Changes in Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus populations in upland forests in Yorkshire

The Nightjar populations of Yorkshire's upland forests have grown significantly during recent years, probably as a result of a concurrent increase in the available area of suitable habitat due to forest management. In common with other populations it appears that the birds utilize younger, more open plantations. Comparison, based on discriminant analysis, of the habitat characteristics of forest plantations occupied and unoccupied by Nightjars suggests two things. First, that birds are more likely to occupy larger rather than smaller clearings and, second, that the study populations are close to their maxima. However, with continuing rotational felling, the area should continue to support a similar population.     

Assessment of sexual dimorphism using 3D CBCT image data among Indians

It is of interest to investigate the use of frontal sinus morphology, bizygomatic and intermaxillary distance for the determination of gender using Cone-Beam Computer Tomography (CBCT). The study population consisted of 75 subjects (35 females and 40 males) with a mean age of 39.25 years (range: 20-70 years), of ethnic group of south-Indian based population. The data was categorized into three age groups of 20-35, 36-50 and ≥ 50 years. All the features and measurements are recorded for each case using CBCT images that were acquired with a CBCT scanner (Planmeca Mid Proface Cone Beam 3D, Helsinki Finland). The data were subjected to a discriminant functional analysis, compared and statistically analyzed. No two persons had the same measurements. Statistically significant differences were found in the frequency of overall metric parameters between the two genders (P < 0.05) except intermaxillary distance (P = -0.034) respectively. These data provide a valuable tool in differentiating gender. It should be noted that bizygomatic distance can significantly improve the gender determination using discriminant analysis. Cone beam computed tomography is a safe procedure with minimal radiation exposure proved to be highly accurate in sinus imaging and provide irreplaceable and precise information about frontal sinus and the whole skull. Measurements showed significant difference except intermaxillary distance and intersinus width among the three age groups. The discriminant analysis showed that the ability of frontal sinus parameters and bizygomatic distance to identify gender with high accuracy.     

Sexing skulls using discriminant function analysis of visually assessed traits

The accuracy of sex determinations based on visual assessments of the mental eminence, orbital margin, glabellar area, nuchal area, and mastoid process was tested on a series of 304 skulls of known age and sex from people of European American, African American, and English ancestry as well as on an ancient Native American sample of 156 individuals whose sex could be reliably determined based on pelvic morphology. Ordinal scores of these sexually dimorphic traits were used to compute sex determination discriminant functions. Linear, kth-nearest-neighbor, logistic, and quadratic discriminant analysis models were evaluated based on their capacity to minimize both misclassifications and sex biases in classification errors. Logistic regression discriminant analysis produced the best results: a logistic model containing all five cranial trait scores correctly classified 88% of the modern skulls with a negligible sex bias of 0.1%. Adding age at death, birth year, and population affinity to the model did not appreciably improve its performance. For the ancient Native American sample, the best logistic regression model assigned the correct pelvic sex to 78% of the individuals with a sex bias of only 0.2%. Similar cranial trait frequency distributions were found in same-sex comparisons of the modern African American, European American, and English samples. The sexual dimorphism of these modern people contrasts markedly with that of the ancient Native Americans. Because of such population differences, discriminant functions like those presented in this paper should be used with caution on populations other than those for which they were developed.     

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION IN METRIC SKULL CHARACTERS AMONG PROPOSED SUBPOPULATIONS AND STOCKS OF HARBOR PORPOISE, PHOCOENA PHOCOENA, IN THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC

A total of 433 skulls of harbor porpoises, Phocoena phocoena , were examined to evaluate geographical variation within the western North Atlantic, using analysis of covariance and discriminant analysis based on 45 measurements of skull components. The relationship between condylobasal length and body length was sigmoid in both sexes. Condylobasal length is generally less in adult males than in adult females.
Despite some overlap, morphological differences between different regions and even adjacent local stocks could be recognized by ANCOVA and discriminant analysis. The percentage of correct classification by discriminant functions was 65.2% for the four regional samples: (1) North Canadian Atlantic (which includes Gulf of St. Lawrence and Newfoundland), (2) Bay of Fundy, (3) Gulf of Maine-New York, and (4) Maryland-South Carolina. It was 65.9% for the four local geographical areas (10s of km) within the Bay of Fundy; Quoddy-region porpoises revealed a closer relationship with the southwestern Nova Scotia population than with other adjacent stocks. The results at this level imply that gene flow is restricted to some degree even among closely adjacent geographical units. Management of this species should aim, therefore, for conservation of a variety of local stocks.     

