Life Sciences Commons^™

On The Notion That Insectivory Is A Specialized Condition, Patricia W. Freeman

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Insectivory as a specialized feeding condition in mammals has not been explored as has been carnivory or herbivory. Insect-feeding, non-edentate mammals have dilambdodont teeth and modifications in the craniomandibular joint which distinguish them from other mammals such as carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores. Variation in a family of insectivorous bats, Molossidae, can be likened functionally to the kinetic-inertial and static-pressure jaw systems noted in rhipidistians, amphibians, and reptiles. Food data show that the bats with the kinetic-inertial system eat moths and ones with the static-pressure system eat beetles. Not only do these insectivorous mammals eat insects, they also are modified to …

1977 Fall Field Day

Nebraska Bird Review

1977 Fall Field Day

The 1977 Fall Field Day started Saturday night with a get-together at the home of the George W. Browns in Kearney. Sunday, 2 October, started out gray and chilly, but eventually developed into the fine fall day which had been ordered and promised. The trip started at the Newark Township building and went north on Nebraska 10 to the north bank of the Platte River and explored eastward along the river. After that area had been covered the group went to an area northeast of Fort Kearney. After the lunch at the Newark Township building, at …

Sixty-Five Years Of Whooping Crane Records In Nebraska, Paul A. Johnsgard, Richard Redfield

Nebraska Bird Review

In 1933, Myron Swenk determined the status of the Whooping Crane in Nebraska by summarizing all of the records then available to him, and established the general pattern of timing and geographic distribution of Whooping Crane occurrence in this state. Although the population of this species has remained very low since that time, a sufficient number of observations have been made to warrant updating his analysis and comparing the more recent records with these earlier ones. During the summer of 1977 the junior author undertook such a summary as a class project, by extracting such records from all of the …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review (December 1977) 45(4).

Nebraska Bird Review

Published quarterly in March, June, September, and December by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union Inc. as its official journal and sent free to all members who are not in arrears for dues. Subscriptions (on a calendar year basis only) at $5.00 per year in the United States and $5.25 in all other counties, payable in advance. Single numbers $1.25 each.

Memberships (on a calendar year basis only): Student, $3.00; Active, $5.00; Sustaining, $7.00; Family Active, $7.00; Family Sustaining, $9.00; Life, $75.00.

All dues and subscriptions should be remitted to the Treasurer, A. W. Madison, Box 505, Sutherland, Nebraska 69165. Orders for …

Whole Issue Nebraska Bird Review (December 1977) 45(4)

Nebraska Bird Review

Table of Contents

Sixty-five Years of Whooping Crane Records in Nebraska .......... 54

1977 Fall Field Day ............................... 56

Notes ........................................................ 57

Index of Volume XXXXV ....................................... 58

Recent Developments In Feed Transportation To New England, Stanley K. Seaver, William J. Hanekamp

Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Oyster Ground Leases Adjacent To The James River Bridge, Newport News, Virginia, Dexter S. Haven, Paul C. Kendall, William C. Phoel

Reports

This report describes a study by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) on portions of the river bottom adjacent to the former site of the original James River Bridge near the Isle of Wight end. Comparisons are made of the results obtained in thi.s study (done in July and August 1977) with r2sults from a study done (in April 1976) prior to the removal of the original bridge.

The purposes of the two studies were: 1) to assess the impact (if any) of the bridge-removal activities; and 2) to quantify the magnitude of oyster stocks and their economic value.

Effects Of Indomethacin On Gastric Secretion And Duodenal Ulcer Formation In Bile Duct-Ligated Rats, Diane M. Przewozniak

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Morphometric Variation In The Tropical Pocket Gopher (Geomys Tropicalis), Stephen L. Williams, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

The tropical pocket gopher (Geomys tropicalis). which exhibits no chromosomal or genic variation, was examined for variability at the morphometrical level. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to determine age, sexual, and geographical variation. Significant differences were found between different age classes and between sexes. The amount of individual variation was comparable with other rodents and did not exhibit the reduced variation expressed at the chromosomal and genic levels, G. tropicalis is considered to be a monotypic species.

Marine Resource Bulletin Vol. 9, No. 6, Virginia Sea Grant, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Virginia Marine Resource Bulletin

No abstract provided.

Kentucky Warbler (Vol. 53, No. 4), Kentucky Library Research Collections

Kentucky Warbler

No abstract provided.

