Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

A Phylogenetic Reevaluation Of The Genus Gavia (Aves: Gaviiformes) Using Next-Generation Sequencing, Quentin D. Sprengelmeyer

All NMU Master's Theses

Avian phylogenetic analysis based on DNA sequences, rather than morphological characters, has been used in recent decades to resolve systematic relationships. Advancements in molecular techniques have improved avian phylogenetics and have led to new insights on the relationships between and within taxa. Loons (Aves: Gaviiformes) are one of the oldest living lineages of birds, and the order includes five extant species. The morphological cladogram of Gavia placed G. arctica as a sister species to G. pacifica. However, a more recent study based on mtDNA resulted in a discordant tree splitting the G. arctica/G. pacifica clade, and …

Conservative Evolution, Sustainability, And Culture, Gábor Náray-Szabó

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In his article "Conservative Evolution, Sustainability, and Culture" Gábor Náray-Szabó argues that evolution is conservative in the sense that throughout the history of the universe old constructs like elementary particles, amino acids, and living cells remained conserved while the world evolved/evolves in complexity. A similar process can be observed in cultural evolution as components of society and culture continue to evolve. Considering the increasing pressure on natural resources by material consumption, a close alliance between past, present, and future generations is unavoidable and thus Náray-Szabó posits that concepts of conservative evolution and sustainability are related. However, in order to avoid …

The Evolutionary Function Of Conscious Information Processing Is Revealed By Its Task-Dependency In The Olfactory System, Andreas Keller

Publications and Research

Although many responses to odorous stimuli are mediated without olfactory information being consciously processed, some olfactory behaviors require conscious information processing. I will here contrast situations in which olfactory information is processed consciously to situations in which it is processed non-consciously. This contrastive analysis reveals that conscious information processing is required when an organism is faced with tasks in which there are many behavioral options available. I therefore propose that it is the evolutionary function of conscious information processing to guide behaviors in situations in which the organism has to choose between many possible responses.

Religion, Partisanship, And Attitudes Toward Science Policy, Ted G. Jelen, Linda A. Lockett

Political Science Faculty Research

We examine issues involving science which have been contested in recent public debate. These “contested science” issues include human evolution, stem-cell research, and climate change. We find that few respondents evince consistently skeptical attitudes toward science issues, and that religious variables are generally strong predictors of attitudes toward individual issues. Furthermore, and contrary to analyses of elite discourse, partisan identification is not generally predictive of attitudes toward contested scientific issues.

Evolution, Snakes, And God: A Brief Argument For Agreement, Jessica Stanze

A with Honors Projects

Comparing the evolution and religious connotations of the snake, this short essay suggests that evolutionists and creationists might reach common ground if they attempted to collaborate.

Patterns Of Maximum Body Size Evolution In Cenozoic Land Mammals: Eco-Evolutionary Processes And Abiotic Forcing, Juha J. Saarinen, Alison G. Boyer, James H. Brown, Daniel P. Costa, S.K. Morgan Ernest, Alistair R. Evans, Mikael Fortelius, John L. Gittleman, Marcus J. Hamilton, Larisa E, Harding, Kari Lintulaakso, S. Kathleen Lyons, Jordan G. Okie, Richard M. Sibly, Patrick R. Stephens, Jessica Theodor, Mark D. Uhen, Felisa A. Smith

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

There is accumulating evidence that macroevolutionary patterns of mammal evolution during the Cenozoic follow similar trajectories on different continents. This would suggest that such patterns are strongly determined by global abiotic factors, such as climate, or by basic eco-evolutionary processes such as filling of niches by specialization. The similarity of pattern would be expected to extend to the history of individual clades. Here, we investigate the temporal distribution of maximum size observed within individual orders globally and on separate continents. While the maximum size of individual orders of large land mammals show differences and comprise several families, the times at …

Finding Them Before They Find Us: Informatics, Parasites, And Environments In Accelerating Climate Change, Daniel R. Brooks, Eric P. Hoberg, Walter A. Boeger, Scott Lyell Gardner, Kurt E. Galbreath, David Herczeg, Hugo H. Mejía-Madrid, S. Elizabeth Rácz, Altangerel Tsogtsaikhan Dursahinhan

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Parasites are agents of disease in humans, livestock, crops, and wildlife and are powerful representations of the ecological and historical context of the diseases they cause. Recognizing a nexus of professional opportunities and global public need, we gathered at the Cedar Point Biological Station of the University of Nebraska in September 2012 to formulate a cooperative and broad platform for providing essential information about the evolution, ecology, and epidemiology of parasites across host groups, parasite groups, geographical regions, and ecosystem types. A general protocol, documentation–assessment–monitoring–action (DAMA), suggests an integrated proposal to build a proactive capacity to understand, anticipate, and respond …

