Animal Sciences Commons^™

Reconstructing The Ecological Relationships Of Late Cretaceous Antarctic Dinosaurs And How Functional Tooth Morphology Influenced These Relationships, Ian D. Broxson

2022 Symposium

The Sandwich Bluff Formation of the James Ross Basin of Antarctica has recently yielded a group of five late Cretaceous dinosaurs that lived contemporaneously with each other, a first for Antarctica. These five dinosaurs include fragmentary remains of two differently sized elasmarian ornithopods, a possible megaraptor, a hadrosaur, and a nodosaur. In this study we will construct a model of the ecological relationships of late Cretaceous Antarctica. Additionally, we will look at what specific factors allowed this group of four herbivores and a carnivore to coexist in a restricted locality and what niches were filled by each species. Methods to …

Significance Of Autumn And Winter Food Consumption For Reproduction By Southern Beaufort Sea Polar Bears, Ursus Maritimus, Blaine D. Griffen, John P. Whiteman, Sariah Pullan

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in the southern Beaufort Sea experience long annual periods when preferred seal prey are scarce or are unavailable. Consumption of bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) carcasses from native Alaskan subsistence hunting is increasingly common for onshore polar bears, yet the energetic consequences of this consumption remain unclear. We use data on bears captured repeatedly over periods that encompassed autumn and winter, combined with calculations, to show that adult female bears likely consume an average of at least 4 seal equivalents during both autumn and winter periods and that considerable variation in energy intake …

First Description Of Deep Benthic Habitats And Communities Of Oceanic Islands And Seamounts Of The Nazca Desventuradas Marine Park, Chile, Jan M. Tapia-Guerra, Ariadna Mecho, Erin E. Easton, María De Los Ángeles Gallardo, Matthias Gorny, Javier Sellanes

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Seamounts and oceanic islands of the Chilean Exclusive Economic Zone at the intersection of the Nazca and Salas y Gómez ridges lie within one of the least explored areas in the world. The sparse information available, mainly for seamounts outside Chilean jurisdiction and shallow-water fauna of the Desventuradas Islands, suggests that the area is a hotspot of endemism. This apparent uniqueness of the fauna motivated the creation of the large Nazca-Desventuradas Marine Park (NDMP, ~ 300,000 km2) around the small islands San Felix and San Ambrosio in 2015. We report for the first time a detailed description of benthic microhabitats …

Beyond Predation: How Do Consumers Mediate Bottom-Up Processes In Ecosystems?, Bradley Austin Strickland

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

By eating and scaring prey, predators can exert strong effects on communities and ecosystems. In addition, some animals may physically alter habitats and may recycle nutrients through digestion, both of which affect resources available to producers. Bottom-up effects initiated by large predators have not been well-studied and could prove to be important for understanding food webs and how ecosystems function. American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) are abundant mobile predators that are capable of engineering aquatic habitats by moving organic material across ecosystem boundaries and creating and maintaining alligator ponds. In this dissertation, I documented the scale of ecological impacts …

Black Vulture Conflict And Management In The United States: Damage Trends, Management Overview, And Research Needs, Bryan M. Kluever, Morgan Pfeiffer, Scott C. Barras, Brett Dunlap, Lee A. Humberg

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Contrary to rapid declines of many vulture (Accipitridae, Cathartidea) species worldwide, black vulture (Coragyps atratus) populations are increasing and expanding their range in North America. Vultures exhibit complex behaviors and can adapt to any human-dominated landscape or land use. These traits, combined with population growth and range expansion, have contributed to increased human–vulture conflicts. Our goal was to summarize the current status and trends in human–black vulture conflicts (hereafter human– vulture conflicts), review available management strategies, identify knowledge gaps, and provide recommendations to enhance management and understanding of this species and the associated conflicts. We found human–vulture conflicts …

Ranging And Behavior Of Black And Gold Howler Monkeys In Formosa, Argentina, Claire Rossi De Leon

Library Map Prize

Howler monkeys (Alouatta spp.) are known for their adaptability, allowing them to inhabit a large range of forest types and driving high levels of variation in ranging and behavioral patterns. I address a series of hypotheses relating these relationships: 1) If an energy minimizing lifestyle is an adaptation to eating high quantities of leaves, then howler groups that have a high proportion of leaves in their diet will occupy smaller home ranges, have shorter daily path lengths, and spend more time resting, 2) if temperature is the primary driver of high levels of resting, then howlers will conserve energy and …

Feeding Patterns Of Two Commercially Important Fish Species Scomberoides Commersonnianus And S. Tol In The Northern Arabian Sea Coast Of Pakistan, Nazia Qamar, Sher Khan Panhwar, Ralf Riedel

