Migration timing and distance from shore of southbound eastern Pacific gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) off Ensenada,Baja California,Mexico

Eastern Pacific gray whales were monitored off Ensenada, Mexico, during the southbound migration. The objectives were to determine southbound migration timing and width of the migration corridor during three seasons (2003–2006). Migration timing was determined by fitting a generalized additive model to the shore counts for each season and estimating the 10, 50, and 90 percentiles of the fitted curves. To estimate abundance from shore‐based counts, a probability density function for the shore based distances was estimated by a product of a gamma distribution fit to the boat survey distance data for 2006/2007 and a half‐normal detection function using combined data of the three seasons. The parameters of the gamma distribution were corrected to account for less boat survey effort carried out 20–40 km than 0–20 km from shore. The onset of the migration off Ensenada was in late December/early January and ended around 13 February. The median date was 23–26 January for the first and third season and a week early for the second season. Boat surveys indicated a wide (20 km) migration corridor but most gray whales traveled within 9.9 km from shore. The estimated total number of whales during watch hours was 2,298 (95% CI = 1,536–4,447).     

Evolutionary Ethics: An Irresistible Temptation: Some Reflections on Paul Farber‘s The Temptation of Evolutionary Ethics

In his recent The Temptation of Evolutionary Ethics, Paul Farber has given a negative assessment of the last one hundred years of attempts in Anglo-American philosophy, beginning with Darwin, to develop an evolutionary ethics. Farber identifies some version of the naturalistic fallacy as one of the central sources for the failures of evolutionary ethics. For this reason, and others, Farber urges that though it has its attraction, evolutionary ethics is a temptation to be resisted. In this discussion I identify three major, historically relevant forms of the naturalistic fallacy, the (1) the deductive, (2) genetic, and (3) open question forms and argue that none of them pose an intrinsic problem for evolutionary ethics. I conclude that on this score at least there is no reason to resist temptation.     

Diploma Training for Technologists in Tissue Banking

There is a great demand for a formal training programme for tissue bank technologists not only for the Asia Pacific Region but also for technologists in other regions including Latin America and Africa. To meet this need, National University Hospital (NUH) Tissue Bank was established as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)/National University of Singapore (NUS) Regional Training Centre for training tissue bank operators in the Asia Pacific Region (Regional co-operative Agreement, RCA) in November 1997. The training centre conducts a one-year distance learning Diploma in Tissue Banking offered by the NUS. The syllabus for the Diploma Course included the multi-media IAEA curriculum on tissue banking. The first Diploma Course has been successfully completed in October 1998. Twelve students convocated, 4 with Distinction, 5 with Credit and 3 with Pass. Sixteen candidates from the Asia Pacific Region registered for the Second Diploma Course in April 1999. This second batch will be due to sit for their Diploma Examination in April 2000. With the increasing popularity of this Diploma Course, the third batch of students which will be registered in April 2000, will include technologists not only from Asia Pacific Region but also from other regions including Africa.     

Contrast-FEL—A Test for Differences in Selective Pressures at Individual Sites among Clades and Sets of Branches

A number of evolutionary hypotheses can be tested by comparing selective pressures among sets of branches in a phylogenetic tree. When the question of interest is to identify specific sites within genes that may be evolving differently, a common approach is to perform separate analyses on subsets of sequences and compare parameter estimates in a post hoc fashion. This approach is statistically suboptimal and not always applicable. Here, we develop a simple extension of a popular fixed effects likelihood method in the context of codon-based evolutionary phylogenetic maximum likelihood testing, Contrast-FEL. It is suitable for identifying individual alignment sites where any among the K≥2 sets of branches in a phylogenetic tree have detectably different ω ratios, indicative of different selective regimes. Using extensive simulations, we show that Contrast-FEL delivers good power, exceeding 90% for sufficiently large differences, while maintaining tight control over false positive rates, when the model is correctly specified. We conclude by applying Contrast-FEL to data from five previously published studies spanning a diverse range of organisms and focusing on different evolutionary questions.     

Genetic and evolutionary relationships among Asian Macaques

Published gene frequency data, checked for consistency of allele definitions across laboratories and for comparability of geographically identical samples, were pooled into a data set containing frequencies at nine loci for each of 20 populations that encompassed 10 macaque species. Genetic distances were calculated by the methods of Kidd and Cavalli-Sforza (1974). These distances were used to construct phylogenetic trees and to evaluate the relationships between divergence times and effective population sizes. Inter-and intraspecific genetic distances and the groupings defined by phenetic tree analyses support Fooden’s (1976) classification of the genus Macacainto four species groups. A paleozoogeographical model of Asia including the known times of major sea-level changes allows us to explain Macacainto four species groups. A paleozoogeographical model of Asia including the known times of major sea-level changes allows us to explain qualitatively the inferred evolutionary relationships among macaque species. Many assumptions are required in order to estimate the variables necessary in the quantitative prediction of genetic differences for a comparison between any two populations. Examination of those assumptions demonstrates the need for more accurate genetic as well as paleozoogeographic information. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Diagnostic Measures of Influence for s2

We present three intuitive diagnostic measures for judging the influence that single or multiple observations exert on the estimate s², the mean square error. The three measures are shown to be equivalent statistics. We discuss distributional properties of these measures and conclude with an example.     

Island evolutionary biogeography: analysis of the weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) of the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)

Aim I analysed distributional and phylogenetic information on weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) from the Falklands, and integrated it with molecular, palaeontological and geological information to infer a geobiotic scenario. Location Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas). Methods The panbiogeographical analysis was based on data on 23 Falkland species and their related taxa from southern South America. For the cladistic biogeographical analysis I analysed six weevil taxa for which phylogenetic hypotheses are available (the generic groups Cylydrorhinus, Strangaliodes and Falklandius, and the genera Antarctobius, Germainiellus and Puranius). Results from this analysis were compared with previous regionalizations. Cenocrons (sets of taxa that share the same biogeographical history) were identified by considering temporal information provided by fossils and molecular clocks. Finally, a geobiotic scenario was proposed by integrating the available information. Results Six generalized tracks were detected: Maule–Valdivian forests, Magellanic forest, Magellanic moorland, Falkland Islands, Magellanic forest–Magellanic moorland, and Magellanic forest–Falkland Islands. A node was identified in the Magellanic forest, based on the overlap of two generalized tracks. A single general area cladogram was obtained, implying the following sequence: (Magellanic moorland (Maule–Valdivian forests (Magellanic forest, Falkland Islands))). The Falklands are classified here as a biogeographical province in the Austral realm, Andean region and Subantarctic subregion. Falkland weevils seem to belong to a single Subantarctic cenocron. The sequence of events deduced implies the following steps: development of the Subantarctic biota in southern South America, arrival of the Falkland crustal block from South Africa in the Early Cretaceous, geodispersal of the Subantarctic cenocron from southern South America to the Falklands during the Early Oligocene, vicariance of the Magellanic moorland, vicariance of the Maule–Valdivian forests, and final vicariance between the Magellanic forest and the Falkland Islands. Main conclusions The biotic components identified support the connection of the Falkland weevils with the Magellanic forest. Falkland weevils belong to a single cenocron, dated to at least the Early Oligocene, when geodispersal from southern South America may have occurred. An older African cenocron may have been replaced completely by the Subantarctic one when the proto‐Falklands made contact with the Patagonian continental shelf. A geobiotic scenario implying vicariance events related to sea‐level variations could explain the distributional patterns analysed herein.