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Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology Commons™
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Articles 1 - 22 of 22
Full-Text Articles in Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology
Morphological Variation Of Lingual Glands In Wild American Alligator (Alligator Mississippiensis) Populations, Benjamin Angalet
Morphological Variation Of Lingual Glands In Wild American Alligator (Alligator Mississippiensis) Populations, Benjamin Angalet
Master's Theses
American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) inhabit diverse aquatic ecosystems including freshwater wetlands, swamps, and estuarine rivers. As apex predators, their physiological resilience has implications for ecosystem stability and long-term conservation. With projected sea-level rise and increasing saltwater intrusion into coastal freshwater habitats, understanding the osmoregulatory capacity of alligators is increasingly important. Unlike marine-tolerant crocodilians such as the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), which possess specialized salt-secreting lingual glands in addition to renal and cloacal mechanisms, the morphology and physiological significance of lingual glands in wild American alligators remain poorly understood. This study examined lingual gland morphology and plasma …
Systematics Of Disk-Winged Bats (Thyroptera), Courtney L. Klumpp
Systematics Of Disk-Winged Bats (Thyroptera), Courtney L. Klumpp
Capstone Showcase
This thesis investigates the evolutionary relationships among disk-winged bats in the genus Thyroptera, a small group of Neotropical bats known for the adhesive suction disks on their wings and feet that allow them to roost inside tightly rolled leaves. The distinctive morphology and behavior of these bats have not been extensively documented, and their phylogenetic relationships remain only partially resolved. The goal of this research is to better understand how these species are related to one another and to determine whether the five recognized species of Thyroptera form a single monophyletic group. To address this question, morphological and genetic …
The Evolution Of The Stress Response In The Trinidadian Killifish: Ecological Drivers And Maternal Mediation, Mikaela E. Feder
The Evolution Of The Stress Response In The Trinidadian Killifish: Ecological Drivers And Maternal Mediation, Mikaela E. Feder
Biology Dissertations - Archive
Ecological variables can induce the stress response in organisms. Yet, few studies have tested for evolutionary shifts in stress responses across ecological gradients. In these studies, we used Trinidadian killifish found in sites with predators (high predation, HP) and sites where they are the only fish present (killifish only, KO). HP and KO populations differ in a suite of behavioral and life-history traits, making the Trinidadian killifish an excellent model to examine evolutionary physiology. My dissertation addresses the knowledge gap by examining: (1) how baseline cortisol differs in wild-caught Trinidadian killifish found in HP and KO sites, (2) the influence …
The Role Of Elevation In The Migration, Physiology, And Genomic Diversification Of Birds, Jessie L. Williamson
The Role Of Elevation In The Migration, Physiology, And Genomic Diversification Of Birds, Jessie L. Williamson
Biology ETDs
Elevational gradients cause profound eco-climatic variation across short distances. Partial pressure of oxygen (PO2) is a severe challenge that organisms face at high elevations; due partly to specialization on PO2, most Neotropical bird species have narrow elevational ranges. However, a small fraction are elevational generalists that span sea level to high elevations, and a subset undertake extreme migratory journeys from low to high elevations biannually. My dissertation combines diverse approaches across levels of biological organization to understand how elevation impacts the ecology, evolution, physiology, and migration of montane birds. I examined ‘extreme’ elevational …
Paralog Switching Facilitates Diadromy: Ontogenetic, Microevolutionary And Macroevolutionary Evidence, Rebecca S. Colby, Stephen D. Mccormick, Jonathan P. Velotta, Elizabeth Jockusch, Eric T. Schultz
Paralog Switching Facilitates Diadromy: Ontogenetic, Microevolutionary And Macroevolutionary Evidence, Rebecca S. Colby, Stephen D. Mccormick, Jonathan P. Velotta, Elizabeth Jockusch, Eric T. Schultz
EEB Articles
