until the mid-20th century as a result of overexploitation and habitat loss during European colonization. The last known river otter in New Mexico was killed on the Gila River in 1953, although unverified reports continued thru 2008. After a nearly 60-year absence from New Mexico, 33 adult river otters were reintroduced to the Rio Pueblo de Taos in the northern part of the state between 2008-2010; however, they were not subsequently monitored or studied. I characterized diet of …

Current Dog Breeding Practices Impacts On Health And Preservation Of Purebred Dogs, Bridget E. Baker

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Connecting The Dots: Avian Eggshell Pigmentation, Female Condition And Paternal Provisioning Effort, Kara E. Hodges, Nathan T. Mortimer, Alysia D. Vrailas-Mortimer, Scott K. Sakaluk, Charles F. Thompson

Faculty Publications – Biological Sciences

Differences in avian eggshell pigmentation could be an honest signal of female quality that males use to inform their nestling provisioning effort. We investigated whether among-individual variation in protoporphyrin-based eggshell pigmentation in house wrens (Troglodytes aedon) reflects female fitness-associated traits and whether males use that information. Females laying lighter clutches were older and larger than females laying darker clutches. Nestlings hatching from lighter clutches had greater size-corrected mass on post-hatch day 11, a measure that strongly predicts survival and recruitment to the breeding population. To test whether male provisioning effort responds to clutch pigmentation, we used a reciprocal …

Dynamic Terminal Investment In Male Burying Beetles, Paige A. Farchmin, Anne-Katrin Eggert, Kristin R. Duffield, Scott K. Sakaluk

Faculty Publications – Biological Sciences

The dynamic terminal investment threshold model posits that the propensity of an individual to terminally invest in response to an immediate survival threat, such as an infection, depends on other factors that alter an individual's residual reproductive value. Here, we explore the potential for dynamic terminal investment in burying beetles, insects that inter small vertebrate carcasses as the sole source of food for their offspring and that exhibit extensive biparental care. We injected males at two different ages with heat-killed bacteria and measured their reproductive output, predicting that immune-challenged males would show a longer period of parental care, consume less …

Stress Response Related To Ultrasonographic Examination In Dogs, Cenker Çağri Cingi, Abdurrahman Fati̇h Fi̇dan, Durmuş Fati̇h Başer, Mehmet Uçar, Zülfükar Kadi̇r Saritaş

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

This study investigated whether abdominal ultrasonography, a frequently used examination method in clinics and hospitals, causes stress in dogs. For the study, 10 healthy dogs were used. Following general examination, intravenous catheters were placed in the V. cephalica accecorius of the dogs and blood specimens were collected to obtain serum and plasma samples (minute 0). After a 30- min break, ultrasonography was applied following shaving of the abdominal region. Serum and plasma samples were collected from the intravenous catheters at the 5th, 15th, and 20th minutes of the ultrasonographic examination during which the urinary bladder, left kidney, spleen, stomach, liver, …

Estimation Of Genetic Parameters For Weaning Weight Of Awassi Lambs By Using Classical And Bayesian Methods, Adi̇le Tatliyer, Si̇nan Baş

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The aim of this study was to estimate variance components and genetic parameters with six different animal models and two approaches (Bayesian and classical) on weaning weight (WW) of Awassi lambs. For this purpose, the data were obtained from Sheep and Goat Breeders' Associations of Osmaniye in Turkey. The data of 4971 progenies (from 80 rams and 1917 ewes) born between 2012 and 2016 raised under traditional conditions were evaluated. Year/season, sex, birth type, dam age, and flock size were fixed effects. All these effects except birth type were found statistically significant (P < 0.01). The overall least squares mean of weaning weight (WW) was obtained as 17.93 ± 0.05 kg. Variance components and genetic parameters were estimated by MCMC algorithms with R (for Bayesian approach) and by REML procedure with MTDFREML (for classical approach) programs. The Akaike information criterion (AIC), the log likelihood function (-2logL), and deviance information criterion (DIC) values were taken as criteria to choose the best model. Direct heritabilities of WW ranged from 0.20 to 0.35 across the models. The genetic correlation between additive genetic effect and maternal effect ranged from 0.00 to 1.00. The results were found similar across methodologies and maternal additive genetic variance resulted in lower than direct additive genetic variance. According to this study, both approaches are suitable for estimation of genetic parameters in the case of low sample size. However, the Bayesian approach, becoming increasingly popular, may be feasible to estimate variancecovariance components and genetic parameters.

