Zoology www guide

In almost every branch of zoology the internet is now a vital place for posting up-to-date status reports on all kind of animal groups and research areas. Many websites not only provide the latest on taxonomy, ecology and distribution, but also include valuable background information and details of experimental procedures as well as discussion forums. For the zoologist the online world seems to hold everything from acarology to otoliths. To show what impressive things can be done in communicating and facilitating research in zoology, given a little initiative and perseverance, we will introduce websites that find fresh ways to approach their subjects and that may, in some way or another, inspire zoologists. Readers are welcome to join in this process for future editions of Zoology www guides and should send their website suggestions to tbosch@zoologie.uni-kiel.de. In this issue the focus is on molluscs.     

A comparative study of students' achievement in botany and zoology

Repeated studies all over the world have consistently revealed that pupils have a higher preference for the study of zoology over botany. Preliminary attempts to find out the relationship between preferences and achievement showed that in Israel various groups of pupils in spite of their higher preference of zoology had achieved better in botany. The purpose of the present study is to see whether the trends found in Israel exist in other countries as well.

Based on the data of ten studies conducted in twenty countries and involving about 300,000 pupils in the age of 9 to 18, it was found that pupils in their early elementary school level up to the age of 13 to 14, achieve, on the average, better in zoology. At the age of 14 to 15, a clear shift in the opposite direction occurs, and the average achievement in botany exceeds. At the age of 16 to 18 there are no differences between the achievement in botany and zoology. Yet, the gain in botany is considerably higher even for this last age group. Thus, it appears that students learn in school a lot more botany than zoology. In spite of the relative higher preference of botany by girls there is no significant difference between boys and girls in their achievement either in botany or in zoology.

The results of a more detailed analysis related to specific topics including human biology as well as to different cognitive levels are also reported. Based on the analysis of the findings in the discussion, seven implications are suggested regarding curriculum planning, laboratory work and the need for specific efforts towards the affective domain. A special reference is made to the potential benefits of comparative international studies of which the present study is an example.     

The history of comparative anatomy in Jena — an overview

Summary Comparative anatomy and zoology both have long academic traditions in Jena. At first, the two subjects developed in parallel and had many similarites in research topics. This development is covered in the first part of the paper. The close relationship between the two subjects started to break apart when Carl Gegenbaur and Ernst Haeckel were active at Jena University. In 1865 Haeckel became the first full professor of zoology in Jena, and zoology became more independent from comparative anatomy. In the second part of our paper, we follow the developments in comparative anatomy in Jena from Gegenbaur’s immediate students up until the end of Hans B?ker’s tenure in Jena in the mid-1930s. Certain subjects are in focus throughout this period, for example vertebrate head morphology and development, (the “head problem”), the relationship between anatomy and biology, and evolutionary questions. Some of these subjects have remained important research topics in zoology and comparative anatomy in Jena until the present day.     

开放实验室条件下的动物学实验教学改革新探

探讨了充分利用开放实验室进一步改革动物学实验教学的新方法：把开展大学生课题研究融入动物学实验教学、充分利用动物标本室加强动物学实验教学、以学生为主体调整动物学实验的教学内容以及结合相关产学研课题提高动物学实验教学的效率。结合实际条件激发学生学习的兴趣和参加实验的积极性,提高了实验效果,培养了学生的创新精神和实践能力。     

Introducing "Frontiers in Zoology"

As a biological discipline, zoology has one of the longest histories. Today it occasionally appears as though, due to the rapid expansion of life sciences, zoology has been replaced by more or less independent sub-disciplines amongst which exchange is often sparse. However, the recent advance of molecular methodology into "classical" fields of biology, and the development of theories that can explain phenomena on different levels of organisation, has led to a re-integration of zoological disciplines promoting a broader than usual approach to zoological questions. Zoology has re-emerged as an integrative discipline encompassing the most diverse aspects of animal life, from the level of the gene to the level of the ecosystem.The new journal Frontiers in Zoology is the first Open Access journal focussing on zoology as a whole. It aims to represent and re-unite the various disciplines that look at animal life from different perspectives and at providing the basis for a comprehensive understanding of zoological phenomena on all levels of analysis. Frontiers in Zoology provides a unique opportunity to publish high quality research and reviews on zoological issues that will be internationally accessible to any reader at no cost.     

