Zoology Commons^™

Anomalies In The Mitochondrial Genomes Of Members Of Aliciidae, Boloceroididae, And Gonactiniidae (Actiniaria:Metridioidea), Isabel Pen

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Analysis of gene sequences from three mitochondrial and two nuclear genes for a broad sampling of actiniarian taxa proposed a novel grouping of the families Aliciidae, Boloceroididae, and Gonactiniidae. (Rodríguez et al., 2014). Although previously unlinked, the association of these taxa was credible given the consistency of the genetic data and the shared occurrence of anatomical traits, including complex column structures (Aliciidae and Boloceroididae), tentacular sphincters (Boloceroididae and Gonactiniidae), and retention of juvenile musculature in adults (Boloceroididae and Gonactiniidae). Although the mitochondrial genome structure of actiniarians is generally conserved, complete mitochondrial genomes identify unusual gene orders (Alicia sansibarensis: …

Anthropogenic Influences Of Play In The Green Monkeys Of Barbados, Rose Amrhein

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

There are multiple theories behind the evolutionary origins and functions of play behavior in the animal kingdom, all with varying levels of support. Some argue play originated as a byproduct of individuals having excess energy in a resource-rich environment while others argue it arose as a way for young individuals to enhance the physical and mental skills needed to survive into adulthood. Many believe that both these theories are coexisting and applicable to some degree. However, previous play studies usually focused on one group of organisms, failing to consider how animals’ environment directly impacts the structure of their play and …

Rehabilitating An Aging Ichthyology Collection And Turning Into An Effective Teaching Tool For Organismal Biology, Emmy Delekta

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Natural history collections are crucial for understanding the world’s biodiversity. These collections also hold important value in educating students about biodiversity, particularly phenotypic diversity. The University of Louisville (UofL) Department of Biology holds a natural history collection, a wet collection of preserved fishes, that appears to have been maintained up through the 1990s. However, due to shifts in funding priorities and faculty interests, much of the collection was relocated and what remains has been neglected for many years. Here, we describe our efforts to rehabilitate, revitalize, and digitize what is left of UofL’s ichthyology collection - transforming it into a …

Habitiat Structure And Ecomorphology Of Fishes In Neotropical Blackwater Creeks., Devya Hemraj-Naraine

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Freshwater ecosystems provide habitat for a diversity of aquatic flora and fauna. However, anthropogenic activities like mining and pollution alters aquatic habitats and the ecosystem services they provide. In South America, which hosts one quarter of all freshwater fish species, aquatic habitats are under considerable encroachment from human development. We surveyed nine blackwater creeks tributary to the Demarara River along a major Highway in Guyana to determine whether fish morphology and community structure correlate with habitat characteristics among sites with different degrees of human impact. Twenty-three morphological traits were measured on 3-5 adult specimens of each species. The most abundant …

Functional Implications Reflected In Neurocranial Morphology Of Lamniform Sharks (Elasmobranchii: Lamniformes), Jake J. Wood

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Lamniform sharks (Elasmobranchii: Lamniformes) display diverse habitat preferences and lifestyles. Based on museum specimens and published illustrations, we examined the proportion of the anteroposterior length of the rostral, olfactory, optic, and otic regions with respect to the neurocranial length in each lamniform species as a proxy of relative importance of each sensory region (electroreception, olfaction, vision, and ‘coordination’) to its lifestyle. We show that: 1) Carcharias and Megachasma (ragged-tooth and megamouth) have short rostral and large otic regions indicative of slower-swimming pelagic lifestyles with elevated coordination for balancing in the water column; 2) Alopias pelagicus, A. vulpinus, …

Repeatability And Distribution Of Behavior Types Over Time And Across Populations In Free-Ranging Adult And Juvenile Ornate Box Turtles (Terrapene Ornata), Abigail Trautman

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

As studies continue to investigate inter-individual variation, it is becoming increasingly evident that individual animals have their own unique behavior type (personality; repeatable behaviors over time and context) that persists throughout their life. Behavior is simply different forms of motion, and a behavior type influences which motions (behaviors) are most likely to be on display. Behavioral types can influence resource acquisition, predation risk, and mating opportunities and thus can directly influence the fitness of any given individual. In this study, we examine the behavior types of free-ranging adult ornate box turtles (Terrapene ornata), including their repeatability and variation …