Australian aborigines represent the first branch from Eurasian antecedents: odontometric evidence

Most genetic data suggest that Australian aborigines and Southeast Asians associate, but their relative evolutionary relationship has remained obscure. Historically, the study of tooth crown variables has been important in establishing phylogenetic relationships. Through the quantification of whole tooth structure (GDP), including root, pulp, and enamel, a likely Eurasian phylogeny emerged from a canonical discriminant analysis of the microevolution among the populations. The analysis suggested that in modern human evolutionary history, Australian aborigines are the best representative extant population (first branch) from an unknown antecedent Eurasian founder population. The next branch from the Asian-based antecedent population was Caucasoids. Within the resident antecedent East Asian population, Southeast Asians then evolved, followed by a branch that lead to antecedent east Central Asians. Mongolians and all Native Americans independently evolved from this antecedent east Central Asian population. The relatively short morphogenetic separation between two areas that have been isolated for great periods of time, i.e., Australian aborigines and Native Americans, suggests that their association is not due to gene flow.     

中华菊头蝠头骨形态特征地理差异的研究

中华菊头蝠是由鲁氏菊头蝠华东亚种提升的一个种.本文测量了海南、广东以及川渝地区中华菊头蝠的23项头骨形态测量指标,应用主成分分析、判别分析和单变量分析方法对中华菊头蝠头骨测量值进行数据处理和分析.主成分分析结果表明,3个地域种群的头骨在总体形态上存在显著的差异;判别分析和单变量分析的结果亦与上述结论相符;沿海种群头骨形态的绝大部分指标比川渝种群大.     

A numerical taxonomic study of thePolygonum aviculare complex (Polygonaceae) in Belgium

16 morphological characters were assessed in 300 plants sampled from 27 populations ofPolygonum aviculare sensu lato representative of the whole ecological range of the species in Belgium. The three multivariate treatments performed, namely principal component analysis, cluster analysis and discriminant analysis provide evidence thatP. aviculare can be divided in 4 units, roughly corresponding to the four taxa recognized byChrtek. However, the results point out that subsp.monspeliense and subsp.calcatum should be included at the varietal rank within respectively subsp.aviculare (=P. heterophyllum) and subsp.aequale (=P. arenastrum) as defined byLindman. Fruit dimensions, fruit shape and tepal length are the most discriminant characters for separating the four taxa, while several other characters are discriminant at the population level only. The evolutionary significance of the variation pattern of the whole complex is discussed in terms of life history differentiation and ecological specialization.     

An evaluation of race and sex identification from cranial measurements

A total of 104 adult human crania (95 American Indian and 9 Labrador Eskimo) are used in this evaluation of a discriminant functional analysis for determining race and sex from eight cranial measurements. The methods used are those given by Giles and Elliot ('62). The study shows that non-deformed American Indian crania are racially misclassified as American White and Negro in 35.6% of the cases when using this metrical method. Deformed Indian crania are racially misclassified 60.0% and 4.4% of the time as White and Negro respectively. The determination of sex on male crania, regardless of deformation, is as accurate as, or better than, the visual method of identification. The female crania, however, are shown to be incorrectly sexed in nearly 50% of the cases, with one non-deformed group (Palus) running as high as 80.0%. This evaluation suggests, therefore, that discriminant functional analyses for race and / or sex determinations are not applicable to problems of human identification unless the crania are from that population on which these functions were established.     

An association study using AFLP markers and application to a beef cattle breeding population

Using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) fingerprinting, selective genotyping was performed to determine if this method was effective for selecting superior breeding stock. Forty-eight cows with extreme genetic merit for beef marbling score (BMS) were selected from a population of Japanese Black cattle (n = 4462), including 25 with the highest for predicted breeding value (PBV) and 23 with the lowest. Sixteen AFLP fragments were selected for further analysis based on fragment frequency differences between the high and low groups. A linear discriminant analysis using these AFLP fragments was applied in order to derive a discriminant function that classified the cows into high and low groups. Seven of the 16 fragments were included in the resulting function and the discriminant scores (general genetic values, GGV) of the 48 cows were calculated using the function. These cows were clearly separated into high and low groups by GGV with a correlation ratio of 0.91 (discriminative error of 2.1%). The same function was then applied to 121 additional cows that were randomly selected from the original population. A significant regression coefficient of GGV on BMS-PBV (R2 = 0.45) was obtained, which indicates that the GGV can be used as a selection criterion for BMS in this population. These results suggest that AFLP fingerprinting can be used for animal breeding without identifying the underlying genes affecting the trait of interest.     

Relationships between non-metric skeletal traits and cranial size and shape.