Euryhalinity is present in diverse aquatic taxa and requires flexible osmoregulation to field the challenges posed by differing salinities. Na+, K+-ATPase (NKA) is a ubiquitous ion pump in the gills of fishes and, for some species, paralogs of the catalytic -subunit (NKA 1a and NKA 1b) exhibit reciprocal expression between fresh- and seawater, termed paralog-switching. We investigated the expression and evolution of NKA paralogs in Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), a euryhaline and migratory fish. Comparisons between landlocked and diadromous life history forms and migrant and pre-migrant ontogenetic stages were used to study shifts in NKA paralog expression related to freshwater or …
Robust Phylogenetic Regression, Richard Adams, Zoe Cain, Raquel Assis, Michael Degiorgio
Robust Phylogenetic Regression, Richard Adams, Zoe Cain, Raquel Assis, Michael Degiorgio
Entomology and Plant Pathology Faculty Publications and Presentations
Modern comparative biology owes much to phylogenetic regression. At its conception, this technique sparked a revolution that armed biologists with phylogenetic comparative methods (PCMs) for disentangling evolutionary correlations from those arising from hierarchical phylogenetic relationships. Over the past few decades, the phylogenetic regression framework has become a paradigm of modern comparative biology that has been widely embraced as a remedy for shared ancestry. However, recent evidence has shown doubt over the efficacy of phylogenetic regression, and PCMs more generally, with the suggestion that many of these methods fail to provide an adequate defense against unreplicated evolution—the primary justification for using …
Internal Vertebral Morphology Of Bony Fishes Matches The Mechanical Demands Of Different Environments, Dana Baxter, Karly E. Cohen, Cassandra M. Donatelli, Eric D. Tytell
Internal Vertebral Morphology Of Bony Fishes Matches The Mechanical Demands Of Different Environments, Dana Baxter, Karly E. Cohen, Cassandra M. Donatelli, Eric D. Tytell
Engineering Faculty Articles and Research
Fishes have repeatedly evolved characteristic body shapes depending on how close they live to the substrate. Pelagic fishes live in open water and typically have narrow, streamlined body shapes; benthic and demersal fishes live close to the substrate; and demersal fishes often have deeper bodies. These shape differences are often associated with behavioral differences: pelagic fishes swim nearly constantly, demersal fishes tend to maneuver near the substrate, and benthic fishes often lie in wait on the substrate. We hypothesized that these morphological and behavioral differences would be reflected in the mechanical properties of the body, and specifically in vertebral column …
Maternal Responses In The Face Of Infection Risk, Patricia C. Lopes, Brenna M. G. Gormally, Aubrey Emmi, Delilah Schuerman, Chathuni Liyanage, Ursula K. Beattie, L. Michael Romero
Maternal Responses In The Face Of Infection Risk, Patricia C. Lopes, Brenna M. G. Gormally, Aubrey Emmi, Delilah Schuerman, Chathuni Liyanage, Ursula K. Beattie, L. Michael Romero
Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research
When animals are sick, their physiology and behavior change in ways that can impact their offspring. Research is emerging showing that infection risk alone can also modify the physiology and behavior of healthy animals. If physiological responses to environments with high infection risk take place during reproduction, it is possible that they lead to maternal effects. Understanding whether and how high infection risk triggers maternal effects is important to elucidate how the impacts of infectious agents extend beyond infected individuals and how, in this way, they are even stronger evolutionary forces than already considered. Here, to evaluate the effects of …
Strong Inferences About Pain In Invertebrates Require Stronger Evidence, Edgar T. Walters
Strong Inferences About Pain In Invertebrates Require Stronger Evidence, Edgar T. Walters
Animal Sentience
Evidence for sentience in animals distantly related to humans is often sought in observations of behavioral and neural responses to noxious stimuli that would be painful in humans. Most proposed criteria for painful sentience in “lower” animals such as decapod crustaceans have no necessary links to the affective (“suffering”) component of pain. The best evidence for painful affect in animals is learned aversion to stimuli associated with noxious experience, and conditioned preference for contexts associated with relief from aversive consequences of noxious experience, as expressed in voluntary behavior. Such evidence is currently lacking for any invertebrate except octopus.
