Animal Sciences Commons^™

The Role Of Natural And Sexual Selection In The Origin And Maintenance Of Divergence Within And Between The Mexican Sailfin Mollies, Poecilia Velifera And P. Petenensis, Shala Hankison

All Dissertations

Understanding speciation remains a holy grail of evolutionary biology. One useful approach is studying the evolutionary mechanisms important in population divergence to infer the mechanisms important in speciation. This method is especially useful when closely related species can be compared to determine whether intraspecific differences parallel interspecific differences. I studied population divergence in two species of Mexican sailfin mollies, Poecilia velifera and P. petenensis. These closely related species are particularly useful for this type of study, as they live in habitats that may differ in the importance of natural selection. In addition, these species may differ in the importance …

Karyotypes Of Eight Species Of Leptodactylus (Anura, Leptodactylidae) With A Description Of A New Karyotype For The Genus, Renata Cecília Amaro-Ghilardi, Gabriel Skuk, Rafael O. De Sá, Miguel Trefaut Rodrigues, Yatiyo Yonenaga-Yassuda

Biology Faculty Publications

Karyotypes of eight species of Leptodactylus (Anura, Leptodactylidae) with a description of a new karyotype for the genus. Eight species of the Neotropical genus Leptodactylus were karyologically studied: seven of them (L. gracilis, L. mystacinus, L. petersii, L. pustulatus, L. macrosternum, L. ocellatus, L. labyrinthicus) presented 2n=22 and L. silvanimbus showed a distinctive karyotype with 2n=24. Nucleolar organizer regions (Ag-NORs) were detected in two different pairs of chromosomes: pair 4 at the proximal region of the long arm of one individual of L. mystacinus from São Paulo state and of L. petersii; and …

Genetic Resolution Of The Enigmatic Lesser Antillean Distribution Of The Frog Leptodactylus Validus (Anura, Leptodactylidae), Keneth Yanek, W. R. Heyer, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

Leptodactylus validus has an unusual distribution, inhabiting Trinidad, Tobago, and the Lesser Antilles, but not the mainland of South America. This distribution is inconsistent with other distribution patterns observed for these islands. Although slight variation in adult morphology has been observed among the different island populations of L. validus, call data suggest the presence of a single species. Calls of L. pallidirostris from Venezuela and Brazil suggested that this taxon might be conspecific with L. validus. Sequence data from the 12S and 16S mt rDNA genes indicate that L. validus represents a single species throughout its distribution and is conspecific …

Index To Volume 74

Nebraska Bird Review

Index to Volume 74 (11 pages)

Abraham, K. 105

Accipiter sp 28-29, 65

Allmand, Matt 40

American Ornithologists' Union 38, 105, 132-133

Amiotte, Sue 4I, 112

Anhinga 71

Ankney, C. D. 105

Armknecht, Henry 25, 40

Aubushon,
Dottie 25
Kathy 25

Audubon. lohn lames 132-133, 136

Austin, J. E. 97

Avocet, American 48,84, 11 7, 142

....

Yellowlegs,
Greater 48, 85, 117
Lesser 48, 66, 85, 117, 129

Yellowthroat, Common 57,68,92, 125, 131, 142

Vi, Chunhui 25

Young, Betty 25

Zahurones, Penny 25

Ziewitz. J. W. 98

Lincoln Fall Field Days

Nebraska Bird Review

The 2006 NOU Fall Field Days were held in and around Lincoln on Sept. 15-17. Our evening meals and programs took place at the Howard Johnson's Motel on Cornhusker Highway,

Our Friday evening speaker was Dr. Paul Johnsgard, who spoke about the Birding Trails website being developed by a committee of the All Bird Consortium, On Saturday afternoon, NOU Librarian Mary Lou Pritchard gave a tour of the current exhibit of her late husband Bud Pritchard's artwork at the Nebraska State Museum in Morrill Hall. Saturday evening Dan Kim spoke on the Whooping Crane Trust activities along the Platte River …