Cranial Size And Shape Sexual Dimorphism In The Kangal Dog From Turkey, Pere Miquel Parés-Casanova, Abu Bakar Siddiq, Vedat Onar

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

This study has so far been the first attempt to characterize and quantify skull sexual variation in Kangal dog, by means of geometric morphometric techniques. A sample of 16 adult Kangal crania has been analyzed with this purpose. To obtain a full image of morphological pattern, digital pictures were taken from the ventral, left lateral, and dorsal sides of each skull, and a total of 16, 15, and 16 landmarks respectively were obtained on each image. Skull size and shape differed significantly in all aspects among different sexes, male skulls being bigger. Shape differences were observed mainly on zygomatic arch …

The Effects Of Different Doses Of Diclofenac Sodium On Newborn Rat Hippocampus Exposed During The Third Trimester, Ebru Eli̇bol, Süleyman Kaplan, Gamze Altun, Abdurrahman Aksoy, Berri̇n Zuhal Altunkaynak

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The main aim of the present study was to examine the neurotoxic effects of prenatal exposure to varying doses of diclofenac sodium (DS) on the rat hippocampus. Twenty-eight Wistar albino adult female rats weighing 280-300 g were initially used for pregnancy. When vaginal plaques were seen in female rats, it was accepted as the 0th day of pregnancy. Female rats were divided into five main groups; pure control, saline, low dose DS (3.6 mg/kg), moderate dose DS (9 mg/kg), and high dose DS (18 mg/kg). They were exposed to these treatments during their gestation. After birth, all newborn male rats …

Effect Of Transportation Distance And Crating Density On Preslaughter Losses And Blood Biochemical Profile In Broilers During Hot And Humid Weather, Faisal Hussnain, Athar Mahmud, Shahid Mahmood, Muhammad Hayat Jaspal

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Transportation of broilers from different localities to the processing plants is a critical step in the farm to fork chain, and any disturbance in this chain may result in worst consequences. Keeping this scenario in view, a study was conducted to determine the live losses at different transportation distances (~80, 160, 240 km) and crating densities (10, 12, 15 birds/crate) during hot and humid summer. The uniform weight birds were picked from a farm and placed in plastic crates (0.91 m × 0.55 m). The results showed a significant increase in body weight loss and dead on arrival (%) with …

Evaluation Of Cytotoxic, Apoptotic Effects And Phenolic Compounds Of Sea Cucumberholothuria Tubulosa (Gmelin, 1791) Extracts, Mehli̇ka Alper, Melek Güneş

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

This study aimed to investigate the potential cytotoxic effects and phenolic contents of aqueous (HTS) and methanolic (HTM) extracts of Holothuria tubulosa gathered from Muğla (Turkey) against different cancer cells for the first time. An MTT assay was carried out to determine cellular viability. Apoptotic cell death was determined using flow cytometry. DNA fragmentation assay and caspase-3 activity analysis were carried out. Both extracts were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for quantification of phenolic compounds. Both HTS and HTM extracts generally caused a decrease in the cell viability in a concentration- and timedependent manner. The lowest IC$_{50}$ value …

Assessment Of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases As Therapeutic Targets For The Treatmentof Babesiosis And Theileriosis, Özal Mutlu

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The Piroplasmida order comprises parasitic protozoa including the Theileria and Babesia species that are transmitted by vector ticks and can cause severe diseases in domestic and wild animals. Because of limited therapies and available drug resistance, the discovery of new, effective, and safer drugs for veterinary use is important. Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) are a group of serine-threonine protein kinases found in diverse species, including animals and protozoa that conduct vital cellular functions. Therefore, they have been at the centre of drug design studies for many years. Computer-aided structure-based drug design is a fast and effective way in drug discovery …

