Systematics Of The Genus Ptychadena Boulenger, 1917 (Anura: Ptychadenidae) From Democratic Republic Of The Congo,
2010
University of Texas at El Paso
Systematics Of The Genus Ptychadena Boulenger, 1917 (Anura: Ptychadenidae) From Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Katrina Marie Weber
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
This thesis increases the scope of previous phylogenetic analyses that revealed high levels of genetic differentiation within the anuran genus Ptychadena. Herein, I increase sampling of Central African populations of Ptychadena by over six times to examine their relationships to other African populations and to search for cryptic species. This study represents the most comprehensive molecular phylogeny of Ptychadena to date. A total of three mitochondrial (12S, 16S, and cyt b) and two nuclear (RAG1 and rhodopsin) genes were sequenced for 67 specimens of Ptychadena. Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian analyses were conducted. These analyses revealed …
Evolution Of Lactate Dehydrogenase Genes In Primates, With Special Consideration Of Nucleotide Organization In Mammalian Promoters,
2010
Wayne State University
Evolution Of Lactate Dehydrogenase Genes In Primates, With Special Consideration Of Nucleotide Organization In Mammalian Promoters, Zack Papper
Wayne State University Dissertations
Concomitant with an increase in brain volume and mass, the allocation of energetic resources to the brain increased during stem anthropoid evolution, leading to humans. One mechanism by which this allocation may have occurred is through greater use of lactate as a neuronal fuel. Both the production of lactate, and conversion to pyruvate for use in aerobic metabolism, are catalyzed, in part, by the tetrameric enzyme lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). The two primary LDH genes, LDHA and LDHB, confer different rates of substrate turnover to the LDH enzyme, and these rates lend to the argument that LDHA supports anaerobic while LDHB …
Functionality, Parsimony, Discovery, Avoiding Hamartia: How Evolutionary Perspectives Are Changing Psychology,
2010
Chapman University
Functionality, Parsimony, Discovery, Avoiding Hamartia: How Evolutionary Perspectives Are Changing Psychology, Brooke N. Jenkins, Aaron T. Goetz
Psychology Faculty Articles and Research
Evolutionary psychology offers an important perspective to scientific psychology. Evolutionary psychology, in its short existence, has added an abundance of knowledge to the social sciences, let alone psychology. The study of human cognition and behavior remains incomplete without an evolutionary perspective. Here, we argue that evolutionary psychology uniquely provides a complete understanding of scientific psychology because it explains the functions of our psychological traits, provides us with the most parsimonious explanation of many psychological phenomena, predicts undocumented phenomena, and possibly allows us to avoid the downfalls of some of our contemptible evolved psychological mechanisms.
