Inferring the phylogeography and evolutionary history of the splendid fairy-wren Malurus splendens from mitochondrial DNA and spectrophotometry

The phylogeographic structure of the widely distributed arid and semi-arid Australian splendid fairy-wren Malurus splendens was investigated by using variation in plumage characters and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). We examined sequences of the mtDNA ND2 gene and used spectrophotometry to quantify chromatic variation in plumage in order to test the current morphology-based intraspecific taxonomy of M. splendens and to discriminate between hypotheses invoking allopatric and parapatric processes in the origin of diversity in the complex. Genetic diversity of M. splendens fell into three divergent geographically structured clades. One represents populations ascribed to the western subspecies M. s. splendens , the other populations of central M. s. musgravi and the third all eastern populations currently ascribed to M. s. emmottorum and M. s. melanotus . Plumage patterns clearly differentiate M. s. splendens and M. s. musgravi, and spectrophotometry identified a step-wise transition in spectra between M. s. melanotus and M. s. emmottorum . Congruence of patterns of phenotypic and genetic variation among western, central and eastern populations of M. splendens strongly suggests that these populations have diverged in allopatry on either side of historical biogeographic barriers in this region. Decoupled patterns of phenotypic and genetic diversity suggest that the divergence of M. s. melanotus and M. s. emmottorum may have occurred without periods of isolation perhaps in response to differences in local environmental conditions, or alternatively, mtDNA and plumage may have different rates of evolution. Critically, we encountered issues with the placement of the root of the M. splendens complex. The root was placed within the subspecies M. s. splendens separating its northern and southern populations and rendering the subspecies paraphyletic.     

Communal breeding in the mara, Dolichotis patagonum

Mara social organization involves a combination of monogamous territoriality and co-operative, communal breeding that has not otherwise been described among mammals.
Some pairs reared their young in communal warrens, and pup survival was greater in warrens with larger memberships.
Pairs visited their young once daily, and females resisted, sometimes unsuccessfully, the attempts of interloping youngsters to nurse. Stolen nursing facilitated the survival of orphans.
More adults were present at larger creches, and total vigilance was thus increased despite each pair spending less time sitting-alert and less time at the warren. The proportion of the day for which at least one pair was vigilant at the warren increased to 90% with larger creche sizes.
Pups were much more likely to emerge from the warren when adults were present, and in the absence of adults were more likely to be sitting-alert close to the entrance.
These observations are compatible with hypotheses explaining the mara's social system in terms of resource dispersion, anti-predator behaviour and thermoregulation.     

Communal nursing in the domestic cat,Felis catus

Communal nursing in the domestic cat has been observed in group living conditions. (In high density conditions, cats have social lives.) In our laboratory, when females were kept in the same cage, they delivered kittens nearly simultaneously, and started to nurse their kittens communally. This process, which was videotaped, was shown to be begun by the mother’s retrieving kittens. They seemed to have no ability to discriminate their own kittens from those of others, as our test of recognition of kittens showed. Communal nursing resulted in high mortality of kittens, the release of mothers from caring for kittens, and incomplete reproductive division of labour. Abortion was often observed in group-living cats in captivity. High mortality and low birthrate are helpful in controlling population. All members of the group were very familiar to each other, so that they formed a ‘pseudo’-kin group.     

The Process and Causes of Fledging in a Cavity-Nesting Passerine Bird, the House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)

Little is known about the process or causes of fledging or nest‐leaving in passerine birds because researchers can rarely predict when fledging will occur in a given nest. We used continuous videotaping of nests to both document the process of fledging in the house wren, Troglodytes aedon, a small, cavity‐nesting songbird, and test hypotheses as to what might cause fledging to begin. Fledging began any time from 14 to 19 d after hatching commenced. Slower‐developing broods fledged later than faster‐developing broods. Fledging typically began within 5 h of sunrise and over 80% of all nestlings fledged before noon. All nestlings fledged on the same day at 65% of nests and over two consecutive days in most other nests. We found no evidence that fledging was triggered by changes in parental behaviour. Parental rate of food delivery to nestlings did not decline during a 3‐h period leading up to the first fledging, nor was the rate of feeding just prior to the first fledging lower than the rate at the same time the day before. Moreover, parents did not slow the rate of food delivery to nests after part of the brood had fledged. Hatching is asynchronous in our study population which creates a marked age/size hierarchy within broods. At most nests, the first nestling to fledge was the most well‐developed nestling in the brood or nearly so (as measured by feather length). This suggests that fledging typically begins when the most well‐developed nestlings in the brood reach some threshold size. However, at about one‐fifth of nests, the first nestling to fledge was only moderate in size. At these nests, severe competition for food may have caused smaller, less competitive nestlings to fledge first to increase their access to food. We found no strong support for the suggestion that the oldest nestlings delay fledging until their least‐developed nestmate reaches some minimum size, although further experimental work on this question is warranted.     

In the Way of Development: Indigenous Peoples, Life Projects, and Globalization

In the Way of Development: Indigenous Peoples, Life Projects, and Globalization. Mario Blaser, Harvey A. Feit, and Glenn McRae, eds. New York: Zed Books, 2004. 362 pp.     

Feeding of Fish at the Seamounts of the Whale Ridge (South-Eastern Atlantic Ocean). 2. Splendid alfonsino Beryx splendens (Berycidae)

Journal of Ichthyology - The feeding characteristics of splendid alfonsino Beryx splendens from the seamounts of the Whale Ridge have been studied. A wide range of food organisms in feeding of...     

