Biology Commons^™

Unlv Magazine, Tony Allen, Shane Bevell, Donna Mcaleer, Ched Whitney, Cate Weeks

UNLV Magazine

No abstract provided.

Neural Reuse As A Source Of Developmental Homology, David S. Moore, Chris Moore

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Neural reuse theories should interest developmental psychologists because these theories can potentially illuminate the developmental relations among psychological characteristics observed across the lifespan. Characteristics that develop by exploiting pre-existing neural circuits can be thought of as developmental homologues. And, understood in this way, the homology concept that has proven valuable for evolutionary biologists can be used productively to study psychological/behavioral development.

Information Acquisition And Sociality Among Migratory Birds, Zoltán Németh

Dissertations

Information use is a key feature of adaptive behavior: the better informed an individual, the better it is able to adjust its behavior to meet the demands of a variable world. Therefore, most animals attempt to reduce environmental uncertainty by gathering information when it is available. However, tracking unpredictable ecological factors may carry costs as individuals invest valuable time and energy in the process of information acquisition. Social learning (i.e., use of social information inadvertently produced by other individuals) enables the individual to gain rapid and more complete assessment of its novel environment. This process may be particularly important for …

Tooth Chipping Can Reveal The Diet And Bite Forces Of Fossil Hominins, Paul J. Constantino, James Jin-Wu Lee, Herzl Chai, Bernhard Zipfel, Charles Ziscovici, Brian R. Lawn, Peter W. Lucas

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Mammalian tooth enamel is often chipped, providing clear evidence for localized contacts with large hard food objects. Here, we apply a simple fracture equation to estimate peak bite forces directly from chip size. Many fossil hominins exhibit antemortem chips on their posterior teeth, indicating their use of high bite forces. The inference that these species must have consumed large hard foods such as seeds is supported by the occurrence of similar chips among known modern-day seed predators such as orangutans and peccaries. The existence of tooth chip signatures also provides a way of identifying the consumption of rarely eaten foods …

An Entrepreneurial Approach To Librarianship, Flora Shrode, Jennifer Duncan, Wendy Holliday

Library Faculty & Staff Publications

Librarians from Utah State University explain recent efforts to encourage subject librarians to take a more holistic view of their roles. We are shifting from a traditional emphasis primarily on collection development and refocusing on natural connections between collections, instruction, liaison, and reference service. The poster provides background about Utah State University’s situation and explains our approach to analyzing local needs and culture to inform development of a new organizational structure. We describe our vision of subject librarianship, the process by which we assessed librarians’ ideas and goals for performing as subject librarians, and the actions we are taking to …

Volume 03, Cheryl Peck, Charles Hoever, Longwood Theater Department, Brittany Anderson, J. Ervin Sheldon, Richard Hayden, Yuri Calustro, Candice Fleming, Rebecca Franklin, Ashley Yocum, Danielle M. Jagoda, Cristina M. Valdivieso, Jameka Jones, Amy Ellis, Ashley Maser, Erikk Shupp, Jamie Yurasits, Joshua Davis, Alexander Leonhart, Kenny Wolfe, Sally Meadows, J. Haley, Amy Jackson, Morgan Howard, Adrienne Heinbaugh, Melissa Dorton, Ciarra Stalker

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction from Dean Dr. Charles Ross

Little Shop of Horrors by Longwood Theater Department

Who Has the Hottest Hotsauce in Farmville: A Quantitative Comparison of Sauces from Local Restaurants by Cheryl Peck and Charles Hoever

Precipitation Effects on the Growth of White Oaks and Virginia Pines on the Mt. Vernon Plantation by Brittany Anderson

Design and Synthesis of Novel Ion Binding Molecules for Self-Assembly and Sensing Applications by J. Ervin Sheldon

A Statistical Analysis of Algorithms for Playing SameGame by Richard Hayden

Intersecting Cylinders at Arbitrary Angles by Yuri Calustro

Putting a Foot in the Revolving Door: Strategies for Reducing …

Seasonal Hippocampal Plasticity In Food-Storing Birds., David F Sherry, Jennifer S Hoshooley

Psychology Publications

Both food-storing behaviour and the hippocampus change annually in food-storing birds. Food storing increases substantially in autumn and winter in chickadees and tits, jays and nutcrackers and nuthatches. The total size of the chickadee hippocampus increases in autumn and winter as does the rate of hippocampal neurogenesis. The hippocampus is necessary for accurate cache retrieval in food-storing birds and is much larger in food-storing birds than in non-storing passerines. It therefore seems probable that seasonal change in caching and seasonal change in the hippocampus are causally related. The peak in recruitment of new neurons into the hippocampus occurs before birds …

