The Tai-Phake of Assam, India--a morphometric study and population comparison with neighbouring groups

Morphometric characters of the adult males of the Tai-Phake and the nature and extent of morphometric variation among five neighboring mongoloid groups of Assam have been examined in the present study. For the sake of investigation 12 anthropometric measurements have been taken and five indices have been calculated. In order to obtain the distance values size, shape and biological distance are calculated. It revels that the Tai-Phake maintains a far distance with other five neighboring groups (Ahom, Deuri, Chutia, Mishing and Moran). The Ahom also maintain far distance with other five groups. While, the Mishing and Moran, and Deuri and Chutia maintain close distance among themselves.     

Malaneese of Malana glen: analysis of morphometric data and ethnic relationship with some neighbouring populations of Himachal Pradesh, India

A morphometric study of the Malaneese - an isolated community living in the midst of Himalayas in district Kullu, Himachal Pradesh - is undertaken with a view to tracing their ethnic relationship with some neighbouring populations viz. Kinnauras, Kulwis and Lahulies, with whom they share some linguistic and cultural experiences. The data consist of 23 anthropometric variables which include 7 linear body measurements, 6 body diameters and circumferences and 10 head and face measurements. The Mahalanobis generalized distance statistics (D2) was used as the primary basis of analysis. The results show that Malaneese are a distinct population clearly distinguishable from the neighbouring populations of Himachal Pradesh. The distance statistics reveal closer morphometric affinity of Malaneese with the Kulwis and Kinnauras than with Lahulies. The lexicostatistical data together with historical records of the movement of people in this region lend support to the above findings.     

Genetic heterogeneity among the Negroid and Arab tribes of the Sudan

Genetic distance analysis was carried out among seven tribes of the Sudan comprising three Negroid (Nuba, Fur, and Nilotes) and four Arab tribes (Beja, Gaalin, Hawazma, and Messeria) on the basis of six polymorphic loci (ABO and Rhesus blood groups; haemoglobin and red cell glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase; serum haptoglobin and transferrin polymorphisms) controlling 21 alleles and compared with the Arab and Negroid populations in neighbouring countries. The Nuba and Nilotes have been found to have Negroid genetic characteristics, while the Fur are intermediate between the Arabs and Negroids. The Beja and Gaalin tribes have more pronounced Arab genetic characteristics than the Hawazma and Messeria, who have a great deal of Negroid admixture.     

Spatial arrangement of branches in relation to slope and neighbourhood competition

To gain a better understanding of the effects of spatial structure on patterns of neighbourhood competition among hardwood trees, the three-dimensional extension of primary branches was surveyed for ten community-grown Castanea crenata (Fagaceae) trees with respect to the positioning of neighbouring branches and the slope of the forest floor. There were significantly more branches extending towards the lower side of the slope than towards the upper side, but structural properties such as branch length and vertical angle were not affected by slope. When horizontal extension of a branch towards its neighbour was compared for a C. crenata branch and a neighbouring heterospecific, the former was significantly narrower than the latter when the inter-branch distance (horizontal distance between the base positions of two neighbouring branches) was short (< approx. 5 m). Castanea crenata branches tended to extend in a direction avoiding neighbouring branches of heterospecifics when the inter-branch distance was short. Furthermore, for an inter-branch distance <3 m, the horizontal extension of a C. crenata branch was less when it was neighbouring a heterospecific branch than when neighbouring a conspecific branch. These results suggest that horizontal extension of C. crenata branches is more prone to spatial invasion by nearby neighbouring branches of heterospecifics, and that the invasion can be lessened when C. crenata trees are spatially aggregated. The reason why such an arrangement occurs is discussed in relation to the later leaf-flush of C. crenata compared with that of other species in the forest.     

Biochemical and egg size evolution of freshwater fishes in the Rhinogobius brunneus complex (Pisces, Gobiidae) in Okinawa, Japan

Many colour morphs have been recognized in the Rhinogobius brunneus complex. A recent electrophoretic study has revealed that some of the colour morphs are well differentiated from each other genetically. In Okinawa, egg-size and life-history variation has been found in addition to the colour variation in this species complex. To clarify the nature of this life-history variation, gobies of a fluviatile morph with large eggs as well as three other amphidromous morphs with small eggs, inhabiting a single stream sympatrically in Okinawa, were analysed by electrophoresis and the females were also used for comparison of egg and clutch sizes. Electrophoretic data for 34 loci showed that each morph was separated by a fixed-allele difference for at least one locus, indicating that the four morphs which occurred sympatrically are reproductively isolated from each other. However, Nei's genetic distance between the fluviatile morph and one of the amphidromous morphs was much smaller (0.026) than distances among amphidromous gobies (0.323-0.480). Egg size of the former was by far the largest among the four. These results imply that speciation of the fluviatile morph accompanied by the egg-size increase has been completed rapidly without considerable genetic differentiation.     

