Arid Recovery – A comparison of reptile and small mammal populations inside and outside a large rabbit,cat and fox‐proof exclosure in arid South Australia

Australian arid zone mammal species within the Critical Weight Range (CWR) of 35 g–5.5 kg have suffered disproportionately in the global epidemic of contemporary faunal extinctions. CWR extinctions have been attributed largely to the effects of introduced or invasive mammals; however, the impact of these threatening processes on smaller mammals and reptiles is less clear. The change in small mammal and reptile assemblages after the removal of rabbits, cats and foxes was studied over a 6‐year period in a landscape‐scale exclosure in the Australian arid zone. Rodents, particularly Notomys alexis and Pseudomys bolami, increased to 15 times higher inside the feral‐proof Arid Recovery Reserve compared with outside sites, where rabbits, cats and foxes were still present. Predation by cats was thought to exert the greatest influence on rodent numbers owing to the maintenance of the disparity in rodent responses through dry years and the differences in dietary preferences between rabbits and P. bolami. The presence of introduced Mus domesticus or medium‐sized re‐introduced mammal species did not significantly affect resident small mammal or reptile abundance. Abundance of most dasyurids and small lizards did not change significantly after the removal of feral animals although reductions in gecko populations inside the reserve may be attributable to second order trophic interactions or subtle changes in vegetation structure and cover. This study suggests that populations of rodent species in northern South Australia below the CWR may also be significantly affected by introduced cats, foxes and/or rabbits and that a taxa specific model of Australian mammal decline may be more accurate than one based on body weight.     

Zoophycos composite ichnofabrics and tiers from the Permian neritic facies in South China and south‐eastern Australia

Gong, Y.‐M., Shi, G.R., Zhang, L.‐J. & Weldon, E.A. 2009: Zoophycos composite ichnofabrics and tiers from the Permian neritic facies in South China and south‐eastern Australia. Lethaia, Vol. 43, pp. 182–196. Zoophycos composite ichnofabrics (ZCI) comprising two or more suites of the same form of Zoophycos are widespread and densely distributed in Early and Middle Permian (Cisuralian–Guadalupian) neritic limestones (Qixia and Maokou Formations) of palaeotropical origin in the Laibin area, Guangxi, South China. Similar ZCI also occur in neritic greywackes of glaciomarine origin from the Middle Permian (Guadalupian) Westley Park Sandstone Member (Broughton Formation) in the southern Sydney Basin, south‐eastern Australia. Zoophycos from both regions consists of planar spreite with major and minor lamellae and a cylindrical tunnel interpreted as a marginal tube and/or axial shaft. The cylindrical tunnel is herein considered to be an essential component of Zoophycos, and thus can be used to define and characterize the morphological variability of Zoophycos. It is suggested that the variation of spreite and major and minor lamellae originated from the different morphologies and migration manners of the cylindrical tunnel. The shallowest, shallow, middle and deepest Zoophycos tiers have been distinguished in ZCI on the basis of cross‐cutting relationships, the soft‐sediment deformation and the contrast in colour between Zoophycos and its host rock. The multiple tiers may represent the substrate consistency spectrum from a softground through a stiffground to a firmground. The different Zoophycos tiers may have been constructed by tracemakers of either different or the same taxonomic affinities in response to the gradual accretion and lithification of sediment layers on the seafloor. The tracemakers appeared to be very sensitive to neither climate nor lithology. The width of the planar spreiten of Zoophycos decreases slightly with the depth of tiering in ZCI. □Composite ichnofabric, Permian, South China, south‐eastern Australia, tier, Zoophycos.     

