The two-horned chamaeleons of East Africa

There have been numerous attempts to resolve the taxonomy of the two-horned chamaeleons of East Africa. However, the high levels of intraspecific variation and reported sympatry of morphologically distinct taxa indicate that their current classification is unsatisfactory. Tissue samples were collected from specimens from most mountain massifs (excluding the Nguu) where two-horned chamaeleons are known to occur and were used to sequence partial 12S and 16S rRNA, as well as ND2 mtDNA genes. These specimens and further museum material were used to review morphological variation and to define discriminating characters for each taxon. Phylogenetic analyses of gene sequences show clear genetic divergence between allopatric populations, although two lineages occur in sympatry in the East Usambara Mountains, and is supported by divergent morphology. In light of these results a formal revision of the taxonomy of all East African two-horned chamaeleons is proposed and seven species are recognized ( Kinyongia boehmei , K. fischeri , K. matschiei , K. multituberculata , K. tavetana , K. uluguruensis and K. vosseleri ). These taxa form a monophyletic group except for K. uluguruensis , which seems to be more closely related to one-horned species. Most of these taxa have been previously described and subsequently reduced to synonyms. Two other previously described two-horned taxa are not recognized as valid: Chamaeleo tornieri is considered species inquiriendae , and C. fischeri werneri is placed in synonymy with K. multituberculata . A dichotomous key is provided for the identification of these taxa and some aspects of their conservation, ecology and evolutionary origins are also discussed.  © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2008, 152 , 367–391.     

Shan Calendrical Systems: The Everyday Use of Esoteric Knowledge

In this paper I examine the Shan calendrical system as an aspect of exoteric knowledge. To do this I first place the communities I lived in and the experts I consulted in the context of Shan communities and Shan experts. Next I provide a brief account of the Shan calendrical system as I learned it from local experts. I then discuss what everyday people know about the system and age and gender variation in the extent of knowledge. In order to understand this variation. I briefly describe Shan conception of knowledge and power and the place of Buddhism in this system. I go on to explore how one acquires expert status, how experts use calendrical knowledge, and why people consult experts.     

The changing status of the Brown hare (Lepus capensis L.) in Britain

Game bag records are used to examine temporal and geographical changes in numbers of Brown hares. Records are taken from a survey made by the Oxford Bureau of Animal Population in 1938, which covered over 400 estates, and from the Game Conservancy's National Game Census, which has been monitoring shooting records of between 400 and 500 estates since 1961. Eastern regions of Britain had higher bags of hares than western regions in the three periods; 1891–1910, 1917–1936, 1961–1978. Hare game bags were generally high in counties with large proportions of tilled land. There was no consistent temporal trend in bags from different areas before 1938, but all areas show a considerable reduction in bags since 1961. This reduction is statistically significant. Time-series analysis of one extended set of data did not show evidence of cyclic fluctuations.     

Demographic effects of temperature‐dependent sex determination: will tuatara survive global warming?

Global climate change is of particular concern for small and isolated populations of reptiles with temperature-dependent sex determination because low genetic variation can limit adaptive response in pivotal temperatures, leading to skewed sex ratios. We explore the demographic consequences of skewed sex ratios on the viability of a tuatara population characterized by low genetic diversity. We studied the rare species of tuatara ( Sphenodon guntheri ) on the 4 ha North Brother Island in New Zealand over two nesting seasons and captured 477 individuals, with a 60% male bias in the adult population. Females first breed at 15 years and have extremely low rates of gravidity, producing clutches of three to eight eggs every 9 years. Simulations of the population using population viability analysis showed that the current population is expected to persist for at least 2000 years at hatchling sex ratios of up to 75% male, but populations with 85% male hatchlings are expected to become extinct within approximately 300 years (some eight generations). Incorporation of inbreeding depression increased the probability of extinction under male biased sex ratios, with no simulated populations surviving at hatchling sex ratios >75% male. Because recent models have predicted that climate change could lead to the production of all male S. guntheri hatchlings by 2085, we examined whether periodic intervention to produce mixed or female biased sex ratios would allow the population to survive if only males were produced in natural nests. We show that intervention every 2–3 years could buffer the effects of climate change on population sex ratios, but translocation to cooler environs might be more cost-effective. Climate change threatens tuatara populations because neither modified nesting behaviour nor adaptive response of the pivotal temperature can modify hatchling sex ratios fast enough in species with long generation intervals.     

Do alternate escape tactics provide a means of compensation for impaired performance ability?

Whole‐animal performance abilities can facilitate the avoidance of predation and consequently influence fitness, but determining the functional significance of antipredation tactics is difficult without understanding how alternate predator escape strategies are related. We measured maximal sprint speed and dive duration in the semi‐aquatic skink Oligosoma suteri to determine how morphology and behaviour influence these alternate predator escape techniques and the relationship between the two measures. Gravid females and juveniles ran significantly slower, but had equivalent or longer dive durations than males and nongravid females. The two performance measures were not influenced by the same morphological and behavioural traits, and were not correlated among individuals. Thus, individuals that are poor sprinters because of their state (e.g. gravid or tail‐less individuals) would have a greater likelihood of successful escape by adopting an alternate escape strategy. For species that use multiple strategies for the same function, quantifying selection on whole‐animal performance will be difficult. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 99 , 241–249.