A long-standing controversy exists about the comparative utility of metric and non-metric traits as biological indicators in population studies. We hypothesize that the underlying scale which determines the presence or absence of a cranial non-metric trait is an expression of general and/or local size variation in the cranium. Therefore metric and non-metric traits will share a common developmental determination. The hypothesis implies that the underlying scale of a non-metric trait will be correlated with measures of cranial size and shape. Forty-eight cranial metric and twenty-five cranial non-metric traits were scored on the left side of adult male crania from four North American Indian populations. New threshold traits were generated for each non-metric trait by dichotomizing discriminant scores produced by discriminant function analysis. The discriminant analysis was performed using metric traits to discriminate between groups formed by non-metric trait presence or absence. Every non-metric trait tested was significantly correlated with its threshold trait in at least one population. The correlations were of moderate to high levels depending on the trait and population sample studied. This implies that metric and non-metric traits share a moderate to high degree of developmental determination. The cause of these correlations may lie in the common effects that growth and development of the soft tissue and functional spaces of the cranium exert on both metric and non-metric traits.     

A generalized discriminant rule when training population and test population differ on their descriptive parameters

Standard discriminant analysis methods make the assumption that both the labeled sample used to estimate the discriminant rule and the nonlabeled sample on which this rule is applied arise from the same population. In this work, we consider the case where the two populations are slightly different. In the multinormal context, we establish that both populations are linked through linear mapping. Estimation of the nonlabeled sample discriminant rule is then obtained by estimating parameters of this linear relationship. Several models describing this relationship are proposed and associated estimated parameters are given. An experimental illustration is also provided in which sex of birds that differ morphometrically over their geographical range is to be deterrmined and a comparison with the standard allocation rule is performed. Extension to a partially labeled sample is also discussed.     

The contribution of size and shape variation to patterns of sexual dimorphism of the human femur

The present research was undertaken to determine the relationship between patterns of generalized intrapopulational variation determined from principal components analysis and patterns of sexual dimorphism determined from Student's t and discriminant function analysis. The analysis was based upon 17 measurements of 97 femurs from a Middle Mississippian Amerindian population. The results of the principal components analysis indicated that the 17 original measurements could be represented as four principal component variates. Inspection of component loadings lent support to the contention that the first principal component reflected variation in general size while components two to four reflected variation in femoral shape. Analysis of the relationship between principal component loading and male-female differences reflected in Student's t demonstrated a high (0.97) positive correlation between absolute magnitude of loading in the first principal component and magnitude of Student's t. As a result, discriminant analyses of the femur, utilizing univariate criteria for the inclusion of variables, have been biased in the direction of size variation. Subsequent stepwise discriminant function analyses demonstrated that an adequate discriminant model must reflect all dimensions of morphological variation at the intrapopulational level.     

Aggressive behavior of adult meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) towards young

Summary Field evidence indicates that adult microtines, especially females, may be a major cause of poor juvenile survival and this may be instrumental in their population regulation. This suggests that males and females behave differently towards young animals. To examine how adult males, nonlactating females, and lactating females behave towards strange young, I introduced young animals into the home cage of the adults. Lactating females were most aggressive towards young; most males investigated them; most nonlactating females ignored them. However, discriminant function analysis indicated a great deal of overlap in the behavior of the classes. None of the classes behaved differently towards young of either sex. Females did not vary their behavior during lactation. Behavior varied among lactating females, with 55% showing little aggression and 20% showing a great deal. Most lactating females showed similar behavior in each of their bouts: docile females remained docile, aggressive females remained aggressive. I conclude that lactating females are most aggressive towards strange young. These results are consistent with the field evidence, which suggests that adult females depress juvenile survival and recruitment and that the main culprits are breeding females.     

中华蜜蜂形态遗传分析方法的研究

本文以3个中华蜜蜂Apis cerana cerana种群为模型,测定常用的30个形态变量数据,通过比较逐步判别分析、主成分分析、聚类分析等多种多变量统计方法的分析结果,找出适合划分中华蜜蜂种群、揭示种群间遗传关系的数据分析方法.结果表明:逐步判别分析对于划分中华蜜蜂种群效果最好,并可进行准确率检验;与聚类分析联用有助...     

中国和印度猕猴(Macaca mulatta)两个种群颅骨的比较

中国云南中南部和印度的猕猴(Macaca mulatta)两个种群的颅骨形态以及等位基因的比较研究结果表明:两者的面宽、颅的形态大小和等位基因频率均存在较大差异。这些差异也分别存在于印度种群(M.m.mulatta)与西藏亚种(M.m.vestita),川西亚种(M.m.lasiotis),泰国种群和越南种群之间。在20个血蛋白等位基因中,仅约8个是各亚种或种群共有的,代表共同的离征或祖征。因此,云南中南部标本既不是印度指名亚种,也不是泰国的siamica亚种,其亚种名应重新厘定。大陆型分布的猕猴区域性种群之间的遗传异质性大于同质性。上述差异可能是随机遗传漂变的产物。     

