Evolution Commons^™

Components Of Evolutionary Psychology Are Falsifiable, But Does That Make It A Good Theory? Commentary On Costello Et Al. (2025), David S. Moore

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

At the center of narrow evolutionary psychology’s theory lies the assumption that many human behavioral mechanisms evolved via natural selection. Although some components of this theory are falsifiable, its Lakatosian framework protects its core assumptions from falsifiability, even though most human behaviors probably do not require evolutionary explanations. Crucially, falsifiability is a necessary but insufficient quality of a good scientific theory, and the value of narrow evolutionary psychology (NEP) can be questioned on other grounds. NEP holds that only natural selection can create complex, functional adaptations, but natural selection is not a creative force; this process merely functions as a …

Learning In Nonleafcutting Fungus-Gardening Ants, Elizabeth D. Boshers

Biology Theses

Social complexity influences learning and other cognitive behaviors, but for insects, this influence is not well understood. Delayed rejection is an aversive learning behavior previously studied exclusively in leafcutting ant species, the most socially complex of the fungus-gardening ants. Fungus-gardening ants are unique in that they do not directly consume the material they forage, using it instead as substrate to cultivate a symbiotic fungus on which the ants are obligately dependent. Here, I attempt to induce delayed rejection in several fungus-gardening ant species that exhibit a range of social complexity, then compare the characteristics of delayed rejection behavior among species. …

How Individual Traits Predict Distribution Patterns And Community Convergence, Zachary K. Lange

Biology Dissertations - Archive

One of the fundamental questions in biology is whether natural conditions lead species and communities toward predictable outcomes. Answering this question requires understanding how traits of individual organisms are connected to species- and community-level patterns. In Chapter 2, I examined how thermal physiology and environmental temperatures interact to determine the distribution patterns of Anolis lizards on the Greater Antilles. I combined lab-measured thermal traits (critical thermal minimum: CT_min, critical thermal maximum: CT_max, thermal preference: T_pref) with occurrence and abundance data from 21 species of Anolis lizards collected from extensive mark-resight surveys of communities across …

Snake Venoms As Models For Understanding The Origins And Evolution Of Gene Regulatory Networks, Siddharth S. Gopalan

Biology Dissertations - Archive

Understanding the relationship between genotype and phenotype is a fundamental goal of biology. However, the vastly complex nature of eukaryotic gene regulation can make deriving precise relationships between genotype and phenotype challenging. The gene regulatory architecture of snake venom systems provide an opportunity to study this problem in a phenotypic system with immense variation in phenotypes and the underlying genetics. Using a set of integrated functional genomic approaches with snake venoms as a central model, in this dissertation, I provide several examples of the regulatory mechanisms by which diversity in phenotypes arises. Specifically, I identify how gene expression heterogeneity between …

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 …

Diversification Of Avifauna In The Darién Highland Region: Ecological Niche Modeling, Phylogeography And Morphology To Explore Speciation In The Montane Species Myadestes Coloratus, Chlorospingus Tacarcunae And Margarornis Bellulus., Jorge L. Garzon Vasquez Mrs

Theses and Dissertations

Montane regions in the Neotropics are hotspots of endemism and biodiversity, yet their species are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and geographic isolation. This thesis investigates the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of three bird species endemic to the Darién Highlands of eastern Panama: Myadestes coloratus, Chlorospingus tacarcunae, and Margarornis bellulus. Through an integrative approach combining ecological niche modeling, morphometric analysis, and genomic data from ultraconserved elements (UCEs) and mitochondrial DNA, the study explores the historical biogeography, current distribution patterns, population structure, and phenotypic differentiation of these montane taxa. Ecological niche models revealed that suitable habitat …

Using Rna Sequencing To Examine Encephalic Gene Expression In Cactus Mice, Sarah A. Nicholls

Honors Theses and Capstones

Many of the exact mechanisms by which desert-adapted animals avoid dehydration-induced complications are unknown, though there are likely ties to the general mammalian dehydration response, a multisystem process spearheaded by the brain. Peromyscus eremicus, the cactus mouse, can survive its whole life without intaking water and is commonly used as a model to study desert adaptations. In this study, we have used bulk transcriptomics to characterize the differential gene expression across hydrated and dehydrated P. eremicus in five major regions of the brain: the cerebral cortex (referred to throughout much of this paper as the cortex), hippocampus, thalamus, midbrain, …