Analysis Of Primary Risk Factors For Oral Cancer From Us States With Increasing Rates, Anthony Bunnell, Nathan Pettit, Nicole Reddout, Kanika Sharma, Susan O'Malley, Michelle Chino, Karl Kingsley

School of Public Health Faculty Research

Objectives

To examine the primary risk factor for oral cancer in the US, smoking and tobacco use, among the specific US states that experienced short-term increases in oral cancer incidence and mortality.

Methods

Population-based data on oral cancer morbidity and mortality in the US were obtained from the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database for analysis of recent trends. Data were also obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to measure current and former trends of tobacco usage. To comprehensive measures of previous state tobacco use …

An Extraordinary Example Of Photokarren In A Sandstone Cave, Cueva Charles Brewer, Chimantá Plateau, Venezuela: Biogeomorphology On A Small Scale, Joyce Lundberg, Donald A. Mcfarlane, Charles Brewer-Carias

WM Keck Science Faculty Papers

A distinctive suite of small-scale erosional forms that are oriented towards the light occur close to the entrance of Cueva Charles Brewer, a large cave in a sandstone tepui, in SE Venezuela. These are the third example of photokarren ever studied in the world, the other two being from Borneo and Ireland. They are the only photokarren ever described from sandstone, and the only example from a non-carbonate environment. The host rock is a poorly-lithified unit of the Precambrian quartz arenite of the Roraima Supergroup. The forms are all oriented towards the light at 30° regardless of rock surface orientation. …

A Unique Population Of Cave Bears (Carnivora: Ursidae) From The Middle Pleistocene Of Kents Cavern, England, Based On Dental Morphometrics, Donald A. Mcfarlane, Martin Sabol, Joyce Lundberg

WM Keck Science Faculty Papers

The ‘breccia’ stratum from Kents (we follow local tradition in using the form ‘Kents’, without an apostrophe) Cavern, England, has been well known for its rich yield of cave-bear material since excavations began in the mid-19th century. Recent work has established that the bears are of latest MIS 12 or earliest MIS 11 age. A life table based on a collection of 67 molariform teeth is consistent with the use of the cave as a hibernaculum. Univariate and morphological assessment of the teeth shows an unusual range of primitive and more derived characters. Multivariate morphometric analysis of cave-bear teeth from …

Description Of The Tadpole Of Proceratophrys Renalis (Miranda-Ribeiro, 1920) (Anura: Cycloramphidae), Filipe Augusto C. Do Nascimento, Barnagleison S. Lisboa, Gabriel O. Skuk, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

The tadpole of Proceratophrys renalis is described based on specimens from Maceió, State of Alagoas, northeastern Brazil. At stage 35 the body is slightly dorso-ventrally depressed, ovoid in lateral, dorsal, and ventral views. Oral disc is ventral with lateral emarginations, surrounded by a single row of marginal papillae with a large gap on the upper labium. Labial tooth row formula is 2(2)/3(1). The analysis of internal oral anatomy revealed two possible characters that readily distinguish P. renalis from P. boiei, supporting the recent ressurection of P. renalis. Comparisons with available descriptions of the larvae for other species in the …

Racism, Eugenics, And Ernst Mayr’S Account Of Species, Ladelle Mcwhorter

Philosophy Faculty Publications

At his death at age one hundred in 2005, Ernst Mayr was hailed as the greatest evolutionary biologist of the twentieth century. His definition of species, published in 1942 in Systematics and the Origin of Species and known as the “biological species concept,” is familiar to every tenth grader: “Species are groups of interbreeding natural populations that are reproductively isolated from other such groups.” That definition, together with Mayr’s and Theodosius Dobzhansky’s theory of speciation, enabled the integration of modern genetics and Darwinian evolutionary theory. In this paper I will argue that it imported racism into the heart of modern …

Female Humpback Whale (Megaptera Novaeangliae) Reproductive Class And Male-Female Interactions During The Breeding Season, Meagan E. Jones

