Neurophysiological and Behavioral Changes in Non-Target Wildlife Exposed to Organophosphate and Carbamate Pesticides: Thermoregulation, Food Consumption, and Reproduction

Originally utilized or developed as human poisons, anticholinesterasecompounds are among the most widely used pesticides in the worldand non-target wildlife are frequently exposed. Because thesecompounds primarily act by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase atsynapses within the central and peripheral nervous systems,the potential for altering physiological and behavioral responsesessential for survival and reproduction in exposed animals isgreat. We review the effects of acute but sublethal exposureto organophosphates and carbamates on thermoregulation (hypothermia),food consumption (anorexia and altered foraging behavior), andreproduction (altered hormone levels, reductions in clutch andlitter size, and alterations in reproductive behavior), andthe mechanisms believed to cause them. We believe these arethe direct toxic effects most likely to reduce populations offree-living birds and mammals within treated areas. Data fromstudies of captive birds and laboratory mammals and free-livingindividuals given controlled dosages are included with an emphasison information published within the last 5 years. The limitationsof existing data for determining the biological and regulatorysignificance of these effects are discussed.     

Behavioural correlates with hemipenis morphology in New World natricine snakes

Copulatory organs (hemipenes) of male snakes vary markedly among species in shape and ornamentation. We suggest that sexual conflict over copulation duration may have shaped the evolution of hemipenis morphology, favouring more elaborate organs in species in which a long duration of copulation is especially beneficial to males, despite the associated costs to females. To test this proposition, we compare mating behaviour between two species of gartersnakes differing in hemipenis morphology. In addition, we review data on copulation duration and hemipenis morphology and relate hemipenis morphology to phylogeny among of New World natricines. As predicted, copulation duration was significantly shorter in the common gartersnake ( Thamnophis sirtalis ), a species with simple subcylindrical hemipenes, than in the plains gartersnake ( Thamnophis radix ), a species with more complex, bilobed organs. Furthermore, female T. radix frequently exhibited vigorous body rolls during copulation, a behaviour associated with copulation termination, whereas female T. sirtalis never exhibited this behaviour. Copulations were of shorter duration when female T. radix (but not T. sirtalis ) more greatly exceeded males in body size, suggesting that females can more easily disengage from small males. Our review of New World natricines provides only weak evidence for an association between copulation duration and hemipenis morphology. Our mapping of hemipenis morphology onto the New World natricine phylogeny suggests that hemipenis morphology is evolutionarily plastic; both simple and bilobed hemipenes occur in all three major natricine clades, as well as in two of three gartersnake subclades and several sister-species pairs.  © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2009, 98 , 110–120.