DOCSLIB.ORG

A Case Study Using the Tuatara-Fairy Prion Association

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Interspecific Interactions: A Case Study using the Tuatara-Fairy Prion Association Ilse Corkery A thesis submitted to Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Ecology and Biodiversity Victoria University of Wellington Te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o te Ika a Māui 2012 All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others. George Orwell Animal Farm. v Abstract Some of the key relationships in the life of an organism are interactions with individuals of other species within the community, for example, negative interactions such as predation and competition are well known to shape natural communities. Positive interactions also have well documented influences, such as intertidal seaweed canopies extending the distribution of many organisms to higher tidal heights, by reducing thermal and desiccation stresses. However, investigating interactions and measuring their significance for fitness is notoriously difficult. For example, several groups of fish are known to ‘clean’ other fish species by feeding on their ectoparasites, a mutually beneficial arrangement. However, foraging by cleaners can damage scales of their hosts and this interaction can become parasitic in times of low ectoparasite abundance. Using both field and laboratory data, I investigated factors that influenced the dynamics of an unusual vertebrate association, the cohabitation of tuatara and fairy prions in a burrow. The end goal was to contribute to the understanding of the classification of this association. The fairy prion is a seabird that comes to land only for the breeding season and the tuatara is a burrowing reptile, active primarily at night in a temperate climate. Specifically, I measured the effects that this association had on tuatara thermoregulation, and demonstrated the difficulty in applying that information to categorize a complex interaction. Investigations into the temporal and spatial habitat of the tuatara, and the degree to which this influenced thermal opportunities, revealed that mean tuatara body temperatures were always within mean environmental temperatures. Males and females did not differ in mean body temperature or effectiveness of thermoregulation. Body size did not predict body temperature or cooling rates, but heating rates were influenced, with larger animals heating faster than smaller individuals. The presence of a fairy prion in a burrow increased humidity within the burrow, and tuatara that occupied burrows containing a fairy prion were able to maintain up to 1.8°C higher body temperatures through the night during the austral summer months. Thus, burrow use behaviour and burrow selection had greater influences on tuatara body temperature than an individual’s sex or size. Experimental evidence revealed that tuatara are capable of adjusting their habitat selection behaviour in response to different humidity constraints. More time was spent outside the burrows and tuatara were more active under humid laboratory conditions. Use of the burrow by tuatara almost halved the time that fairy prions spent at the burrow with their chick, indicating that tuatara were having a negative effect on fairy prions’ use of their burrow. There v vi was no evidence to support the fact that fairy prions were gaining any fitness benefits from their association with tuatara. Thus, we cannot call this interaction a commensalism or a mutualism. In certain instances, it may be that this interaction is best classed as a parasitism with the tuatara benefitting from burrow use and easy predation opportunities, to the detriment of the lifetime reproductive success of the fairy prion. In other instances it may simply be a case of competition for a limited resource (a burrow) with the outcome varying depending on the individuals and the circumstances involved. Being able to categorize interactions between species of high conservation value or at least to have an understanding of the costs and benefits associated with the interaction is desirable for conservation purposes, as failure to consider the ecological network within which a threatened species is embedded, may lead to counterproductive management measures. Further, these results can be used to develop future research into how climatic changes in temperature and rainfall may interact with habitat availability to influence the full range of natural outcomes of the tuatara-fairy prion association. vi vii Acknowledgements I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisors Nicky Nelson and Ben Bell. I am very grateful for their guidance and support throughout, and their encouragement was often what kept me going. Thank you for your enthusiasm and for your meticulous corrections of endless drafts! I am very thankful for the financial support of the following organizations: Victoria University Doctoral Research Scholarship, Faculty of Science at Victoria University, Centre for Biology and Restoration Ecology (CBRE), Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, Kathleen Stewart Award, Forest and Bird, Society for Research on Amphibians and Reptiles in New Zealand (SRARNZ), and New Zealand Ecological Society. Their contribution had a major part in the success of my numerous fieldtrips and laboratory work, and also allowed me to present my work at a number of international conferences. My work was also supported by Ngati Koata iwi with permission from DoC (permit NM-23620-RES and the VUW Animal Ethic Committee (permit #2006R12). A number of Department of Conservation staff were incredibly supportive of this project. They were always quick with permits, provided transport to Stephens Island and went above and beyond to provide assistance and support whenever and wherever I needed it. Thank you to Stuart Cockburn and Jim Hunnewell for assistance with building and acquiring my RFID loggers, scanners and batteries. Thanks to Peter Gaze, Mike Aviss and in particular to Karen Ismay and John McKewon, the rangers on Stephens Island who first introduced me to the wonders of that remarkable place, and to Margie Grant-Caplan and Tim Bacon who not only did everything to make my fieldtrips run as smoothly as possible, but also provided endless hours of fun. Fieldwork would also not have been possible without the help from my field assistants. Many thanks go to Jen Moore, Andy Douglas, Evan Bredeweg, Dawson Dunning, Heidy Kikillus, Monica Awasthy, John Ballinger and in particular Danielle Middleton. Danielle was my partner in crime throughout much of my fieldwork and many adventures and laughs were had. A big thank you goes to Holly Jones who first introduced me to the joys of working on offshore islands. I never forgot my first trip to Maud Island, having a rare bird the takehe, snatch a muesli vii viii wrapper from my hand and seeing my first giant weta, by far the largest insect I’d ever seen! I think I was hooked on New Zealand ecology after that trip! Thank you Monica Awasthy for giving me my first paid ecology job, introducing me to New Zealand birds and making me learn New Zealand trees! I am very thankful to the warm welcome that I received at SBS, which made it a great and relaxed place to study. My many office mates and friends were amazing, always ready for a laugh and ready to provide distraction when work was just a little bit too full on! Lastly, I would like to thank my partner John, my parents Mia and Frank, and my sister Maria. My love goes to my family, who have been incredibly understanding, and put up with my constant travels and decision to study and live on the other side of the world. I could not have made it through this PhD without the constant support and encouragement from both John and my family, to whom I am forever grateful. I would like to dedicate this thesis to my father Frank Corkery; I wish he could have seen me complete this and I miss him very much. viii ix Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ v Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER ONE. Interspecific interactions: A case study using the tuatara-fairy prion association ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Categorizing interspecific interactions ..................................................................... 2 1.3 Retreat selection ........................................................................................................ 5 1.4 Physiological ecology ................................................................................................. 6 1.5 Tuatara and seabird ecology ..................................................................................... 7 1.6 Key questions, thesis outline and style .................................................................. 10 1.6.1 KEY QUESTIONS ............................................................................................. 11 1.6.2 THESIS OUTLINE AND STYLE .......................................................................... 11 1.7 References ....................................................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER TWO. Behaviour not morphology determines
Recommended publications
  • DIET and ASPECTS of FAIRY PRIONS BREEDING at SOUTH GEORGIA by P.A

