Biology Commons^™

Variation In Nuclear Dna Content Across Environmental Gradients: A Quantile Regression Analysis, Charles A. Knight, David D. Ackerly

Biological Sciences

The nuclear DNA content of angiosperms varies by several orders of magnitude. Previous studies suggest that variation in 2C DNA content (i.e. the amount of DNA in G1 phase nuclei, also referred to as the 2C-value) is correlated with environmental factors, but there are conflicting reports in the literature concerning the nature of these relationships. We examined variation in 2C DNA content for 401 species in the ecologically diverse California flora in relation to the mean July maximum temperature, January minimum temperature, and annual precipitation within the geographical ranges of these species. Species with small 2C-values predominate in all environments. …

Modeling An Electrosensory Landscape: Behavioral And Morphological Optimization In Elasmobranch Prey Capture, Brandon R. Brown

Physics and Astronomy

Most biological sensory systems benefit from multiple sensors. Elasmobranchs (sharks, skates and rays) possess an array of electroreceptive organs that facilitate prey location, mate location and navigation. Here, the perceived electrosensory landscape for an elasmobranch approaching prey is mathematically modeled. The voltages that develop simultaneously in dozens of separate sensing organs are calculated using electrodynamics. These voltages lead directly to firing rate modifications in the primary afferent nerves. The canals connecting the sense organs to an elasmobranch's surface exhibit great variation of location and orientation. Here, the voltages arising in the sense organs are found to depend strongly on the …

Proprioception, Non-Law, And Biolegal History, Owen D. Jones

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article explores several advantages of incorporating into law various insights from behavioral biology about how and why the brain works as it does. In particular, the Article explores the ways in which those insights can help illuminate the deep structure of human legal systems. That effort is termed "biolegal history."

On The Nature Of Norms: Biology, Morality, And The Disruption Of Order, Owen D. Jones

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This essay discusses the legal implications of bio-behavioral underpinnings to norms, morality, and economic order. It first discusses the recent book "The Great Disruption: Human Nature and the Reconstitution of Social Order," in which Francis Fukuyama explores the importance of evolved human nature to the reconstruction of social order and a thriving economy. It then addresses the extent to which we can usefully view law-relevant norms as products of evolutionary - as well as economic - processes.

Evolutionary Genetics Of Canyon Treefrogs (Hyla Arenicolor), Roy A. Murray

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Population genetics is the study of the mechanisms that cause genetic change in populations over time. Genetic changes may lead to both adaptive evolution and speciation. While the former process is fairly well understood, many questions remain unanswered with regard to the process of speciation. How important is population isolation in the process of speciation? How long must populations be isolated before speciation is complete? Are the genetic changes that take place during speciation caused mainly by natural selection or does genetic drift play a substantial role? Can genetic drift alone lead to reproductive isolation? These types of questions have …

The Tadpole Of Pseudis Minuta (Anura: Pseudidae), An Apparent Case Of Heterochrony, Rafael O. De Sá, Esteban O. Lavilla

Biology Faculty Publications

The external morphology, oral disc, and coloration pattern of the larva of Pseudis minuta are described. Tadpoles are mostly bottom dwellers that have a small, terminal oral disc with a labial tooth row formula 1(1-1)/(1-1)2. Internal oral anatomy is characterized using scanning electron microscopy, representing the only description available for the family Pseudidae. The coloration pattern of P. minuta tadpoles is compared with that of other pseudids. Pseudis minuta larvae do not exhibit the ontogenetic coloration change reported for P. paradoxa. Considering larval coloration, larval size, and reports of adult size, acceleration or hypermorphosis are suggested as possible heterochronic mechanisms …

Biology: What One Needs To Know, Ursula Goodenough

Biology Faculty Research

Biology on this planet represents an astonishing experiment in carbon-based chemistry which, over billions of years, has generated billions of species adapted to countless major and minor fluctuations in ecological circumstances. In one sense there is no way to generalize about biology. While biological activities can all be ultimately explained by physical laws (like everything else in the universe), it is the emergent intensely particular properties of organisms that most interest us. This essay represents an attempt to describe some of the more prominent patterns that emerge from the sea of biological particularities, patterns that present many opportunities for religious …

Book Review Of "The Battle Of Beginnings: Why Neither Side Is Winning The Creation-Evolution Debate" By Del Ratzsch, Carl J. Bajema

Other Scholarly Publications

The book is interesting for two reasons. First, the author presents numerous brief negative critiques of many of the arguments that creationists and scientists have employed in debates. Second, this book is an example of the recent strategy by Phillip Johnson and others to redirect the creation-evolution debate to such religious issues as intelligent design. This review will concentrate on Ratszch's discussion of (1) the imperfect nature of science, (2) design arguments and (3) who is entitled to be called a "creationist."

