Behavior and Ethology Commons^™

High Connectivity In The Deepwater Snapper Pristipomoides Filamentosus (Lutjanidae) Across The Indo-Pacific With Isolation Of The Hawaiian Archipelago, Michelle R. Gaither, Shelley A. Jones, Christopher Kelley, Stephen J. Newman, Laurie Sorenson, Brian W. Bowen

Fisheries Research Articles

In the tropical Indo-Pacific, most phylogeographic studies have focused on the shallow-water taxa that inhabit reefs to approximately 30 m depth. Little is known about the large predatory fishes, primarily snappers (subfamily Etelinae) and groupers (subfamily Epinephelinae) that occur at 100–400 m. These long-lived, slow-growing species support fisheries across the Indo-Pacific, yet no comprehensive genetic surveys within this group have been conducted. Here we contribute the first range-wide survey of a deepwater Indo-Pacific snapper, Pristipomoides filamentosus, with special focus on Hawai'i. We applied mtDNA cytochrome b and 11 microsatellite loci to 26 samples (N = 1,222) collected across …

Effect Of Diet Quantity And Quality On Female Sampling Behavior And Mating Preferences In A Field Cricket, Heidi L. Bulfer

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

Understanding the adaptive significance of variation in female mating behaviour is important because variation may often be favored by selection instead of a change in mean mating behaviour, particularly in variable environments. Females are known to adjust their mating behaviour to a variety of intrinsic and extrinsic factors including nutrition. There are multiple reasons why female behaviours might vary with nutrition; we tested two of these hypotheses: the search cost hypothesis and the direct benefits hypothesis. These hypotheses are not mutually exclusive, but they make contrasting predictions under some conditions. Low nutrition females may have less available energy to support …

Life History Tradeoffs And Phenotypic Plasticity: The Tale Of A Flight Polyphenic Field Cricket, Chandreyee Mitra

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

Most organisms are resource limited. Such limitations can result in tradeoffs between life history traits -- any traits that affect survival or reproduction. Flight polyphenic field crickets are thought to be a classic example of such a life history tradeoff, in which individuals tradeoff investment in flight capability and investment in reproduction. This polyphenism results from the interaction of two morphological traits: wing morphology (short or long) and flight muscle morphology (functional pink or non-functional white), and is affected by both genes and the environment. I examined life history traits of a flight polyphenic field cricket, Gryllus lineaticeps. First, …

Learned Recognition And Avoidance Of Invasive Mosquitofish By The Shrimp, Paratya Australiensis, Joshua D. Bool, Kristen Whitcomb, Erin Kydd, Culum Brown

Sentience Collection

Little is known about the learning ability of crustaceans, especially with respect to their anti-predator responses to invasive species. In many vertebrates, anti-predator behaviour is influenced by experience during ontogeny. Here, predator-naïve glass shrimp (Paratya australiensisis) were exposed to a predatory, invasive fish species, Gambusia holbrooki, to determine whether shrimp could learn to: (1) avoid the scent of Gambusia via classical conditioning; and (2) restrict their activity patterns to the night to reduce predatory encounters. Conditioned shrimp were placed in containers in aquaria containing Gambusia for 3 days during which time they could be harassed but not consumed by Gambusia. …

The Ecology Of The Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus Horridus) In Southeastern Virginia, Scott M. Goetz

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Few studies have examined the relationship between forest canopy structure and the ecology of the timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus). I used radiotelemetry to compare the movements, activity range sizes and behaviors of timber rattlesnakes before and after a large-scale natural disturbance that opened a previously closed canopy. The disturbance was Hurricane Isabel which made landfall in northeast North Carolina and southeastern Virginia in 2003. Isabel created gaps in the canopy through tree blowdown, resulting in a 16.6% opening in the forest canopy at my study site, in southeastern Virginia. I compared six years of female tracking data from …

Picture Recognition Of Food By Macaques (Macaca Silenus), Peter G. Judge

Faculty Journal Articles

Pictorial representations of three-dimensional objects are often used to investigate animal cognitive abilities; however, investigators rarely evaluate whether the animals conceptualize the two-dimensional image as the object it is intended to represent. We tested for picture recognition in lion-tailed macaques by presenting five monkeys with digitized images of familiar foods on a touch screen. Monkeys viewed images of two different foods and learned that they would receive a piece of the one they touched first. After demonstrating that they would reliably select images of their preferred foods on one set of foods, animals were transferred to images of a second …