Sixty-Five Years Of Whooping Crane Records In Nebraska, Paul A. Johnsgard, Richard Redfield

Paul Johnsgard Collection

In 1933, Myron Swenk determined the status of the Whooping Crane in Nebraska by summarizing all of the records then available to him, and established the general pattern of timing and geographic distribution of Whooping Crane occurrence in this state. Although the population of this species has remained very low since that time, a sufficient number of observations have been made to warrant updating his analysis and comparing the more recent records with these earlier ones. During the summer of 1977 the junior author undertook such a summary as a class project, by extracting such records from all of the …

Productivity, Mortality, And Population Trends Of Wolves In Northeastern Minnesota, L. David Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Population parameters, mortality causes, and mechanisms of a population decline were studied in wolves (Canis lupus lycaon) from 1968 to 1976 in the Superior National Forest. The main method was aerial radio-tracking of 129 wolves and their packmates. Due to a decline in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), the wolf population decreased during most of the study. Average annual productivity varied from 1.5 to 3.3 pups per litter, and annual mortality rates from 7 to 65 percent. Malnutrition and intraspecific strife accounted equally for 58 percent of the mortality; human causes accounted for the remainder. As wolf …

Reproductive And Testicular Characteristics Of Purebred And Crossbred Boars, E. R. Wilson, R. K. Johnson, R. P. Wettemann

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

One-hundred-ninety-five Duroc (D), Hampshire (H), Duroc x Hampshire (D x H) and Hampshire x Duroc (H x D) boars were evaluated for reproductive performance. One-hundred- sixteen boars were castrated at approximately 225 days of age to evaluate testicular and epididymidal weights and sperm numbers. Testes from crossbred boars were 95.33 ± 22.81 g heavier (P<.01) and contained 14.41 ± 3.92 billion more sperm (P<.01) than those from purebred boars. Testes from Hampshire boars were 50.40 ± 31.75 g heavier with 6.27 ± 5.45 billion more sperm than those from Durocs. There were no significant differences between breeds for caput-corpus epididymidal measurements. Durocs had 24.55 ± 12.16 billion more sperm (P<.05) in the cauda epididymis than Hampshire boars. Testes weight and testes sperm numbers were significantly correlated with caput-corpus epididymidal and cauda epididymidal sperm numbers. Correlations of testicular and epididymidal characteristics with growth rate and backfat to 100 kg were small and nonsignificant. Twenty 7.5-month to 9-month-old D1 D x H and H x D boars and 19 H boars were each mated to two Yorkshire gilts to evaluate reproductive efficiency. Conception rates were: D, 63.2%; D x H, 67.5%; H x D, 60.0%; and H, 48.6%. Number of embryos 30-days postbreeding was 10.66 ± .49 and 11.25 ± .43 (P>.10) for gilts mated to purebred and crossbred sires, respectively. Twenty-eight of 36 crossbred boars mated each time they were exposed to an estrus gilt but only 11 of 36 of the purebred boars mated each time. None of the crossbred boars failed to mate …

Wolf-Pack Buffer Zones As Prey Reservoirs, L. David Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Abstract. In a declining herd, surviving deer inhabited overlapping edges of wolf- pack territories. There, wolves hunted little until desperate, in order to avoid fatal encounters with neighbors. Such encounters reduce wolf numbers and predation pressure and apparently allow surviving deer along territory edges to repopulate the area through dispersal of their prime, less vulnerable offspring into territory cores.

Entomological Studies At The Uwm Field Station, Eugene L. Lange

Field Station Bulletins

Although the invertebrate fauna represents the greatest number of species and individuals within most animal communities, little work on them has been done at the UWM Field Station. Most of the invertebrate work which has been done used insects, which are the largest class of animals. This reflects the orientation of the invertebrate zoologists at UWM towards the Center for Great Lakes Studies and the lack of an entomologist orientated to field work. This report is a statement of where we stand at the Field Station as far as past entomological research is concerned and where we are going in …

A Management Plan For A Swamp Forest Based On Vegetation Analysis, Bonnie Swartz

Field Station Bulletins

Many natural areas in Wisconsin have been preserved by the state legislature, acting through the Scientific Areas Preservation Council, and by public and private organizations such as the Nature Conservancy. The Field Station's beech-maple woods and Cedarburg Bog are good examples. Once a natural area has been preserved, decisions must be made about how to maintain or manage it. Management is defined as any activity directed toward maintaining a given condition in plant and/or animal populations and/or habitats in accordance with the conservation plan for an area (Leopold, et. aI., 1963). Since many biological communities are constantly changing due to …

Description Of The Larval Development Of Squilla Empusa Say (Crustacea Stomatopoda) With Aspects Of Larval Ecology In Chesapeake Bay, Steven Gaines Morgan

OES Theses and Dissertations

Larvae of Sguilla empusa were collected from the plankton and were reared in the laboratory to describe the pelagic larval development and the postlarval stage. Nine pelagic stages are passed through before the postlarval stage is attained.

The larvae reared for descriptive purposes were subjected to sixteen combinations of temperature and salinity to determine their tolerance to the two parameters. Larvae survived longer and molted more frequently when reared at 25°/oo and 20°C or 25°C, which corresponds to the natural conditions of the Chesapeake Bay when the larvae were collected.

