Behavioral and hormonal aspects of reproduction in captive goeldi’s monkeys (Callimico goeldii) in a comparative and evolutionary context

The fate of most nonhuman primate species is intimately related to man. The increasing encroachment on the natural habitat has resulted in the decimation and even near extinction of some species. Along with this development, the basic concept in many modern zoos has changed from one of merely display to self-perpetuating units. Primate research facilities are orienting their research programs towards reproductive physiology and behavior in an effort to provide basic knowledge of reproduction in these species. This increased emphasis in the area of reproductive biology and the various efforts to improve breeding of these mostly endangered primates in captivity has stimulated the author to write this review. It represents an attempt to provide the reader with basic background information relating to the endocrinology and behavior of reproduction in the clawed New World monkeys as it exists at the time of publication. The intermediate evolutionary position ofCallimico goeldii between the clawed New World monkeys and the ‘true New World monkeys’ and our relatively poor knowledge about reproduction and behavior in this particular species fully justifies the focus on Goeldi’s monkey in this essay. This review is an attempt to provide a brief history of previous studies but also the basis for research in the future. The current status of knowledge of the small-bodied clawed monkeys is also discussed in an evolutionary context, with an emphasis on the different reproductive strategies in this dynamic group of primates. The outcome, not surprisingly, confirms the unique position ofCallimico goeldii in its social, ecological, and evolutionary environment.     

A pyrenoid-based carbon-concentrating mechanism is present in terrestrial bryophytes of the class Anthocerotae

It has been widely accepted that carbon assimilation in bryophytes is exclusively based on the conventional C₃ photosynthetic pathway. The occurrence of biochemical CO₂-concentrating mechanisms (C₄ or Crassulacean acid metabolism), which have developed in plants in the last 20–100 million years, has been discounted for bryophytes from studies of the carbon isotope composition (¹³C) of organic material. In contrast cyanobacteria and many algae show active accumulation of dissolved inorganic carbon via biophysical CO₂-concentrating mechanisms which are also found in the photobiont partners in certain lichens. The presence of a pyrenoid, a granular particle within the chloroplast, has been linked with CO₂-concentrating mechanism activity in green algae and lichens and we now show that such a mechanism is categorically associated with the occurrence of a pyrenoid in bryophytes belonging to the class of Anthocerotae. These observations have significant evolutionary implications for the development of terrestrial photosynthesis during the colonisation of the land, raising the intriguing question of why the pyrenoid-based CO₂-concentrating mechanism did not persist in the terrestrial environment.Abbreviations and Symbols CCM carbon-concentrating mechanism - DIG dissolved inorganic carbon (CO₂+HCO ₃ ^- +CO ₂ ^- ) - DW dry weight - K_0.5 external concentration of CO₂ at which half-maximal rates of CO₂ assimilation are reached - Rubisco ribulose-l,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase - carbon isotope discrimination (%) - ¹³C carbon isotope ratio (%) This work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (GR3/8813) and the Leverhulme Trust. We thank Prof. A. Roy Perry (National Museum of Wales, Cardiff), Dr. B. Coppins and Mr. D. Long (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh) for access to herbarium specimens and Mr. M. Fletcher for providing living bryophytes.     

The tympanal hearing organ of the parasitoid fly Ormia ochracea (Diptera, Tachinidae, Ormiini)