Application of magnetic resonance imaging in zoology

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a noninvasive imaging technique that today constitutes one of the main pillars of preclinical and clinical imaging. MRI’s capacity to depict soft tissue in whole specimens ex vivo as well as in vivo, achievable voxel resolutions well below (100 μm)³, and the absence of ionizing radiation have resulted in the broad application of this technique both in human diagnostics and studies involving small animal model organisms. Unfortunately, MRI systems are expensive devices and have so far only sporadically been used to resolve questions in zoology and in particular in zoomorphology. However, the results from two recent studies involving systematic scanning of representative species from a vertebrate group (fishes) as well as an invertebrate taxon (sea urchins) suggest that MRI could in fact be used more widely in zoology. Using novel image data derived from representative species of numerous higher metazoan clades in combination with a comprehensive literature survey, we review and evaluate the potential of MRI for systematic taxon scanning. According to our results, numerous animal groups are suitable for systematic MRI scanning, among them various cnidarian and arthropod taxa, brachiopods, various molluscan taxa, echinoderms, as well as all vertebrate clades. However, various phyla in their entirety cannot be considered suitable for this approach mainly due to their small size (e.g., Kinorhyncha) or their unfavorable shape (e.g., Nematomorpha), while other taxa are prone to produce artifacts associated either with their biology (e.g., Echiura) or their anatomy (e.g., Polyplacophora). In order to initiate further uses of MRI in zoology, we outline the principles underlying various applications of this technique such as the use of contrast agents, in vivo MRI, functional MRI, as well as magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Finally, we discuss how future technical developments might shape the use of MRI for the study of zoological specimens.     

The associations between social-media use and academic performance among undergraduate students in biology

Recent studies have been conducted in regards to the use of social- media by students and how it can impact his/her academic performance. However, much of this research has been focused on how to use social-media websites in the classroom to facilitate student learning. Therefore, we aimed to address how the use of social-media can be either beneficial or detrimental to undergraduate students, with respect to their academic performance. We distributed a survey to 234 participants, all attending the same four-year university. Throughout the survey, the students self-reported their grade point average (GPA), study habits, and social-media use. We established that female students use social-media websites more often than their male peers, and using a Pearson’s correlation, we found that GPA negatively correlated with the number of social-media websites to which students subscribe (p < 0.05). Furthermore, we found that using more social-media websites correlated positively with the amount of time students spend using social-media platforms on a daily basis. Although previous studies indicate that social-media websites should be incorporated into the classroom, our results suggest that this addition may have negative effects on the study habits and academic performance of undergraduate students, particularly those within the field of biological sciences.     

Preface

Since the recent growth of molecular and genetic methods, and their implementation into organismic biology, zoology has been slowly regaining the importance it enjoyed until the late 1970's. Biologists are becoming increasingly aware that dynamic processes between molecules and proteins, the products of expressed genes, are relevant in the context of the whole organism's physiological status and behaviour. This modernization of organismic biology, however, has also resulted in more differentiation and diversity of methods within the disciplines that apply to the animal sciences. This increasing diversity within zoological disciplines was highlighted in the series of lectures held at our annual meeting in Halle in 2002.The highlight of the Halle meeting was undoubtedly the awarding of the Karl von Frisch Prize to F. G. Barth from Vienna University. Since Karl von Frisch's work few have so successfully exemplified the wealth of knowledge and insights that may be gained by applying modern methods, and convergent approaches from different disciplines to one single species. Barth's work focused on the wandering spiders Cupiennius. His lecture, “spider senses – technical perfection and biology” demonstrated to us the scientific power of a holistic approach.In the context of the behavioural studies of our colleagues at Halle University, Charlotte Helfrich-Förster presented a survey of “The circadian system of Drosphila melanogaster and its light input pattern”. Behavioural research on rhythms has its roots in Germany and enjoys a long tradition in zoology. As in many other disciplines, modern genetics opened up new and very fruitful insights into the subject.A greater understanding of the mechanisms of learning and memory is another field of research that has benefitted greatly from molecular biology. It has become a flourishing and expanding area of research, especially in invertebrate zoology. The current state of research, from a neurobiological and molecular point of view, was presented in three lectures, including one by Uli Müller, of the Berlin School. Cognition in audition, a still emerging field, was introduced to us in Bernhard Gaese's lecture on “Precognitive and cognitive elements in sound localization”. In the future, auditory cognition will surely become a Dorado for neurobiologists and acoustic psychologists. Susan D. Healy connected cognition with ecological constraints in her talk “Animal learning and memory: an integration of cognition and ecology”. She argued that cognitive performances can only be explained in the context of species-specific behaviours and ecology. “Cognitive ecology”, as it may be termed, is an emerging and genuinely zoological field of research that will have an important impact on our understanding of evolution. It's challenges will require highly motivated young zoologists.Research on species diversity takes a different approach to the subject of evolution and diversity, investigating the preconditions for speciation processes, and evolutionary trends and mechanisms. Unfortunately the fauna of soils is rarely considered, in spite of its great importance to ecological conditions. Richard Bagdett made up for this neglect in his lecture on the “Causes and consequences of biological diversity in soil”, and Bernhard Misof reported on speciation processes in Anisoptera.“Classical” physiology is still the backbone of organismic research. Modern versions of two very different topics were presented in Halle. Stephan Huber reported on the “Development of renal function”, and Fritz-Olaf Lehmann presented a new and convincing concept of aerodynamics and energetics in insect flight. His research continues the worthwhile tradition of flight analysis founded by Werner Nachtigall.The topics of our annual meeting in Halle could hardly have been more diverse. However, it is this the very diversity of modern and productive research field in zoology that characterizes a promising and fascinating future. In zoology, more than in any other biological discipline, exciting problems relevant to the understanding of evolution and its mechanisms are waiting to be solved by young scientists. Zoology has again become a start-up enterprise with promising rewards.     