    DIET and ASPECTS of FAIRY PRIONS BREEDING at SOUTH GEORGIA by P.A

    DIET AND ASPECTS OF FAIRY PRIONS BREEDING AT SOUTH GEORGIA By P.A. PRINCE AND P.G. COPESTAKE ABSTRACT A subantarctic population of the Fairy Prion (Pachyprzla turtur) was studied at South Georgia in 1982-83. Full measurements of breeding birds are given, together with details of breeding habitat, the timing of the main breeding cycle events, and chick growth (weight and wing, culmen and tarsus length). Regurgitated food samples showed the diet to be mainly Crustacea (96% by weight), fish and squid comprising the rest. Of crustaceans, Antarctic krill made up 38% of items and 80% by weight. Copepods (four species, mostly Rhincalanus gigas) made up 39% of items but only 4% by weight; amphipods [three species, principally Themisto gaudichaudii made up 22% of items and 16% by weight. Diet and frequency of chick feeding are compared with those of Antarctic Prions and Blue Petrels at the same site; Fairy Prions are essentially intermediate. INTRODUCTION The Fairy Prion (Pachyptila turtur) is one of six members of a genus confined to the temperate and subantarctic regions of the Southern Hemisphere. With the Fulmar Prion (P. crassirostris), it forms the subgenus Pseudoprion. Its main area of breeding distribution is between the Antarctic Polar Front and the Subtropical Convergence. It is widespread in the New Zealand region, from the north of the North Island south to the Antipodes Islands and Macquarie Island, where only about 40 pairs survive (Brothers 1984). Although widespread in the Indian Ocean at the Prince Edward, Crozet and Kerguelen Islands, in the South Atlantic Ocean it is known to breed only on Beauchene Island (Falkland Islands) (Strange 1968, Smith & Prince 1985) and South Georgia (Prince & Croxall 1983).
  • Climatic Shifts Drove Major Contractions in Avian Latitudinal Distributions Throughout the Cenozoic