The Nebraska Bird Review Whole Issue December 2006

Nebraska Bird Review

Table of Contents

Fall Field Report, Aug.–Nov. 2006 by W. Ross Silcock....................... 110

Fall Field Days at Lincoln, Sept. 15–17, 2006....................... 128

The Art and Artistic Legacy of Louis Agassiz Fuertes by Paul A. Johnsgard ....................... 132

The 2006 Nebraska Nest Report by Wayne J. Mollhoff ....................... 142

Index to Volume 74....................... 148

Subscription and Organization Information....................... 159

The Art And Artistic Legacy Of Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Paul A. Johnsgard

Nebraska Bird Review

Perhaps some Nebraska birders will not immediately recognize the name Louis Agassiz Fuertes, as he died almost 80 years ago. Yet he influenced the art of bird painting as much as did John James Audubon, and provided wonderful artwork for many major state bird reference books. He also personally tutored George Miksch Sutton, the Nebraska-born artist and biologist who provided the NOU with its Burrowing Owl logo, and who contributed greatly to American ornithology, especially that of the southern Great Plains.

It is interesting that, like John James Audubon, Roger Tory Peterson, and George Miksch Sutton, we would never think …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review December 2006

Nebraska Bird Review

The Nebraska Bird Review is published quarterly by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc., as its official journal, and is sent to members not in arrears of dues. Annual subscription rates (on a calendar-year basis only): $15 in the United States, $18 in Canada and $30 in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $4 each, postpaid, in the United States, $5 in Canada, and $8 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Mary Lou Pritchard, NOU Librarian, c/o University of Nebraska State Museum, W-436 Nebraska Hall, Lincoln, NE 685880514.

Memberships in the NOU (on a calendar-year basis only): …

The 2006 Nebraska Nest Report, Wayne Mollhoff

Nebraska Bird Review

The drought that began in 1999 continued over most of Nebraska this year, with 7 of the past 8 years receiving lower than normal rainfall. More normal rains fell in April and early May, especially in the central and east, before stopping for most of the summer. Most of the Panhandle and southwest were declared drought disaster areas by early summer, setting the stage in late July for the worst fire season in memory in the Pine Ridge area of the northern Panhandle (Fowler, 2007). Ultimately, 83 of 93 counties were declared part of the drought disaster area. Low water …

Fall Field Report, August-November 2006, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

First, I want to say how much I appreciate observers' responses to my requests for additional details on various sightings, not just rarities, but early and late dates. It's important to have these details for the archives to help future readers and researchers feel more comfortable with records from our era.

Patterns that were apparent included a generally quiet fall for waterfowl (they were all at Lake McConaughy), but excellent numbers of the rarer two scoters (but NO White-winged!) and a surprising 16 Red-necked Grebes. On the other hand, numbers of staging Western Grebes were down significantly, apparently due to …

A New Species Of Emballonura (Chiroptera: Emballonuridae) From The Dry Regions Of Madagascar, Steven M. Goodman, Scott G. Cardiff, Julie Ranivo, Amy L. Russell, Anne D. Yoder

Amy L. Russell

The Locomotor Kinematics Of Asian And African Elephants: Changes With Speed And Size, John R. Hutchinson, Delf Schwerda, Daniel J. Famini, Robert H.I. Dale, Martin S. Fischer, Rodger Kram

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

For centuries, elephant locomotion has been a contentious and confusing challenge for locomotion scientists to understand, not only because of technical difficulties but also because elephant locomotion is in some ways atypical of more familiar quadrupedal gaits. We analyzed the locomotor kinematics of over 2400 strides from 14 African and 48 Asian elephant individuals (body mass 116-4632 kg) freely moving over ground at a 17-fold range of speeds, from slow walking at 0.40 m s^-1 to the fastest reliably recorded speed for elephants, 6.8 m s^-1. These data reveal that African and Asian elephants have some subtle …