Internet--implications for the future of phytopharmacological research

Modern information technologies and world wide communications through the Internet play a significant role in medicinal plant research across the globe. The phenomenal growth in Internet usage is largely due to the success of World Wide Web. Various useful websites and databases on phytopharmacology are already in the "Net" and many more are being added constantly. The future of phytopharmacological research is handling the existing information in proper way. In this review of the Internet, compilation of important websites is expected to stimulate, instruct and update academicians and researchers involved in phytopharmacological research.     

A unifying gravity framework for dispersal

Theoretical Ecology - Most organisms disperse at some life-history stage, but different research traditions to study dispersal have evolved in botany, zoology, and epidemiology. In this paper, we...     

The Plymouth Laboratory and the Institutionalization of Experimental Zoology in Britain in the 1920s

The Plymouth Laboratory of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom (1884) was founded in 1888. In addition to conducting morphological and other biological research, the founders of the laboratory aimed at promoting research in experimental zoology which will be used in this paper as a synonym for e.g. experimental embryology, comparative physiology or general physiology. This dream was not fully realized until 1920. The Great War and its immediate aftermath had a positive impact on the development of the Plymouth Laboratory. The war greatly upset the operation of the Zoological Station in Naples and the ensuing crisis in its operations was closely related to the establishment of the physiological department in Plymouth in 1920. Two other key factors in the Plymouth story were the establishment of the Development Fund in 1909, which began contributing funds to the Plymouth Laboratory in 1912, and the patronage of the Cambridge zoologist George P. Bidder (1863–1954). This paper will focus on the combined influence of the Development Fund and Bidder on the development of the Plymouth Laboratory from around 1902 through the early 1920s, and the important role the laboratory played in promoting experimental zoology in Britain in the 1920s.     

大学全英文教授<动物学>探索

为配合教学改革的需要,首次在本科生中试行《动物学》全英文教学。针对一年级学生的英语水平和特点,结合《动物学》课程的特性,在课堂教学中合理运用多媒体技术,调动学生学习积极性,激发学生兴趣,因而提高了学习效率。     

脊椎动物学实验教学改革探索

根据脊椎动物学实验的教学现状和特点,从2002年起对脊椎动物学实验教学进行了一系列的教学改革和探索。通过整合实验内容、改变教学方法和手段、结合当地脊椎动物资源与科研、改进实验考核方法等措施,促进了学生学习动物学知识的积极性和主动性,提高了实验教学效果和学生的综合能力。     

A Space of One’s Own: Barbosa du Bocage,the Foundation of the National Museum of Lisbon,and the Construction of a Career in Zoology (1851–1907)

This paper discusses the life and scientific work of José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage (1823–1907), a nineteenth-century Portuguese naturalist who carved a new place for zoological research in Portugal and built up a prestigious scientific career by securing appropriate physical and institutional spaces to the discipline. Although he was appointed professor of zoology at the Lisbon Polytechnic School, an institution mainly devoted to the preparatory training of military officers and engineers, he succeeded in creating the conditions that allowed him to develop consistent research in zoology at this institution. Taking advantage of the reconstruction and further improvement of the building of the Lisbon Polytechnic, following a violent fire in 1843, Bocage transferred a natural history museum formerly located at the Academy of Sciences of Lisbon to his institution, where he conquered a more prestigious place for zoology. Although successive governments were unwilling to meet Bocage’s ambitions for the Zoological Section of the newly created National Museum of Lisbon, the collaborators he found in different parts of the Portuguese continental territory and colonial empire supplied him the specimens he needed to make a career as a naturalist. Bocage ultimately became a renowned specialist in Southwestern African fauna thanks to José de Anchieta, his finest collaborator. Travels to foreign museums, and the establishment of links with the international community of zoologists, proved fundamental to build up Bocage’s national and international scientific reputation, as it will be exemplified by the discussion of his discovery of Hyalonema, a specimen with a controversial identity collected off the Portuguese coast.     