Faculty Publications

Port landing of Scomberoides commersonnianus and S. tol were obtained between July 2013 and June 2015 for stomach content analysis. Analysis of prey composition was done using permutational analysis of variance (permanova), with species, life stage (juvenile and adults), gender, and weather (rainy and dry season) as factors. Patterns of empty stomachs were investigated to estimate feeding intensity. Feeding intensity was estimated with logistic regression, using the same independent variables as above. Prey importance was also investigated. Prey importance was assessed using a Wilcox Rank Correlation analysis on the Index of Relative Importance (IRI) by species and life-stage. Permanova analysis …

Examining Movement And Habitat Selection Of Everglades Fishes In Response To Seasonal Water Levels, Gregory J. Hill

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fish distribution patterns and seasonal habitat use play a key role in the food web dynamics of aquatic ecosystems, including the Florida Everglades. In this study I examined the fine scale habitat shifts and movements of spotted sunfish, Lepomis punctatus across varying seasons and hydrologic conditions using in-situ field enclosures and Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) systems. Data on fish use of three dominant Everglades marsh habitats and activity level were recorded continuously from January to August, 2015. Fish were more active and had the highest use of higher elevation habitats when water levels rose during an experimental reversal in mid-April. …

Population Characteristics Of Human-Commensal Rodents Present In Households From Mérida, Yucatán, México, Jesús Alonso Panti-May, Silvia F. Hernández-Betancourt, Marco A. Torres-Castro, Carlos Machaín-Williams, Nohemi Cigarroa-Toledo, Lorenzo Sodá, Gabriela López-Manzanero, Josué R. Meza-Sulú, Victor M. Vidal-Martínez

MANTER: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity

Anthropocommensal rodents live in close proximity to humans in many habitats around the world. They are a threat to public health because of the pathogens they carry. Recent studies in Mérida, Yucatán, México, have shown that commensal rodents harbor potential zoonotic pathogens such as bacteria, helminths, and viruses. In this study, we describe reproductive and demographic parameters of house mice and black rats present in households from Mérida, Yucatán, México, a municipality located in a tropical region in southern México. Rodents were trapped in 142 households within the municipality of Mérida from 2011 to 2014. A total of 832 rodents …

Elevational Variation In Body-Temperature Response To Immune Challenge In A Lizard, Francisco Javier Zamora-Camacho, Senda Reguera, Gregorio Moreno-Rueda

Dartmouth Scholarship

Immunocompetence benefits animal fitness by combating pathogens, but also entails some costs. One of its main components is fever, which in ectotherms involves two main types of costs: energy expenditure and predation risk. Whenever those costs of fever outweigh its benefits, ectotherms are expected not to develop fever, or even to show hypothermia, reducing costs of thermoregulation and diverting the energy saved to other components of the immune system. Environmental thermal quality, and therefore the thermoregulation cost/benefit balance, varies geographically. Hence, we hypothesize that, in alpine habitats, immune-challenged ectotherms should show no thermal response, given that (1) hypothermia would be …

Habitat Use Of The Key Largo Woodrat (Neotoma Floridana Smalli), Lauren J. Barth

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Key Largo woodrats are an endangered subspecies with an extremely limited habitat. This study sought to understand woodrat habitat preferences in order to guide management. Woodrats build stick nests from natural and artificial materials, so nest distribution and nest occupancy were used as indicators of preference. Distribution was determined by nest surveys, and remote cameras were used to assess occupancy. Forest structure, human disturbance, nest, and animal presence metrics were also collected. More nests were found along abandoned roads than along forest transects and more artificial nests were occupied than natural nests. These findings indicate that woodrats prefer areas with …

Impacts Of Urbanisation On The Native Avifauna Of Perth, Western Australia, Robert Davis, C Gole, Jd Roberts

Research outputs 2012

Urban development either eliminates, or severely fragments, native vegetation, and therefore alters the distribution and abundance of species that depend on it for habitat. We assessed the impact of urban development on bird communities at 121 sites in and around Perth, Western Australia. Based on data from community surveys, at least 83 % of 65 landbirds were found to be dependent, in some way, on the presence of native vegetation. For three groups of species defined by specific patterns of habitat use (bushland birds), there were sufficient data to show that species occurrences declined as the landscape changed from variegated …

Impacts Of Urbanisation On The Native Avifauna Of Perth, Western Australia, Robert A. Davis, Cheryl Gole, J Dale Roberts

Research outputs 2013

Urban development either eliminates, or severely fragments, native vegetation, and therefore alters the distribution and abundance of species that depend on it for habitat. We assessed the impact of urban development on bird communities at 121 sites in and around Perth, Western Australia. Based on data from community surveys, at least 83 % of 65 landbirds were found to be dependent, in some way, on the presence of native vegetation. For three groups of species defined by specific patterns of habitat use (bushland birds), there were sufficient data to show that species occurrences declined as the landscape changed from variegated …

The Effects Of Low Intensity Burn On Population Size, Predation Rates, And Prey Abundance In The Striped Plateau Lizard (Sceloporus Virgatus), Sabrina E. Duncan

Summer Research

No abstract provided.

