Behavior and Ethology Commons^™

Temporal Factors Affecting Foraging Patterns Of A Diurnal Orb-Weaving Spider, Micrathena Gracilis (Araneae: Araneidae), Mitchell Davis Long

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Several studies have investigated the ecological factors that affect behavior in Micrathena gracilis, a diurnal orb-weaving spider that forages on flying insects during the day. However, none yet have considered how the temporal distributions of prey and predator occurrences shape their daily behavioral rhythms, especially web construction, which involves a heavy energetic investment well in advance of potential nutritional benefit. Recently, several orb-weaving spider species have been shown to exhibit a variety of abnormal rhythms, suggesting that circadian clock-controlled rhythms may play an unexpected role in behavioral evolution. Despite the appearance of significant insect abundance in the evenings, M. gracilis …

A Troop, A Raft, A Bed, Hanna Jane Guendel

Senior Projects Spring 2020

A Troop, a Raft, a Bed tells the interwoven fictional stories of three major animals (the mountain gorilla, the Adélie penguin, and the American eel) and four transitional animals (the white stork, the humpback whale, the common octopus, and the great white shark). The stories are told from the animals' perspectives, and are written with language that considers each animal's unique intelligence, mind, and behavior. These stories seek to communicate how animals around the world may be experiencing the various effects of climate change and global warming.

The Rattle Call: A Female-Specific Vocalization In Steller's Jays, Kachina L. Rowland

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

While the elaborate songs of male passerines are well documented for their role in intrasexual resource competition and mate attraction, vocalizations used in female competition are poorly understood. Research has suggested that the female-specific rattle call of Steller’s jays (Cyanocitta stelleri) is used in competition for access to a territory and mate. I describe structural properties of the rattle call, and compare life history traits of individual females to rattle call occurrence. I used two rates to quantify rattle call occurrence from 20 females: rattles per observation period (RPO), and proportion of observations with a rattle call (POR) …

From Organisms To Ecosystems: Impacts Of Limb Loss And Regeneration On Crayfish Behavior, Luc Arnaud Dunoyer

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

The ability of some organisms to regenerate tissues and organs has fascinated naturalists since antiquity, dating back to the earliest accounts of scientific inquiry with Aristotle in Ancient Greece. Then, Darwin’s theory invigorated some scientists’ dream of stimulating (or reactivating) regenerative capacities in human beings by showing that we are related to highly regenerative organisms. More recently, a renewed interest in discovering the molecular and genetic basis for organ and tissue regeneration has led biologists to focus more specifically on a restrictive set of model organisms.

Although the process of limb regeneration is different between invertebrate and vertebrate organisms, it …