110 Years Of Avipoxvirus In The Galapagos Islands, Patricia G. Parker, Elizabeth L. Buckles, Heather L. Farrington, Kenneth Petren, Noah K. Whiteman, Robert E. Ricklefs, Jennifer L. Bollmer, Gustavo Jiménez-Uzcátegui
Jan 2011
110 Years Of Avipoxvirus In The Galapagos Islands, Patricia G. Parker, Elizabeth L. Buckles, Heather L. Farrington, Kenneth Petren, Noah K. Whiteman, Robert E. Ricklefs, Jennifer L. Bollmer, Gustavo Jiménez-Uzcátegui
Patricia Parker
The role of disease in regulating populations is controversial, partly owing to the absence of good disease records in historic wildlife populations. We examined birds collected in the Galapagos Islands between 1891 and 1906 that are currently held at the California Academy of Sciences and the Zoologisches Staatssammlung Muenchen, including 3973 specimens representing species from two well-studied families of endemic passerine birds: finches and mockingbirds. Beginning with samples collected in 1899, we observed cutaneous lesions consistent with Avipoxvirus on 226 (6.3%) specimens. Histopathology and viral genotyping of 59 candidate tissue samples from six islands showed that 21 (35.6%) were positive …
Reduced Mhc And Neutral Variation In The Galápagos Hawk, An Island Endemic, Jennifer L. Bollmer, Joshua M. Hull, Holly B. Ernest, José H. Sarasola, Patricia G. Parker
Jan 2011
Reduced Mhc And Neutral Variation In The Galápagos Hawk, An Island Endemic, Jennifer L. Bollmer, Joshua M. Hull, Holly B. Ernest, José H. Sarasola, Patricia G. Parker
Patricia Parker
Background
Genes at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are known for high levels of polymorphism maintained by balancing selection. In small or bottlenecked populations, however, genetic drift may be strong enough to overwhelm the effect of balancing selection, resulting in reduced MHC variability. In this study we investigated MHC evolution in two recently diverged bird species: the endemic Galápagos hawk (Buteo galapagoensis), which occurs in small, isolated island populations, and its widespread mainland relative, the Swainson's hawk (B. swainsoni).
Results
We amplified at least two MHC class II B gene copies in each species. We recovered only three different sequences …
Natal Dispersal And Sociality Of Young Galapagos Hawks On Santiago Island, Patricia Parker, Jose Luis Rivera-Parra, F H. Vargas
Dec 2010
Natal Dispersal And Sociality Of Young Galapagos Hawks On Santiago Island, Patricia Parker, Jose Luis Rivera-Parra, F H. Vargas
Patricia Parker
The Galapagos Hawk (Buteo galapagoensis) is the only diurnal resident raptor in the Galapagos Archipelago, where it exhibits a cooperatively polyandrous mating system. Before breeding, young hawks spend 3-4 years as nonterritorial floaters. Individuals in this age class are highly gregarious on the island of Santiago. Here we examine patterns in natal dispersal and ask whether they appear to develop social affiliations with particular individuals during their juvenile years. Using data collected between 1998 and 2009 from a banded population of 25 territorial groups, we found that natal dispersal is more likely to be to territories adjacent to natal territories …