Source–sink dynamics structure a common montane mammal

Assessing the relative role of evolutionary processes on genetic diversity is critical for understanding species response to climatic change. However, many processes, independent of climate, can lead to the same genetic pattern. Because effective population size and gene flow are affected directly by abundance and dispersal, population ecology has the potential to profoundly influence patterns of genetic variation over microevolutionary timescales. Here, we use aDNA data and simulations to explore the influence of population ecology and Holocene climate change on genetic diversity of the Uinta ground squirrel (Spermophilus armatus). We examined phylochronology from three modern and two ancient populations spanning the climate transitions of the last 3000 years. Population genetic analyses based on summary statistics suggest that changes in genetic diversity and structure coincided with the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), c. 1000 years ago. Serial coalescent simulations allowed us to move beyond correlation with climate to statistically compare the likelihoods of alternative population histories given the observed data. The data best fit source–sink models that include large, mid‐elevation populations that exchange many migrants and small populations at the elevational extremes. While the MWP is likely to have reduced genetic diversity, our model‐testing approach revealed that MWP‐driven changes in genetic structure were not better supported for the range of models explored. Our results point to the importance of species ecology in understanding responses to climate, and showcase the use of ancient genetic data and simulation‐based inference for unraveling the relative roles of microevolutionary processes.     

Evolution of axial patterning in elongate fishes

Within the ray-finned fishes, eel-like (extremely elongate) body forms have evolved multiple times from deeper-bodied forms. Previous studies have shown that elongation of the vertebral column may be associated with an increase in the number of vertebrae, an increase in the length of the vertebral centra, or a combination of both. Because the vertebral column of fishes has at least two anatomically distinct regions (i.e. abdominal and caudal), an increase in the number and relative length of the vertebrae could be region-specific or occur globally across the length of the vertebral column. In the present study, we recorded vertebral counts and measurements of vertebral aspect ratio (vertebral length/width) from museum specimens for 54 species representing seven groups of actinopterygian fishes. We also collected, from published literature, vertebral counts for 813 species from 14 orders of actinopterygian and elasmobranch fishes. We found that the number of vertebrae can increase independently in the abdominal and caudal regions of the vertebral column, but changes in aspect ratio occur similarly in both regions. These findings suggest that abdominal vertebral number, caudal vertebral number, and vertebral aspect ratio are controlled by separate developmental modules. Based on these findings, we suggest some candidate developmental mechanisms that may contribute to vertebral column patterning in fishes. Our study is an example of how comparative anatomical studies of adults can generate testable hypotheses of evolutionary changes in developmental mechanisms.  © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2007, 90 , 97–116.     

EFFECT OF YOGURT SWEETNESS ON SENSORY SPECIFIC SATIETY

The objective of this study was to determine if hedonically different sweetness levels in yogurt, determined by the ideal-relative rating methods, affected the consumption of yogurt in a sensory specific satiety test. Fifteen subjects attended a preliminary session, six taste tests and three sensory specific satiety tests. During each taste test, subjects rated yogurt with one of the three levels of sweetness (high, optimum, and low) for six attributes. During each sensory specific satiety test, subjects were offered a large serving of yogurt with one of the sweetness levels. Liking for optimum or high sweet yogurts decreased more after consumption than the liking for the low sweet yogurt, however, the consumption of optimum and high sweet yogurts was also greater, thus confounding the experiment.     

Hormone Specificity, Androgen Metabolism, and Social Behavior

SYNOPSIS. The ability of different sex hormones to activatesocial signals can provide important clues to the biochemicalmechanisms underlying these signals. A pattern of hormone specificityin which testosterone (T) and estradiol (E), but not dihydrotestosterone(DHT), are effective suggests that conversion (aromatization)of T to E in the brain may be involved or required; a patternin which T and DHT, but not E, are effective suggests that conversionof T to DHT may be involved. The hormone specificity of socialsignals in diverse species of vertebrates is reviewed. Aromatizationseems to be of widespread behavioral significance in mammalsandbirds. A role for conversion of T to DHT is suggested forsome signals. Aromatization of T mayalso be important for theactivation of adult female behavior in mammals and lizards,and for the early organization of behavior in mammals and birds.Patterns of hormone specificity differ both across species fora given social signal, and within a given species when differentsignals are compared. An attempt is made to integrate thesefindings by relating patterns of hormone specificity to hormonelevels, steroid receptor and enzyme concentrations and distributions,signal function and dimorphism, and phylogenetic status.     