Morphometrics of human auditory ossicles from Antinoe Necropolis (Egypt)

Historical evidence suggests that the Christian Coptic population of Antinoe necropolis, probable descendants of Dynastic Egyptians, may reflect admixture from Greek and Roman populations. Within the anthropological surveys on Antinoe skeletal remains (A.D. 300–600), a sample of auditory ossicles was compared with a Dynastic Egyptian sample (“G. Marro” osteological collection), from Asiut and Gebelen Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were applied, to this end. The auditory ossicles are generally larger in the Coptic group; in both groups shape measurements have a high variability, while size measurements are relatively invariable. Univariate variances are homogeneous but the means are significantly different. This suggests genetic changes, but identical patterns of variation. The stepwise discriminant functions analysis and the Generalized Distance, suggesting a biological heterogeneity in the Antinoe sample in spite of some similarity of the two groups, tend to support this. Further analyses of the auditory ossicles in Greek and Roman populations are however needed to confirm the gene flow hypothesis in the Antinoe population, suggested by historical data.     

Morphological and molecular characterization of the Landes honey bee (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Apis mellifera</Emphasis> L.) ecotype for genetic conservation

A population of honey bees (Apis mellifera mellifera L.) with an annual colony brood cycle adapted to a locally abundant floral source in the Landes region of Southwest France is the subject of genetic conservation efforts. This population is maintained by local beekeepers in an area that experiences both an annual seasonal influx of non-local colonies and the permanent culture of imported stock. However, some colonies native to the Landes do not have the adapted brood cycle and their status as ecotypic are in question. The present study used morphology, mitochondrial DNA and microsatellites to characterize the endemic population and suggests further genetic conservation strategies. These methods yielded different degrees of discrimination of native and imported colonies and provided a powerful suite of tools for local resource managers. Colonies from the Landes could be differentiated from non-local French A. m. mellifera populations using morphometric analysis, and from non-native and reference populations using mtDNA and microsatellites. Seven morphological characters were identified by discriminant analysis as informative for delineating the Landes ecotype from other A. m. mellifera populations. Mitochondrial haplotypes for the population were characterized and five microsatellite loci were found to be informative in characterizing the Landes population. Asymmetric gene flow detected with microsatellite alleles was observed to be 5.5–5.9% from imported to native stocks of honey bees while introgression of native microsatellite alleles into imported colonies was 21.6%.     

INDIVIDUALITY IN “YODEL” CALLS RECORDED FROM A BANDED POPULATION OF COMMON LOONS,GAVIA IMMER

ABSTRACT

Male common loons, Gavia immer, produce a territorial vocalization called the yodel. We quantitatively examined yodels using discriminant and cross correlation analysis. Both techniques correctly assigned the majority of the male's yodels to the proper group, however discriminant analysis was more accurate for making long term comparisons of a yodel's stability. Of four male loons in a color marked, breeding population at the Seney National Wildlife Refuge in Michigan, each male's yodel was different and these differences were maintained over the six years of this study. There is a suggestion that changes in the yodel may be related to territory and mate switching, indicating that individuality in the yodel may be linked to female choice.     

Second order discriminant analysis in chemopreventive efficacy measurement

OBJECTIVE: To describe the use of second order discriminant analysis as a classification methodology along with the underlying assumptions and sampling requirements, with special emphasis on the use of this analysis in chemopreventive efficacy studies. STUDY DESIGN: The discriminant function score distributions derived in an analysis of 2 diagnostic groups may show such overlap that a statistically significant difference in mean values cannot be shown and, more important, that a useful case-based classification cannot be attained. By using the discriminant function score distributions from each case, it is frequently possible to derive a second order discriminant function based on case-specific characteristics, rather than characteristics of nuclei, thereby attaining improved case classification. RESULTS: Second order discriminant analysis has proven very useful in the documentation of case-level efficacy in chemopreventive trials. In a study of orally administered vitamin A, a first order discriminant analysis did not achieve a statistically significant difference in the score distributions for nuclei, but a second order discriminant analysis allowed a correct recognition of intervention effects in 85% of submitted cases. In a chemopreventive study of triamcinolone, a similarly inadequate discrimination based on discriminant function scores for nuclei resulted. After a second order discriminant analysis, a reduction in solar-actinic damage could be shown in 14/15, or 93%, of treated cases. CONCLUSION: Second order discriminant analysis can be highly effective when the discriminating information offered at the nuclear level is inadequate due to high dispersion and small differences in mean values of discriminant function scores for the diagnostic groups. Second order analysis utilizes case-specific characteristics of the discriminant function score distributions to document diagnostic group separation and/or efficacy of chemopreventive intervention by a reduction in case discriminant function scores.