Major specimen fraud in the Forest Owlet Heteroglaux (Athene auct.) blewitti

The Forest Owlet Heteroglaux ( Athene auct.) blewitti is known from central India from seven old specimens, four of which were taken in northwest Maharashtra in 1880-83 by J. Davidson and the last purportedly in Gujarat over 30 years later by R. Meinertzhagen. Because of recently documented specimen fraud by Meinertzhagen, we subjected his Forest Owlet specimen to scrutiny (Iincluding X-rays) and established that it had been extensively remade in a way that transformed its original appearance. Moreover, it shows several features - tying of distal humeri from the outside, cotton wing-stuffing identical to that from a Davidson bird, original retention of humerus and formerly a stretched neck - that identify its true collector as Davidson. Examination of the Natural History Museum's catalogue reveals that a fifth Davidson specimen, collected in 1884 in the area where his first four were taken, was registered in 1925 but is now missing, although not logged as lost, sold or exchanged. Meinertzhagen's diary and specimen catalogue strongly suggest that he was not in Gujarat on the date given for his 1914 specimen, and he surprisingly never published the record, despite its exceptional rarity. We conclude that he stole the fifth Davidson Forest Owlet specimen from the Natural History Museum, and remade and relabelled it to conceal its origin, thereby compromising the geographic and temporal record of this critically threatened species.     

Alberts, B., Johnson, A., Lewis, J., Raff, M., Roberts, K. and Walter, P. Molecular biology of the cell. 4th edn.

First edition, 1983; 2nd edition, 1989; 3rd edition, 1994; 4thedition, 2002. Any book that appears in so many editions insuch a relatively short space of time must be doing somethingright. And so it is, for Molecular Biology of the Cell (‘MBoC’as the authors refer to it) is arguably setting the pace—andthe standard—that other textbooks on the subject mustaspire to. Although not familiar with the previous incarnationsof MBoC, I do note that the line-up     

Limited plasticity of low temperature tolerance in an Australian cantharid beetle Chauliognathus lugubris

Spatial and/or taxonomic bias in thermal tolerance and plasticity data can severely impact projections of climate change responses and limit the understanding of the evolution of thermal performance curves. Thus, further data from under‐represented groups and geographical locations are important for synthesizing and predicting the physiological responses of insects to climate variability. For example, the magnitude of rapid cold‐hardening (RCH) and seasonal acclimatization of low temperature tolerance are typically poorly documented for nondipteran species from the southern Hemisphere. Moreover, few studies assess RCH responses under different acclimation regimes. To address this paucity of data, the low temperature survival, RCH and acclimation ability of Chauliognathus lugubris (F.) are assessed from an adult aggregation collected in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. Beetles are acclimated to either 27 or 20 °C for 1 week and then tested for their ability to survive cold shock or rapidly cold‐harden. There is no effect of acclimation on low temperature survival (mean survival range at ?5.4 °C for 2 h: 4–52% in 27 and 20 °C acclimation groups). In addition, beetles show no significant improvement in survival after acute thermal pretreatments. In conclusion, these data suggest a generally poor acclimation potential of low temperature survival and no RCH responses in adult Australian cantharid beetles, which is accordance with what might be expected given the microclimate experienced, their ability for behavioural regulation and the life history of the species.     

Man's impact on seals

The major direct effects of man on seal populations are caused by hunting. Subsistence hunting using traditional methods has a long history and generally resulted in a balance between the hunters and the seals. More recently commercial hunting, using sophisticated methods, has reduced many seal stocks to low levels. In some cases no balance was achieved and either the seals or the industry became extinct. Minor direct effects of man on seals include sport hunting and the destruction of seals for fisheries protection. These are generally of local importance only. Indirect effects may be either detrimental or beneficial to seal stocks. Detrimental effects include fishing operations which may result in the unintentional destruction of seals or compete with seals for available limited fish stocks, habitat destruction, pollution, and anthropogenic disturbance. Beneficial indirect effects include increase of available food stocks resulting from the reduction of another predator, increase of available breeding habitat as a result of human population shifts, and changes in ethical attitudes to seals.     

The foraging ecology of the army ant Eciton rapax: an ergonomic enigma?

Abstract. 1. The army ant Eciton rapax (F. Smith) produces longer raid systems than any other member of its genus and it is a specialist predator of forest floor and understory ants such as species of Camponotus, Odontomachus and Pachycondyla.
2. Allometrical analysis confirms that E. rapax is the only member of its genus without distinct physical castes among its workers: its foraging population is entirely monomorphic and there are no majors.
3. The workers of E. rapax are distributed over a considerable size range, and there are distinct divisions of labour within these colonies: small workers tend to stay in the nests and among the larger foraging workers those retrieving prey items are significantly bigger than the rest.
4. An analysis of foraging efficiency and worker performance in E. rapax suggests that transport costs, resulting from the great distances that workers travel during raids and emigrations, are one of the selection pressures that have favoured the evolution of large monomorphic workers in this species.     