Epigenetic Potential Remains Stable Over 100 Years After Introduction, Danielle Dawkins

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Introduced species provide important insights into organismal behavioral responses. Epigenetic mechanisms are one of the various ways in which behaviors can be modified, particularly through DNA methylation. Through such mechanisms, phenotypic changes can occur in response to environmental changes, allowing an organism to be more plastic. Epigenetic potential (EP) represents the capacity for an organism to be epigenetically modified, and can be measured by counting CpG motifs; cytosine adjacent to guanine within a DNA sequence. Phenotypic plasticity as it relates to EP has been studied extensively in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), a globally introduced songbird. It is …

The Theory Of Evolution, Alois Nicholas Wurst

Bachelors’ Theses

What is perhaps one of the most fascinating questions in the scientific and philosophical world today is the theory on the Decent of Man. We hear much concerning Evolution. New theories on the subject appear almost daily. Most of these seem to be hoaxes on the part of publicity hungry scientists. If a man would have his name in newspapers the world over, he must only say that he produced a living organism out of inanimate matter. Of course such a statement produces a sensation. But this sensation is short lived. Investigation usually exposes prevarication on the part of the …

A Mystery Of Microecology: Revealing The Ecological Relationship Between Allorhizobium Vitis And Missouri Native Grape Species, Hunter White

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Crown gall disease can be very detrimental to grape and wine producers around the world by reducing vine vigor and yield. It is caused by the bacteria Allorhizobium vitis (A. Vitis) carrying a tumor inducing (Ti) plasmid. The A. vitis bacteria have been found in soil and cane tissues in vineyards around the world, and infect all cultivated grapes. However, there have been no reports of crown gall on native wild grapevines, and very little is known about the ecology of A. vitis in native ecosystems. I have sampled cambium tissues from three native wild grape species of …

A Geometric Morphometrics Analysis Of The Limb Morphologies Of Mosasaurs And Its Palaeoecological Implications, Zachary J. Herbert

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Mosasaurs were a major component of Late Cretaceous marine ecosystems, being the last Mesozoic radiation of secondarily aquatic tetrapods into diverse niches.

To shed light on the diversity and evolution of limb morphology in this clade, geometric morphometrics analyses were performed on seven skeletal elements from the forelimb and hindlimb. This study tested the hypothesis tested that mosasaurs living in similar environments would exhibit similar morphologies.

After analyzing datasets containing 29 taxa, the observed patterns did not support the hypothesis that habitat was the primary variable influencing morphology. The recurrence of a pattern, the plotting of plioplatecarpine mosasaurs closer to …

Karyotyping As A Method To Verify Phylogenetic Relationships Among The Enneacanthus Species, Ophelia A. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

The Enneacanthus genus consists of three species of freshwater fish endemic to eastern North America: E. obesus (Banded Sunfish), E. gloriosus (Blue Spotted Sunfish), and E. chaetodon (Black Banded Sunfish). Previous studies using molecular data suggest that E. obesus and E. gloriosus are more closely related, with E. chaetodon as the most distantly related species in the genus. This study investigates the phylogenetic relationship among the Enneacanthus species, using karyotype characteristics - chromosome number, morphology and fundamental number - as comparative metrics. Chromosome spreads were obtained from scale and gill epithelium samples collected between 1993 and 1994. Prepared slides …

Distribution And Ecology Of The Cedar Keys Mole Skink (Plestiodon Egregius Insularis), Kevin M. Enge, Louis A. Somma, Paul E. Moler, Travis M. Thomas, Matthew T. Fedler, John M. Matter, Dennis C. Haney

Papers in Herpetology

We conducted surveys for the Cedar Keys Mole Skink, Plestiodon egregius insularis (Mount), during 1989– 1999 and 2015–2024, examined museum vouchers, and compiled personal observations from others to determine the status and distribution of this subspecies, which has the smallest geographic distribution of the five subspecies and is being considered for federal listing. We observed Cedar Keys Mole Skinks on Airstrip Island, Atsena Otie, Cedar Point, Deer Island, North Key, Scale Key, Seahorse Key, Snake Key, and possibly Dog Island. We have anecdotal reports of Mole Skinks on Way Key, which contains the most potential habitat and is the main …