Avian Influenza In Migratory Birds In The United States, 2007–2009, And Effects Of September Hunting Seasons On Survival, Harvest, And Recovery Rates Of Canada Geese Banded In Southeast Nebraska, Scott R. Groepper

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Highly-pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV H5N1) poses risks to wild birds, poultry, and humans. Personnel with the United States Department of Agriculture-Animal Plant Health Inspection Service-Wildlife Services, state, and tribal wildlife agencies collected 168,940 samples from migratory birds from 2007 to 2009 to test for presence of HPAIV H5N1. No HPAIV was found, but other subtypes were discovered, including H5 and H7. I estimated prevalence of avian influenza virus by flyway and found prevalence was lowest each year in the Atlantic Flyway (6.7%–8.3%), highest in the Pacific Flyway in 2007 (13.3%) and 2008 (13.4%), and highest in the Mississippi Flyway …

Phylogeography Of A Vanishing North American Songbird: The Painted Bunting (Passerina Ciris), Connie Ann Herr

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Studies of genetic variation within and between species can provide insights into their evolutionary history as well as important information for conserving biodiversity. An understanding of population processes can assist in the conservation of biodiversity by contrasting current versus historical patterns, and the processes that have generated these patterns. Genetic differentiation often coincides with significant geological or climatic changes that have shaped the sizes and locations of the species geographic range and altered the connectivity between populations over time. Phylogenetic and population genetic analyses can also provide a statistical framework for the investigation of how human processes such as habitat …

Phylogeography Of The Reef Fish Cephalopholis Argus(Epinephelidae) Indicates Pleistocene Isolation Across The Indo-Pacific Barrier With Contemporary Overlap In The Coral Triangle, Michelle R. Gaither, Brian W. Bowen, Tiana-Rae Bordenave, Luiz A. Rocha, Stephen J. Newman, Juan A. Gomez, Lynne Van Herwerden, Matthew T. Craig

Fisheries Research Articles

Background

The Coral Triangle (CT), bounded by the Philippines, the Malay Peninsula, and New Guinea, is the epicenter of marine biodiversity. Hypotheses that explain the source of this rich biodiversity include 1) the center of origin, 2) the center of accumulation, and 3) the region of overlap. Here we contribute to the debate with a phylogeographic survey of a widely distributed reef fish, the Peacock Grouper (Cephalopholis argus; Epinephelidae) at 21 locations (N = 550) using DNA sequence data from mtDNA cytochrome b and two nuclear introns (gonadotropin-releasing hormone and S7 ribosomal protein).

Results

Population structure was significant …

The Effects Of Social Context And Cache Survival On Pinyon Jay Caching Behavior, Christine L. Keefe

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

I examined how pinyon jays (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) assess and determine the risk of pilferage to their caches. Jays were allowed to cache in an open room while alone or while being observed by a conspecific. In a counterbalanced design, jays cached in the opposite treatment once they had finished recovering their caches. I compared birds’ behaviors between treatments in order to determine whether jays consider the presence of an observer in measuring the local competitive environment. Once all jays had completed alone- and observed- treatments, I ran the experiment once more to determine if individuals were consistent in …

Exploring Sources Of Selection On The Multimodal Courtship Displays Of Two Sister Species Of Wolf Spiders: Schizocosa Crassipalpata And Schizocosa Bilineata, Mitch D. Bern

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

We examined multiple sources of selection on the multimodal courtship display of two sister species of wolf spiders, Schizocosa crassipalpata and Schizocosa bilineata. We first experimentally altered body condition in these two species by employing divergent diet treatments. We then tested for differences in adult male seismic courtship displays, visual courtship displays, and foreleg morphology; as well as adult female foreleg morphology. We then simultaneously examined both content and efficacy-based sources of selection on the visual and seismic multimodal courtship display of both species by conducting mate choice trials with high and low diet individuals across manipulated signaling environments …

The Complexities Of Wolf Spider Communication: Exploring Courtship Signal Function In Rabidosa Rabida, Dustin J. Wilgers

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

Evidence of signal complexity is seemingly pervasive across animal communication systems. Exploring signal function may provide insight into how these displays evolved and are maintained. This dissertation examines the courtship signal function in a grassland wolf spider. Rabidosa rabida lives in an extremely complex environment, and males use complex displays incorporating both visual and seismic modalities. Using several approaches I provide insight into the content and efficacy of the various signal components, as well as how variation in these displays influence female mating decisions in isolation and combined.

