Digital Commons Network^™

Is There A Link Between Aging And Microbiome Diversity In Exceptional Mammalian Longevity?, Graham M. Hughes, John Leech, Sebastien J. Puechmaille, Jose V. Lopez, Emma C. Teeling

Biology Faculty Articles

A changing microbiome has been linked to biological aging in mice and humans, suggesting a possible role of gut flora in pathogenic aging phenotypes. Many bat species have exceptional longevity given their body size and some can live up to ten times longer than expected with little signs of aging. This study explores the anal microbiome of the exceptionally long-lived Myotis myotis bat, investigating bacterial composition in both adult and juvenile bats to determine if the microbiome changes with age in a wild, long-lived non-model organism, using non-lethal sampling. The anal microbiome was sequenced using metabarcoding in more than 50 …

Pittsburg State University Ichthyology Field Notebooks, Karisa Boyer

Ichthyology Collection

No abstract provided.

An Engineer Cantonment Bestiary: The Art Of Titian Ramsay Peale, Hugh H. Genoways, Thomas E. Labedz

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Includes an overview of the work of American nature artist Titian Ramsay Peale as part of the Stephen H. Long Expedition, 1819-1820, at Engineer Cantonment in eastern Nebraska, USA.

Includes textual descriptions and/or reproductions of watercolors and lined drawings by Peale of banded killifish (Fundulus diaphanous), American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrothynchos), Wood Duck (Aix sponsa), Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus/Falco lagopus), Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis tabida), Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos), Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea), American Tree Sparrow (Spizella arborea), Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus …

Examination Of Enrichment Using Space And Food For African Elephants At The Sdzsp, Charlotte Hacker, Lance Miller, Bruce A. Schulte

Biology Faculty Publications

Concern for elephant welfare in zoological facilities has prompted a number of exhibit and management modifications, including those involving enrichment. Knowledge of how these changes impact indicators of welfare, such as elephant movement and behaviour, is crucial for continued improvement of elephant husbandry and care. The present study used observations and GPS-collected data to determine the effects of available space and food presentation on the walking distance and behaviour of thirteen African elephants (Loxodonta africana), which had a dominance structure ascertained by animal care staff at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park (SDZSP). This facility has two exhibits of approximately …

Origins Of Animal Cell Adhesion, Jennyfer Mora Mitchell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A fundamental requirement for multicellularity is cell adhesion. This includes mechanisms by which cells adhere to each other and to their secreted extracellular matrix (ECM). Two well characterized adhesion complexes in animals include: 1) adherens junctions (AJs), which are involved in cell-cell adhesion and composed of cadherin receptors, p120-, α- and β-catenin, and 2) focal adhesions (FAs), which are involved in cell-ECM adhesion and include proteins such as integrins, vinculin, paxillin, talin and focal adhesion kinase (FAK). The molecular components of AJs are widely conserved in animals, and largely absent in non-animals. In contrast, the molecular components of FAs have …

Chickens Play To The Crowd, Cinzia Chiandetti

Animal Sentience

The time was ripe for Marino’s review of chickens’ cognitive capacities. The research community, apart from expressing gratitude for Marino’s work, should now use it to increase public awareness of chickens’ abilities. People’s views on many animals are ill-informed. Scientists need to communicate and engage with the public about the relevance and societal implications of their findings.

Post-Darwin Skepticism And Run-Of-The-Mill Suicide, John Hadley

Animal Sentience

Peña-Guzmán’s depiction of the opponent of animal suicide as a conservative is a straw man. It is possible to accept that animals are self-conscious and reflexive yet still reject the view that they have the mental wherewithal to commit run-of-the-mill suicide. That animal behaviour can be positioned on a continuum of self-destructive behaviour does not establish that animals can intentionally kill themselves.

An Adaptationist Perspective On Animal Suicide, Timothy P. Racine

Animal Sentience

Peña-Guzmán’s discussion of suicide in nonhuman animals has broad implications. In this commentary, I focus on the logical relation between suicide and intention. Proximate cause must be distinguished from ultimate function in explanations of suicide. I briefly discuss two adaptationist accounts of suicidal behavior.