Anuran Species Diversity And Abundance Between Three Locations In El Valle De Antón, Coclé, Panamá, Xena Gehring

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Panama is an incredibly biodiverse country that houses 230 species of amphibians including 188 species of frogs, 35 of which are endemic to Panama. Commonly found in terrestrial and aquatic habitats, frogs play a very important role in the regulation of insect populations and serve as a valuable food resource to other predators. The greatest threat to amphibian species at this time is Chytridiomycosis, a fungal pathogen that infects the skin and often results in death. Many species of amphibians have already gone completely extinct or are extinct in the wild due to the proliferation of this disease. The skin …

Rocky Intertidal Community Structure Along An Upwelling Gradient Between Playa Venao And Nueva Gorgona On Panama’S Pacific Coast, Claire Brady

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Ecological research on rocky intertidal ecosystems has increasingly focused on the regional oceanographic processes that shape community structure over functional group interactions. Intertidal communities’ dependence on onshore and offshore transport of intertidal species larvae, dissolved inorganic nutrients, and phytoplankton signal that upwelling and nearshore currents can have an influential role in determining the growth and composition of intertidal systems. The community structure of rocky intertidal areas was compared between two locations along an upwelling gradient in the Gulf of Panama: Nueva Gorgona, with intermittent seasonal upwelling, and Playa Venao, with fringe seasonal upwelling. The surface cover of algae, barnacles, and …

Troop Composition And Behavior Of Mantled Howler Monkeys (Alouatta Palliata) In Mangroves And Forested Islands South Of David, Panama, Slate Hyacinthe

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The mantled howler monkey, Alouatta palliata, is one of the most commonly studied and widely distributed primate species in Central America. They have been reported to inhabit mangrove environments in Panama, but few studies have undertaken to describe their demography and behavior in these particular ecosystems. For my study, I spent 12 days studying A. palliata populations in both the mangrove and forested island ecosystems (Isla Parida and Isla Boca Brava) south of David. Seven groups were found in the mangrove environments, and 11 groups were found on the island environments. The mangrove groups were significantly smaller and at a …

Understanding Invasive Predation: Detections Of Feral Cats (Felis Catus) On Kangaroo Island’S Western River Refuge, Leah Boget

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Feral cats (Felis catus) are a priority-level threat for small to medium-sized native vertebrates across Australia and especially so in insular environments like that of Kangaroo Island, South Australia. The island is home to several endangered and geographically restricted species, including the Kangaroo Island Dunnart (Sminthopsis aitkeni), an endangered marsupial endemic to Kangaroo Island. When bushfires spread across the island and burned x percent of native vegetation in late 2019 to early 2020, these populations were critically impacted and post-fire feral cat predation on the island risked their extinctions, motivating the creation of a refuge with …

Impact Of Wildlife Provisioning On Species Diversity, Relative Frequency, And Richness In New South Wales, Alanah Cohen-Tigör

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Wildlife provisioning and camera trapping are two recently evolving methods of conservation and wildlife management, aimed at protecting animals in the face of ever worsening climate change. Habitats are being destroyed by climate disruption, decreasing species diversity and abundance worldwide. It is imperative that methods of protecting species are developed to slow or reverse this era of extinction. By providing supplementary food and water to ecological communities, the hope is that species will have improved survivorship and reproduction, making them more resilient and resistant to population decline. Camera trapping is product of modern technology, allowing researchers to monitor species without …

A Survey Of Captive Wild And Exotic Animal Training Programs In The Eastern United States, Savannah Atchison

Senior Honors Theses

Methods of positive reinforcement as a successful means for animal training are the result of many years of research into operant conditioning and learning. However, current literature is unclear on the extent to which these methods are utilized in captive wild and exotic animal populations in the United States. Through phone interviews with animal trainers employed at zoos and wildlife rehabilitation centers in the eastern United States, the author determined that these facilities are currently utilizing positive reinforcement training methods which are proving to be a great benefit for all parties involved. They are enabling a variety of voluntary health …