Geometric morphometric analysis of Eysarcoris guttiger,E.annamita and E.ventralis (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)

The genus Eysarcoris can be easily distinguished from other genera through the two spots in the basal angle of the scutellum.Nevertheless,Eysarcoris species show complex variances.Geometric morphometric methods have been increasingly applied to distinguish species and to define the boundary of genera among insects.In the present study,geometric morphometric approach was firstly employed to evaluate the shape variation of three characters (fore wing,hind wing and pygophore) of E.guttiger,E.annamita and E.ventralis using E.aeneus as outgroup to ascertain whether this approach is a reliable method for the taxonomy of Eysarcoris.Analysis was conducted on the landmarks of the three characters of these species.Multivariate regression of procrustes coordinates against centroid size was conducted to test the presence of allometry.Principal component analysis (PCA),canonical variate analysis (CVA)and cluster analysis were utilized to describe variations in shapes among the studied species.For all of the three characters,though PCA analysis showed some overlap among species,p-values for procrustes distance and mahalanobis distance were all less than 0.0001.The distribution of the three studied species corresponds with their species status.This study demonstrates that the geometric morphometrics of both the fore wing and the hind wing might represent a possible tool for the identification of species within this genus.     

Genetic diversity of Echinacea species based upon amplified fragment length polymorphism markers.

The taxonomy of Echinacea is based on morphological characters and has varied depending on the monographer. The genus consists of either nine species and four varieties or four species and eight varieties. We have used amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) to assess genetic diversity and phenetic relationships among nine species and three varieties of Echinacea (sensu McGregor). A total of 1086 fragments, of which approximately 90% were polymorphic among Echinacea taxa, were generated from six primer combinations. Nei and Li's genetic distance coefficient and the neighbor-joining algorithm were employed to construct a phenetic tree. Genetic distance results indicate that all Echinacea species are closely related, and the average pairwise distance between populations was approximately three times the intrapopulation distances. The topology of the neighbor-joining tree strongly supports two major clades, one containing Echinacea purpurea, Echinacea sanguinea, and Echinacea simulata and the other containing the remainder of the Echinacea taxa (sensu McGregor). The species composition within the clades differs between our AFLP data and the morphometric treatment offered by Binns and colleagues. We also discuss the suitability of AFLP in determining phylogenetic relationships.     

东海区底拖网作业三类主要渔获物的时空关系

目前海洋捕捞渔获物主要分为三大类,包括鱼类、甲壳类和头足类。这三类生物共存于一片水域,同处一个生态系统,相互之间存在着诸多联系,如捕食与被捕食、生存空间竞争等。基于生态系统水平的海洋生物资源管理与研究已经成为国际趋势和国内要求,将各种生物、群落和环境作为一个整体进行研究是基于生态系统管理与研究的基本途径,而目前多数研究还是将三类生物分开,缺少三者相互关系的综合研究。根据2000年东海区渔业资源大面积调查数据,就三类生物的主要分布区域水平空间关系、三类生物空间分布的距离及其季节变化特征等方面进行了探讨。研究结果发现,三类生物主要分布区域存在空间分离趋势,且该趋势随着三类生物集中区域的聚集程度越高,空间分离的现象越为明显,这种分离特征可能是三类生物相互竞争、相互适应、长期演化的结果,是一种典型的生态位分化现象。四季三类生物的空间分布距离,呈现出春夏季距离远、秋冬季距离近的特点;可能是由于春夏季是多数鱼类的产卵繁殖期,其分布水域主要聚集在产卵场或育卵场,而其它生物无显著聚集或聚集水域不同,从而导致鱼类与其它生物之间的距离增加;而秋冬季是多数鱼类的索饵和越冬洄游季节,分布水域相对分散,从而导致三类生物之间的距离相对近。三类生物的空间分布距离,呈现出头足类与鱼类距离近、鱼类与甲壳类和甲壳类与头足类距离相对远的特点;可能是由于三类生物的不同活动能力所导致,甲壳类活动能力差,一般处于海洋最底水层,头足类活动能力强于甲壳类,能活跃于多个水层,但其游泳能力具有间歇性特点,而鱼类活动能力最强,能长期持续在多水层之间游动。活动能力导致鱼类与头足类的空间交叉区域较多,因而距离较近;而甲壳类与鱼类和头足类的交叉区域较少,因而距离较远。三类生物空间分布的分离特征对于渔业管理也有一定的指导意义,如适当引导不同作业渔船在不同水域进行生产,从而能减少或避免渔船为争夺渔场而发生的纠纷和摩擦。     