Osteology, Natural History Notes, And Phylogenetic Relationships Of The Poorly Known Caribbean Frog Leptodactylus Nesiotus (Anura, Leptodactylidae), María Laura Ponssa, Michael J. Jowers, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

The Leptodactylus melanonotus group consists of 15 species, but references to skeletal characters are available for only three species: L. leptodactyloides, L. melanonotus, and L. diedrus. Leptodactylus nesiotus is a member of the melanonotus group known only from the type locality, Bonasse swamp, on the Southwestern peninsula of Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago. This species has been categorized as vulnerable given its restricted distribution. Herein, we report the adult osteology of L. nesiotus, the skeletal characters are compared with the available data from other Leptodactylus species. A phylogenetic analysis recovers a paraphyletic L. melanonotus group relative to the L. …

Ecology And Relationships Of Rhabdias Spp. (Nematoda: Rhabdiasidae) From North American Amphibians And Reptiles, Gabriel J. Langford

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Lungworms of the cosmopolitan genus Rhabdias (Nematoda: Rhabdiasidae) are among the most common parasites of amphibians and squamate reptiles. The life cycles, life histories, host specificities, and evolutionary relationships of Rhabdias spp. were studied through examination of their free-living and parasitic stages in amphibians and reptiles. This study found free-living development of anuran lungworms was primarily limited to heterogonic reproduction, whereas snake lungworms primarily reproduced homogonically. Infective anuran lungworms penetrated the skin of frogs and toads; in contrast, snake lungworms penetrated snake esophageal tissue during per os infections. Our molecular phylogeny strongly supported separate clades for anuran and snake lungworms, …

Beitrag Zur Säugetierfauna Des Staatlichen Naturschutzgebietes Azas In Tyva/Südsibirien = Contributions To Fauna And Ecology Of Small Mammals Of State Nature Reserve “Azas” In The Republic Of Tyva /South Siberia, Annegret Stubbe, Michael Stubbe, V. V. Unžakov, A. P. Saveljev, N. I. Putincev, W. Stubbe

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

During 1988-2004 Russian and German biologists carried out a research of biodiversity of the mountain taiga within the territory of State Nature Reserve “Azas” (Republic of Tyva/Russia). Along with executing the main task – studying and development of an aboriginal population of Tuvinian beavers Castor fiber tuvinicus – materials on the fauna of small mammals of the Todzha kettle were collected. On the basis of samples (about 550 collected micromammals) information on the occurrence, reproduction and morphometric characteristics of four species of Insectivora, six species of Chiroptera and eleven species of small Rodentia inhabiting the territory of the reserve “Azas” …

Conservation Implications Of A Marbled Salamander, Ambystoma Opacum, Metapopulation Model, Ethan B. Plunkett

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Amphibians are in decline globally and a significantly greater percentage of ambystomatid salamander species are in decline relative to other species; habitat loss contributes significantly to this decline. The goals of this thesis is to better understand extinction risk in a marbled salamander (ambystoma opacum) population and how forestry effects extinction risk. To achieve this goal we first estimated an important life history parameter (Chapter 1) then used a metapopulation model to estimate population viability and determine what aspects of their life history put them most at risk (Chapter 2) and finally predicted extinction risk in response to hypothetical forestry …

Natural History And Karyology Of The Yucatán Vesper Mouse, Otonyctomys Hatti, Hugh H. Genoways, Robert M. Timm, Mark D. Engstrom

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Seventeen specimens of the rare Yucatán vesper mouse, Otonyctomys hatti, are now known from Belize, Guatemala, and the Mexican states of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatán. We herein report a second specimen of O. hatti, from Belize, extending the known geographic range of the species 95 km to the southeast in the country. This is the first location at which O. hatti has been taken sympatrically with the Central American vesper mouse, Nyctomys sumichrasti. We also report data on three additional specimens of O. hatti from Campeche. Nyctomys and Otonyctomys share similar habits and habitat requirements, and …

Beiträge Zur Ökologie Und Verbreitung Der Steppenwühlmaus Microtus Brandti Radde, 1861 In Der Mongolei = Ecology And Distribution Of The Steppe Vole Microtus Brandti Radde, 1861 In Mongolia, N. Dawaa, Michael Stubbe, Annegret Stubbe