    Climatic Shifts Drove Major Contractions in Avian Latitudinal Distributions Throughout the Cenozoic

    Climatic shifts drove major contractions in avian latitudinal distributions throughout the Cenozoic Erin E. Saupea,1,2, Alexander Farnsworthb, Daniel J. Luntb, Navjit Sagooc, Karen V. Phamd, and Daniel J. Fielde,1,2 aDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, OX1 3AN Oxford, United Kingdom; bSchool of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Clifton, BS8 1SS Bristol, United Kingdom; cDepartment of Meteorology, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden; dDivision of Geological and Planetary Sciences, Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125; and eDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, CB2 3EQ Cambridge, United Kingdom Edited by Nils Chr. Stenseth, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, and approved May 7, 2019 (received for review March 8, 2019) Many higher level avian clades are restricted to Earth’s lower lati- order avian historical biogeography invariably recover strong evi- tudes, leading to historical biogeographic reconstructions favoring a dence for an origin of most modern diversity on southern land- Gondwanan origin of crown birds and numerous deep subclades. masses (2, 6, 11). However, several such “tropical-restricted” clades (TRCs) are repre- The crown bird fossil record has unique potential to reveal sented by stem-lineage fossils well outside the ranges of their clos- where different groups of birds were formerly distributed in deep est living relatives, often on northern continents. To assess the time. Fossil evidence, for example, has long indicated that total- drivers of these geographic disjunctions, we combined ecological group representatives of clades restricted to relatively narrow niche modeling, paleoclimate models, and the early Cenozoic fossil geographic regions today were formerly found in different parts of record to examine the influence of climatic change on avian geo- – graphic distributions over the last ∼56 million years.
  • Mesozoic Marine Reptile Palaeobiogeography in Response to Drifting Plates

    Mesozoic Marine Reptile Palaeobiogeography in Response to Drifting Plates

    ÔØ ÅÒÙ×Ö ÔØ Mesozoic marine reptile palaeobiogeography in response to drifting plates N. Bardet, J. Falconnet, V. Fischer, A. Houssaye, S. Jouve, X. Pereda Suberbiola, A. P´erez-Garc´ıa, J.-C. Rage, P. Vincent PII: S1342-937X(14)00183-X DOI: doi: 10.1016/j.gr.2014.05.005 Reference: GR 1267 To appear in: Gondwana Research Received date: 19 November 2013 Revised date: 6 May 2014 Accepted date: 14 May 2014 Please cite this article as: Bardet, N., Falconnet, J., Fischer, V., Houssaye, A., Jouve, S., Pereda Suberbiola, X., P´erez-Garc´ıa, A., Rage, J.-C., Vincent, P., Mesozoic marine reptile palaeobiogeography in response to drifting plates, Gondwana Research (2014), doi: 10.1016/j.gr.2014.05.005 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Mesozoic marine reptile palaeobiogeography in response to drifting plates To Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) Bardet N.a*, Falconnet J. a, Fischer V.b, Houssaye A.c, Jouve S.d, Pereda Suberbiola X.e, Pérez-García A.f, Rage J.-C.a and Vincent P.a,g a Sorbonne Universités CR2P, CNRS-MNHN-UPMC, Département Histoire de la Terre, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CP 38, 57 rue Cuvier,
  • Final Copy 2019 10 01 Herrera