Morphological variation of the pikeperch Sander lucioperca (L.) in the southern Caspian Sea, using a truss system

A morphometric truss network system and meristic counts were used to investigate the hypothesis of population fragmentation of pikeperch Sander lucioperca among four major fishing areas in the Caspian Sea drainage. Univariate analysis of variance showed significant differences between the means of the four groups for 20 out of 32 standardized morphometric measurements (27 truss, five traditional characters) and six out of nine meristic counts. The first two canonical discriminant functions accounted for 93 and 92.3% of the total variability in morphometric and meristic characteristics, respectively. A dendogram derived from cluster analysis of Mahalanobis distances and a discriminant analysis among the groups confirmed three distinct populations in these regions, while there was a relatively high degree of overlap between all locations when using meristic characters. The most relevant morphometric characteristics were the measured distances on body heights and the caudal peduncle area. This study indicated that the morphometric truss network system was more adequate than meristic characters for separation among the populations.     

Reassessment of morphological characteristics in freshwater eels (genus Anguilla, Anguillidae) shows congruence with molecular phylogeny estimates

The morphology-based phylogeny of freshwater eels, proposed by V. Ege in 1939, has been accepted as the basis of eel classification since that time. However, this has been called into question by recent molecular studies. Most of the morphological characteristics recognized by Ege are morphometric. Since methods for the application of morphometric data to phylogeny construction have not been fully established, it is unclear whether the observed discrepancies between morphological and molecular data arise from intrinsic differences or from flawed analyses. Here, we have used two methods to assemble evolutionary trees from distance matrices constructed according to Ege's data, the neighbor-joining (NJ) method and the minimum network (MinNet) method; the latter is based on an evolutionary algorithm. After reanalysing Ege's morphological data, we found that both methods gave results consistent with those based on molecular data, although not with Ege's original classification. Therefore, we speculate that some morphological features Ege used to subdivide the eel groups may not be synapomorphic as he proposed, but symplesiomorphic or convergent . The method developed here may prove useful for constructing phylogeny for taxon groups where only continuous morphometric characteristics are recognized, such as the freshwater eels.     

Investigations on the variability of four genetic serum protein markers in Poland.

198 unrelated male and female Poles from Ostrów Wielkopolski (Central Poland) and 228 unrelated male and female Kashubes from Ko?cierzyna (Northern Poland) have been typed for four polymorphic serum protein systems: HP, TF, GC, and PI. Phenotype and allele frequencies of all these four polymorphic systems are quite different between Poles and Kashubes. Comparisons with some other Central and East European population samples (Slovaks, Hungarians, Matyos, Gypsies) revealed a considerable genetic heterogeneity among them. Genetic distance analysis showed that Hungarians and Matyos as well as Poles and Slovaks are found in two subclusters, which are linked up to one cluster. Gypsies and especially Kashubes exhibit a distinct position from this cluster. This genetic distance pattern can be explained satisfactorily considering the ethnohistory of the population groups under study.     

Allozyme and morphology evolution in European Viviparidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Architaenioglossa)

The paper describes morphometric and allozymic differences among four European species of the family Viviparidae: Viviparus contectus (Millet, 1813), V. viviparus (Linnaeus, 1758), V. acerosus Bourguignat, 1862, and V. ater (Cristofori et Jan, 1832). Fourteen continuous biometrical characters were measured. Incremental discriminant-function analysis, principal-component analysis, and non-metric multidimensional scaling were applied to analysis of the morphometric differences. All the techniques confirmed a similar picture: a slight morphometric differentiation, with the variability ranges of the species overlapping. On the other hand, the allozymic differentiation, studied at 12 loci, eight of them intra and/or interspecific polymorphic, is much better marked, the intraspecific Nei's distances among the four V. contectus populations ranging from 0.0014 to 0.0397, mean 0.0166, and interspecific distances ranging from 0.2306 (V. ater–V. acerosus) to 0.9888 (V. contectus 2 and V. viviparus), mean 0.6871. The allele frequencies and genetic distances (Nei's distance and Cavalli-Sforza and Edwards’chord distance) were used to compute maximum likelihood, additive Fitch–Margoliash and ultrametric Fitch–Margoliash trees. All the trees presented a similar pattern, but the maximum-likelihood and additive trees, based on Cavalli-Sforza and Edwards’distance, seem to reflect the phylogeny best. The results are compared with the most parsimonious phylogenies inferred for radular, soft-part morphology and anatomy, and opercular data from other papers by us, and the inferred phylogenies are also compared. Although the inferred molecular and morphological phylogenies are little different in topology, the amount of evolution along the corresponding branches (measured as the number of changes averaged over all reconstructions) is very different, the value of correlation coefficient between the two phylogenies being statistically insignificant. The occurrence of interspecific hybrids is discussed, and the isolation-by-competition mechanism is postulated. The probable origin of V. viviparus from a founder population extremely restricted in number is stressed. The possible history of the group is briefly discussed. The species is suggested to have originated in an unusual habitat of melt water at a glacier foreland that could have promoted genotypic differentiation and sympatric speciation.     