Morphological Variance In Mouthparts And Foraging Behavior In Bumblebees, Ye Jin Lee
Morphological Variance In Mouthparts And Foraging Behavior In Bumblebees, Ye Jin Lee
Honors Theses
Bumblebees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Bombus) show an incredible degree of size variation within and between species. Individuals from the same hive may vary up to 10-fold in mass. This variation allows individuals to specialize in foraging on different flowers suited to their morphology. However, as different species have different foraging behaviors, their variation in mouthparts and scaling of mouthparts to body size may have been under different kinds of stabilizing selection as they adapted to collect nectar from flowering plants over evolutionary time. Here, we examined the scaling relationships between body size and mouthpart structures, and the variation in mouthpart shape …
A Tale Of Winglets: Evolution Of Flight Morphology In Stick Insects, Yu Zeng, Connor O'Malley, Sonal Singhal, Faszly Rahim, Sehoon Park, Xin Chen, Robert Dudley
A Tale Of Winglets: Evolution Of Flight Morphology In Stick Insects, Yu Zeng, Connor O'Malley, Sonal Singhal, Faszly Rahim, Sehoon Park, Xin Chen, Robert Dudley
Publications and Research
The evolutionary transition between winglessness and a full-winged morphology requires selective advantage for intermediate forms. Conversely, repeated secondary wing reductions among the pterygotes indicates relaxation of such selection. However, evolutionary trajectories of such transitions are not well-characterized. The stick insects (Phasmatodea) exhibit diverse wing sizes at both interspecific and intersexual levels, and thus provide a system for examining how selection on flight capability, along with other selective forces, drives the evolution of flight-related morphology. Here, we examine variation in relevant morphology for stick insects using data from 1,100+ individuals representing 765 species. Although wing size varies along a continuous spectrum, …
The Evolution Of Dragons, Laura J. Mayfield
The Evolution Of Dragons, Laura J. Mayfield
Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts
Dragons have been depicted in human art as early as 4500 BCE. For centuries, these fantasy creatures have inspired countless folk and fantasy tales, as well as appearing in the art of different cultures around the world. Now there are thousands of different depictions of these huge, flying, fire-breathing lizards, but are any of them possible? In this study, I reference peer-reviewed scientific articles, phylogenetic analysis, and paleoart studies to create biologically-sound dragons. Basing the dragon lineage on a real branch of webbed-winged scansoriopterygids—an extinct family of climbing and gliding maniraptoran dinosaurs—I explored the possible wing-structure, fire-breathing abilities, and effects …
Plasticity And The Impact Of Increasing Temperature On A Tropical Ectotherm, Adam A. Rosso
Plasticity And The Impact Of Increasing Temperature On A Tropical Ectotherm, Adam A. Rosso
College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations
Organisms may respond to climate change through behavior, genetic adaptation, and/or phenotypic plasticity. Tropical ectotherms are thought to be especially vulnerable to climate change because most have a narrow range of thermal tolerance while living close to their upper thermal tolerance limits. Additionally, many tropical species live in closed-canopy forests, which provide homogenous thermal landscapes that prevent behavioral compensation for stressfully warm temperatures. Finally, tropical ectotherms are thought to have decreased capacity for phenotypic plasticity because they have evolved in thermally stable environments. We tested gene expression patterns and phenotypic plasticity in the Panamanian slender anole by a) measuring changes …
Radical Social Ecology As Deep Pragmatism: A Call To The Abolition Of Systemic Dissonance And The Minimization Of Entropic Chaos, Arielle Brender
Radical Social Ecology As Deep Pragmatism: A Call To The Abolition Of Systemic Dissonance And The Minimization Of Entropic Chaos, Arielle Brender
Student Theses 2015-Present