Molecular Epidemiology of Cryptosporidiosis in Children in Malawi

ABSTRACT: Few studies have examined the molecular epidemiology of cryptosporidiosis in developing countries. In this study, DNA of 69 microscopy-positive human fecal samples collected from Malawi were examined by multilocus genetic analyses. From 43, 27 and 28 of the samples, the SSU rRNA, 70 kDa heat shock protein (HSP70) and 60 kDa glycoprotein (GP60) genes, respectively, were successfully PCR-amplified. Restriction analysis of the SSU PCR products showed that 41 of the 43 PCR-positive samples had C. hominis and 2 had C. parvum. Sequence analysis of the HSP70 and GP60 gene contirmed the species identification by SSU rRNA PCR-RFLP analysis, but also revealed high intraspecific variations. Altogether, six HSP70 subtypes and six GP60 subtypes (belonging to lour subtype alleles) of C. hominis were found. Linkage diseyuilibrum analysis of the two genetic loci showed possible intraspecitic recombination. Thus, cryptosporidiosis in the study area was largely caused by anthroponotic transmission. The high intraspecitic variation and existence of genetic recombination were probably results of high transmission of cryptosporidiosis in this area.     

Arthropod community structure along a latitudinal gradient: Implications for future impacts of climate change

Abstract The structure of free‐living arthropod communities on the foliage of Acacia falcata was assessed along an extensive latitudinal gradient in eastern Australia. We hypothesized that abundance and biomass of arthropods within feeding groups would increase from temperate latitudes towards the tropics. We also hypothesized that the ratio of carnivores to herbivores would be consistent along the latitudinal gradient. Three sites at each of four latitudes, spanning 9° and 1150 km (Batemans Bay, Sydney, Grafton, Gympie in Australia), were sampled every season for 2 years, using pyrethrum knockdown. Abundance and biomass (based on dry weight) of arthropods within eight feeding groups were measured. The relative size of the feeding groups, and the ratio of carnivores to herbivores were then compared among latitudes and seasons. We found no consistent north to south (tropical to temperate) change in feeding group structure in terms of abundance. A weak latitudinal trend was evident for predator biomass, consisting of a reduction from north to south, but no significant trends in biomass for other feeding groups were found. Relative abundance and relative biomass of both carnivores and herbivores, as well as the ratio of carnivores to herbivores were consistent among latitudes. Finally, we compared a subset of these data to arthropod communities found on congeneric host species at individual sites along the latitudinal gradient. Overall, 68% of comparisons showed no significant differences in abundance or biomass within different feeding groups between host plants and among latitudes. We conclude that arthropod communities show consistencies among latitudes and between congeneric host species, in terms of feeding group and trophic structure. These results have implications for predicting the impacts of future climate change on arthropod communities.     

Do edge effects increase the susceptibility of rainforest fragments to structural damage resulting from a severe tropical cyclone?

Abstract If changes in the structural characteristics of rainforest at edges are caused by wind, then physical damage from a tropical cyclone might be greatest at edges or in small fragments that have a high proportion of edge. We tested whether this was true of a fragmented rainforest landscape impacted by a category 4 severe tropical cyclone in March 2006. Six structural variables (canopy cover, canopy height, cover of ground vegetation, leaf litter, stem density and counts of woody debris) were surveyed at 18 rainforest sites (six small linear remnants, and both edges and interiors of six large remnants) on the Atherton Tableland in north‐eastern Queensland, Australia. Data collected 7 and 12 months after the passage of Cyclone Larry were compared with an identical survey conducted 4 years prior to the cyclone. The cyclone had large effects across many components of forest structure. However, sites within 30 m of forest edges in small and large remnants were not impacted more than the interiors of large remnants. It is likely that the high wind intensity from severe tropical cyclones overrides the modest wind protection provided by surrounding forest. The cyclone's effects were highly patchy at local scales (0.5–1.0 km), leading to an increase in among‐site variation in forest structure and the disappearance of significant spatial autocorrelation among large remnant edge‐interior site pairs which had existed prior to the cyclone. The main effect of Cyclone Larry at these study sites was to increase the spatial heterogeneity of forest structure at local scales.     

Characterization of microsatellite loci in the endangered grand spider orchid Caladenia huegelii (Orchidaceae)

The orchid genus Caladenia is species rich with many threatened and endangered taxa. We report on the isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in the rare Caladenia huegelii for molecular evaluation of this and the closely related C. thinicola as part of the development of conservation initiatives. Eight di‐ and trinucleotide loci were screened using 30 samples from each species. All loci were highly variable, with similar levels of heterozygosity and number of alleles across both species. These markers will be highly informative for population studies in both species.