Lower Incisors Of Prairie Dogs (Cynomys) As Biorecorders Of Hibernation And Season Of Death, H. Thomas Goodwin, Eva M. Ryckman

Faculty Publications

Incremental dentin and associated enamel, features visible at the surface of lower incisors of rodents, may chronicle important life-history information. This study investigated surface features of lower incisors representing 4 taxa of prairie dogs (Cynomys) in relation to hibernation and season of year. A set of abnormalities in dentin and enamel, observed on 20 of 138 incisors, always chronicled an event ending in late winter or early spring and was interpreted as a hibernation mark. Hibernation was recorded in the incisors of obligate hibernators, C. leucurus and C. gunnisoni, as well as in 20% of specimens of the facultative heterotherm, …

An ∼140-Kb Deletion Associated With Feline Spinal Muscular Atrophy Implies An Essential Lix1 Function For Motor Neuron Survival, John C. Fyfe, Marilyn Menotti-Raymond, Victor A. David, Lars Brichta, Alejandro A. Schaffer, R. Agarwala, William J. Murphy, William J. Wedemeyer, Brittany L. Gregory, Bethany G. Buzzell, Meghan C. Drummond, Brunhilde Wirth, Stephen J. O'Brien

Biology Faculty Articles

The leading genetic cause of infant mortality is spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of disorders. Previously we described a domestic cat model of autosomal recessive, juvenile-onset SMA similar to human SMA type III. Here we report results of a whole-genome scan for linkage in the feline SMA pedigree using recently developed species-specific and comparative mapping resources. We identified a novel SMA gene candidate, LIX1, in an ~140-kb deletion on feline chromosome A1q in a region of conserved synteny to human chromosome 5q15. Though LIX1 function is unknown, the predicted secondary structure is compatible with …

Rana Ocellata Linnaeus, 1758 (Currently Leptodactylus Ocellatus; Amphibia, Anura): Proposed Conservation Of Usage Of The Specific Name By The Designation Of A Neotype, W. Ronald Heyer, Ulisses Caramaschi, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

The purpose of this application, under Article 75.6 of the Code, is to conserve the usage of the specific name of Rana ocellata Linnaeus, 1758 for a species of leptodactylid frog from South America by the designation of a neotype. Prevailing usage of the name is threatened by the identity of the type specimen which is a different species than that which is currently known as Leptodactylus ocellatus. It is proposed that all name-bearing types be set aside and a neotype designated in accord with prevailing usage.

Aerial Searches For Whooping Cranes Along The Platte River, Nebraska, John G. Sidle, Wallace G. Jobman, Craig A. Faanes

Nebraska Bird Review

The endangered Whooping Cranes (Grus americana) that migrate between Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta and Northwest Territories, and the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge Area, Texas, roost at many aquatic stopover locations (Austin and Richert 2001) including the central Platte River, Nebraska (Johnson 1982; Lingle et al. 1984, 1986, 1991; Faanes et al. 1992; Richert 1999). Under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, 90 km of the central Platte have been designated as critical habitat for the Whooping Crane, although suitable Platte River habitat for Whooping Crane and Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) continues to decline (Sidle et al. …

Correction To Winter Bird Numbers Article

Nebraska Bird Review

Correction to Winter Bird Numbers Article

Editor's Note: We regret that there was an error in the text of the Paul Johnsgard article "Recent Changes in Winter Bird Numbers at Lincoln, Nebraska" published in the March 2006 Nebraska Bird Review (Volume 74 Number 1). The last sentence in the first full paragraph on page 18 should read: "(The House Sparrow is declining annually at a rate of 2.5%, and the House Finch is increasing at an annual rate of 1.15%.)"