Aristote (384–322): biologiste de la réproduction avant la lettre

Born in Chalcidice, Greece, in 384 BC and died in Chalcis in 322 BC, Aristotle, an Athenian philosopher, made considerable contributions to the fields of anatomy, zoology and biology. His research and texts on reproduction biology made a major contribution to the development of this discipline and Aristotle is rightly considered to be a pioneer in this field.     

What plant ecologists can learn from zoology

Biology, like all sciences, is increasingly compartmentalized. This helps us to interact more easily with fellow specialists, but also tends to shield us from useful cross-fertilization with other fields. For example, plant and animal ecologists have established largely distinct research traditions over the years. Botanists studying population ecology, interspecific competition, and ecological and evolutionary aspects of sexual reproduction can benefit by importing more of the conceptual advances occurring in zoology (and vice versa). Botanists working on plant-animal interactions have a similar opportunity to shed light on their questions by learning more about the animals. For example, botanists studying pollination may be unaware of some modern advances in animal physiology and behaviour which undermine a typological view of pollination systems. Similarly, botanists studying loss of seeds to granivores may be unaware of details of animal behaviour that can cause granivores to benefit the plants in surprising ways. These examples illustrate how improved communication with zoology can enrich plant ecology. To remove barriers to communication we suggest some individual and collective actions that plant ecologists can take.     

Host Biology in Light of the Microbiome: Ten Principles of Holobionts and Hologenomes

Groundbreaking research on the universality and diversity of microorganisms is now challenging the life sciences to upgrade fundamental theories that once seemed untouchable. To fully appreciate the change that the field is now undergoing, one has to place the epochs and foundational principles of Darwin, Mendel, and the modern synthesis in light of the current advances that are enabling a new vision for the central importance of microbiology. Animals and plants are no longer heralded as autonomous entities but rather as biomolecular networks composed of the host plus its associated microbes, i.e., "holobionts." As such, their collective genomes forge a "hologenome," and models of animal and plant biology that do not account for these intergenomic associations are incomplete. Here, we integrate these concepts into historical and contemporary visions of biology and summarize a predictive and refutable framework for their evaluation. Specifically, we present ten principles that clarify and append what these concepts are and are not, explain how they both support and extend existing theory in the life sciences, and discuss their potential ramifications for the multifaceted approaches of zoology and botany. We anticipate that the conceptual and evidence-based foundation provided in this essay will serve as a roadmap for hypothesis-driven, experimentally validated research on holobionts and their hologenomes, thereby catalyzing the continued fusion of biology''s subdisciplines. At a time when symbiotic microbes are recognized as fundamental to all aspects of animal and plant biology, the holobiont and hologenome concepts afford a holistic view of biological complexity that is consistent with the generally reductionist approaches of biology.     

Natural history and information overload: The case of Linnaeus

Natural History can be seen as a discipline paradigmatically engaged in 'data-driven research.' Historians of early modern science have begun to emphasize its crucial role in the Scientific Revolution, and some observers of present day genomics see it as engaged in a return to natural history practices. A key concept that was developed to understand the dynamics of early modern natural history is that of 'information overload.' Taxonomic systems, rules of nomenclature, and technical terminologies were developed in botany and zoology to catch up with the ever increasing amount of information on hitherto unknown plant and animal species. In our contribution, we want to expand on this concept. After all, the same people who complain about information overload are usually the ones who contribute to it most significantly. In order to understand this complex relationship, we will turn to the annotation practices of the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778). The very tools that Linnaeus developed to contain and reduce information overload, as we aim to demonstrate, facilitated a veritable information explosion that led to the emergence of a new research object in botany: the so-called 'natural' system.     

土壤动物知识图谱构建理论、方法与技术——以浙江天目山土壤螨类为例

土壤动物学面临以全新知识体系为科学研究框架的变革时期,其核心内容是以数据驱动为主要特征的人工智能技术方法。目前广泛应用的基于数据库的数据处理分析方法,面临着数据多源异构、快速增长和处理能力不足之间的矛盾。基于快速发展的大数据科学和人工智能技术的数据挖掘方法在解决前述矛盾中有突出优势,但需要依赖一个强大的领域知识库,然而土壤动物领域知识图谱的研究十分匮乏。土壤动物知识图谱是一个具有有向图结构的知识库,其中图的节点代表与土壤动物相关的实体或概念,图的边代表实体或概念之间的各种语义关系。提出了土壤动物知识图谱的定义、内涵、理论模型和构建方法,以浙江天目山土壤螨类多样性为例,分析了构建山地土壤动物知识图谱的技术方法;以土壤动物多样性研究关注的物种分布、物种共存、环境条件对物种的影响作用为例,探讨了基于山地土壤动物知识图谱可以解决的相关科学问题。研究表明,土壤动物知识图谱在解决生物多样性重要科学问题方面具有独特的潜力和优势,有力推动了土壤动物学、信息科学和数据科学交叉的土壤动物信息学的发展。