Tympanate hearing has evolved in at least 6 different orders of insects, but had not been reported until recently in the Diptera. This study presents a newly discovered tympanal hearing organ, in the parasitoid tachinid fly, Ormia ochracea. The hearing organ is described in terms of external and internal morphology, cellular organization of the sensory organ and preliminary neuroanatomy of the primary auditory afferents. The ear is located on the frontal face of the prothorax, directly behind the head capsule. Conspicuously visible are a pair of thin cuticular membranes specialized for audition, the prosternal tympanal membranes. Directly attached to these membranes, within the enlarged prosternal chamber, are a pair of auditory sensory organs, the bulbae acusticae. These sensory organs are unique among all auditory organs known so far because both are contained within an unpartitioned acoustic chamber. The prosternal chamber is connected to the outside by a pair of tracheae. The cellular anatomy of the fly's scolopophorous organ was investigated by light and electron microscopy. The bulba acustica is a typical chordotonal organ and it contains approximately 70 receptor cells. It is similar to other insect sensory organs associated with tympanal ears. The similarity of the cellular organization and tympanal morphology of the ormiine ear to the ears of other tympanate insects suggests that there are potent constraints in the design features of tympanal hearing organs, which must function to detect high frequency auditory signals over long distances. Each sensory organ is innervated by a branch of the frontal nerve of the fused thoracic ganglia. The primary auditory afferents project to each of the pro-, meso-, and metathoracic neuropils. The fly's hearing organ is sexually dimorphic, whereby the tympanal membranes are larger in females and the spiracles larger in males. The dimorphism presumably reflects differences in the acoustic behavior in the two sexes.     

ITE Merlewood Land Classification of Great Britain

Abstract. The Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (ITE) has classified the 1 km squares in Great Britain (GB) into thirty-two environmental strata, termed land classes, as a basis for ecological survey. The classes have been used in biogeographical studies of the distribution of individual species and species assemblages. The concept behind the technique is that there is an association between the environmental character of land and ecological parameters. The initial classification was based on a sample of squares drawn from a regular grid. The data for the 12121 km squares classified were drawn from published maps; the number of squares was limited by the available computing power. Subsequently the availability of more powerful computers and the need to improve geographical definition have led to the allocation of every 1 km square to its appropriate class. This paper has been written to summarise the principles involved in the development of the system and indicate the range of projects for which it has been used. The extension of the classification from a sample to the complete coverage of GB revealed the importance of the structure and style of data used to produce the classification. The significance of these conclusions for future work is discussed, with particular reference to automated methods of data capture.     

关养密度和成年雄鼠填充物的气味对黄毛鼠(Rattus rattoides)的发育和性成熟的影响(英文)

黄毛鼠（Ｒａｔｔｕｓ ｒａｔｔｉｄｅｓ）在群居（４只／笼）时体重及性器官,如睾丸和附睾的增长都受到了极大的抑制;血清中睾酮含量的迅速上升以及成熟精子在附睾的曲细精管中出现的时间也比单独关养的晚。成年雄鼠的笼填充物的气味能够诱导幼年雄鼠体重,睾丸的总量和长度以及血清中睾酮的含量的增加。     

Octopamine-like immunoreactive neurones in locust genital abdominal ganglia

Using a well characterized anti-serum, the distribution of octopamine-like immunoreactive neurones is described in the locust seventh abdominal (A7) and terminal ganglia (TG), which are associated with genital organs. Apart from 4 paired ventral somata occasionally observed in the TG, all labelled cells could be identified as efferent dorsal- and ventral unpaired median (DUM/VUM) neurones by virtue of the characteristic large size and position of their somata, projections of their primary neurites in DUM-cell tracts, and bifurcating axons which arise from dorsal T-junctions and enter peripheral nerves. For the examined ganglia our data indicate that the whole population of efferent DUM and VUM-cells, defined here as progeny of the segment specific unpaired median neuroblast with peripheral axons, are octopaminergic, and that equal numbers of these cells occur in both sexes: 8 in A7 and 11 in TG. Sex-specific differences are probably restricted to the axonal projections of 5 octopamine-like immunoreactive DUM-somata in A7, and 5 in TG, which in females project into their segment specific sternal nerves, but in males into the genital nerve of the TG. Numerous intersegmentally projecting octopamine-like immunoreactive fibres traverse both ganglia. The majority probably stem from previously described octopamine-like immunoreactive neurones in the thoracic and suboesophageal ganglia.     