Letter Of Information' Excerpts

Nebraska Bird Review

In the early years of the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, which was founded in 1899, the organization published its Proceedings, yearly through 1902 and less frequently for the following 13 years. Beginning in 1916, the NOU allied itself with the Wilson Ornithological Club, and its annual proceedings were published by that organization for the next nine years. In 1925, distribution of a mimeographed "Letter of Information" began, with NOU Secretary-Treasurer Myron H. Swenk acting as editor. These Letters, which contain announcements, accounts of meetings and field trips, and notes on bird sightings from members, were published through 1932. They bridged …

Summer Field Report, June-July 2006, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

Under "Old Business", numbers of Black-capped Chickadees are beginning to recover, but several observers mentioned that American Crows and, most recently, Black-billed Magpies are still suffering lowered numbers. On the plus side, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers continue in increasing numbers, including a pair (or at least one of a pair) that returned to the same location where they nested successfully last year and succeeded again this year.

And now ''New Business". Evidence came to hand that both Western and Clark's Grebes may have suffered poor breeding success due to poor water conditions at traditional breeding sites. An intriguing observation on 28 Jul …

The Nebraska Bird Review Whole Issue September 2006

Nebraska Bird Review

Table of Contents

Summer Field Report, June - July 2006 by W. Ross Silcock................... 78

Aerial Searches for Whooping Cranes along the Platte River, Nebraska
by John G. Sidle, Wallace G. Jobman, Craig A. Faanes ................... 95

White-cheeked Geese in Nebraska by W. Ross Silcock................... 99

Correction to Paul Johnsgard's "Recent Changes in Winter Bird
Numbers at Lincoln, Nebraska" (Vol. 74 No. 1) ................... 105

Excerpts from the NOU's "Letters of Information"................... 106

Subscription and Organization Information ................... 107

White-Cheeked Geese In Nebraska, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

The intent of this paper is to summarize the current state of knowledge regarding "White-cheeked Goose" is used in reference to the various taxa included within the two species Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) and Cackling Goose (B. hutchinsii), as constituted by the American Ornithologist' Union (AOU; 2004). Using culmen measurements, confirmation of both species' and the "expected" subspecies' occurrence in Nebraska was documents, but culmen measurements alone could not confirm the occurrence of any of the "unexpected" subspecies.

TAXONOMY

As many as 10 subspecies of White-cheeked Goose were described by the AOU (1957), five of which ( …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review September 2006

Nebraska Bird Review

The Nebraska Bird Review is published quarterly by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc., as its official journal, and is sent to members not in arrears of dues. Annual subscription rates (on a calendar-year basis only): $15 in the United States, $18 in Canada and $30 in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $4 each, postpaid, in the United States, $5 in Canada, and $8 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Mary Lou Pritchard, NOU Librarian, c/o University of Nebraska State Museum, W-436 Nebraska Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0514.

Memberships in the NOU (on a calendar-year basis only): …

Physical And Behavioral Development Of Nursing Harbor Seal (Phoca Vitulina) Pups In Maine, John P. Skinner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Compared to other phocids seals, the maternal investment strategy of the small bodied female harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) is complex. Females are unable to fast for the entire duration of pup rearing and are therefore reliant on resources in the vicinity of the pupping aggregation to continue provisioning their pup by mid-lactation. At the same time, harbor seal pups are highly active during lactation which increases energetic costs to the female but also offers an opportunity for females to influence the behavioral development of her pup. To understand how females maximize their pup's survival it is important to …

Chemical Evidence For Dietary Toxin Sequestration In The Asian Snake Rhabdophis Tigrinus, Deborah A. Hutchinson

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Rhabdophis tigrinus (Colubridae: Natricinae) is an oviparous, bufophagous (toad-eating) snake from eastern Asia that possesses defensive integumentary glands on the neck known as nuchal glands. These glands are used in antipredator displays and typically contain bufadienolide toxins. Whereas toads are known to synthesize bufadienolide steroids from cholesterol precursors, we found that chemically undefended R. tigrinus must sequester bufadienolides from ingested toads in order to exhibit these compounds in their nuchal glands. Chemically defended females are capable of provisioning their embryos with these toxins so their unfed hatchlings possess defensive bufadienolides prior to consuming toads themselves. All of the hatchling R. …