This paper aims to shed light on the dissonance caused by the superimposition of Dominant Human Systems on Natural Systems. I highlight the synthetic nature of Dominant Human Systems as egoic and linguistic phenomenon manufactured by a mere portion of the human population, which renders them inherently oppressive unto peoples and landscapes whose wisdom were barred from the design process. In pursuing a radical pragmatic approach to mending the simultaneous oppression and destruction of the human being and the earth, I highlight the necessity of minimizing entropic chaos caused by excess energy expenditure, an essential feature of systems that aim …
Mrub_1325, Mrub_1326, Mrub_1327, And Mrub_1328 Are Orthologs Of B_3454, B_3455, B_3457, B_3458, Respectively Found In Escherichia Coli Coding For A Branched Chain Amino Acid Atp Binding Cassette (Abc) Transporter System, Bennett Tomlin, Adam Buric, Dr. Lori Scott
Mrub_1325, Mrub_1326, Mrub_1327, And Mrub_1328 Are Orthologs Of B_3454, B_3455, B_3457, B_3458, Respectively Found In Escherichia Coli Coding For A Branched Chain Amino Acid Atp Binding Cassette (Abc) Transporter System, Bennett Tomlin, Adam Buric, Dr. Lori Scott
Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project
In this project we investigated the biological function of the genes Mrub_1325, Mrub_1326, Mrub_1327, and Mrub_1328 (KEGG map number 02010). We predict these genes encode components of a Branched Chain Amino Acid ATP Binding Cassette (ABC) transporter: 1) Mrub_1325 (DNA coordinates 1357399-1358130 on the reverse strand) encodes the ATP binding domain; 2) Mrub_1326 (DNA coordinates 1358127-1359899 on the reverse strand) encodes the ATP-binding domain and permease domain; 3) Mrub_1327 (DNA coordinates 1359899-1360930 on the reverse strand) encodes a permease domain; and 4)Mrub_1328 (DNA coordinates 1711022-1712185 on the reverse strand) encodes the substrate binding domain. This system is not predicted to …
There’S More Than One Way To Climb A Tree: Limb Length And Microhabitat Use In Lizards With Toe Pads, Travis J. Hagey, Scott Hart, Matthew Vickers, Luke J. Harmon, Lin Schwarzkopf
There’S More Than One Way To Climb A Tree: Limb Length And Microhabitat Use In Lizards With Toe Pads, Travis J. Hagey, Scott Hart, Matthew Vickers, Luke J. Harmon, Lin Schwarzkopf
Biology
Ecomorphology links microhabitat and morphology. By comparing ecomorphological associations across clades, we can investigate the extent to which evolution can produce similar solutions in response to similar challenges. While Anolis lizards represent a well-studied example of repeated convergent evolution, very few studies have investigated the ecomorphology of geckos. Similar to anoles, gekkonid lizards have independently evolved adhesive toe pads and many species are scansorial. We quantified gecko and anole limb length and microhabitat use, finding that geckos tend to have shorter limbs than anoles. Combining these measurements with microhabitat observations of geckos in Queensland, Australia, we observed geckos using similar …
The Interommatidial Bristle Variability Of Diptera, Kimberly Palmer
The Interommatidial Bristle Variability Of Diptera, Kimberly Palmer
Honors College Theses
Insects of the order Diptera are a popular biological model for understanding morphological trait evolution. One area of particular interest is the development of the compound eyes. While the development of ommatidia and photoreceptors has been thoroughly studied in this case, little attention has been paid to the interommatidial bristles (IOBs) present on the eyes of some dipteran families. A preliminary survey suggested that these bristles exhibit high variability among IOB families on multiple taxonomic levels and are not uniformly present or absent in any suborder of the Diptera. To confirm this observation, I conducted a literature search to …
Patterns Of Morphological And Molecular Evolution In The Antillean Tree Bat, Ardops Nichollsi (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae), Roxanne J. Larsen, Peter A. Larsen, Caleb D. Phillips, Hugh H. Genoways, Gary G. Kwiecinski, Scott C. Pedersen, Carleton J. Phillips, Robert J. Baker
Patterns Of Morphological And Molecular Evolution In The Antillean Tree Bat, Ardops Nichollsi (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae), Roxanne J. Larsen, Peter A. Larsen, Caleb D. Phillips, Hugh H. Genoways, Gary G. Kwiecinski, Scott C. Pedersen, Carleton J. Phillips, Robert J. Baker
University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers