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study examined whether female reproductive class (i.e., presence or absence of a calf) in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) affects female behavior and male-female interactions on the Hawaiian breeding grounds. From 2003-2008, 295 female-calf groups (with or without a male escort) and 256 female no-calf groups (with a male) were observed. Forty-one female no-calf groups were confirmed male-female pairs by genetic sexing or photo-identification. Focal follows of 36 male-female pairs and 50 female-calf groups (29 escorted and 21 unescorted female-calf groups) were analyzed for time budget and movement estimates. Relative fluke size (fluke photogrammetry, n=30) and sighting histories …

The Importance Of Fallback Foods In Primate Ecology And Evolution, Paul J. Constantino, Barth W. Wright

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

The role of fallback foods in shaping primate ranging, socioecology, and morphology has recently become a topic of particular interest to biological anthropologists. Although the use of fallback resources has been noted in the ecological and primatological literature for a number of decades, few attempts have been made to define fallback foods or to explore the utility of this concept for primate evolutionary biologists and ecologists. As a preface to this special issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology devoted to the topic of fallback foods in primate ecology and evolution, we discuss the development and use of the …

Fisheries Management Paper No.245 - Aquaculture Of Coral, Live Rocks And Associated Products. Aquaculture Policy, Department Of Fisheries, Western Australia

Fisheries Management Papers

Aquarium enthusiasts use corals, live rock and associated products (e.g. live sand) for display and to maintain healthy water quality conditions in their marine aquariums. There is a large and growing market for these products. While the wild harvest fisheries for aquarium products in Western Australia are sustainably managed, output is capped, so increased product is needed to meet the market demand. With a trend towards the capping of wild harvest and additional pressures, such as the introduction of Marine Parks and other marine protected areas, the aquaculture of these products is set for industry development and expansion.

The large …

Consequences Of Vegetation Change On The Dynamics Of Labile Organic Matter And Soil Nitrogen Cycling In A Semiarid Ecosystem, Toby D. Hooker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Sagebrush-dominated ecosystems are being transformed by wildfire, rangeland improvement techniques, and exotic plant invasions. These disturbances have substantial effects on the composition and structure of native vegetation, but the effects on ecosystem C and N dynamics are poorly understood. To examine whether differences in dominant vegetation affect the quantity and quality of plant organic matter inputs to soil, ecosystem C and N pools and rates of plant turnover were compared among historically grazed Wyoming big sagebrush, introduced perennial crested wheatgrass, and invasive annual cheatgrass communities. Since low soil moisture during the summer may inhibit the microbial colonization of plant detrital …

Application Of Electrified Fladry To Decrease Risk Of Livestock Depredation By Wolves (Canis Lupus), Nathan J. Lance

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Wolf (Canis lupus) predation on livestock can cause economic and emotional hardships for livestock producers, complicating the balance of wolf conservation with other human interests. New management tools that decrease risk of predation may offer additional flexibility or efficiency for both livestock producers and management agencies. I examined 1) the efficacy of electrified fladry compared to fladry at protecting a food source from wolves in captivity, 2) the efficacy of electrified fladry for reducing wolf use of pastures and preventing depredations, and 3) the applicability of electrified-fladry. In captivity I tested the reaction from 15 groups (46 wolves) …

Taste Sensitivity To 6-N-Propylthiouracil (Prop) As A Biological Marker For Vulnerability To Stress In Mothers And Children, Deann Jones

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Some people are genetically more vulnerable to stress than others, leading them towards poorer outcomes following stressful events. Mothers' vulnerability to stress may, in turn, influence their children, leading their children towards poor outcomes as well. A biological marker of vulnerability to stress may indicate mothers who are at greater risk for experiencing parenting stress, depression, and less support of the infant's emotional development, and infants who are at greater risk for development of poor emotion regulation and behavior problems. Taste sensitivity to propylthiouracil (PROP) is proposed as a biological marker of stress vulnerability in mothers and children. This research …

The Effects Of Prenatal Exposure Of Valproic Acid On Cranial Nerve Nuclei: A Rat Model For An Autistic Phenotype, Shannon Pickup

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Autistic spectrum disorder is a term referring to five pervasive developmental disorders characterized by impairment in social interaction, deficits in verbal and non-verbal communication and stereotyped repetitive behaviors and interests. The underlying brain injury that leads to autism is also unknown. The cause is also unknown but appears to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors. A study on prenatal thalidomide exposure found patients exposure on days 20-24 of gestation lead to a 1/3 rate of autism, a huge increase from the 1/150 rate of the general population. The thalidomide data suggests the initial injury leading to autism occurs …