Comparative Morphological Analysis Of Diploid And Triploid Oysters, Crassostrea Gigas,Farmed In The Black Sea, Oksana Yurievna Vialova

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Triploid organisms, in particular oysters, are widely used in marine aquaculture. However, the advantage of triploid oysters compared to diploids has not been proven in all cases. Comparative morphological analysis of Pacific oysters Crassostrea gigas of different ploidy levels allows evaluating the benefits of raising triploids in the Black Sea. First, the morphological characteristics of diploid and triploid Pacific oysters C. gigas farmed in the Black Sea were studied. Allometric ratios of weight (W, g) and shell height (H, mm) of oysters were obtained, which are described by the equations W$_{2n}$ = 4 × 10$^{-4}$ × H$_{2n}$ $^{2.56}$, R2 = …

Spillover Of Sea Scallops From Rotational Closures In The Mid-Atlantic Bight (United States), Deborah R. Hart, Daphne M. Monroe, Joseph C. Caracappa, Dale Haidvogel, Burton V. Shank, David B. Rudders, John M. Klinck, Eileen E. Hofmann, Eric N. Powell

CCPO Publications

We examined evidence for larval spillover (increased recruitment outside the closures) of Atlantic sea scallops (Placopecten magellanicus) due to rotational closures in the Mid-Atlantic Bight using a 40-year fisheries survey time series and a larval transport model. Since the first closure of the Hudson Canyon South (HCS) area in 1998, mean recruitment in the two areas directly down-current from this closure, Elephant Trunk (ET) and Delmarva (DMV), increased significantly by factors of about 7 and 2, respectively. Stock–recruit plots indicate that low biomasses in HCS were associated with reduced mean recruitment in ET and DMV. Simulations indicate that larvae spawned …

The “Challenge" Of Depletion: Why The Oyster Fishery Is Not Self-Regulating, Eric N. Powell, John M. Klinck, Leanne M. Poussard

CCPO Publications

The possibility that the economics of the oyster fishery impose a self-limitation on overharvesting has been proffered on occasion. The inefficiency of harvesting by the fishery has been evaluated and estimates of the exploitation rate permissible under conditions of maximum sustainable yield have been obtained in previous studies. The question becomes to what extent does the inefficiency of harvest interact with the economics of the fishery to compromise ready detection of overfishing? This study explores the possibility that the constraint of economics on the fishery occurs at oyster exploitation rates that are higher than maximum sustainable yield, leading ineluctably to …

The Behavioral Ecology Of The Tibetan Macaque, Jin-Hua Li, Peter M. Kappeler, Lixing Sun

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

This open access book summarizes the multi-disciplinary results of one of China’s main primatological research projects on the endemic Tibetan macaque (Macaca thibetana), which had continued for over 30 years, but which had never been reported on systematically. Dedicated to this exceptional Old World monkey, this book makes the work of Chinese primatologists on the social behavior, cooperation, culture, cognition, group dynamics, and emerging technologies in primate research accessible to the international scientific community.

Black Bear, Jimmy D. Taylor, James P. Phillips

Wildlife Damage Management Technical Series

The American black bear (Ursus americanus, Figure 1) is a challenging species for wildlife agencies to manage due to its size, intelligence, extensive range, food habits, and adaptability, as well as societal views. In North America alone, agencies receive more than 40,000 complaints about black bear annually. Black bears are known as ‘food-driven’ animals, meaning most conflicts result from a bear’s drive to meet its nutritional needs. Not surprisingly, an overwhelming proportion of conflicts are related to their use of anthropogenic (human) food sources, such as garbage, bird food, and crops. Understanding what drives human-bear conflict is the first part …

Evolutionary Analyses Of Phylum Chaetognatha Based On Mitochondrial Cytochromeoxidase I Gene, Sam Peter, Manojkumar Bhaskaran Nair, Devika Pillai