A three year planktonic survey conducted in the lower region …

Bird Use Of Revetted Riverbanks In The Willamette Valley, Clifford Brian Perry

Dissertations and Theses

Over 115 miles of rock revetments that serve to protect river banks have been constructed in the Willamette Basin. In this study the spring and summer bird use of Willamette Basin revetments is examined. Revetments that had not been recently cleared of most woody vegetation and blackberries were found to have significantly greater total and breeding bird use than cleared revetments. Possible factors affecting bird use, such as vegetation on revetments and vegetation adjacent to revetments are examined using linear regression analysis. The results of this study are compared with results of previous work in riparian forests along the Columbia …

Whole Issue Nebraska Bird Review (September 1977) 45(3)

Nebraska Bird Review

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1977 (Fifty-second) Spring Migration and Occurrence Report .............................34

Poor-wills in Lancaster and Saunders Counties............................42

The Swanskin ............................................. 45

Book Reviews .................................................................. 50

Notes ......................................................................... 51

Marine Resource Bulletin Vol. 9, No. 5, Virginia Sea Grant, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Virginia Marine Resource Bulletin

No abstract provided.

Research For Connecticut By The Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station

Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of Coyote And Coyote × Dog Hybrid Food Habits In Southeastern Nebraska, Brian R. Mahan

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

The recent taxonomic study by Mahan et al. (1978) documented the occurrence of coyote (Canis latrans) x dog (c. familiaris) hybrids in Nebraska. This study, and those by Freeman (1976) in Oklahoma and Gipson et al. (1974) in Arkansas show coyote x dog hybrids, though not abundant, to be numerous in some areas. The purpose of the present study was to compare the stomach contents of coyote x dog hybrids collected by Mahan et al. (1978) from southeastern Nebraska with those of contemporary coyotes.

Stomachs of 12 coyote x dog hybrids and 16 coyotes collected November 1975 …

An Evaluation Of Narrow Hybrid Zones In Vertebrates, William S. Moore

Biological Sciences Faculty Research Publications

A review of the literature on vertebrate hybridization reveals the existence of a number of narrow hybrid zones. Three hypotheses have been suggested to explain the occurrence of these zones. The ephemeral-zone hypothesis states that hybridization will end either in speciation or fusion of the hybridizing taxa by means of introgression. The dynamic-equilibrium hypothesis allows the possibility that narrow hybrid zones might be stable: where hybrids are confined to a small area by steep selection gradients, "crystallization" of an antihybridization mechanism might be prevented by naive immigrants from the parental populations even though hybrids are selected against. The hybrid-superiority hypothesis …

Rays In The Chesapeake Bay, Joseph W. Smith, J. V. Merriner

Reports

No abstract provided.

Distribution And Behavior Study Of Diurnal Tree Squirrels In Portland, Oregon, With Emphasis On The Western Gray Squirrel (Sciurus Griseus Griseus Ord) And The Western Fox Squirrel (S. Niger Rufiventer E. Geoffroy St.-Hilaire), Ira Young Rice Iii

Dissertations and Theses

Populations of diurnal tree squirrels in the Portland area were located by mail surveys, personal interviews, and field inspections. Pine squirrels were found to reside in thickly wooded residential areas with dense understories and running water nearby. Western gray squirrels occupied habitats in relatively quiet residential neighborhoods, in areas well supplied with mast crops. Western fox squirrels were found to coexist with gray squirrels in their preferred habitat, and also to thrive in park settings with few mast trees and high activity and noise levels. In areas occupied by both fox and gray squirrels, dominant-subordinate relationships were noted. Each species …

Phylogeny, Convergence, And Snake Behavior, Harry Walter Greene

Doctoral Dissertations

Comparative studies of snake behavior were used to confront three related conceptual issues in ethology: (i) Can behavior evolve? (ii) If so, how can the origins of similarities and differences in behavior among animals be assessed? (iii) What is the significance of this information for evolutionary biology?

Some workers have recently asserted that behavior does not evolve and that behavioral homologies are generally not discernible. A consideration of genetics and developmental biology suggests that both points of view reflect an unrealistic structure-function dualism. In a strict sense, only transcriptional products are genetically determined; all other aspects of the phenotype are …

Tb86: Waterfowl Populations As Related To Habitat Changes In Bog Wetlands Of The Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge, Stewart I. Fefer

Technical Bulletins

The response of waterfowl populations to marsh management on the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Maine was evaluated. The objectives were (1) to estimate populations of breeding waterfowl in 1974 and 1975 and compare these numbers with trends of the past 30 years and (2) to interpret these trends in relation to vegetative and other environmental changes that have occurred. The long-term trend of black duck numbers on the primary study areas was downward. Fluctuating water levels, advanced plant succession and a decrease in the number of open-water areas were factors contributing to the decline. Breeding populations of ring-necked …

Hsus Spotlights Circus Cruelty

Close Up Reports

Society has sideshow operator arrested in three states

Kentucky Warbler (Vol. 53, No. 3), Kentucky Library Research Collections

Kentucky Warbler

No abstract provided.