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Biological Inventory In Conjunction With The Las Vegas Wash Unit, Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act Title Ii (P.L. 93-320), W. Glen Bradley, J. Scott Miller

Publications (WR)

The present report is a biological inventory in conjunction with the Las Vegas Wash Unit, Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act, Title II. The boundaries of the project encompass sections of North Las Vegas, Las Vegas, East Las Vegas and areas along Las Vegas Wash extending to its drainage point in Las Vegas Bay in Lake Mead. Therefore, it encompasses a wide array of ecological situations and landscapes ranging from essentially natural to various stages of urban development. This biological inventory presents basic ecological classifications, descriptions of vegetation, lists of vascular plants and vertebrates known to occur in the area. …

The Relative Attenuation Of Self-Stimulation, Eating And Drinking Produced By Dopamine-Receptor Blockade, E. T. Rolls, B. J. Rolls, P. H. Kelly, S. G. Shaw, R. J. Wood, Robert H.I. Dale

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Spiroperidol, which blocks dopamine (DA) receptors, attenuated self-stimulation of the nucleus accumbens, septal area, hippocampus, anterior hypothalamus and ventral tegmental area. Dopamine is thus involved in self-stimulation of many sites (in addition to the lateral hypothalamus). The attenuation was not a simple motor impairment of the speed of bar-pressing in that the nucleus accumbens and septal self-stimulation rates were lower than those in treated animals self-stimulating at other sites (Experiment 1). Feeding was partly attenuated, and drinking was much less attenuated by the spiroperidol. Since the rats bar-pressed for brain- stimulation reward, chewed pellets to eat, and licked a tube …

Bats Of Margarita Island, Venezuela, With Zoogeographic Comments, James Dale Smith, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Sixteen species of bats are reported from Margarita Island, Nueva Esparta, Venezuela. These include two species of emballonurids, one noctilionid, two mormoopids, nine phyllostomatids, one vespertilionid, and one molossid. Accounts including natural history and taxonomic comments are given for each species. The chiropteran fauna of Margarita Island is compared with the bat faunas of the adjacent Venezuelan mainland and islands off the northern coast of South America, including Trinidad and other Antillean islands. It is concluded that the chiropteran fauna of Margarita Island represents an attenuated mainland fauna.

Annotated Checklist Of Mammals Of The Yucatán Peninsula, México. Ii. Rodentia, J. Knox Jones Jr., Hugh H. Genoways, Timothy E. Lawlor

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

The Yucatán Peninsula, as encompassed in this series of papers, includes the Mexican states of Campeche and Yucatán, and the Federal Territory of Quintana Roo. This region is a low-lying plain that rises gently in elevation from north to south. It is surrounded on three sides by water and bounded on the south by British Honduras (i.e. Belize), Guatemala, and the Mexican state of Tabasco. The vegetation of the peninsula increases in height from north to south and from the coast inland. Generally, forest to the north is xerophilic, but that of the southern part of the peninsula is tall, …

Oregon's Nutria Problem, Lee W. Kuhn, E. Paul Peloquin

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 6th (1974)

The nutria or coypu, Myocastor coypus, is a large semi-aquatic rodent that superficially resembles an overgrown muskrat or a stunted beaver. They were introduced into Oregon from about 1930 to the 1950s. At one time Oregon had more than 600 fur farmers raising these animals for fur; now there are none. Some animals escaped and many others were released into the wild when it became apparent that pelt values were nonexistent and production costs greatly exceeded profits. Being prolific and quite mobile the nutria quickly spread through much of western Oregon. By the 1960s damage to agricultural crops was …

Effects Of Mississippi Delta Flooding On Spider Populations, Peggy Rae Dorris

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The Mississippi Delta flooded in the spring of 1973. Spider collections made in a Delta area of Mississippi in 1972 are compared with those made in 1973 during the flood and after it subsided. Because many egg cases and immature and mature spiders were destroyed by the flood, the spider population was diminished.

Defensive Behavior Of The Hognose Snake (Heterodon Platyrhinos), Brenda S. Hemken

Masters Theses

Fourteen out of sixteen Heterodon platyrhinos eggs were hatched in late August, 1973. The immature snakes were manually stimulated and the resultant bluffing and death-feigning behaviors were observed. All of the experimental snakes bluffed, but only three out of ten feigned death. The major components of the bluffing behavior are spreading the neck, hissing, and striking. Death-feigning is preceded by contortions and shows variations in the positions of the mouth and tongue. The newly-hatched snakes exhibited both bluffing and death-feigning, indicating that the behaviors are innate.

