Polynesian dentition

The chance discovery of a paper by Rottstock et al. (1983) comparing the individual diameters of 4,497 teeth from 711 skulls from anthropologically-different populations (Europeans, Negroids, Mongoloids, Melanesians) provided the impetus to add our measurements of 449 teeth from 89 Polynesians (mainland Maoris, Chatham Island, Wairau Bar) to the series. We confirm that dental measurements provide clear differences among the different population groups. We confirm that dental indices are useful by disclosing specific dental relationships among the different population groups.     

Arthropods associated with the Polynesian rat on the Tokelau Islands

The Acari Laelaps nuttalli Hirst, Hypoaspis sp., Cheyletus cf. malaccensis Oudemans, Radfordia ensifera (Poppe), Listrophoroides cucullatus (Trouessart), Tyrophagus perniciosus Zachvatkin, and Hammerobates trisetosus Balogh and the louse Hoplopleura pacifica Ewing are reported from Rattus exulans (Peale) on the Tokelau Islands. These associations are discussed in relation to other records from the South Pacific region.     

日本弓背蚁亲系识别的研究

亲系识别在社会昆虫活动中具有重要作用 ,为当前社会昆虫学研究中的五大热点之一。本文对采自西安地区 4巢日本弓背蚁 Camponotusjaponicus Mayr进行了进攻性行为测试 ,并结合酯酶、苹果酸脱氢酶同工酶电泳对亲系识别进行了综合研究。结果显示行为识别与同工酶电泳反应出的亲缘关系有一定相关性。     

Ernst Mayr: Biologist-historian

Ernst Mayr's historical writings began in 1935 with his essay Bernard Altum and the territory theory and have continued up through his monumentalGrowth of Biological Thought (1982) and hisOne Long Argument: Charles Darwin and the Genesis of Modern Evolutionary Thought (1991). Sweeping in their scope, forceful in their interpretation, enlisted on behalf of the clarification of modern concepts and of a broad view of biology, these writings provide both insights and challenges for the historian of biology. Mayr's general intellectual formation was guided by the GermanBildung ideal, with its emphasis on synthetic and comprehensive knowledge. His understanding of how to write history was inspired further by the example of the historian of ideas Arthur Lovejoy. Some strengths and limitations of this approach are explored here through attention to Mayr's treatment of the French biologist J.-B. Lamarck. It is contended that Mayr's contributions to the history of biology are not restricted to his own very substantial historical writings but also include his encouragement of other scholars, his development of an invaluable archive of scientific correspondence, and his insistence that historians who write about evolution and related subjects acquire an adequate understanding of the principles of Darwinian biology.This paper was originally delivered at the biennial meeting of the International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology, held in Brandeis in July 1993, in the special session organized by John Greene on Ernst Mayr's contributions to systematics, evolutionary theory, and the history and philosophy of biology. The paper is presented here with only slight modifications of the original, oral presentation. As indicated in the text, a full assessment of Mayr's historical work, including situating that work in the context of Mayr's other work and contemporary developments in the history of science, would require a much more extensive study than I have been able to undertake here.