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5n1) Virus Outbreak In New England Seals, United States, Wendy Puryear, Kaitlin Sawatzki, Nichola Hill, Alexa Foss, Jonathon J. Stone, Lynda Doughty, Dominique Walk, Katie Gilbert, Maureen Murray, Elena Cox, Priya Patel, Zak Mertz, Stephanie Ellis, Jennifer Taylor, Deborah Fauquier, Ainsley Smith, Robert A. Digiovanni, Adriana Van De Guchte, Ana Silvia Gonzalez-Reiche, Zain Khalil, Harm Van Bakel, Mia K. Torchetti, Kristina Lantz, Julianna B. Lenoch, Jonathan Runstadler

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We report the spillover of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) into marine mammals in the northeastern United States, coincident with H5N1 in sympatric wild birds. Our data indicate monitoring both wild coastal birds and marine mammals will be critical to determine pandemic potential of influenza A viruses.

Spatial Ecology And Habitat Preference Of Yellow-Spotted Monitors (Varanus Panoptes) At Lizard Island National Park, Qld, Australia, Ryan Snyder

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Lizard Island National Park is an area of strong habitat diversity, especially given its small size. There are several distinct habitats represented, including open sclerophyll woodlands, mangrove swamps, dune grasslands, foothills elevations, and of course anthropogenically modified human habitats. The object of this study was to observe the abundances and behaviors of the yellow-spotted monitor lizard (V. panoptes) in each of these habitat settings to answer the question of which habitat type is preferred amongst V. panoptes in the landscape context of Lizard Island National Park.

Study transects were conducted over the course of one month measuring abundance of V. …

Status Of Pangolins: A Case Study On "The Most Trafficked Mammal In The World" In Central-South Of Nepal, Tsogyal Wangmo Lama

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Pangolins are subject to constant trafficking in Asia and increasingly in Africa for their meat and scales. Very little research is done on this species due to its nocturnal, burrowing, and elusive nature. The larger the size of an animal is, the better it is known to the people and vice versa. Hence all these eight species of pangolins despite being under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list with the four Asian species declared endangered or critically endangered, are still illegally abused and used for ulterior motives due to a lack of awareness among the general …

Morphological Differences Align With Habitat Partitioning Among Three Species Of Percina (Percidae: Actinopterygii) In The Roanoke River, Virginia, Michael M. Calvert, Steven L. Powers

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

The upper Roanoke River has three species of Percina (P. nevisense, Chainback Darter; P. roanoka, Roanoke Darter; and P. rex, Roanoke Logperch). Resource partitioning appears to be a key component of maintaining diverse fish assemblages with habitat and food partitioning cited as especially important in communities containing members of the same family. Some aspects of the diets of these species have been documented in the literature with only modest differences among them. Microhabitat data for adults of these species have also been published revealing differences in habitat occupied by each with P. roanoka living in the fastest, shallowest …

Increasing Capture Rates Of Grassland Birds Over Thirteen Years Indicates Successful Restoration, Katie Stumpf, Charles Muise

Georgia Journal of Science

Grassland bird populations are being lost at an alarming rate due to human modifications to grassland ecosystems. Grassland restoration has been shown to mitigate population declines for many species that use these habitats at some point in their annual cycles. We examined capture rates of adult, breeding, and hatch-year birds at a restored grassland site in the piedmont of central Georgia to determine whether colonization, breeding success, hatching success, and recruitment processes were impacting populations of grassland birds. We banded birds approximately twice per month from January 2009 through December 2021 at Panola Mountain State Park. Restoration efforts started in …

Black Crowned Night Heron, Kevin Rafferty, Briana K. Zaffiro, David Kerstetter

All Scans: Kerstetter Fisheries and Avian Ecology 3D Scan Series

No abstract provided.

Ycnh 3d Skull, Kevin Rafferty, Briana K. Zaffiro, David Kerstetter

All Scans: Kerstetter Fisheries and Avian Ecology 3D Scan Series

No abstract provided.

Mafr 3d Skull, Kevin Rafferty, Briana K. Zaffiro, David W. Kerstetter

All Scans: Kerstetter Fisheries and Avian Ecology 3D Scan Series

3D Scan of a Magnificent Frigatebird