First, I manipulated male and female body condition using diet quantity manipulations …

Patterns Of Transience, Sex Bias, And Body Mass In Open-Habitat Rodent Populations, Stephen Edward Rice

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Rodents are assumed to live their lives in circumscribed (natal) areas with males being more prone to disperse than females and juveniles more prone to disperse than adults. To test these assumptions we examined the initial captures of geographic populations of hispid cotton rat, meadow vole, prairie vole, and marsh rice rat obtained through capture-mark-recapture methods. Capture records were obtained from Kansas and Illinois from long-term studies, and through live-trapping in Chesapeake, Virginia. I evaluated proportions of residents and transients, adults and juveniles, and males and females for significant differences among seasons, years, and geographic locations. The overall body masses …

Rats As Forest Pests In Southeastern Virginia: Girdling By The Hispid Cotton Rat Sigmodon Hispidus As A Significant Source Of Mortality Of Loblolly Pines (Pinus Taeda) In A Successional Pine Forest, Robyn M. Nadolny

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) is a common field rodent throughout the southeastern US, where volunteer loblolly pine trees (Pinus taeda) invade open space and begin the process of ecological succession from field to pine forest. Recent analysis of the diet of S. hispidus indicates that loblolly pine bark is stripped and eaten during the winter months. In this study, we explored the extent of rodent girdling on a 1.23 ha grid in a successional pine forest in southeastern Virginia. During the winter of 2005 we observed damage to 65% of trees in our study area, with 98% …

Analytic And Numerical Studies Of A Simple Model Of Attractive-Repulsive Swarms, Andrew S. Ronan

HMC Senior Theses

We study the equilibrium solutions of an integrodifferential equation used to model one-dimensional biological swarms. We assume that the motion of the swarm is governed by pairwise interactions, or a convolution in the continuous setting, and derive a continuous model from conservation laws. The steady-state solution found for the model is compactly supported and is shown to be an attractive equilibrium solution via linear perturbation theory. Numerical simulations support that the steady-state solution is attractive for all initial swarm distributions. Some initial results for the model in higher dimensions are also presented.

Enigmatic Ornamentation Eases Male Reliance On Courtship Performance For Mating Success, Eileen Hebets, Jay A. Stafstrom, Rafael L. Rodriguez, Dustin J. Wilgers

Eileen Hebets Publications

Female preferences are frequently invoked to explain the widespread occurrence of elaborate male ornaments, yet empirical data demonstrating such preferences are sometimes equivocal or even contradictory. In the wolf spider Schizocosa stridulans, despite evidence of strong female choice, prior research has been unable to link the conspicuous sexually dimorphic foreleg ornamentation of males to their mating success. We conducted three experiments aimed at determining the function of this previously enigmatic ornamentation. Our first two experiments used males with phenotypically modified foreleg phenotypes in simple and complex mating environments in order to examine the relationship between the presence/absence of ornamentation …

Effects Of Prey-Spider Odour On Intraspecific Interactions Of Araneophagic Jumping Spiders, Fiona R. Cross, Robert R. Jackson

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

An important prediction from game theory is that the value of a resource will influence the level to which an animal is willing to escalate during conflict with conspecific rivals. Here we use this prediction as the rationale for experiments aimed at determining whether escalation decisions made by predators are influenced by the presence of preferred prey. The predators we use are adult individuals of Portia fimbriata, a jumping-spider (Salticidae) species from Queensland (Australia). P. fimbriata is known to prefer other salticid species as prey and can detect the odour of Jacksonoides queenslandicus, this being an especially common salticid species …

Assortative Mating In Fallow Deer Reduces The Strength Of Sexual Selection, Mary E. Farrell, Elodie Briefer, Alan G. Mcelligott

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Background: Assortative mating can help explain how genetic variation for male quality is maintained even in highly polygynous species. Here, we present a longitudinal study examining how female and male ages, as well as male social dominance, affect assortative mating in fallow deer (Dama dama) over 10 years. Assortative mating could help explain the substantial proportion of females that do not mate with prime-aged, high ranking males, despite very high mating skew. We investigated the temporal pattern of female and male matings, and the relationship between female age and the age and dominance of their mates.