Defensin Transcript Distribution In Tissues And Life Stages Of The Ixodid Ticks Amblyomma Americanum And Ixodes Scapularis, Stephanie M. Todd

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

A number of bacterial, viral, and protozoan diseases are transmitted to humans via arthropods. Arthropods possess an innate immune system to destroy invading microorganisms. However, arthropods unable to rid their systems of pathogens function as disease vectors. The American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis, destroys invading Borrelia burgdorferi spirochetes, preventing transmission. In contrast, the black-legged tick, Ixodes scapularis, which is unable to destroy acquired B. burgdorferi, successfully vectors the pathogen. The Lone Star tick, Amblyomma americanum, vectors a similar pathogen called Borrelia lonestari. The distribution of defensin, an antimicrobial peptide of the innate immune system, was examined in A. americanum and/. …

Anadromous Rainbow Smelt And Tomcod In Connecticut: Assessment Of Populations, Conservation Status, And Need For Restoration Plan, Heather A. Fried, Eric T. Schultz

EEB Articles

(beginning of rainbow smelt executive summary)

Evidence indicates that anadromous rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) populations in Connecticut and elsewhere in the northeast United States have severely declined. Several sampling programs have documented declines in Connecticut’s smelt populations over the last three decades (Marcy 1976a, Marcy 1976b, Millstone Environmental Laboratory 2005). Similar declines have also been documented in the Hudson River (ASA Analysis & Communication 2005) and in Massachusetts (personal communication, Brad Chase, MA Division of Marine Fisheries 2004). Recreational and commercial fisheries in the region for this species have virtually ceased (Blake and Smith 1984). The Connecticut Fish Advisory Committee …

Nou 2006 107th Annual Meeting At Ponca State Park

Nebraska Bird Review

The 107th Annual Meeting of the NOD was held in the new Missouri River Resource and Education Center in Ponca State Park on May 19-21. Although the weather ranged from hot and windy on Friday to steady rain on Saturday morning to cool and breezy on Sunday, the 80+ attendees accumulated a list of 159 species. Warbler diversity was disappointing, but shorebirds were abundant.

On Friday evening, a program on the Galapagos Islands was presented by Dr. Paul Johnsgard, Linda Brown, Dr. Josef Kren and Allison Johnson. Each of the four recounted an aspect of their 2005 trip to the …

A Book-Collector's Guide To Roger Tory Peterson, Paul A. Johnsgard

Nebraska Bird Review

One of the major disappointments of my youth was that I grew up without access to a real field guide to birds. My early years were spent in a small North Dakota village that lacked a library, and my only reference book on birds was a badly-tattered copy of a badly-illustrated 1912 book that my mother had grown up with, Chester A. Reed's Birds of Eastern North America. However, in 1939 a very kind aunt gave me a still-cherished copy of the Macmillan edition of Audubon's Birds of America as a Christmas present. With its hundreds of wonderful color …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review

Nebraska Bird Review

The Nebraska Bird Review is published quarterly by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc., as its official journal, and is sent to members not in arrears of dues. Annual subscription rates (on a calendar-year basis only): $15 in the United States, $18 in Canada and $30 in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $4 each, postpaid, in the United States, $5 in Canada, and $8 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Mary Lou Pritchard, NOU Librarian, c/o University of Nebraska State Museum, W-436 Nebraska Hall Lincoln, NE 68588-0514.

Memberships in the NOU (on a calendar-year basis only): …

Spring Field Report, March-May 2006, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

Introduction

As many of you know, the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) has changed some generic names and rearranged the taxonomic order for shortbirds in the expanded genus Tringa and for the terns. This Spring Report uses the new taxonomic order.

Observers (thank you, I think!) submitted a huge amount of data that I distilled for this report; I entered more than 3,500 sightings into my database, which allows for a comprehensive overview of what birds were doing this spring.

As has been the case the last few years, there were several record or near-record early arrival dates, some requiring documentation …