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Niche Modeling for the Giant Panda, Ailuropoda Melanoleuca, and the Original Panda, Ailurus Fulgens: Habitat Preferences and Evolutionary Consequences Lauren M

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Niche Modeling for the Giant Panda, Ailuropoda Melanoleuca, and the Original Panda, Ailurus Fulgens: Habitat Preferences and Evolutionary Consequences Lauren M East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Student Works 5-2017 Niche Modeling for the Giant Panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, and the Original Panda, Ailurus fulgens: Habitat Preferences and Evolutionary Consequences Lauren M. Lyon East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd Part of the Geographic Information Sciences Commons, and the Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons Recommended Citation Lyon, Lauren M., "Niche Modeling for the Giant Panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, and the Original Panda, Ailurus fulgens: Habitat Preferences and Evolutionary Consequences" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3234. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3234 This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Niche Modeling for the Giant Panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, and the Original Panda, Ailurus fulgens: Habitat Preferences and Evolutionary Consequences ________________________________ A thesis presented to the faculty of the Department of Geosciences East Tennessee State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Science in Geosciences _________________________________ by Lauren M. Lyon May 2017 _________________________________ Dr. T. Andrew Joyner, Chair Dr. Thomas C. Jones Dr. Joshua X. Samuels Keywords: Maxent, SDM, Morphometrics, Carnivora, Ailuridae, Ursidae, Conservation ABSTRACT Niche Modeling for the Giant Panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, and the Original Panda, Ailurus fulgens: Habitat Preferences and Evolutionary Consequences by Lauren M. Lyon The well-known symbol for conservation, the giant panda bear, and the original red panda have been forced into remote habitats due to anthropogenic disturbance, making ecological study difficult. Therefore the first known species distribution model was created to predict the most likely areas of occurrence within the known range of these elusive animals. These models were then projected onto North America and evaluated against existing breeding programs. Additionally, the close proximity of the Gray Fossil Site and the discovery of the most complete fossil red panda specimens in the world allowed ecomorphological comparisons between the modern red panda, Ailurus fulgens and the fossil red panda, Pristinailurus bristoli. Spatial data and morphometric results from this study will aid conservation work and breeding programs globally. 2 Copyright 2017 by Lauren Lyon All Rights Reserved 3 DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this thesis to my most favorite panda for being there for me at my worst… and when I decided to pick up skunks on the highway. 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my thanks to the members of my thesis committee- Drs. A. Joyner, T. Jones, and J. Samuels- for meticulously reviewing my manuscript and for their input on all stages of this thesis project. Further thanks must be given to B. Compton, S. Haugrud, C. Widga, A. Nye, and K. Bredehoeft for access to ETSU collections, both modern and natural history, and the extraordinary amount of work that they have put into these collections to make them so outstanding and impressive. Thanks to UTC’s Dr. Tim Gaudin for encouraging me to pursue this field as an undergraduate. Additional thanks must go to Dr. Manuel Salesa of the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (Madrid, Spain) for all of his help and encouragement. Within ETSU’s Geosciences Department I must give special thanks to fellow graduate students- T. Kantelis, L. Rooney, J. Rej, R. Shunklestein, and D. Oberg for all of their input and for helping me brainstorm. I thank my brother Chris-Chris for helping me laugh and my parents for their continued support. I would like to thank “Squatchie” for being the best friend I could ask for and a second brother to me; without him I don’t know what I would’ve done. I would like to thank the Don Sundquist Center of Excellence in Paleontology for funding and travel money. Lastly, I have to thank “Curtie” Bentley and Evan Doughty for being two amazing RA’s that were not afraid to get their hands dirty while having too much fun. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... 2 DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................ 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ 6 LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... 9 LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 16 Background of Ailurus fulgens .................................................................................................. 17 Phylogenetic Classification of Ailurus fulgens ......................................................................... 19 Importance of Gray Fossil Site to Ailuridae Phylogeny ........................................................... 23 Background of Ailuropoda melanoleuca .................................................................................. 25 Phylogenetic Classification of Ailuropoda melanolueca .......................................................... 26 Niche Theory and Niche/Distribution Modelling ..................................................................... 27 2. PREDICTING THE CURRENT RANGE OF AILURUS FULGENS: HABITAT PREFERENCES AND CONSERVATION IMPLICATIONS .................................................... 31 Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... 31 Materials & Methods ................................................................................................................. 35 Study Area ............................................................................................................................. 35 Species Occurrence Data ....................................................................................................... 36 Environmental and Topographic Variables ........................................................................... 37 Maxent Model ....................................................................................................................... 39 Results ....................................................................................................................................... 40 Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 60 References ................................................................................................................................. 63 6 3. THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING SELECTIVE IN THE CREATION OF WILDLIFE PRESERVES: PUSHING THE GIANT PANDA TO UNSUITABLE REGIONS AND REDUCING BREEDING SUCCESS .......................................................................................... 66 Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... 66 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 67 Materials and Methods .............................................................................................................. 71 Study Area ............................................................................................................................. 71 Species Occurrence Data ....................................................................................................... 72 Maxent Model ....................................................................................................................... 75 Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 88 References ................................................................................................................................. 91 4. ANALYSIS OF LOCOMOTION OF THE EXTINCT AILURINE PRISTINAILURUS BRISTOLI: PHYLOGENETIC IMPLICATIONS AND A REVIEW OF EXTINCT AILURIDS .................................................................................................................................... 95 Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... 95 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 96 Review of Fossil Ailuridae ...................................................................................................
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