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

Microtus brandti is one of the most important pest species of Mongolian rodents. Since the publication of Bannikov (1954) the area of expansion is increased, in the Archangaj-Aimag 200 km westward, in the Central Aimag 70 km to the North and in the north-eastern part of Dornogov’- Aimag about 110 km to the South. In years of gradation the plant cover was exterminated up to 100%. We can distinguish a zone of exposed harmfulness with a damage of 70-100%. In this region 16 great centers of infestation were listed. Between 1925 and 1985 six important calamities were noticed, in intervals …

Das Arteninventar Der Avifauna Der Mongolei Während Einer Nord-Süd-Durchquerung 1997, Tobias Stenzel, Michael Stubbe, R. Samjaa, Annegret Stubbe, C. Dulamsuren

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

Here we present a detailed report on bird biodiversity of ecosystems along a North-South transect through Mongolia in 1997whic h serves as a guideline for further research projects and training for students in all Mongolian vegetation zones from northern steppes to southern deserts.

Two hundred fifty-five bird species were observed between 21st of July and 10th of August 1997. The main study sites were located in the North the Selenge-Orchon-basin with meadows and dune woodlands 15 km southern from Suchbaatar, the Middle Gobi-Aimag with desert steppes and sajrs (covered with Ulmus pumila) and in the Bordzongijn-gobi in the South …

First Results Of Wild Ass Research In The South Gobi Aymag/Mongolia In 2003 And 2004, Annegret Stubbe, Michael Stubbe, N. Batsajchan, R. Samjaa, S. Doržderem

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

The population of the Mongolian wild ass belongs to the nominate form Equus hemionus hemionus described by Pallas in 1775. This species is adapted to semidesert habitats in the Gobi region and is listed in the Red Book of Mongolia as well as on appendix I of the Washington Convention (CITES). Mapping of the northern border of the distributional range showed a remarkable decrease in size in comparison to the maps of Murzaev (1954) or Bannikov (1954). The pressure of civilization, settlements, motorization, and increasing numbers of domestic livestock in connection with the occupation of water resources and illegal hunting …

Bats Of Nevis, Northern Lesser Antilles, Scott C. Pedersen, Hugh H. Genoways, Matthew N. Morton, James W. Johnson, Siân E. Courts

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Only one species of bat, Molossus molossus, previously has been documented as occurring on the northern Lesser Antillean island of Nevis. Field research and reviews of existing museum collections have provided documentation based on voucher specimens for an additional seven species occurring on the island — Noctilio leporinus, Brachyphylla cavernarum, Monophyllus plethodon, Ardops nichollsi, Artibeus jamaicensis, Natalus stramineus, and Tadarida brasiliensis. The biological diversity of the chiropteran fauna on Nevis is similar to that found on other islands in the northern Lesser Antilles. Ecologically, this is a simple chiropteran fauna, including one …

Effects Of Hydroperiod On Metamorphosis In Rana Sphenocephala, Travis J. Ryan, Christopher T. Winne

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Hydroperiod, the time a temporary pond holds water, is an important factor influencing recruitment in amphibian populations and structuring amphibian communities. We conducted an experiment to test the effect of hydroperiod on metamorphic traits of the southern leopard frog (Rana sphenocephala), a common amphibian in the southeastern United States. We reared larval R. sphenocephala in artificial ponds at a density of 32 larvae per tank (initial volume = approximately 650 liter). We dried the tanks according to natural patterns, using three different hydroperiods (60, 75 and 90 d). Experimental hydroperiods had a significant effect on the number of …

Macroevolution In Microchiroptera: Recoupling Morphology And Ecology With Phylogeny, Patricia W. Freeman

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

No family of mammals has undergone a greater adaptive radiation than phyllostomid bats. Phylogeny combined with eco-morphological considerations of trophic structures can help understand this adaptive radiation and the evolution of Microchiroptera. Microchiropteran bats are overwhelmingly insectivorous, and constraints within the morphospace of insectivory have produced a dynamic equilibrium in bat morphologies that has persisted for 60 million years. The ability to eat fruit may be the key synapomorphy that allowed phyllostomids to escape insectivore morphospace and diversify. Although many phyllostomids have changed greatly, others that have maintained insectivory have changed little, which is equally remarkable.

Mammals Of Utah County, James W. Bee

Student Works

Based on the premises that an accurate determination and description of the mammals of Utah County is a prerequisite for subsequent research in ecology, geographic distribution and evolutionary taxonomy, this thesis is submitted. While it is essentially taxonomic, there are included related subjects to permit a more thorough interpretation of the subject as a whole.

Summarizing, the objectives are:

• a. To list and key the known mammals of Utah County with descriptions and measurements.
• b. To ascertain their geographic range within the county.
• c. To present significant ecological and geological data for the proper appreciation of the problems of evolutionary …