    Final Copy 2019 10 01 Herrera

    This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from Explore Bristol Research, http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk Author: Herrera Flores, Jorge Alfredo A Title: The macroevolution and macroecology of Mesozoic lepidosaurs General rights Access to the thesis is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International Public License. A copy of this may be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode This license sets out your rights and the restrictions that apply to your access to the thesis so it is important you read this before proceeding. Take down policy Some pages of this thesis may have been removed for copyright restrictions prior to having it been deposited in Explore Bristol Research. However, if you have discovered material within the thesis that you consider to be unlawful e.g. breaches of copyright (either yours or that of a third party) or any other law, including but not limited to those relating to patent, trademark, confidentiality, data protection, obscenity, defamation, libel, then please contact [email protected] and include the following information in your message: •Your contact details •Bibliographic details for the item, including a URL •An outline nature of the complaint Your claim will be investigated and, where appropriate, the item in question will be removed from public view as soon as possible. This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from Explore Bristol Research, http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk Author: Herrera Flores, Jorge Alfredo A Title: The macroevolution and macroecology of Mesozoic lepidosaurs General rights Access to the thesis is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International Public License.
  • Conservation Status of New Zealand Birds, 2008

    Conservation Status of New Zealand Birds, 2008

    Notornis, 2008, Vol. 55: 117-135 117 0029-4470 © The Ornithological Society of New Zealand, Inc. Conservation status of New Zealand birds, 2008 Colin M. Miskelly* Wellington Conservancy, Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 5086, Wellington 6145, New Zealand [email protected] JOHN E. DOWDING DM Consultants, P.O. Box 36274, Merivale, Christchurch 8146, New Zealand GRAEME P. ELLIOTT Research & Development Group, Department of Conservation, Private Bag 5, Nelson 7042, New Zealand RODNEY A. HITCHMOUGH RALPH G. POWLESLAND HUGH A. ROBERTSON Research & Development Group, Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 10420, Wellington 6143, New Zealand PAUL M. SAGAR National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research, P.O. Box 8602, Christchurch 8440, New Zealand R. PAUL SCOFIELD Canterbury Museum, Rolleston Ave, Christchurch 8001, New Zealand GRAEME A. TAYLOR Research & Development Group, Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 10420, Wellington 6143, New Zealand Abstract An appraisal of the conservation status of the post-1800 New Zealand avifauna is presented. The list comprises 428 taxa in the following categories: ‘Extinct’ 20, ‘Threatened’ 77 (comprising 24 ‘Nationally Critical’, 15 ‘Nationally Endangered’, 38 ‘Nationally Vulnerable’), ‘At Risk’ 93 (comprising 18 ‘Declining’, 10 ‘Recovering’, 17 ‘Relict’, 48 ‘Naturally Uncommon’), ‘Not Threatened’ (native and resident) 36, ‘Coloniser’ 8, ‘Migrant’ 27, ‘Vagrant’ 130, and ‘Introduced and Naturalised’ 36. One species was assessed as ‘Data Deficient’. The list uses the New Zealand Threat Classification System, which provides greater resolution of naturally uncommon taxa typical of insular environments than the IUCN threat ranking system. New Zealand taxa are here ranked at subspecies level, and in some cases population level, when populations are judged to be potentially taxonomically distinct on the basis of genetic data or morphological observations.
  • Conservation Advice Pachyptila Tutur Subantarctica