Reassessment of species distribution and occurrence of mud crab (Scylla spp., Portunidae) in Malaysia through morphological and molecular identification

This study utilized genetic and morphometric approaches to assess the molecular and morphometric differentiation among commercially important species of mud crab. Molecular investigations were derived from 542 bp mitochondrial DNA COI on 249 individuals within genus Scylla from nine states in Malaysia represents four marine regions; South China Sea, Sulu Sea, Straits of Singapore and Straits of Malacca. Four specimens were obtained from Indonesia to give a robust analysis in this study. For species delimitation, Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD) method on a web interface was employed. Analysis on phylogenetics was implemented utilizing Neighbour joining (NJ) and Maximum Parsimony (MP) methods. The inter- and intraspecies genetic distances (D_s) was computed using Kimura 2-parameter distance and executed in MEGA version 5.05. All samples were genetically and morphologically identified and clustered into four distinct species. Among the species, S. olivacea was the most abundant (n = 111), on the other hand the occurrence of S. paramamosain in Malaysia was very low (n = 29). No single individual of S. serrata from Malaysia was recorded in this study. Both genetic distance and phylogenetic approaches exhibited a correlative monophyletic association among all specimens analysed. This present study is crucial as it reports the reassessment of all species within genus Scylla in Malaysia, eventually could be employed as a reference source for subsequent research mainly on mariculture and other conservation efforts for the species.     

应用线粒体DNA D—loop区遗传多样性分析云南4个少数民族的遗传关系

对傣,佤,拉祜和藏族4个群体的99名个体mtDNA非编码区(D-loop)高变区I 16048－16569及I－41的563bp片优进行序列分析,计算了核酸多态度,并用Neighbro-Joining法构建系统进化树,在进化树中,99个mtDNA序列分别聚在4个群中,所有在COII／tRAN^Lys基因间序列存在9bp 缺失的个体均聚在C1如中,C2群由1个佤族个体和4个藏族个体组成,C3群中除2个藏族个体外均为其他3个民族个体,4个群体的大部分个体聚在C4群,根据核酸多态度计算的净遗传距离重建的进化树显示,傣族,佤族和拉祜族的亲缘关系较接近,与藏族距离较远,结果表明遗传距离与他们的地理分布是非常一致的,而拉枯族与相传同为氐羌后裔并有相近语言的藏族遗传距离却较远,这一结果提示这两个民族可能具有不同的起源。     

Morphometric and meristic diversity of the species Scolopendra cingulata Latreille, 1829 (Chilopoda: Scolopendridae) in the Mediterranean region

Scolopendra cingulata Latreille, 1829 is the commonest scolopendromorph species in the Mediterranean area. However, its morphological and geographic variation has not been examined so far, and therefore robust hypotheses about the factors that have shaped that variability are lacking. We examined, using multivariate methods for 19 morphometric and meristic characters, the morphological variation of that species using a comprehensive sample of 503 adult specimens from 130 restricted geographic localities. The localities were distributed in three major geographic areas (Balkans, Asia Minor-Middle East, and Italy) in order to discern biological entities and to estimate the morphological relationships between populations and geographic regions. Results showed significant differences between the three geographic groups. Characters such as the distance between the paramedian sulci of the 7th and 8th tergite, the number of antennal segments, the number of spines on the dorsal side of 21st prefemur and number of spines on the 21st prefemoral process significantly discriminated populations of S. cingulata along a west-east geographic gradient. Both eastern (Balkan) and easternmost populations (Asia Minor-Middle East) showed higher mean values of antennal articles and spines of 21st prefemur than the Italian populations. No significant morphological variation was discovered between the sexes of S. cingulata apart from cephalic width and distance between the two paramedian sulci of the 7th and 8th tergite. Based on certain morphometric differences among the three major geographic regions, we suggest that S. cingulata originated in the east and colonized south European area from two different geographic routes. It is suggested that west-east morphological trend of S. cingulata is related either to the prominent palaeogeographic events of the area or to the competition with S. oraniensis Lucas, 1846 in the western Mediterranean.     