The Roles Of Phenotypic Plasticity And Genotypic Specialization In High Altitude Adaptation, Danielle M. Tufts

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

In vertebrates living at high altitude, arterial hypoxemia may be ameliorated by reversible changes in the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood (regulated by erythropoiesis) and/or changes in blood–oxygen affinity (regulated by allosteric effectors of hemoglobin function). These hematological traits often differ between taxa that are native to different elevational zones, but it is often unknown whether the observed physiological differences reflect fixed, genetically based differences or environmentally induced acclimatization responses (phenotypic plasticity). Here, we report measurements of hematological traits related to blood–O₂ transport in populations of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) that are native to high- and low-altitude …

The City In Mind: Environmental Literacy And Adaptation In Nineteenth-Century British Literature, Adam Edward Watkins

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation argues that a new paradigm of selfhood emerged in nineteenth-century British literature, one that recognized the individual will and environmental influence not as antithetical but as dialectical forces in the formation of the self. The concept of an externally negotiated subject challenges both the inward and socially determined conceptions of self that have dominated the relevant criticism. Informed by empiricist, associationist, and evolutionary theories of the mind, the portrayals of subject-formation in this study highlight the radical changes occurring in the human environment in nineteenth-century, which catalyzed the conception of a malleable yet self-forming subject. Along with the …

Wallace On Natural Selection: What Did He Really Have In Mind?, Charles H. Smith

DLPS Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Fitness: Philosophical Problems, Grant Ramsey, Charles H. Pence

Faculty Publications

Fitness plays many roles throughout evolutionary theory, from a measure of populations in the wild to a central element in abstract theoretical presentations of natural selection. It has thus been the subject of an extensive philosophical literature, which has primarily centred on the way to understand the relationship between fitness values and reproductive outcomes. If fitness is a probabilistic or statistical quantity, how is it to be defined in general theoretical contexts? How can it be measured? Can a single conceptual model for fitness be offered that applies to all biological cases, or must fitness measures be case-specific? Philosophers have …

From Gibbons To Gymnasts: A Look At The Biomechanics And Neurophysiology Of Brachiation In Gibbons And Its Human Rediscovery, Emma Et Pennock

Student Works

This conference paper serves to examine the evolutionary linkages of a brachiating ancestor in humans, the biomechanical and neurophysiology of modern day brachiators, and the human rediscovery of this form of locomotion. Brachiation is arguably one of the most metabolically effective modes of travel by any organism and can be observed most meritoriously in Gibbons. The purpose of the research conducted for this paper was to encourage further exploration of the neurophysiological similarities and differences between humans and non-human primates. The hope is that in spurring more interest and research in this area, further possibilities for rehabilitating brain injury will …

Integrating, Developing, And Testing Methods To Generate More Cohesive Approaches To Biogeographic Inference, Mallory Elizabeth Eckstut

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

As a fundamental component of the developing discipline of conservation biogeography, broadscale analyses of biotic assembly and disassembly across multiple temporal and spatial scales provide an enhanced understanding of how geologic transformations and climate oscillations have shaped extant patterns of biodiversity. As with any scientific field, there are limitations in the case of biogeographic historical reconstructions. Historical reconstructions are only as robust as the theoretical underpinnings of the methods of reconstruction (including data collection, quality, analysis, and interpretation). Nevertheless, historical reconstructions of species distributions can help inform our understanding of how species respond to environmental change.

My dissertation takes a …

The Effects Of Starvation Selection On Drosophila Melanogaster Life History And Development, Lauren A. Reynolds

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In nature, animals may endure periods of famine to complete their life cycles. Starvation stress will increase in populations as climates around the world change. To predict how populations may respond to such a stress, laboratory experimentation becomes essential. The evolutionary process of adaptation, its innovations and their trade-offs, can be studied in populations experiencing starvation stress. For this purpose outbred populations ofDrosophila melanogasterwere selected for starvation resistance in the laboratory.

After 60+ generations of starvation selection the starvation-selected flies have gone from surviving 2-3 days without food to 12-14 days without food. How this amazing feat of resistance is …

Improving Codon Evolution Models Using Complex Mutation Models, Preston Hewgley

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This paper discusses an improvement in a Stochastic Evolutionary Model of Protein Production Rate (SEMPPR) by revising the method by which it models mutation. SEMPPR previously assumed unbiased mutation, an assumption whose inaccuracy is made clear by observed codon counts of low-expression genes, where mutation determines equilibrium state. This paper presents a new, more complex model generalized on a per-codon basis and calculated from observed codon frequencies using a maximum likelihood framework. Results obtained from SEMPPR using the codon specific mutation model proved more accurate in predicting a protein’s production rate, reaffirming that complex mechanisms govern codon mutation rates.