    Conservation Advice Pachyptila Tutur Subantarctica

    THREATENED SPECIES SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE Established under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The Minister’s delegate approved this conservation advice on 01/10/2015 Conservation Advice Pachyptila tutur subantarctica fairy prion (southern) Conservation Status Pachyptila tutur subantarctica (fairy prion (southern)) is listed as Vulnerable under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cwlth) (EPBC Act). The species is eligible for listing as Vulnerable as, prior to the commencement of the EPBC Act, it was listed as Vulnerable under Schedule 1 of the Endangered Species Protection Act 1992 (Cwlth). The main factor that is the cause of the species being eligible for listing in the Vulnerable category is its small population size (250-1000 mature individuals). The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010 considered the Australian breeding population of the fairy prion (southern) as Endangered under Criterion D (Australian breeding population is <250 mature individuals) (Garnett et al., 2011). The Threatened Species Scientific Committee are using the findings of Garnett et al., (2011) to consider whether reassessment of the conservation status of each of threatened birds listed under the EPBC Act is required. Description The fairy prion is the smallest of the Australian prions, with a wingspan of about 56 cm. They have a short narrow bill with a strong hook narrowly separated from the nasal tubes. The fairy prion is grey-blue above, with a darker grey crown, and grey eye stripe. The eyes are dark and highlighted above and below the grey eye stripe by white plumage. The tail is triangular and has a thick dark bank at the tip (Pizzey & Knight 1999).
  • Threats to Seabirds: a Global Assessment 2 3 4 Authors: Maria P

    Threats to Seabirds: a Global Assessment 2 3 4 Authors: Maria P

    1 Threats to seabirds: a global assessment 2 3 4 Authors: Maria P. Dias1*, Rob Martin1, Elizabeth J. Pearmain1, Ian J. Burfield1, Cleo Small2, Richard A. 5 Phillips3, Oliver Yates4, Ben Lascelles1, Pablo Garcia Borboroglu5, John P. Croxall1 6 7 8 Affiliations: 9 1 - BirdLife International. The David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street Cambridge CB2 3QZ UK 10 2 - BirdLife International Marine Programme, RSPB, The Lodge, Sandy, SG19 2DL 11 3 – British Antarctic Survey. Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, 12 Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK 13 4 – Centre for the Environment, Fishery and Aquaculture Science, Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, NR33, UK 14 5 - Global Penguin Society, University of Washington and CONICET Argentina. Puerto Madryn U9120, 15 Chubut, Argentina 16 * Corresponding author: Maria Dias, [email protected]. BirdLife International. The David 17 Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street Cambridge CB2 3QZ UK. Phone: +44 (0)1223 747540 18 19 20 Acknowledgements 21 We are very grateful to Bartek Arendarczyk, Sophie Bennett, Ricky Hibble, Eleanor Miller and Amy 22 Palmer-Newton for assisting with the bibliographic review. We thank Rachael Alderman, Pep Arcos, 23 Jonathon Barrington, Igor Debski, Peter Hodum, Gustavo Jimenez, Jeff Mangel, Ken Morgan, Paul Sagar, 24 Peter Ryan, and other members of the ACAP PaCSWG, and the members of IUCN SSC Penguin Specialist 25 Group (Alejandro Simeone, Andre Chiaradia, Barbara Wienecke, Charles-André Bost, Lauren Waller, Phil 26 Trathan, Philip Seddon, Susie Ellis, Tom Schneider and Dee Boersma) for reviewing threats to selected 27 species. We thank also Andy Symes, Rocio Moreno, Stuart Butchart, Paul Donald, Rory Crawford, 28 Tammy Davies, Ana Carneiro and Tris Allinson for fruitful discussions and helpful comments on earlier 29 versions of the manuscript.
  • SHORT NOTE a Mainland Breeding Population of Fairy Prions