Enamel Prism Morphology In Molar Teeth Of Small Eutherian Mammals, Elizabeth R. Dumont

Scanning Microscopy

Data summarizing enamel prism shape, sire and spacing are reported for the molar enamel of 55 species of small eutherian mammals including primates, bats, tree shrews, flying lemurs, insectivorans and representatives of a variety of fossil families. Confocal photomicrographs reveal that the subsurface enamel of most species is characterized by arc-shaped prisms. The lack of a clear distinction between pattern 2 and pattern 3 prism configurations within single specimens suggests that the broad category "arc-shaped prisms" is the most appropriate descriptive grouping for these species. Of the total sample, three species exhibit only circular prisms while no evidence of prismatic …

Mammalian Enamel Prism Patterns And Enamel Deposition Rates, Elizabeth R. Dumont

Scanning Microscopy

Enamel prism patterns and enamel deposition rates were compared for specimens representing six mammalian orders. Enamel samples were characterized by either pattern 1 or pattern 3 prisms. Each prism pattern cate-gory contained prisms from at least two mammalian orders. Enamel deposition rate was estimated for each sample by measuring prism cross striation repeat intervals. Statistical analysis of cross striation repeat intervals illustrates significant differences in deposition rate between prism patterns 1 and 3. No statistically significant differences were found in deposition rate between the higher-level taxa represented within each prism pat-tern category. That enamel deposition rate is not taxon-specific reinforces …

Body Size In Amblyrhiza Inundata (Rodentia, Caviomorpha), An Extinct Megafaunal Rodent From The Anguilla Bank, West Indies: Estimates And Implications, Audrone R. Biknevicius, Donald A. Mcfarlane, Ross D. E. Macphee

WM Keck Science Faculty Papers

Rodent species typically evolve larger mean body sizes when isolated on islands, but the extinct caviomorph Amblyrhiza inundata, known only from Quaternary cave deposits on the islands of Anguilla and St. Martin (northern Lesser Antilles), provides an unusually dramatic example of insular gigantism. Here we report on a series of body mass estimates for Amblyrhiza using predictive equations based on anteroposterior diameters and cortical cross-sectional areas of humeral and femoral diaphyses. Analyses of 14 isolated specimens (5 femoral, 9 humeral), all representing adult or near adult animals, yield body mass estimates ranging from slightly less than 50 kg to more …

Amblyrhiza And The Vertebrate Paleontology Of Anguillean Caves, Donald A. Mcfarlane, Ross D. E. Macphee

WM Keck Science Faculty Papers

Recorded interest in the caves of Anguilla dates back to the second half of the nineteenth century. The earliest explorations were concerned with the locating phosphatic cave earths, and resulted in the mining of several sites. Incidental to this work, the bones of the largest island rodent ever discovered were collected from Aguillan caves. Whereas the phosphate mining operations were short-lived, the remains of the giant rodent Amblyrhiza have catalyzed a continued interest in the caves of Anguilla. The most recent series of explorations have provided the first adequate documentation of Amhlyrhiza fossil sites, and have started to yield radiometric …

Fluorescence Quenching In The Varied Photosynthetic Modes Of Portulacaria Afra (L.) Jacq, Lonnie J. Guralnick, Guillermo Goldstein, Robert L. Heath, Irwin P. Ting

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

"Introduction" (To Alfred Russel Wallace; An Anthology Of His Shorter Writings), Charles H. Smith

DLPS Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Enamel Structure In Primates: A Review Of Scanning Electron Microscope Studies, L. B. Martin, A. Boyde, F. E. Grine

Scanning Microscopy

Comparative studies of dental enamel microstructure have involved three main areas of enquiry, with structural features having been investigated in relation to developmental mechanisms, function and/or phylogeny. The phylogenetic, or taxonomic aspect has been emphasized in the majority of studies involving the Order Primates, where efforts have focused upon attempts to recognise structural differences among various hierarchical groups.

Studies of primate enamel microstructure by SEM are reviewed here, with emphasis on what has been learned concerning the most suitable preparative techniques that can be employed, and with particular emphasis to the relevance of enamel microstructure in taxonomic analyses of living …

Book Review Of Evolution As Religion, Carl J. Bajema

Other Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of "The Little Universe Of Man" By C. D. Darlington, Carl J. Bajema

Other Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

The Man Of Tomorrow, Murray N. Silverstein

Biology Honors Papers

This 28 page thesis speculates on possible evolutionary changes that humans may undergo in order to survive the threats of atomic energy.

Rationalists In Retreat, W. E. Filmer

Stone-Campbell Books

No abstract provided.

Recent Opinions Of Biologists On Evolution: 2nd Edition, Evolution Protest Movement

Stone-Campbell Books

No abstract provided.

Ua3/1/2/1 Letter Re: Evolution Taught At Wku, Wku President's Office

WKU Administration Documents

Letter from WKU president Henry Cherry to Charles McKinney regarding evolution being taught at WKU.

Ua3/1/2/1 Letters Re: Evolution Taught At Wku, Charles Mckinney

WKU Administration Documents

Letters from Charles McKinney to WKU president Henry Cherry regarding the teaching of evolution at WKU.

Ua3/1/2/1 Letter Re: Evolution Taught At Wku, Wku President's Office

WKU Administration Documents

Letter from WKU president Henry Cherry to Charles McKinney regarding the teaching of evolution at WKU.

Embryology And Evolution, Malo Marius Amunson

Manuscript Thesis Collection

The proofs of evolution must be sought in the entire field of science. Direct proof is found in the study of Morphology, whose bases are comparative anatomy; embryology; in the study of paleontology, of geology, of geographical distribution, in the study of nature and experiments of today. In this vast field of direct proofs of evolution it is our purpose to present some of the evidences of evolution as furnished by one of these, namely, Comparative Embryology.