Attitudes Toward Evolution At New England Colleges And Universities, United States, Guillermo Paz-Y-Miño-C, Avelina Espinosa

New England Science Public: Series Evolution

Paz-y-Miño-C G & Espinosa A. 2013. Attitudes toward Evolution at New England Colleges and Universities, United States. New England Science Public: Series Evolution 1(1): 1-32 (ISSN: 2326-0971). We compile the most significant results of our conceptual and quantitative studies on the patterns of acceptance of evolution at New England colleges and universities, conducted between 2009 and 2012. We examine the views of New England Faculty and Educators of Prospective Teachers (higher-education faculty themselves, specialized in training future teachers) from 35 colleges and universities, as well as a representative sample of College Students from a Public, Private and two Religious …

(Review) Deep History: The Architecture Of Past And Present, Frederick S. Paxton

History Faculty Publications

The article reviews the book "Deep History: The Architecture of Past and Present," edited by Andrew Shryock and Daniel Lord Smail.

The Real Alfred Russel Wallace: Essays On An Outside-The-Box Thinker, Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913), English polymath and social critic, ranks high on the list of the most interesting characters in the history of science. Nevertheless, and despite a life filled with achievement, he has often been marginalized in the halls of learning. The truth is, Wallace was something of an “outside–the–box” thinker, and his many forays into the murkier areas of science and social science cost him a lot of potential supporters. Still others, while recognizing his intellectual talents in general, have looked at the full span of his work and interests as a …

Aspm And The Evolution Of Cerebral Cortical Size In A Community Of New World Monkeys, Fernando A. Villanea, George H. Perry, Gustavo A. Gutiérrez-Espeleta, Nathaniel J. Dominy

Dartmouth Scholarship

The ASPM (abnormal spindle-like microcephaly associated) gene has been proposed as a major determinant of cerebral cortical size among primates, including humans. Yet the specific functions of ASPM and its connection to human intelligence remain controversial. This debate is limited in part by a taxonomic focus on Old World monkeys and apes. Here we expand the comparative context of ASPM sequence analyses with a study of New World monkeys, a radiation of primates in which enlarged brain size has evolved in parallel in spider monkeys (genus Ateles) and capuchins (genus Cebus). The primate community of Costa Rica is perhaps a …

A Tale Of Two Haplotypes: The Eda2r/Ar Intergenic Region Is The Most Divergent Genomic Segment Between Africans And East Asians In The Human Genome, Amanda M. Casto, Brenna M. Henn, Jeffery M. Kidd, Carlos D. Bustamante, Marcus W. Feldman

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with large allele frequency differences between human populations are relatively rare. The longest run of SNPs with an allele frequency difference of one between the Yoruba of Nigeria and the Han Chinese is found on the long arm of the X chromosome in the intergenic region separating the EDA2R and AR genes. It has been proposed that the unusual allele frequency distributions of these SNPs are the result of a selective sweep affecting African populations that occurred after the Out-of-Africa migration. To investigate the evolutionary history of the EDA2R/AR intergenic region, we characterized the haplotype structure …

Scopes, John Thomas, 1900-1970 (Mss 419), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Collection 419. Letters and clippings removed from a scrapbook belonging to John T. Scopes or his wife and relating primarily to the 1925 Scopes trial, his subsequent notoriety, and later publicity and commemorations surrounding the controversy.

Two Boundaries Separate Borrelia Burgdorferi Populations In North America, Gabriele Margos, Jean I. Tsao, Santiago Castillo-Ramirez, Yvette A. Girard, Anne G. Hoen

Dartmouth Scholarship

Understanding the spread of infectious diseases is crucial for implementing effective control measures. For this, it is important to obtain information on the contemporary population structure of a disease agent and to infer the evolutionary processes that may have shaped it. Here, we investigate on a continental scale the population structure of Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme borreliosis (LB), a tick-borne disease, in North America. We test the hypothesis that the observed d population structure is congruent with recent population expansions and that these were preceded by bottlenecks mostly likely caused by the near extirpation in the 1900s …

Paleobiological Assessment Of Controls Underlying Long-Term Diversity Dynamics, Andrés L. Cárdenas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Deciphering the factors underlying both long-term patterns of diversity and taxonomic turnover rates (i.e., extinction, and origination) has been one of Paleobiology's major foci for the past three decades. The importance of documenting these components is that they will expand our ability to interpret and model the evolutionary processes underlying those trends, highlight the evolutionary impact of historical events, and contribute to the formulation of robust predictions about the future of global diversity in response to the current anthropologically driven environmental changes. Accordingly, the first part of this study examines the possible occurrence of global marine evolutionary environmental controls into …