An Introduction To The Ethology Of Citellus Variegatus, John W. Bell

Masters Theses

The above ground activity of the rock squirrel Citellus variegatus between November 6, 1972 and May 1, 1973, is described. This is a non-colonial species. Recognition was established between siblings by a nose to nose contact. In foraging they utilize almost any edible material available and during this time of year foraging is most intense between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Vocalization was limited to alarm calls, which brought the other squirrels to the top of the rocks to become alert, and squeals. Hibernation varied in length depending in part on the elevation and in some did not occur at …

Ichthyofaunal Survey Of The Current River Within Arkansas, Joe F. Green, John K. Beadles

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Current River is a clear predominantly spring-fed stream draining the southeastern face of the Ozark escarpment. Beginning at Montauk Springs, Dent County, Missouri, it meanders southward for 180 km to the Arkansas-Missouri state line. The study area containing 14 sampling stations was that part of Current River lying within the boundaries of Arkansas to its confluence with Black River. The collected fishes could be referred to as those common to a wide-ranging faunal group, the Ozark, and the lowland faunal group. Those of the Ozark group were restricted in their range by topography and the river's confluence with Little Black …

Nongeographic Variation In The Long-Nosed Bat, Choeroniscus Intermedius, Hugh H. Genoways, Robert J. Baker, Bernard Wyatt

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Of the 12 measurements analyzed, only length of tail exhibited enough individual variation to warrant its deletion in analysis of geographic or interspecific variation in the genus Choeroniscus. Also, because of the difficulty in consistently taking the measurement, we also suggest elimination of postorbital constriction.

Specimens of Choeroniscus intermedius were found to exhibit significant secondary sexual variation in five of the 12 measurements studied. Therefore, it is clear that males and females should be separated in analyses of variation within members of the genus. Females were found to be the larger in 10 of the 12 measurements--similar to the …

A Simulation Model Of Peromyscus Leucopus In An Area Of The Great Dismal Swamp, James E. Paschal Jr.

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

A computer simulation model was developed to explain the population dynamics of the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) in an area of the Great Dismal Swamp. The model was designed to provide an experimental base for future studies. The model indicates relationships between food availability, home range size, competition with Peromyscus nuttali habitat selection and reproduction.

White-footed mice were trapped in the Old Dismal Town site during each season from April, 1972 through March, 1973. The age-sex structure of the population was determined, and was compared with the simulated structure. Although there were significant discrepancies between the comparisons, the …

Annotated Checklist Of Mammals Of The Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. I. Chiroptera, J. Knox Jones Jr., James Dale Smith, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Our field investigations on the Yucatán Peninsula were initiated in the summer of 1962 when two field parties from the Museum of Natural History at the University of Kansas visited the area. One field party consisted of W.E. Duellman and six students enrolled in a summer field course in vertebrate zoology; the other party was composed of the senior author and four students who were conducting a survey of Middle American terrestrial vertebrates and their ectoparasites. Some of the data relative to ectoparasites obtained during this study have appeared in the publications of Emerson (1971), Kohls et al. (1965), Loomis …

Morphological And Ecological Relationships Of Etheostoma Caeruleum And Etheostoma Spectabile In West Central Indiana, Dennis E. Clark

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Etheostoma caeruleum Storer and Jii. spectabile (Agassiz) are closely related members of the family Percidae, subfamily Percinae, tribe Etheostomatinae. This group, consisting mostly of small, brilliantly colored darters, has been partially characterized by Collett ( 1963). Several papers have been published dealing with the biology of these two species. One or both species have been described by Storer (1845), Agassiz (1854), Reeves (1907, but see Trautman, 1930), Trautman (1930, 1957) Knapp (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation), Distler (1968), and others. Trautman (1930, 1957) Gerking (1945), and Hubbs and Lagler (1947) reported that h caeruleum lives in larger and faster streams, whereas JL_ …

Notes On Some Mammals From Jalisco, Mexico, Hugh H. Genoways, J. Knox Jones Jr.