Lessons From Chimpanzee Sign Language Studies, Mary Lee Jensvold

Animal Sentience

Claims are often made about behaviors being unique to humans; the evidence usually shows they are not. Sign language studies on chimpanzees may provide a useful model for comparative studies of suicide. A productive approach to comparative studies is to focus on observable behaviors rather than getting lost in the pitfalls of vague definitions and changing measures.

Animal Suicide: An Account Worth Giving?, Irina Mikhalevich

Animal Sentience

Peña-Guzmán (2017) argues that empirical evidence and evolutionary theory compel us to treat the phenomenon of suicide as continuous in the animal kingdom. He defends a “continuist” account in which suicide is a multiply-realizable phenomenon characterized by self-injurious and self-annihilative behaviors. This view is problematic for several reasons. First, it appears to mischaracterize the Darwinian view that mind is continuous in nature. Second, by focusing only on surface-level features of behavior, it groups causally and etiologically disparate phenomena under a single conceptual umbrella, thereby reducing the account’s explanatory power. Third, it obscures existing analyses of suicide in biomedical ethics and …

Can Nondolphins Commit Suicide?, David M. Peña-Guzmán

Animal Sentience

This Response addresses the scientific and philosophical criticisms of my 2017 target article “Can nonhuman animals commit suicide?” It defends my key claims and explores topics (such as animal judgment, animal theory of mind, and the evolution of suicide) that did not appear in the original article. It also points out areas in which further research is needed and concludes that we should be wary of accusations of “anthropomorphism” in debates about animal suicide.

Ms Environmental Biology Capstone Project, Alyssa Herrin

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

The study of visitor use in museums, zoos, and aquariums is an important aspect of understanding visitor engagement and evaluating the function of the institution. Here, visitor demographics such as age, group size, and number of children were assessed to see their influence on time spent and number of stops visitors made while visiting the Denver Botanic Gardens in Denver, Colorado. This study evaluated differences in time spent and number of stops made among different gardens by observing visitors and mapping their paths and activities through each zone. The results show that older visitors and larger groups spent more time …

Animal Suicide: Evolutionary Continuity Or Anthropomorphism?, Antonio Preti

Animal Sentience

Evolutionary processes are characterized by both continuity and discontinuity. Evidence on suicide in nonhuman animals is faint and often rests on the metaphorical or anthropomorphic use of the term. Suicidal behavior might be an evolutionary jump relatively recent in our species: a byproduct of living in groups of people who are not as closely related genetically as in social groups of nonhuman mammals.

Roots Of Self-Preservation Failure In Animal Behavior, Denys Decatanzaro

Animal Sentience

Affective variation from euphoria to dysphoria, best understood in humans, is also found in the behavior and neurochemistry of many other mammals. Suicide in humans typically occurs in highly dysphoric and despondent individuals. Self-injurious behavior has been observed in dysphoric and despondent nonhuman primates. In humans, suicide is facilitated by a highly-evolved neocortex giving rise to behavioral flexibility and culture. As Peña-Guzmán indicates, some other mammals also have elaborate neocortices and the capacity for cognitive insight, particularly apes, delphinids, and whales. Suicide is most likely to occur in species where individuals live in stable groups of highly interdependent kin.

Animal Suicide And "Anthropodenial", Ryan Hediger

Animal Sentience

Increasing understanding of the impressive cognitive and social capacities of nonhuman animals suggests the possibility that they may sometimes commit suicide. Such notions tend to be dismissed as “anthropomorphism.” That interpretive hazard, I argue, must be weighed against the opposite hazard of “anthropodenial” — “the a priori rejection of shared characteristics between humans and animals” (de Waal 2006). If animals do commit suicide, how often is it motivated precisely by the impact of humans on animal life?

Continuum And Temporality, Gerard Kuperus

Animal Sentience

I fully support the continuum proposed in the target article and argue along the same lines that we should be suspicious of drawing any strict borders between human and non-human animals. Since we can say very little with absolute certainty about human intentions regarding suicide, we have no certainty about the intentions of non-human animals. Although I am very sympathetic to Peña-Guzmán’s overall argument, I suggest that time could be taken into consideration as well.

Thinking About Thinking Chickens, Lori Marino

Animal Sentience

This response focuses on three major conceptual threads that run through the peer commentary on my target article: (1) how the use of chickens influences our views of them, (2) whether education is effective, and (3) what components of chicken psychology are most relevant to understanding who chickens are.