From A Rodent To A Rhetorician: An Ideological Analysis Of George Alexander Kennedy's Comparative Rhetoric, James Begley

Masters Theses

George Alexander Kennedy, a professor of classics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has given birth to a new understanding of rhetorical studies: he argues for the evolution of rhetoric from animals to humans. Using Sonja Foss's methodology of "ideological criticism," this thesis examined Kennedy's case as presented in his book, Comparative Rhetoric: an Historical and Cross-Cultural Introduction. This study discovered that the book was heavily influenced by a secular, pro-evolutionary ideology which dually contributed to its selective use of scientific evidences and production of inconsistent arguments. Evaluated on the basis of Biblical principles, this thesis concluded …

Some Biogeographers, Evolutionists And Ecologists: Chrono-Biographical Sketches, Charles H. Smith, Joshua Woleben, Carubie Rodgers

DLPS Faculty Publications

Each name in the following list of naturalists is linked to a corresponding capsule "chrono-biographical" sketch of that individual prepared by the authors. Coverage extends from approximately 1950 backward in time as far as the eighteenth century; figures from all over the world are included (though there is admittedly a decided Anglo-American bias). The target subject here is biogeography, but this being a broad field there are many persons on the list who are better known as climatologists, zoologists, botanists, ecologists, oceanographers, paleontologists, etc.--in other words, who made their main reputations in cognate disciplines.

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Natural Selection: A Concept In Need Of Some Evolution?, Charles H. Smith

DLPS Faculty Publications

In some respects natural selection is a quite simple theory, arrived at through the logical integration of three propositions (the presence of variation within natural populations, an absolutely limited resources base, and procreation capacities exceeding mere replacement numbers) whose individual truths can hardly be denied. Its relation to the larger subject of evolution, however, remains problematic. It is suggested here that a scaling-down of the meaning of natural selection to “the elimination of the unfit,” as originally intended by Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913), might ultimately prove a more effective means of relating it to larger-scale, longer-term, evolutionary processes.

Intra And Interhost Dynamics Shaping Arbovirus Adaptation And Evolution, Alexander T. Ciota

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses), which are predominately mosquito-borne and almost exclusively RNA viruses, are maintained in nature in complex transmission cycles involving blood sucking invertebrates and vertebrate hosts. Although over 120 arboviruses are human pathogens responsible for causing a significant and expanding global health burden, a detailed understanding of the complex interactions between these pathogens and their hosts, particularly invertebrate hosts, is lacking. Defining these interactions is necessary if we are to understand the selective pressures and, therefore, evolutionary, adaptive, and epidemiological potential of arboviruses. This requires experimental infection and evolution studies, particularly in vivo, with natural hosts. The results presented …

Placing Birds On A Dynamic Evolutionary Map: Using Digital Tools To Update The Evolutionary Metaphor Of The "Tree Of Life", Sonia Stephens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation describes and presents a new type of interactive visualization for communicating about evolutionary biology, the dynamic evolutionary map. This web-based tool utilizes a novel map-based metaphor to visualize evolution, rather than the traditional "tree of life." The dissertation begins with an analysis of the conceptual affordances of the traditional tree of life as the dominant metaphor for evolution. Next, theories from digital media, visualization, and cognitive science research are synthesized to support the assertion that digital media tools can extend the types of visual metaphors we use in science communication in order to overcome conceptual limitations of traditional …

Electrosensory Ampullary Organs Are Derived From Lateral Line Placodes In Bony Fishes, Melissa S. Modrell, William E. Benis, R. Glenn Northcutt, Marcus C. Davis, Clare V.H. Baker

Faculty Articles

Electroreception is an ancient subdivision of the lateral line sensory system, found in all major vertebrate groups (though lost in frogs, amniotes and most ray-finned fishes). Electroreception is mediated by 'hair cells' in ampullary organs, distributed in fields flanking lines of mechanosensory hair cell-containing neuromasts that detect local water movement. Neuromasts, and afferent neurons for both neuromasts and ampullary organs, develop from lateral line placodes. Although ampullary organs in the axolotl (a representative of the lobe-finned clade of bony fishes) are lateral line placode-derived, non-placodal origins have been proposed for electroreceptors in other taxa. Here we show morphological and molecular …

A Mathematician Weighs In On The Evolution Debate, Kris H. Green

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

There are a variety of reasons underlying the lack of public acceptance for the theory of evolution in the United States. An overlooked cause is related to problems with the mathematics curriculum in the K-12 setting. In this essay, we examine this relationship and propose changes to the mathematics curriculum that could improve mathematical thinking while also providing a basis for understanding theories, like evolution, that are poorly understood.