Species endemic to oceanic islands offer unique insights into the mechanisms underlying evolution and have served as model systems for decades. Often these species show phenotypic variation that is correlated with the ecosystems in which they occur and such correlations may be a product of genetic drift, natural selection, and/or environmental factors. We explore the morphologic and genetic variation within Ardops nichollsi, a species of phyllostomid bat endemic to the Lesser Antillean islands. Ardops nichollsi is an ideal taxon to investigate the tempo of evolution in Chiroptera, as it: is a recently derived genus in the family Phyllostomidae; contains …
Anthropomorphic Denial Of Fish Pain, Lynne U. Sneddon, Matthew C. Leach
Anthropomorphic Denial Of Fish Pain, Lynne U. Sneddon, Matthew C. Leach
Animal Sentience
Key (2016) affirms that we do not know how the fish brain processes pain but denies — because fish lack a human-like cortex — that fish can feel pain. He affirms that birds, like fish, have a singly-laminated cortex and that the structure of the bird brain is quite different from that of the human brain, yet he does not deny that birds can feel pain. In this commentary we describe how Key cites studies that substantiate mammalian pain but discounts the same kind of data as evidence of fish pain. We suggest that Key's interpretations are illogical, do not …
From Gibbons To Gymnasts: A Look At The Biomechanics And Neurophysiology Of Brachiation In Gibbons And Its Human Rediscovery, Emma Et Pennock
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 …
Euryhalinity In An Evolutionary Context, Eric T. Schultz, Stephen D. Mccormick
Euryhalinity In An Evolutionary Context, Eric T. Schultz, Stephen D. Mccormick
EEB Articles
This chapter focuses on the evolutionary importance and taxonomic distribution of euryhalinity. Euryhalinity refers to broad halotolerance and broad halohabitat distribution. Salinity exposure experiments have demonstrated that species vary tenfold in their range of tolerable salinity levels, primarily because of differences in upper limits. Halotolerance breadth varies with the species’ evolutionary history, as represented by its ordinal classification, and with the species’ halohabitat. Freshwater and seawater species tolerate brackish water; their empirically-determined fundamental haloniche is broader than their realized haloniche, as revealed by the halohabitats they occupy. With respect to halohabitat distribution, a minority of species (<10%) are euryhaline. Habitat-euryhalinity is prevalent among basal actinopterygian fishes, is largely absent from orders arising from intermediate nodes, and reappears in the most derived taxa. There is pronounced family-level variability in the tendency to be halohabitat-euryhaline, which may have arisen during a burst of diversification following the Cretaceous-Palaeogene extinction. Low prevalence notwithstanding, euryhaline species are potent sources of evolutionary diversity. Euryhalinity is regarded as a key innovation trait whose evolution enables exploitation of new adaptive zone, triggering cladogenesis. We review phylogenetically-informed studies that demonstrate freshwater species diversifying from euryhaline ancestors through processes such as landlocking. These studies indicate that some euryhaline taxa are particularly susceptible to changes in halohabitat and subsequent diversification, and some geographic regions have been hotspots for transitions to freshwater. Comparative studies on mechanisms among multiple taxa and at multiple levels of biological integration are needed to clarify evolutionary pathways to, and from, euryhalinity.
Salinity Preference Of Alaskan Threespine Stickleback: Test For Divergence In Halotaxis Between Ancestral And Landlocked Populations, David Fryxell, Eric T. Schultz
Salinity Preference Of Alaskan Threespine Stickleback: Test For Divergence In Halotaxis Between Ancestral And Landlocked Populations, David Fryxell, Eric T. Schultz
EEB Articles
Glacial retreat during the Pleistocene caused landlocking of anadromous Alaskan threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, furnishing a natural ‘experiment’ in osmoregulatory divergence. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of individual acclimation and population divergence on salinity preference. Full-sibling families of marine, anadromous, and freshwater-landlocked populations of stickleback were reared in common environments until 3 weeks post-hatch, then were split and acclimated to low or high salinity. At 6 to 8 weeks of age the six experimental groups were tested for salinity preference in a tank that offers fish a choice of compartments with different salinities arranged …