    SHORT NOTE a Mainland Breeding Population of Fairy Prions

    Notornis, 2000, Vol. 47: 119-122 0029-4470 O The Ornithological Society of New Zealand, Inc. 2000 SHORT NOTE A mainland breeding population of fairy prions (Pachyptila turtur), South Island, New Zealand GRAEME LOH 49 Sutcliffe Street, Dunedin, New Zealand [email protected] In July 1990, during a blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) calcareous Oligocene sandstone that has sparse vertical survey, I noticed seabird burrows on an inaccessible cliff and horizontal jointing. The cliffs are vertical or ledge near Tunnel Beach (45" 55'S, 170" 29'E) between overhanging, 70-120 m high, with many ledges and Blackhead and St Clair, Dunedin. In January 1991, the crevices occupied by roosting and breeding spotted shags ledge was reached by rope, descending 24 m from the (Stictocarbo punctatus), black-backed gulls (Larus top of this 70 m-high overhanging cliff face. The earth dominicanus), rock pigeons (Columba livia), and starlings bank was pockmarked with burrows (entrance 70-75mm (Sturnus vulgaris). A photograph in Peat & Patrick (1995: wide x 50-55rnm high) about 500 mm long. Few appeared 12) illustrates the cliffs where prions occupy three sites. to be in use and most were shallow, dug into each other, The main ledge of the 'prion cliff' colony discovered and so appeared unsuitable for breeding. I also found in July 1990, is 52 m long and up to 8 m wide. The rock the remains of a prion and prion feathers. base slopes towards the sea with a covering of up to 0.5 Breeding was confirmed in late January 1993, when a m of sand and rock debris.
  • Dependent Sex Determination at The

    Dependent Sex Determination at The

    Downloaded from rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org on October 27, 2010 Biol. Lett. Indian plate peaked slightly before the K–Pg boundary doi:10.1098/rsbl.2010.0882 [3]. It has been widely suggested that one or both Published online events were responsible for the mass extinction at the Palaeontology K–Pg boundary and that each had profound effects on global climate. The impact vapourized large quantities of evaporite minerals, and the resulting sulphate aerosols Unexpected resilience of probably seeded clouds that reflected solar radiation [4]. The volcanic eruptions, which formed the Deccan Traps species with temperature- of India, released large quantities of CO2 into the atmos- phere and may have initiated global warming [5]. Those dependent sex species that had temperature-dependent sex determi- determination at the nation (TSD) are expected to have been negatively impacted by these climate changes [6,7]. Cretaceous–Palaeogene In TSD, the sex of the embryo is determined by the incubation temperature of the eggs. Incubation at the boundary pivotal temperature(s) yields a 1 : 1 sex ratio, small temp- erature deviations yield an unbalanced sex ratio and 1, 2 Sherman Silber *, Jonathan H. Geisler larger deviations yield single-sex clutches [8]. In genoty- and Minjin Bolortsetseg3 pic sex determination (GSD), a sex-determining gene 1Infertility Center of Saint Louis, St Luke’s Hospital, Saint Louis, activates a downstream cascade of other genes that are MO 63017, USA responsible for testis or ovarian development. The 2New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, Old Westbury, NY 11568, USA specific chromosomes and genes in GSD have evolved 3Institute for the Study of Mongolian Dinosaurs, Ulaanbaatar 14201, independently in numerous lineages, suggesting that it Mongolia has adaptive benefits [7].
  • Evolution of Developmental Sequences in Lepidosaurs

    Evolution of Developmental Sequences in Lepidosaurs

    Evolution of developmental sequences in lepidosaurs Tomasz Skawi«ski and Bartosz Borczyk Department of Evolutionary Biology and Conservation of Vertebrates, University of Wroclaw, Wrocªaw, Poland ABSTRACT Background. Lepidosaurs, a group including rhynchocephalians and squamates, are one of the major clades of extant vertebrates. Although there has been extensive phylo- genetic work on this clade, its interrelationships are a matter of debate. Morphological and molecular data suggest very different relationships within squamates. Despite this, relatively few studies have assessed the utility of other types of data for inferring squamate phylogeny. Methods. We used developmental sequences of 20 events in 29 species of lepidosaurs. These sequences were analysed using event-pairing and continuous analysis. They were transformed into cladistic characters and analysed in TNT. Ancestral state reconstructions were performed on two main phylogenetic hypotheses of squamates (morphological and molecular). Results. Cladistic analyses conducted using characters generated by these methods do not resemble any previously published phylogeny. Ancestral state reconstructions are equally consistent with both morphological and molecular hypotheses of squamate phylogeny. Only several inferred heterochronic events are common to all methods and phylogenies. Discussion. Results of the cladistic analyses, and the fact that reconstructions of heterochronic events show more similarities between certain methods rather than phylogenetic hypotheses, suggest that
  • The Tuatara Genome: Insights Into Vertebrate Evolution from the Sole Survivor of an Ancient Reptilian Order