Effects Of Targeted Grazing And Prescribed Burning On Fire Behavior And Community Dynamics Of A Cheatgrass (Bromus Tectorum)-Dominated Landscape, Joel M. Diamond

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Studies were conducted to determine the effectiveness of using targeted grazing and prescribed burning as tools to reduce fire hazards and cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) dominance on rangelands in the northern Great Basin. A field study, with four grazing-burning treatments (graze and no-burn, graze and burn, no-graze and burn, and no-graze and no-burn), was conducted on a B. tectorum-dominated site near McDermitt, Nevada from 2005-2007. Cattle removed 80-90% of standing biomass in grazed plots in May 2005 and 2006 when B. tectorum was in the boot (phenological) stage. Grazed and ungrazed plots were burned in October 2005 and …

Microbial Growth Inhibition And Decomposition Of Milk Mineral And Sodium Tripolyphosphate Added To Media Or Fresh Ground Beef, Rossarin Tansawat

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Milk mineral (MM) is a type II antioxidant (metal chelator) that can bind iron and prevent iron catalysis of lipid oxidation. Thus, MM might have microbial growth inhibition effects on iron-dependent bacteria. Objective 1 was to evaluate effects of MM on growth of non-pathogenic iron-dependent bacterial strains (Listeria innocua, Eschericia coli, Pseudomonas fluorescens). MM (1.5 % w/v) did not significantly inhibit growth of Listeria and E. coli. However, growth of Pseudomonas fluorescens was consistently and significantly reduced by ~1 log colony forming units per ml (CFU/ml) with all levels of MM (0.5, 0.75, 1.5 % …

Arid Climate Decomposition And Decay: A Taphonomic Study Using Swine, James William Munkres

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The present project analyzes the taphonomic processes and variables involved in the decomposition and desiccation of animal remains in an arid/hyper-arid environment. The study and the derived data will assist in determining postmortem intervals for remains in modern contexts, inform judgments made regarding mortuary habits and techniques in archaeological contexts, and will improve our knowledge regarding taphonomic processes. Manner of deposition, the depositional surface/medium and arid-climate specific variables (temperature, water, insect activity, weathering, pH levels, and soil characteristics) were examined in this study. Reported observations are limited to the first ten months following death from early December through early October …

Volume 02, Joseph A. Mann, Kathryn J. Greenly, Scott E. Jenkins, Andrew E. Puckette, Daniel M. Honey, Jeffery P. Ravenhorst, Jamie Elizabeth Mesrobian, Thomas Scott, Jay Crowell, Sarah Spangenberg, Amy S. Eason, Kenny Wolfe, Liz Hale, Rachel Bouchard, Will Semonco, Carley York, Ryan Higgenbothom, Adrienne Heinbaugh, Melissa Dorton, Madeline Hunter, June Ashmore, Clark Barkley, Jay Haley

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction from Dean Dr. Charles Ross

Mike's Nite: New Jazz for an Old Instrument by Joseph A. Mann

Investigation of the use of Cucumis Sativus for Remediation Of Chromium from Contaminated Environmental Matrices: An Interdisciplinary Instrumental Analysis Project by Kathryn J. Greenly, Scott E. Jenkins, and Andrew E. Puckette

Development of GC-MS and Chemometric Methods for the Analysis of Accelerants in Arson Cases by Scott Jenkins

Building and Measuring Scalable Computing Systems by Daniel M. Honey and Jeffery P. Ravenhorst

Nomini Hall: A Case Study in the Use of Archival Resources as Guides for Excavation at An Archaeological Site by …

An Undescribed Gecko (Gekkonidae: Cyrtodactylus) From Deer Cave, Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak, With Comments On The Distribution Of Bornean Cave Geckos, Donald A. Mcfarlane, Joyce Lundberg, Keith Christenson

WM Keck Science Faculty Papers

Geckos of the genus Cyrtodactylus are a speciose group in Southeast Asia, with at least nine species known from the island of Borneo (Das & Ismail, 2001; Das, 2006). Of these species, Cyrtodactylus cavernicolus has the smallest known range and is therefore the most vulnerable, a status that is reflected in the species having been designated a Totally Protected Species in Sarawak. Confirmed records of C. cavernicolus are known only from Niah Cave, located in an isolated limestone block known as the Gunung Subis massif, approximately 13 km² in extent. The Niah Cave Gecko is presumed to be dependent on …

