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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Hydroperiod And Metamorphosis In The Small-Mouthed Salamander Dec 2006

Hydroperiod And Metamorphosis In The Small-Mouthed Salamander

Travis J. Ryan

Ambystoma texanum (Small-mouthed Salamander) breeds primarily in temporary wetlands, and while natural history studies have suggested a minimum larval period of about 2 mo, it is not clear how hydroperiod (the length of time that a temporary wetland holds water) infl uences populations. I conducted a mesocosm experiment to investigate the effects of hydroperiod on the completion of metamorphosis, as well as age and size at metamorphosis. I used hydroperiods of 50, 75, and 100 d, and a non-drying treatment as a control. Survival to the end of each hydroperiod was consistent among all groups, but no individuals completed metamorphosis …


Runx2 Is Essential For Larval Hyobranchial Cartilage Formation In Xenopus Laevis, Ryan Kerney, Joshua Gross, James Hanken Dec 2006

Runx2 Is Essential For Larval Hyobranchial Cartilage Formation In Xenopus Laevis, Ryan Kerney, Joshua Gross, James Hanken

Ryan Kerney

The vertebrate transcription factor protein Runx2 is regarded as a “master regulator” of bone formation due to the dramatic loss of the osseous skeleton in the mouse homozygous knockout. However, Runx2 mRNA also is expressed in the pre-hypertrophic cartilaginous skeleton of the mouse and chicken, where its developmental function is largely unknown. Several tiers of Runx2 regulation exist in the mouse, any of which may account for its seeming biological inactivity during early stages of skeletogenesis. Unlike mouse and chicken, zebrafish require Runx2 function in early cartilage differentiation. The present study reveals that the earlier functional role of Runx2 in …


La Cueva De Los Pocitos (El Hierro): Descricpion Y Biocenosis, S. De La Cruz, Ana Reboleira, Eduardo Muñoz, Nieves Zurita, Pedro Oromí Dec 2006

La Cueva De Los Pocitos (El Hierro): Descricpion Y Biocenosis, S. De La Cruz, Ana Reboleira, Eduardo Muñoz, Nieves Zurita, Pedro Oromí

Ana Sofia P.S. Reboleira

The survey and a geomorphological description of Cueva de los Pocitos lava tube is presented. The results of measuring the environmental parameters are provided, as well as those of a faunistic study carried out in the spring and fall of 2000. A total of 552 of arthropods were collected, belonging to at least 30 different species, 8 of them being troglobites. A comparison with the faunistic richness of the other caves of El Hierro is also made.