The Social System of a Communal Breeder,the Bay-winged Cowbird Molothrus badius

Molothrus badius (bay-winged cowbird), an icterine blackbird with cooperative breeding, shares behavioural and ecological characteristics with other communal nesters: it is sedentary, has a high annual survival rate (76.2%) and a strong nest-site tenacity (mean breeding dispersal of 41.9 and 89.4 m for males and females). Behavioural data, including collective agonistic displays, suggest group territoriality. Before egg hatching most breeders occurred as single pairs showing territorial behaviour (82% of nests), and nesting was usually solitary (distances to nearest nests of 25–103 m). Most breeders were apparently monogamous, with a 2.5% incidence of extrapair copulations in the territory during clutch formation. During the nestling stage one to four helpers occurred at 95% of M. badius nests. Most helpers were 1–2 years old, but older breeding adults (mostly males) that failed to rear their own offspring helped at the end of the season. The number of helpers increased (up to 4) with nestling age. Helpers were also recruited during the postfledging period, and group size reached up to 10 adults at this stage. Helpers mobbed predators and brood parasites, and provided 35% of the nestling food. Provisioning rate was positively and significantly correlated with number of helpers, although age of nestlings was the best predictor of overall food delivery rate. The helping system was almost obligate and productivity comparisons between nests with/without helpers are not possible. Data suggest that helpers increased the breeding success per nest. The correlation between the provisioning rates of parents and helpers was negative but non-significant. In 18% of nests 3 to 4 individuals were present before the nestling period, including cases of apparently polyandrous trios and one case of joint nesting by two pairs. Within Brown 's (1987) categories of social organization M. badius is mainly group territorial with plural nesting. Habitat requirements of M. badius are wide and nest sites do not appear to limit breeding. Kinship plays a role in the social system, as 9 of 12 helpers marked as nestlings helped their parents.     

我们的生产生活方式是和这个地方相适应的

在整个行程中,是毛拉给了我们一个措池村变迁的整体视角。他做过几十年的村委书记,直到现在还是县里的人大代表,听说为了抵制在草原上乱挖金子他跟县领导拍过桌子。这样一个在草场上生活了几十年的人,在领导位置上呆了几十年的人,对变化是清楚的,无论是那里的人还是那里的草原。毛拉:我66岁了,做过措池村书记13年,勒池村书记17年,2000年3月退休的,儿子现在还是勒池大队的支部书记。在1958年以前,我在通天河南岸放牧,就是以前的大游牧。那时候我正是十四、五岁,整个通天河南北岸水草丰美。但是50年代末60年代初是个分界线,从那一年以后,很多地方变坏了,水沟里没了水,     

Hunting the Wren: Transformation of Bird to Symbol

Hunting tfie Wren: Transformation of Bird to Symbol. Elizabeth Atwood Lawrence. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1997. 234 pp.     

The consumption of wood by rural households in Gokwe Communal Area,Zimbabwe

The objectives of this paper are to quantify the annual household consumption of wood for different purposes and to investigate the types of wood used for each purpose. Households in part of Gokwe Communal Area, a rural Zimbabwean study area in which wood is considered plentiful, use a mean 4.8 tons per household per year (t hh ^–1 yr ^–1 ) of wood for fuel, comprising 4.0 t to meet day-to-day requirements and 0.8 t for special occasions and beer brewing. In addition, building and repairing wooden structures require 3.5 t hh ^–1 yr ^–1 The total annual consumption is at most 8.3 t hh ^–1 yr ^–1 depending on the amount of wood in wooden structures that is recycled into new structures or as firewood. Wide variation around the mean annual consumption is expected because of differences among households and errors associated with calculation. The different purposes to which wood is put require wood of different types. Firewood for day-to-day use consists of small dead pieces collected in headloads. For brewing and special occasions large logs are used. Poles and small branches are freshly cut for wooden structures, with poles of particular girths and lengths being used for different components of the structures. Species is also taken into account in the collection of wood for fuel and construction. Disaggregation of the yearly consumption by site and species is important to the assessment of supply and demand of wood.     

The Emergence of Culture: The Evolution of a Uniquely Human Way of Life

The Emergence of Culture: The Evolution of. Uniquely Human Way of Life . Philip G. Chase. New York: Springer Press, 2006. 227 pp.     

Factors influencing reproductive success in the clonal moss, Hylocomium splendens

Female reproductive success in the unisexual perennial clonal moss Hylocomium splendens was examined by recording, if the segment was reproductive [produced sporophyte(s)] or not, together with several distance-to-male and male density variables, and segment size. This was done for every female segment in a population over a 5 year study period. A high fraction of the population could be sexed because we monitored the population in situ for 5 years, and thereafter harvested the population for electrophoretic analysis from which the clonal identity and expressed sex could be deduced. Fertilization distances in H. splendens were short, indicated by the fact that as many as 85% of the female segments with sporophytes were situated within a distance of 5.0 cm from the nearest male. The longest distance measured between a sporophytic female and the closest male was 11.6 cm. However, analysed within a generalized linear modelling (GLM) framework, the year was the best single predictor for the presence of H. splendens sporophyte although female-segment size and distance to the closest situated male were also strongly significant. The two latter factors explained larger fractions of variation in sporophyte presence in a GLM model with three predictors than in single-predictor models. This is because (i) the large variation in sporophyte production among years partly obscures the strong general increase in sporophyte production with increasing female-segment size and vitality, and (ii) the between-year variation and the size obscure the effect of the distance to the most proximate male. To our knowledge, this study is the first to incorporate into one model the relative importance of several factors for bryophyte reproductive success. Our results demonstrate the value of multiple-predictor approaches in studies of reproductive success.