Life-Centered Ethics And The Human Future In Space, Michael Noah Mautner

Chemistry Publications

In the future, human destiny may depend on our ethics. In particular, biotechnology and expansion in space can transform life, raising profound questions. Guidance may be found in Life-centered ethics, as biotic ethics that value the basic patterns of organic gene/protein life, and as panbiotic ethics that always seek to expand life. These life-centered principles can be based on scientific insights into the unique place of life in nature, and the biological unity of all life. Belonging to life then implies a human purpose: to safeguard and propagate life. Expansion in space will advance this purpose but will also raise …

Bats And Bell Holes: The Microclimatic Impact Of Bat Roosting, Using A Case Study From Runaway Bay Caves, Jamaica, Joyce Lundberg, Donald A. Mcfarlane

WM Keck Science Faculty Papers

The microclimatic effect of bats roosting in bell holes (blind vertical cylindrical cavities in cave roofs) in Runaway Bay Caves, Jamaica, was measured and the potential impact of their metabolism on dissolution modelled. Rock temperature measurements showed that bell holes with bats get significantly hotter than those without bats during bat roosting periods (by an average of 1.1 °C). The relationship is clearest for bell holes with more than about 300 g aggregate bat body mass and for bell holes that are moderately wide and deep, of W:D ratio between 0.8 and 1.6. Measurement of temperature decay after abandonment showed …

The Tadpole Of Hypsiboas Atlanticus (Anura, Hylidae) From Northeastern Brazil, Filipe A. C. Do Nascimento, Marcelo G. De Lima, Gabriel O. Skuk, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

The tadpole of Hypsiboas atlanticus (Caramaschi & Velosa, 1996) is described from the municipality of Maceió, State of Alagoas, Brazil. At stage 36 the larvae have an overall elliptical body in lateral and dorsal views, oral disc anteroventral, spiracular tube sinistral, and labial tooth row formula 2(1,2)/3(1). The oral disc is surrounded, almost completely (anterior medial gap present) by a single row of marginal papillae. Described tadpoles of the H. punctatus species group can be differentiated by a combined disc oral features. Additional descriptions of H. punctatus (Schneider, 1799) tadpoles from populations throughout South America may be helpful in determining …

Hispanic Medicinal Herbal Remedies And Cultural Competency: An Examination Of Pre-Hispanic And Hispanic Medicinal Plants And The Need For Physicians In Los Angeles To Know These Plants As One Basis For Cultural Competency, Garik N. Linnastruth

Whittier Scholars Program

The demographic majority of the people who reside in Los Angeles are hispanic. This population often utilizes alternative medicine, particularly herbal remedies, to ameliorate their health problems. As such, what herbal medicinal plants do physicians in Los Angeles County need to have background knowledge about to be considered culturally competent? Does the knowledge of medicinal plants dictate one basis for cultural competency? The purpose of this study is to examine ten Latino alternative/folk medicinal remedies from three separate civilizations to identify key ways in which physicians can increase their cultural competency. The first two civilizations are Pre-Hispanic and involve the …

Pilates As A New Form Of Exercise To Lower Childhood Obesity And Depression, Alicia Olson

Whittier Scholars Program

Childhood obesity is is quickly becoming a worldwide epidemic. Some factors contributing to this epidemic include more time spent in passive activities such as watching television and playing video games, eating more high fat/ high sugar content foods, and spending very little if any time being physically active. Children need more exercise options that are less intimidating than running or other strenuous exercises. This project introduces Pilates as a new form of exercise to help decrease childhood obesity and childhood depression. Various literature was looked at to determine how childhood obesity occurs and what can be done to prevent it. …

The Influence Of Fallback Foods On Great Ape Tooth Enamel, Paul J. Constantino, Peter W. Lucas, James J.-W. Lee, Brian R. Lawn

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Lucas and colleagues recently proposed a model based on fracture and deformation concepts to describe how mammalian tooth enamel may be adapted to the mechanical demands of diet (Lucas et al.: Bioessays 30[2008] 374-385). Here we review the applicability of that model by examining existing data on the food mechanical properties and enamel morphology of great apes (Pan, Pongo, and Gorilla). Particular attention is paid to whether the consumption of fallback foods is likely to play a key role in influencing great ape enamel morphology. Our results suggest that this is indeed the case. We also consider the implications of …