Maternal mortality or prolonged growth: Age at death and pelvic size in three prehistoric Amerindian populations

This study evaluates the relationship between age at death and pelvic size among adults in three prehistoric Amerindian populations. The issue is to identify if the pelvis continues to grow and remodel in adulthood, or if there is differential survivorship among adults, particularly among females, based on pelvic size. The samples used in this study are Indian Knoll, Pecos Pueblo, and Libben. Twenty-one measures of the pelvis are analyzed. A correlational analysis among individuals 18 years of age and older shows that the subpubic angle narrows with advancing age in both sexes. The suggested etiology is osteophytic growth on the ischiopubic ramus among older adults. A two-sample test comparing younger (ages 18–24) and older (25 years of age and older) adults shows that the linea terminalis (which represents the pubic and iliac components of the pelvic inlet) is significantly shorter in the younger age group, but this pattern is seen only in females. Two interpretations are consistent with this result. First, a female with a short linea terminalis (i. e., small pelvic inlet) may have died at a young age due to childbirth-related complications. In prehistory, maternal mortality may have been a leading cause of death, with pelvic inlet capacity being a determinant of survivorship among parturients. Second, the linea terminalis may be unique by continuing to grow in early adulthood in females but not in males; the growth occurs at the medial border of the pubis. Longitudinal growth studies of modern humans provide support for the second interpretation. The selective advantage of a later age at maturation of the pubis in females than males is that the period of growth is prolonged, thereby contributing to sexual dimorphism in pubic length and, correspondingly, linea terminalis length and pelvic inlet circumference. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Spatial and temporal variation in carbon isotope discrimination in prairie graminoids

We present the results of a 5-year examination of variation in the stable carbon isotope composition () of three C₃ graminoid species from a Sandhills prairie: Agropyron smithii, Carex heliophila and Stipa comata. Although consistent species-specific patterns for mean were seen, there was also significant and substantial among-year and within-season variation in . A smaller contribution to variation in came from topographic variation among sampling sites. Effects of species, year, season and topography contribute to variation in in an additive manner. An association between climate and exists that is consistent with previous work suggesting that reflects the interplay between photosynthetic gas exchange and plant water relations. Within the growing season, the time over which integrates plant response to the environment ranges from days to months.     

Observations of the mating behavior and dentition of the round stingray,Urolophus halleri

Synopsis The mating behavior and dentition ofUrolophus halleri, the round stingray was examined. Males frequently bite females during the mating period but most male biting does not result in copulation. In bites that do not lead to copulation, males bite the posterior (or occasionally the medial) portion of the females' disc but females often free themselves from these bites. In bites that precede copulation, males bite the anterior portion of the females' disc and females do not struggle to free themselves. Thus, females may exert some form of choice when they are bitten. Mature males have sexually dimorphic dentition that may aid in holding females. A principal component analysis (PCA) showed that in juvenile males, the relative size of the teeth decrease while the relative thickness of the disc increases as body size enlarges; adult males displayed no clear pattern. In adult females, there is a relative decrease in tooth size and increase in relative disc thickness as body size enlarges. The relative increase in females disc thickness in areas where they are bitten may function to minimize the amount of damage due to non-copulatory biting. There is no indication that biting functions to induce female receptivity but it may allow females and males to acquire information about potential mates. Thus, copulatory biting functions to maintain contact during copulation while the function of non-copulatory biting is less clear.     

Taxonomy ofHordeum caespitosum,H. jubatum,andH. lechleri (Poaceae: Triticeae)

Hordeum caespitosum Scribner,H. jubatum L., andH. lechleri (Steudel)Schenck are very similar in appearance and therefore until recently were mostly not recognized as separate entities. The first two are tetraploid and natives to North America, but the second occurs naturally in eastern Siberia and has been introduced in Europe and South America and may become a cosmopolitan weed. The third is hexaploid and South American. This study analyses their morphological diversity by means of selected multivariate techniques in order to determine if there is justification to recognize them as three separate morphological species. Logistic discrimination, although based on a reduced set of characters, yielded the highest percent of correct assignments. A linear discriminant function is provided and validated by 100 bootstrap repeats. Canonical discriminant analysis indicated three groups. It is subsequently concluded that the three are separate morphological species. Although a linear discriminant function is given, a traditional identification key is provided based on the palea length and triad (the group of three spikelets at each rachis node) length.