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

The varied topography and climate of the Mexican state of Jalisco have resulted in a diverse mammalian fauna, no comprehensive account of which has been published. Significant collections of mammals from Jalisco were obtained for the Museum of Natural History, the University of Kansas, between 1949 and 1969 by field parties and individual field representatives, most notably J. R. Alcorn, R. W. Dickerman, and especially P. L. Clifton. Some of the specimens thus obtained have been recorded in systematic accounts of individual taxa or in reports on selected taxonomic groups (see for example, Choate, 1970; Genoways, 1972; Genoways and Jones, …

Status Of The Mountain Lion In Arkansas, John A. Sealander, Philip S. Gipson

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Two authenticated kill records of the mountain lion, Felis concolor, in Arkansas are reported as well as numerous reliable sight records spanning an approximately 30-year period. Distribution of sightings in the state is discussed in relation to an expanding deer population. The cougar probably never was exterminated in Arkansas but it still may be considered endangered.

Two Species Of Bats New To The Fauna Of Trinidad, Hugh H. Genoways, Robert J. Baker, R. S. Loregnard

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Goodwin and Greenhall (1961) in their monograph of the bats of Trinidad and Tobago recorded 58 species of chiropterans from the island of Trinidad. In two subsequent publications (Goodwin and Greenhall, 1962, 1964) these authors recorded Mesophylla macconnelli, Prornops nasutus, and Phylloderma stenops from Trinidad bringing the number of species known from the island to 61. In August 1967, one of us (R. J. Baker) and Larry Deaven netted bats on Trinidad in connection with ongoing studies of chiropteran karyology, and obtained two species not previously recorded.

Bats Of Jalisco, México, Larry C. Watkins, J. Knox Jones Jr., Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

The fauna and flora of the Mexican state of Jalisco have received the much deserved attention of a number of biologists in recent years. Nevertheless, few comprehensive accounts of the biota of this interesting and physiographically diverse area have been published. In the period from 1949 to 1969, field representatives of the Museum of Natural History at the University of Kansas collected vertebrates in Jalisco. Among the specimens obtained from the state, the mammalian fauna of which never has been treated as a unit previously, were approximately 3000 bats, which form the primary basis for this report. In addition to …

Stenoderma Rufum, Hugh H. Genoways, Robert J. Baker

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Order Chiroptera, Family Phyllostomatidae, Subfamily Stenoderminae. The genus Stenoderma contains a single species, Stenoderma rufum, as treated below.

Mammals From Southwestern North Dakota, Hugh H. Genoways, J. Knox Jones Jr.

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

The distribution of the mammals in the southwestern part of North Dakota and their ecological and taxonomic relationships have not been well documented. In addition to Vernon Bailey's (1927) survey of mammals of the state, based primarily upon field work conducted between 1912 and 1916, the only other principal studies dealing with the mammalian fauna of southwestern North Dakota were a preliminary report of the mammals of the state by Bailey et al. (1914) and the publication by J.A. Allen (1875) on mammals taken by the expedition that surveyed a route for the North Pacific Railway. Our studies, which were …

The Phyllostomatid Bat, Vampyressa Brocki, In Colombia, Robert J. Baker, Hugh H. Genoways, Alberto Cadena

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Between June 28 and July 1, 1969, while conducting studies on the karyotypes of phyllostomatid bats, the authors collected three specimens of Vampyressa brocki in mature tropical rainforest at Leticia, Amazonas. Colombia. Measurements and representative karyotypes are presented.

Variation And Ecology In A Local Population Of The Vesper Mouse (Nyctomys Sumichrasti), Hugh H. Genoways, J. Knox Jones Jr.

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Vesper mice of the genus Nyctomys are relatively rare, arboreal rodents restricted to Middle America (eastern Panama to southern Mexico). Little is known concerning the biology of these secretive animals. Studies of variation of the one species, Nyctomys sumichrasti, have been limited to descriptions of new taxa (for example, see Goldman, 1916, 1937, and Laurie, 1953) and ecological observations have been confined to faunal accounts of political units (Goodwin, 1934; Hall and Dalquest, 1963) or were made coincidental to studies of other species (Lawlor, 1969; Fleming, 1970). Birkenholz and Wirtz (1965) recorded observations on the behavior, reproduction, and early …

Anatomical And Behavioral Aspects Of Killing And Feeding By The Least Weasel, Mustela Nivalis L., Gary A. Heidt

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The least weasel (Mustela nivalis) is a remarkably well adapted predator of mice and other small animals. Each kill is rather stereotyped, in that the weasel grabs the prey by the nape of the neck and bites through the base of the skull and/or throat, using its lithe body to "wrap up" and hold the prey. The least weasel will kill mice successively until it is too exhausted physically to kill more. Mice are always eaten from the head posteriorly until completely consumed.