Results: The peak of …

Draft Genome Of The Red Harvester Ant Pogonomyrmex Barbatus, Chris R. Smith, Christopher D. Smith, Hugh M. Robertson, Martin Helmkampf, Aleksey Zimin, Mark Yandall, Carson Holt, Hao Hu, Ehab Abouheif, Richard Benton, Elizabeth Cash, Vincent Croset, Cameron R. Currie, Eran Elhaik, Christine G. Elsik, Marie-Julie Favé, Vilaiwan Fernandes, Joshua D. Gibson, Dan Graur, Wulfila Gronenberg, Kirk J. Grubbs, Darren E. Hagen, Ana Sofia Ibarraran Viniegra, Brian R. Johnson, Reed M. Johnson, Abderrahman Khila, Jay W. Kim, Kaitlyn A, Mathis, Monica C. Munoz-Torres, Marguerite C. Murphy, Julie A. Mustard, Rin Nakamura, Oliver Niehuis, Surabhi Nigam, Rick P. Overson, Jennifer E. Placek, Rajendhran Rajakumar, Justin T. Reese, Garret Suen, Shu Tao, Candice W. Torres, Neil D. Tsutsui, Lumi Viljakainen, Florian Wolschin, Jürgen Gadau

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

We report the draft genome sequence of the red harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex barbatus. The genome was sequenced using 454 pyrosequencing, and the current assembly and annotation were completed in less than 1 y. Analyses of conserved gene groups (more than 1,200 manually annotated genes to date) suggest a high-quality assembly and annotation comparable to recently sequenced insect genomes using Sanger sequencing. The red harvester ant is a model for studying reproductive division of labor, phenotypic plasticity, and sociogenomics. Although the genome of P. barbatus is similar to other sequenced hymenopterans (Apis mellifera and Nasonia vitripennis) in …

More Ornamented Males Exhibit Increased Predation Risk And Antipredatory Escapes, But Not Greater Mortality, Kasey D. Fowler-Finn, Eileen Hebets

Eileen Hebets Publications

Secondary sexual traits not only confer benefits to their bearer through increased mate acquisition, but may also have inherent costs, including the attraction of predators. Here, we examined the relationship between conspicuous secondary sexual traits and predation costs using two male morphs of Schizocosa wolf spiders: brushlegged and non-ornamented. In the field, we ran two predation experiments using artificial enclosures to directly test mortality costs of predation on the two male morphs. Using a natural predator, a larger wolf spider in the genus Hogna, we found no difference in predation on brush-legged vs. non-ornamented males. However, predation was depends …

Evidence Of Cowbird Parasitism On Yellow-Throated Warblers At Starved Rock State Park, Illinois, Usa, Joseph Traina

Faculty Publications & Research

An adult yellow-throated warbler (Dendroica dominica) was observed feeding a fledged brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) on July 1, 2010 at the Beehive Overlook at Starved Rock State Park (LaSalle County, Illinois, USA). Food in the form of captured insects was brought to the young cowbird five times during a period of approximately 15 minutes.

Infectious Diseases In Yellowstone’S Canid Community, Emily S. Almberg, Paul C. Cross, L. David Mech, Doug W. Smith, Jennifer W. Sheldon, Robert L. Crabtree

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Each summer Yellowstone Wolf Project staff visit den sites to monitor the success of wolf reproduction and pup rearing behavior. For the purposes of wolf monitoring, Yellowstone National Park (YNP) is divided into two study areas, the northern range and the interior, each distinguished by their ecological and physiographical differences. The 1,000 square kilometer northern range, characterized by lower elevations (1,500–2,200 m), serves as prime winter habitat for ungulates and supports a higher density of wolves than the interior (20–99 wolves/1,000 km² versus 2–11 wolves/1,000 km²). The interior of the park encompasses 7,991 square kilometers, is higher …

An Evolutionary Psychology Perspective On Responsibility Attributions For Infidelity And Relationship Dissolution, Kindra Lynn Edmonson

Theses Digitization Project

This study investigated responsibility attributions for a partner's emotional infidelity and for a partner's sexual infidelity, and the likelyhood that the victim or partner would end the relationship. This study found a significant relationship between responsibility attributions for a romantic partner's unfaithfulness and the likelihood the relationship would end: the stronger the attributions of personal responsibility the more likely the relationship would dissolve.