Ms Environmental Biology Capstone Project, Taylor Readyhough

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Life in a zoo brings a score of stressors into the lives of captive animals, including artificial light, crowds of visitors, and increased noise levels. Stress especially impacts captive birds, and continued exposure to these stressors can negatively affect birds’ reproductive success and overall well-being. Staff at the Denver Zoo noticed increased aggression between a male and female pair of great Indian hornbills during the winter of 2016. This behavioral shift coincided with Zoo Lights, a holiday event that results in the hornbills’ exhibit remaining open to the public for approximately four extra hours through the entire month of December. …

Chesapeake Bay Nutria Eradication Project: 2017 Update, Margaret Pepper, Kevin Sullivan, Robert Colona, Jonathan Mcknight

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Nutria, a semi-aquatic, South American rodent, was introduced to Maryland during the early 1940s. Originally brought to the area for fur farms, the market never established and animals were released or escaped. Nutria thrived, destroying coastal wetlands which resulted in negative environmental and economic impacts to the Chesapeake Bay region. To preserve and protect valuable wetland resources, the Chesapeake Bay Nutria Eradication Project (CBNEP) was established in 2002 through a partnership between the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and many state agencies and non-governmental organizations. Since …

Historical Observations And Identifications Of Plants And Animals In The Vicinity Of Engineer Cantonment In 1819-1820, Hugh H. Genoways, Brett C. Ratcliffe, Carl R. Falk, John R. Bozell

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Historical observations and identifications of plants and animals in the vicinity of Engineer Cantonment in 1819–1820 (James 1822) are shown below in Roman and Roman italic print. Specimens identified through phytoarcheological and zooarcheological analysis of materials and believed to be reasonably associated or contemporaneous with the Long Expedition use of the site (AU4) are shown in boldface. Species present in both the historical and archeological data are marked by an asterisk (*). References used in this compilation include Benedict (1996), Brewer (1970 [1840]), Conant and Collins (1991), Ducey (2000), Evans (1997), Falk et al. (this volume), Genoways et al. (2008), …

If Nonhuman Animals Can Suicide, Why Don’T They?, C. A. Soper, Todd K. Shackelford

Animal Sentience

An evolutionary analysis suggests that selection is unlikely to have tolerated the capacity for intentional self-killing in nonhuman animals. The potential to escape pain by suicide would have presented a recurrent and severe adaptive problem for an animal with a reproductive future to protect. If the potential for suicide arose in the evolutionary past, anti-suicide mechanisms may have co-evolved, as we believe they have in adult humans. Peña-Guzmán’s (2017) argument that some nonhuman animals can suicide is incomplete without an account of the defences that result in the vast majority opting not to.

Claw Morphometrics In Monitor Lizards: Variable Substrate And Habitat Use Correlate To Shape Diversity Within A Predator Guild, Domenic C. D'Amore, Simon Clulow, J. Sean Doody, David Rhind, Colin R. Mchenry

USF St. Petersburg Campus Faculty Publications

Numerous studies investigate morphology in the context of habitat, and lizards have received particular attention. Substrate usage is often reflected in the morphology of characters associated with locomotion, and, as a result, claws have become well-studied ecomorphological traits linking the two. The Kimberley predator guild of Western Australia consists of 10 sympatric varanid species. The purpose of this study was to quantify claw size and shape in the guild using geometric morphometrics, and determine whether these features correlated with substrate use and habitat. Each species was assigned a Habitat/substrate group based on the substrate their claws interact with in their …

Chicken Minds And Moral Standing, Kristin Andrews

Animal Sentience

Some of the cognitive traits that Marino reviews are not in themselves relevant to ethics, either for chickens or human infants, but affective traits are, among them desires.