Operant Conditioning In The Garter Snake (Thamnophis), William A. Schmitz

Masters Theses

Ten garter snakes were tested for runway acquisition, correct turn response in a simple T-maze, or both, for food reinforcement. Seven of seven subjects met criterion for learning to run a 23 inch long alleyway. Mean latency times showed a general decrease over a 23 day period. Five of nine subjects met criterion for learning a correct turn response in a simple T-maze. Subjects mastering the task required from 14-157 trials. One of two subjects met criterion for learning the reverse response of the T-maze exercise, requiring 35 trials. Results are similar to those previously reported for reptiles and other …

A Multivariate Analysis Of Systematic Relationships Among Populations Of The Short-Tailed Shrew (Genus Blarina) In Nebraska, Hugh H. Genoways, Jerry R. Choate

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

The genus Blarina (Mammalia: Soricidae) is represented in Nebraska by two well-differentiated, geographically exclusive phena that generally have been regarded as subspecies. Field studies conducted along their zone of contact resulted in the collection of representatives of both phena at each of five localities. Cluster analysis of distance matrix readily separated reference samples of the phena as well as test samples from near the zone of contact. A three-dimensional projection of the specimens onto their first three principal components, together with a discriminant function analysis, served further to elucidate the degree of differentiation among the phena and to confirm that …

Herpetofauna Of Sylamore Ranger District, Ozark National Forest, Arkansas: Preliminary Report, John P. Schuier, James W. Dickson, Michael J. Harvey

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

A survey of the amphibians and reptiles of the Sylamore Ranger District, Ozark National Forest, Arkansas, was conducted from May 1969 through May 1972. The district is composed of 170,000 acres and includes parts of Stone, Baxter, Marion, and Searcy Counties. A total of 533 specimens was collected during the study. An additional 72 specimens in the collections of Memphis State University and Arkansas State University were examined. Forty-nine species were recorded from the study area. These consisted of 8 salamanders, 12 frogs and toads, 4 turtles, 6 lizards, and 19 snakes. Two species collected during the study, Scaphiopus holbrooki …

Checklist Of Spiders Collected In Mississippi Compared With Preliminary Study Of Arkansas Spiders, Peggy Rae Dorris

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

This paper presents a comparative list of spiders collected in the 82 counties of Mississippi and in a random sampling of the spiders of Arkansas. The Mississippi list includes 26 families with 263 species, whereas the Arkansas collection includes 24 families with 206 species. Various methods of collecting were used in an effort to sample all populations and to contribute to knowledge of the taxonomy both Mississippi and Arkansas.

A Taxonomic Study Of Two Nominal Subspecies Of Pikas (Ochotona Princeps) In The Cascade Mountains Of Oregon, Richard M. Coots

Dissertations and Theses

Pikas from four colonies in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon were examined. Two colonies were chosen from within the geographical distribution of two nominal subspecies. A discriminate analysis of morphological measurements taken from the specimens showed that each colony could be distinguished from each other. Each colony studied showed more intra-colony similarity than inter-colony similarity regardless of distance separating the colonies or subspecies designations. The results indicate that the validity of subspecies designations for this species can be questioned.

Notes On The Biology Of The Central American Squirrel, Sciurus Richmondi, J. Knox Jones Jr., Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Additional specimens of Sciurus richmondi are reported, along with comments on variation, distribution, reproduction and molt in this little known squirrel. As presently understood, S. richmondi occurs only in the Caribbean rain forests of Nicaragua. Significant secondary sexual variation in adults was found only in zygomatic breadth, in which females are the larger. Available evidence reveals that the breeding season extends at least from February to September, and suggests two seasonal molts annually.

Evaporative Water Loss In Two Northwest Snakes: Pituophis Catenifer And Crotalus Viridis, Donald R. Woolery

All Master's Theses

A study by Gans, Krakauer and Paganelli (1968) dealt with twenty-six species of snakes representing five families. They found that the "rate of water loss was proportional to surface area" and that water loss correlates with the aridity of the selected habitat. No comparative information resulting from the direct separation of the pulmonary and cutaneous avenues of water loss is currently available. Also, no direct comparisons of this separation in sympatric species are available. These comparisons are the basis for this study.

The Microclimate, Ion And Water Balance Of Larval And Adult Ascaphus Truei Stejneger, Terry L. Mullen

All Master's Theses

The purpose of this paper is first to describe the microclimate occupied by larval and adult Ascaphus. This microclimate presents certain osmo- and iono- regulatory problems. The second purpose of this paper is to show how Ascaphus meets these osmo- and iono- regulatory problems.