Qualitative Behavioural Assessment And Quantitative Physiological Measurement Of Cattle Naïve And Habituated To Road Transport, C. A. Stockman, T. Collins, A. L. Barnes, D. Miller, S. L. Wickham, D. T. Beatty, D. Blache, F. Wemelsfelder, P. A. Fleming

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

The present study examined whether observers could distinguish between cattle that are naïve to road transport and the same cattle after becoming more habituated to transport. The behavioural expression of cattle was assessed through the method of qualitative behavioural assessment (QBA), and these assessments were correlated with various physiological parameters. Fourteen Angus steers were assessed during their first road trip and then again on their ninth trip, 15 days later. Blood samples were collected immediately before and after transport, and heart rate and core body temperature were measured continuously throughout each trip. Video footage recorded during each trip was edited …

Signs Of Mood And Anxiety Disorders In Chimpanzees, Hope Ferdowsian, Debra Durham, Charles Kimwele, Godelieve Kranendonk, Emily Otali, Timothy Akugizibwe, J. B. Mulcahy, Lilly Ajarova, Cassie Meré Johnson

Sentience Collection

Background: In humans, traumatic experiences are sometimes followed by psychiatric disorders. In chimpanzees, studies have demonstrated an association between traumatic events and the emergence of behavioral disturbances resembling posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. We addressed the following central question: Do chimpanzees develop posttraumatic symptoms, in the form of abnormal behaviors, which cluster into syndromes similar to those described in human mood and anxiety disorders?

Methodology/Principal Findings: In phase 1 of this study, we accessed case reports of chimpanzees who had been reportedly subjected to traumatic events, such as maternal separation, social isolation, experimentation, or similar experiences. We applied and …

Passing Pains: Revenge, Retaliation, And Redirected Aggression In A New Light, Lixing Sun

Biology Faculty Scholarship

A review of David P. Barash and Judith Eve Lipton, Payback: Why We Retaliate, Redirect Aggression, and Take Revenge, Oxford University Press: New York, 2011, 209 pp., US$24.95, ISBN 019539514X (hardcover).

Current Status And Future Directions Of Research In Complex Signaling, Eileen Hebets

Eileen Hebets Publications

The term ‘complex signaling’ reflects a recent scientific focus on the multiple elements frequently incorporated into animal signals (reviewed in Candolin, 2003; Hebets and Papaj, 2005; Partan and Marler, 2005; Bro-Jorgensen, 2010). It embodies a new appreciation that signals used in communication are regularly composed of numerous components and that each component may individually vary in a number of ways. For example, signal components may vary in their time or mechanism of production, in the efficacy of their transmission, and/or in their mechanism of reception, among others. Employing the term ‘complex signaling’ reminds us of the need to maintain a …

Chemical Communication In A Multimodal Context, Eileen A. Hebets, Aaron S. Rundus

Eileen Hebets Publications

All animals are equipped with multiple sensory systems (e.g., visual, chemical, acoustic, tactile, electrical, thermal), and signals perceived via these sensory systems facilitate communication. Such communication often involves displays that incorporate more than one signal from more than one sensory modality, resulting in multimodal signaling. The number of empirical and theoretical studies addressing issues of multimodal signaling is ever-increasing and this chapter highlights why crustaceans, as a taxonomic group, are ideal for advancing such studies. Early classifications of multimodal signaling sought to categorize signal components as either redundant or nonredundant, while more recent classifications lay out specific hypotheses relating to …

Male Field Crickets Infested By Parasitoid Flies Express Phenotypes That May Benefit The Parasitoids, Oliver M. Beckers, William E. Wagner

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Parasites can cause changes in the phenotypes of their hosts that may benefit the parasite, the host, or both. To understand the evolutionary dynamics of host–parasite interactions it is necessary to first examine the effect of parasitic infestation on the host phenotype and whether the host or parasite benefits from these changes. The fly Ormia ochracea parasitizes the variable field cricket, Gryllus lineaticeps, and it uses male song to locate hosts for its lethal larvae. Adult flies preferentially orient to male songs with faster and longer chirps. We tested the effect of larval infestation on two types of host traits. …

Females Are Choosier In The Dark: Environment-Dependent Reliance On Courtship Components And Its Impact On Fitness, Aaron S. Rundus, Laura Sullivan-Beckers, Dustin J. Wilgers, Eileen Hebets

Eileen Hebets Publications

A broad understanding of multimodal courtship function necessitates knowledge of the potential information content of signal components, the efficacy of signal components in eliciting the appropriate receiver response, and the fitness consequences of mating decisions based upon various signal components. We present data addressing each of these requirements for the multimodal-signaling wolf spider, Schizocosa floridana Bryant. Using diet manipulations, we first demonstrate that both visual and seismic courtship signals are condition-dependent. Next, using high- and low-quantity diet individuals in mate choice trials across manipulated signaling environments, we demonstrate that the seismic signal is crucial for mating success and further show …