Correlation between genetic distances based on single loci and on skeletal morphology in inbred mice

Genetic and morphometric distances between 12 inbred strains of mice ranging from closely related substrains to a sub-species were estimated using published data on single locus polymorphisms, and on the basis of up to 44 measurements on seven different bones, respectively. Simulation was also used to investigate sampling effects for the single loci. There were strong and statistically highly significant correlations among all measures of genetic distance ranging from 0.58 for the comparison of single loci with the logarithm of the Mahalanobis distance based on 24 measurements on four bones, to 0.72 for estimates of genetic distance based on single loci and the morphology of the mandible. These findings are in sharp contrast with those of Wayne & O'Brien (1986) who claimed that 'structural gene and morphometric variation of mandible traits are uncoupled between mouse strains'. Their failure to find such a correlation is probably because their sample of inbred strains included only a single pair of closely related substrains, and no substrains separated for less than 40 years, and because they failed to correct for non-linearity between morphometric and single-locus measurement scales. Simulations and regression analysis suggested that genetic distances could be estimated with approximately equal precision using morphological data on bone measurements or about 10 cladistically informative single loci, which would usually involve sampling about 50 loci. Data based on single-gene markers is usually more informative than morphometric data for studying the similarity of independently-derived strains. However, similarities among closely related populations such as sublines of an inbred strain can usually be studied more efficiently using morphometry.     

卧龙自然保护区血雉的社群组织

１９９４年１１月至１９９５年９月在四川卧龙自然保护区五一棚地区,采用无线电追踪技术并结合野外观察,对血雉的社群组织进行了研究。血雉冬季集群活动,相邻群体相遇,有驱逐行为发生。分群配对时,雌鸟长距离迁移。血雉为单配偶制,配偶关系联结紧密,可维持整个繁殖季节。孵卵由雌鸟承担,取食时由雄鸟相伴,雌雄鸟共同育雏。繁殖季节不参加繁殖的亚成体雄鸟、参加繁殖的成体雄鸟或配偶对往往也有集群活动的倾向。在繁殖季节,     

基于形态学差异探讨秦岭细鳞鲑亚种有效性问题

秦岭细鳞鲑(Brachymystax lenok tsinlingensis Li)的亚种分类地位自命名以来一直饱受争议。研究运用单因素方差分析、主成分分析、判别分析、聚类分析及差异系数检验法, 对秦岭细鳞鲑和黑龙江流域的尖吻细鳞鲑(B. lenok lenok)和钝吻细鳞鲑(B. tumensis)的5项可数性状和34项标准化后的比例性状进行统计分析。单因素方差分析结果表明, 尖吻细鳞鲑、钝吻细鳞鲑和秦岭细鳞鲑在32项比例性状和5项可数性状上存在极显著差异(P<0.01); 主成分分析结果显示, 贡献率较大的前3个主成分的累计贡献率为92.779%; 以逐步判别分析方法选用14个判别效果较好的比例性状构建了3个细鳞鲑类群的判别函数, 综合判别率为99.4%。基于欧式距离矩阵法构建的形态学聚类图显示, 秦岭细鳞鲑和尖吻细鳞鲑距离较近, 而与钝吻细鳞鲑距离较远。据Mayr 75%亚种识别和划分规则, 34项比例性状和5项可数性状中, 尖吻细鳞鲑和秦岭细鳞鲑第一鳃弓外鳃耙数目的差异系数大于1.28, 而钝吻细鳞鲑和秦岭细鳞鲑有31项比例性状和2项可数性状的差异系数高于1.28。据分析结果, 结合秦岭细鳞鲑地理隔离的事实及其与尖吻细鳞鲑和钝吻细鳞鲑的形态差异, 推断秦岭细鳞鲑与黑龙江流域内的尖吻细鳞鲑的形态差异程度至少已达亚种水平。     

Influence of intertree distance on foraging behaviour of Rhagoletis pomonella in the field

Abstract. 1. We tested a prediction from contemporary foraging theory that animals should decrease their allocation of energy to the searching of individual patches when interpatch travel costs decrease.
2. We used individual Rhagoletis pomonella Walsh (Diptera: Tephritidae) females foraging for oviposition sites (= Crataegus fruit) in a host tree which was surrounded by four other trees at varying distances.
3. We found that flies generally invested less search, measured as time spent searching a tree or number of leaves visited on a tree, when neighbouring trees were nearby than when farther away.
4. Under our test conditions, flies appeared to have difficulty locating neighbouring trees at a distance of more than 1.6 m.
5. Our study calls into question the interpretation of search effort by insects within resource patches in the absence of information on interpatch distances.