    The Tuatara Genome: Insights Into Vertebrate Evolution from the Sole Survivor of an Ancient Reptilian Order

    bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/867069; this version posted December 8, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 1 The tuatara genome: insights into vertebrate evolution from the sole survivor of an ancient reptilian order 1 1 2,3 4,5 6 Neil J. Gemmell *​ Kim Rutherford ,​ Stefan Prost ,​ Marc Tollis ,​ David Winter ,​ J. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 7 8 9 8,10 11,12 Robert Macey ,​ David L. Adelson ,​ Alexander Suh ,​ Terry Bertozzi ,​ José H. Grau ,​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 13 14 15 15 Chris Organ ,​ Paul P. Gardner ,​ Matthieu Muffato ,​ Mateus Patricio ,​ Konstantinos ​ ​ ​ ​ 15 15 15 16 17 Billis ,​ Fergal J Martin ,​ Paul Flicek ,​ Bent Petersen ,​ Lin Kang ,​ Pawel ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 17-19, 20,21 4 22 Michalak ,​ Thomas R. Buckley ,​ Melissa Wilson ,​ Yuanyuan Cheng ​ , Hilary ​ ​ ​ ​ 23 24 25 25 Miller ,​ Ryan K. Schott ,​ Melissa Jordan ,​ Richard Newcomb ,​ José Ignacio ​ ​ ​ ​ 26 27 1 28 9 Arroyo ,​ Nicole Valenzuela ,​ Tim A. Hore ,​ Jaime Renart ,​ Valentina Peona ,​ Claire ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 9,29 9,29 8 8 8 R. Peart ,​ Vera M. Warmuth ,​ Lu Zeng ,​ R. Daniel Kortschak ,​ Joy M. Raison ,​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 27 27 30 30 Valeria Velásquez Zapata ,​ Zhiqiang Wu ,​ Didac Santesmasses ,​ Marco Mariotti ,​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 30 4 20,21 1 Roderic Guigó ,​ Shawn M. Rupp ,​ Victoria G. Twort ,​ Nicolas Dussex ,​ Helen ​ ​ ​ ​ 1 1 31 32 Taylor ,​ Hideaki Abe ,​ James M. Paterson ,​ Daniel G. Mulcahy ,​ Vanessa L. ​ ​ ​ ​ 32 7 7 33 Gonzalez ,​ Charles G. Barbieri ,​ Dustin P.
  • Download Article As 589.6 KB PDF File

    Download Article As 589.6 KB PDF File

    6 AvailableNew on-lineZealand at: Journal http://www.newzealandecology.org/nzje/ of Ecology, Vol. 34, No. 1, 2010 special issue: Feathers to Fur The ecological transformation of Aotearoa/New Zealand The origin and history of New Zealand’s terrestrial vertebrates Alan J.D. Tennyson Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, PO Box 467, Wellington, New Zealand (Email: [email protected]) Published on-line: 4 November 2009 Abstract: Since the 1980s, morphological and molecular research has resulted in significant advances in understanding the relationships and origins of the recent terrestrial vertebrate fauna in the New Zealand biogeographic region. This research has led to many taxonomic changes, with a significant increase in the number of bird and reptile species recognised. It has also resulted in the recognition of several more Holocene (<10 000 years ago) bird species extinctions. The conclusion that Holocene extinctions were primarily caused by human- hunting and predation by other introduced mammals (particularly rats and cats) has been supported by new data. Despite many local eradications of introduced pests, the number of introduced species has increased, with the establishment of five more foreign birds and (on Norfolk Island) the house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus). Many new, significant New Zealand vertebrate fossils have been reported, including more dinosaurs from the Cretaceous, and the first Tertiary records of frogs, rhynchocephalids, lizards, crocodylians, bats and a terrestrial “Mesozoic ghost” mammal from the Early Miocene near St Bathans. For birds, the earliest known penguins in the world have been discovered, and there are intriguing Late Cretaceous – Early Paleocene remains still awaiting detailed description.