Three New Species Of Grouvellinus Champion, 1923 From Maliau Basin, Sabah, Borneo, Discovered By Citizen Scientists During The First Taxon Expedition (Insecta, Coleoptera, Elmidae), Hendrik Freitag, Iva Njunjic, Clister V. Pangantihon

Biology Faculty Publications

Further results are presented of the first field course at Maliau Basin, Malaysian Borneo organized by Taxon Expeditions, an organization which enables citizen scientists to be directly involved in taxonomic discoveries. Three new species of the aquatic beetle genus Grouvellinus Champion, 1923, namely G. leonardodicaprioi sp. n., G. andrekuipersi sp. n., and G. quest sp. n. were collected jointly by the citizen scientists and taxonomists during the fieldwork in Maliau Basin. Material was mainly sampled from sandstone bottom rocks of blackwater streams at altitudes between 900 m and 1,000 m using fine-meshed hand-nets. The genus is widely distributed …

Sparsorythus Sescarorum, New Species From Mindoro, Philippines (Ephemeroptera, Tricorythidae), Jhoana Garces, Ernst Bauernfeind, Hendrik Freitag

Biology Faculty Publications

A new mayfly species, Sparsorythus sescarorum sp. n. (Tricorythidae) is described from Mindoro Island, Philippines. Nymphs are characterized by the combination of the following characters: compound eyes of approximately equal size in both sexes, shape and setation of legs, presence of rudimentary gills on abdominal segment VII, and some details of mouthparts. Male imagines are characterized by the coloration pattern of wings and details of genitalia. The developmental stages are matched by DNA barcodes.

Ainsworth Fall Field Days, Janis Paseka

Nebraska Bird Review

The 2018 NOU Fall Field Days took place in and around Ainsworth on Sep. 14 – 16, with 48 in attendance. It was a hot and windy weekend, but 137 species were located. Two Sandhill Cranes in the Niobrara River at the Carns Bridge attracted birders, especially since the two cooperatively moved from one side of the river to the other, allowing county listers to count them in both. The bird of the weekend, however, was the Red-naped Sapsucker at Plum Creek Valley WMA. It was a county bird for everyone, a state bird for many and a life bird …

Primeness In Early Season Arkansas Raccoon Pelts, D. Blake Sasse

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Trapping seasons in the United States are generally set around the time of the year when pelts are in “prime” condition and are in their most valuable state. In order to assess whether the start of the Arkansas trapping season is at an appropriate date 122 raccoons were captured during the month of November in 2014 and 2015. Based on the evaluation of experienced fur dealers, the percentage of pelts in prime condition was then assessed on weekly and half-monthly basis. This study indicates that starting the trapping season in the last half of the month may maximize the percentage …

Organochloride Pesticides Present In Animal Fur, Soil, And Streambed In An Agricultural Region Of Southeastern Arkansas, Matthew E. Grilliot, John L. Hunt, Christopher G. Sims

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Animals in agricultural settings may be subject to bioaccumulation of toxins. For the last several years, we collected hair samples from bats and rodents in an agricultural area near Bayou Bartholomew in Drew County, Arkansas. Samples were submitted to the Center of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of Connecticut for wide-screen toxin analysis. Several of these samples contained measurable amounts of organochloride pesticides or their metabolites, including some that have been banned for decades, such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and chlordane. In addition, we collected several samples of soil from within an agricultural field, from adjacent edge habitat, from …

The Monitoring Of Feather Mites (Acari, Astigmata) Of The Warbler (Aves: Sylviidae) Species In The Kızılırmak Delta, Samsun, Turkey, Esra Per, Meti̇n Aktaş

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Feather mites (Astigmata) are among the most common ectosymbionts that live on birds. The present research was conducted between 2010 and 2013 in the Kızılırmak delta Cernek Bird Ringing Station in Samsun, Turkey. Assessments of the taxonomy, collection methods, and the periodic host-species relationships of the mites collected were conducted for 591 individuals of 10 bird species belonging to the family Sylviidae captured using mist nets during the bird migration periods. Ten feather mite species were identified from the families Proctophyllodidae, Analgidae, and Trouesartidae. These species are Strelkoviacarus quadratus (Haller, 1882); Dolichodectes edwardsi (Trouessart, 1885); Proctophyllodes cetti Badek, Mironov, and …

New Record Of The Genus Scaptognathus (Acari: Halacaridae) From Antalya With A Checklist Of Marine Halacarid Mites Of Turkey, Furkan Durucan

Turkish Journal of Zoology

This paper presents the first results of a study on the Scaptognathus (Acari: Halacaridae) mites from the Mediterranean Sea coast of Turkey. Two species, S. hallezi Trouessart, 1894 and S. sabularius André, 1961, are newly recorded from Turkey. They are briefly described with drawings, habitats, and worldwide distributions. Additionally, a checklist is provided for the marine halacarid species of Turkey.