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Chaetognaths (arrow worms) are an enigmatic group of transparent planktonic invertebrates and play an important role in the marine food web. Their morphological and developmental features have raised extensive debates since the discovery of the phylum in the 18th century. Uncertainty in the phylogenetic placement of certain chaetognath species still exists and is puzzling many scientists who have tried to clarify this task. Studies using a portion of both small subunit ribosomal ribonucleic acid (SSU rRNA) and large subunit ribosomal ribonucleic acid (LSU rRNA) genes when integrated with conventional taxonomy were contributed to resolve taxonomical issues in this group. Here …

The Occurrence Of Xanthochroism In The Thinlip Grey Mullet, Chelon Ramada(Teleostei: Mugilidae), From The Aegean Sea, Sencer Akalin, Zafer Tosunoğlu

Turkish Journal of Zoology

In this study, the first case of aberrant coloration, namely xanthochroism or xanthism, in the thinlip grey mullet, Chelon ramada (Teleostei: Mugilidae), was reported. The specimen was caught by a purse seiner in November 2019, in İzmir Bay, in the Aegean Sea, and was a female, with mature ovaries, which indicated that it had been in spawning migration or activity on the sampling date.

Asian Elephant Rescue, Rehabilitation And Rewilding, Liv Baker, Rebecca Winkler

Animal Sentience

Thailand has fewer than 10,000 elephants left. More of them are living in captivity to serve the tourist industry under grim conditions than are living free in what is left of their wild habitat. Conservation efforts need to be focused on all surviving members of the species, captive and free, but they need to take into account the inextricable entanglement of human and nonhuman animal lives in Thailand today. There is an opportunity for rescuing, rehabilitating and reintroducing captive elephants to the wild with the help of the traditional expertise of a mahout culture that has been elephant-keeping for centuries. …

A “Halfway House” For Improving Captive Welfare, Phyllis C. Lee, W. Keith Lindsay

Animal Sentience

It is certainly time to aim for higher quality management strategies for Thailand’s captive elephants, and to engage with sustainable livelihoods for traditional mahouts. Baker & Winkler’s proposal to rewild Thai elephants by placing them under the guardianship of Karen mahouts is recognized as not “wild” since it remains a form of management requiring elephants to live under the control of human caregivers. We applaud the positive welfare aims of this proposal; however, we caution that few of the long-term consequences for elephants or habitats can be known, and further considerations of elephant population dynamics and forest ecosystems are required …

Statistics Used In The Nebraska Beef Cattle Report And Their Purpose

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

Th e purpose of beef cattle and beef product research at UNL is to provide reference information that represents the various populations (cows, calves, heifers, feeders, carcasses, retail products, etc) of beef production. Obviously, the researcher cannot apply treatments to every member of a population; therefore he/she must sample the population. Th e use of statistics allows the researcher and readers of the Nebraska Beef Cattle Report the opportunity to evaluate separation of random (chance) occurrences and real biological effects of a treatment. Following is a brief description of the major statistics used in the beef report. For a more …

Exploring Eight-Armed Intelligence Through Film, Tierney M. Thys

Animal Sentience

Mather (2019) provides a rich overview of the elements underlying octopus cognition and behavioral flexibility. Recently, two remarkable natural history films, My Octopus Teacher and The Octopus in My House have explored intimate human-octopus relationships with a wild (Octopus vulgaris) and a captive octopus (Octopus cyanea) respectively. Both films show rare behaviors that offer observations to test new hypotheses as well as a novel perspective on our own human relationships and place within the natural world. An interview with filmmaker Craig Foster from My Octopus Teacher reveals the profound and transformative power of forming a trusting …

Sentience In Evolutionary Context, Jon Mallatt, Todd E. Feinberg

Animal Sentience

We appreciate the goals of Mikhalevich & Powell (M&P) and largely agree with their conclusions but we differ on some of their definitions and terms. Affects (emotional feelings) should be part of sentience. Although the evidence presented for insect sentience is strong, we list some of the counterevidence that should be considered. Our own research supports M&P’s choice of arthropods, cephalopods, and vertebrates as the only sentient organisms with moral status.