Molecular Characterization Of Fungus-Arthropod Associations, Angie M. Martin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Arthropods, or phylum Arthropoda, are the largest group of animals, accounting for over three quarters of all animal records on NCBI Taxonomy. And yet, only 40% of all deposited sequences on NCBI Nucleotide come from arthropods. Clearly, arthropods are an understudied group of animals: they are small, often drab, and lead lives very alien to our own. Arthropods have chitinous exoskeletons, segmented bodies, and jointed appendages, and include crabs, barnacles, insects, spiders, and millipedes. Since the era of DNA based studies took off in the 1980s, DNA and other small molecules have been integral to our understanding of the Earth …

Précis Of The Edge Of Sentience: Risk And Precaution In Humans, Other Animals, And Ai, Jonathan Birch

Animal Sentience

We often face grave practical decisions that seem to hinge on whether a system is sentient. This family of cases includes invertebrate animals, people who are unresponsive after brain injury, fetuses, neural organoids, and now AI technologies. We must decide what to do despite ongoing disagreement about the nature of sentience. In our state of uncertainty, we should pragmatically transform the question from “Is it sentient?” to “Is it a sentience candidate, an investigation priority, or neither?”. When a system is a sentience candidate, it is negligent to fail to consider precautions. We should instead evaluate precautions for their proportionality …

Endocrine Responses To Two Distinct Foraging Contexts In The Bonobo (Pan Paniscus), Lauren Mitchell

Master's Theses

In gregarious animals, a social structure characterized by female dominance is relatively rare. However, bonobos (Pan paniscus), one of the two species most closely related to humans, are characterized by partial female dominance, with females forming close social bonds. In contrast, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), a close relative of the bonobo, are characterized by strong male-male bonding and social dominance with female chimpanzees lacking close social bonds. There is a lack of consensus concerning the reasons for these behavioral differences in Pan, specifically, the physiological processes responsible for female dominance in bonobos. The role of hormones …

Exploring Mating Patterns: The Interplay Of Genes, Environment, And Their Evolutionary Outcomes, Sanduni Talagala

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

There is great variation in the reproductive tactics exhibited both between and within different species, which is reflected in how individuals engage in mate assessment, mate choice and offspring production. It is therefore important to understand general mating patterns of populations, the factors that influence these mating patterns, and the consequences they carry, in order to get a more holistic understanding of mating systems. This doctoral research represents a multi-pronged investigation of the factors shaping mating patterns and their consequences, how environmental factors influence mating patterns, and how both genotypes and the environment interact to influence mate choice decisions and …

Genomic Differences And Parentage In West Virginia's Reintroduced Elk (Cervus Canadensis), Adam A.V. Cook

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Elk (Cervus canadensis) reintroductions have been common in the 20th and 21st centuries, yet 40% have failed to establish self-sustaining elk populations due to a lack of post-reintroduction demographic monitoring. Elk were reintroduced to West Virginia in 2016 following more than a century of absence after the species was extirpated in 1875. Elk were translocated to West Virginia from Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area (LBL) in eastern Kentucky and from Arizona. The two groups of elk differ in their subspecies, physiology, reintroduction history, connectivity, and habitat. Reintroductions create genetic risks such as the founder effect and …

What Is It Like To Be A Diplomat? Reflections On Donald Griffin And Emotion, Oliver H. Turnbull

Animal Sentience

This commentary addresses three aspects of Donald Griffin’s work: (1) his thoughts beyond cognition, on emotion; (2) his views on the earliest origins of mind, including primitive forms of consciousness; and (3) his diplomatic use of memorable phrases to facilitate change.

Scorpiops Reini Sp. N. From Yunnan, China (Scorpiones: Scorpiopidae), Victoria Tang

Euscorpius

Scorpiops reini sp. n. is described from Yingjiang County (Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province) based on an adult pair. It can be readily discriminated from all of its congeneric geographic neighbors in Yunnan, namely S. jendeki Kovařík, 1994, S. shidian (Zhu et al., 2005), S. tongtongi Tang, 2022, and S. zhangshuyuani (Ythier, 2019). Within Yunnan, it resembles S. validus (Di et al., 2010) and S. yangi (Zhu et al., 2007) most, but can be identified by its large median ocelli (relative to the width of ocular subislet), pedipalp chelal finger morphology and pectinal tooth count. Beyond Yunnan, it shows the highest …