Turtles Are Not Just Walking Stones: Conspicuous Coloration and Sexual Selection in Freshwater Turtles

Turtles are among the most intriguing amniotes but their communication and signaling have rarely been studied. Traditionally, they have been seen as basically just silent armored ‘walking stones’ with complex physiology but no altruism, maternal care, or aesthetic perception. Recently, however, we have witnessed a radical change in the perception of turtle behavioral and cognitive skills. In our study, we start by reviewing some recent findings pertaining to various highly developed behavioral and cognitive patterns with special emphasis on turtles. Then we focus on freshwater turtles and use data about their sexual behavior and size sexual dimorphism (SSD) to test whether conspicuous coloration of the head is in these animals related to sexual processes. We found that absence of aggressive mating behavior is statistically associated with the presence of conspicuous coloration on turtles’ heads. It also seems that while species with female-biased SSD are characterised by conspicuously colored head ornaments, in species with male-biased SSD conspicuous coloration is absent. Unlike large females, males thus seem to be under pressure to develop conspicuous coloration and engage in non-aggressive behavior using signaling to succeed in courtship. And finally, we discuss possible roles of head color patterns in turtle communication during mating.     

A preliminary report on the awareness and knowledge of seafood-borne parasitic diseases among medical doctors in Australia

Despite the increasing popularity of seafood in Australia and various reports of infection with transmissible parasites in Australian edible aquatic animals such as fish, the number of reported cases of human infections in the country is low. This raised the question that Australian medical doctors may not be fully aware of the presence of these parasites in Australia, which in turn can lead to misdiagnosis of infections. This also may lead to an underestimation of the risk seafood-borne parasites may pose to public health. This preliminary study was conducted to determine the awareness and level of knowledge among Australian medical practitioners in New South Wales, the most populated and multicultural state in Australia, about seafood-borne parasitic diseases. Medical doctors, both general practitioners and gastroenterologists, were surveyed through an anonymous questionnaire (n = 376). Although the response rate was low at 11%, participants represented a diverse group in terms of gender, age, nationality and expertise. Despite several publications on occurrence of zoonotic parasites in Australian fish and other edible aquatic animals, and also in humans in the country, all respondents said no seafood-borne parasite had been reported as being seen within Australian or overseas practice. Although, due to low response rate, we are unable to confidently comment on the level of awareness, the findings of this study clearly suggest that further research is needed to investigate the extent of unawareness among Australian medical doctors about these highly important parasites and understanding the underlying issues in medical education that lead to the unawareness.     

Effect of chloroquine on membrane permeability in yeast--release of cellular coproporphyrin

1. The influx and efflux of labelled substances with and without chloroquine was studied in yeast cells. 2. The uptake of delta-aminolevulinic acid by Saccharomyces cerevisiae is characterized by a KT of 3-4 mM and Jmax of 1.0-1.2 mumol min-1 g dry weight-1. 3. A method for loading yeast with labelled coproporphyrin is suggested. 4. The uptake of sorbitol and coproporphyrin was slightly stimulated, while the uptake of 6-deoxyglucose was slightly, that of 2-aminoisobutyric acid and leucine strongly inhibited by chloroquine. 5. The efflux of coproporphyrin, 2-aminoisobutyric acid and sorbitol was stimulated while that of leucine was not influenced by chloroquine. 6. The result showed that chloroquine influenced directly but nonspecifically the membrane permeability, apparently mainly that of the vacuolar membrane.