IMPACT OF DIFFERENCES IN TASTE TEST RATINGS ON THE CONSUMPTION OF MILK IN BOTH A LABORATORY AND A FOODSERVICE SETTING1

The objective of this study was to observe the impact of a perceptible difference in the liking of milk on consumption of the milk in both laboratory and cafeteria settings. We produced milk with no flavor defects and milk with a light oxidized flavor. The defect-free milk scored about 1 point higher than the off-flavored milk on a 9-point hedonic scale. We placed the same two milk products in the milk dispenser in a dormitory cafeteria for a total of 32 dinner meals and measured the amount of milk consumed. A subset of subjects from the cafeteria population also consumed the milks in a laboratory consumption test. In a second laboratory consumption test a different group of subjects consumed the two milks. The liking difference had no impact on consumption in the dormitory food service setting and either no impact or a small impact on consumption in a laboratory setting.     

Evolution and ecology of oviposition on host plants by acridoid grasshoppers

Most members of the superfamily Acridoidea (Orthoptera) oviposit in the soil, but some species oviposit directly on or in tissue of host plants. Oviposition in association with host plants has been reported for only 6% of acridoid species for which oviposition behaviour is known, hut the behaviour is systematically and geographically widespread, including members of two families and seven acridid subfamilies on three continents. This distribution suggests that host plant oviposition by grasshoppers has evolved independently at least eleven times in the world's grasshoppers fauna. A comparative approach to investigating oviposition on host plants shows that it tends to occur in species of inundated habitats and tropical forests, in species with narrow diets, and is correlated with a reduction in clutch size.     

FINDING AUTONOMY IN BIRTH

Over the last several years, as cesarean deliveries have grown increasingly common, there has been a great deal of public and professional interest in the phenomenon of women 'choosing' to deliver by cesarean section in the absence of any specific medical indication. The issue has sparked intense conversation, as it raises questions about the nature of autonomy in birth. Whereas mainstream bioethical discourse is used to associating autonomy with having a large array of choices, this conception of autonomy does not seem adequate to capture concerns and intuitions that have a strong grip outside this discourse. An empirical and conceptual exploration of how delivery decisions ought to be negotiated must be guided by a rich understanding of women's agency and its placement within a complicated set of cultural meanings and pressures surrounding birth. It is too early to be 'for' or 'against' women's access to cesarean delivery in the absence of traditional medical indications – and indeed, a simple pro- or con- position is never going to do justice to the subtlety of the issue. The right question is not whether women ought to be allowed to choose their delivery approach but, rather, taking the value of women's autonomy in decision-making around birth as a given, what sorts of guidelines, practices, and social conditions will best promote and protect women's full inclusion in a safe and positive birth process.     

THE NEW PARADIGM OF RECOVERY FROM SCHIZOPHRENIA: CULTURAL CONUNDRUMS OF IMPROVEMENT WITHOUT CURE

This article is a qualitative investigation of the subjective experience of recovery from the perspective of persons living with schizophrenia-related disorders. An NIMH-sponsored ethnographic study of community outpatient clinics was completed for 90 persons taking second-generation antipsychotic medications. Research diagnostic criteria and clinical ratings were obtained in tandem with an anthropologically developed Subjective Experience of Medication Interview (SEMI) that elicits narrative data on everyday life and activities, medication and treatment, management of symptoms, expectations concerning recovery, and stigma. Ethnographic observations from diverse settings (clinics, public transportation, restaurants, homes) were also obtained. The primary findings are that recovery was experienced in relation to low levels of symptoms, the need to take medications to avoid hospitalization or psychotic episodes, and personal agency to struggle against the effects of illness. The majority of participants articulated their sense of illness recovery and expectation that their lives would improve. Improvement and recovery is an incremental, yet definitively discernable subjective process. Several problems were identified as part of this process surrounding cultural conflicts that generate the experience of ambivalence analyzed here as the “paradox of recovery without cure,” irreconcilable “catch-22” dilemmas involving sacrifice (e.g., one must be “fat” or be “crazy”), and substantial stigma despite improvement in illness and everyday life experience.