Characterization of Arm Autotomy in the Octopus, Abdopus Aculeatus (D’Orbigny, 1834)
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Herpetological Information Service No
Type Descriptions and Type Publications OF HoBART M. Smith, 1933 through June 1999 Ernest A. Liner Houma, Louisiana smithsonian herpetological information service no. 127 2000 SMITHSONIAN HERPETOLOGICAL INFORMATION SERVICE The SHIS series publishes and distributes translations, bibliographies, indices, and similar items judged useful to individuals interested in the biology of amphibians and reptiles, but unlikely to be published in the normal technical journals. Single copies are distributed free to interested individuals. Libraries, herpetological associations, and research laboratories are invited to exchange their publications with the Division of Amphibians and Reptiles. We wish to encourage individuals to share their bibliographies, translations, etc. with other herpetologists through the SHIS series. If you have such items please contact George Zug for instructions on preparation and submission. Contributors receive 50 free copies. Please address all requests for copies and inquiries to George Zug, Division of Amphibians and Reptiles, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC 20560 USA. Please include a self-addressed mailing label with requests. Introduction Hobart M. Smith is one of herpetology's most prolific autiiors. As of 30 June 1999, he authored or co-authored 1367 publications covering a range of scholarly and popular papers dealing with such diverse subjects as taxonomy, life history, geographical distribution, checklists, nomenclatural problems, bibliographies, herpetological coins, anatomy, comparative anatomy textbooks, pet books, book reviews, abstracts, encyclopedia entries, prefaces and forwords as well as updating volumes being repnnted. The checklists of the herpetofauna of Mexico authored with Dr. Edward H. Taylor are legendary as is the Synopsis of the Herpetofalhva of Mexico coauthored with his late wife, Rozella B. -
Cephalopods and the Evolution of the Mind
Cephalopods and the Evolution of the Mind Peter Godfrey-Smith The Graduate Center City University of New York Pacific Conservation Biology 19 (2013): 4-9. In thinking about the nature of the mind and its evolutionary history, cephalopods – especially octopuses, cuttlefish, and squid – have a special importance. These animals are an independent experiment in the evolution of large and complex nervous systems – in the biological machinery of the mind. They evolved this machinery on a historical lineage distant from our own. Where their minds differ from ours, they show us another way of being a sentient organism. Where we are similar, this is due to the convergence of distinct evolutionary paths. I introduced the topic just now as 'the mind.' This is a contentious term to use. What is it to have a mind? One option is that we are looking for something close to what humans have –– something like reflective and conscious thought. This sets a high bar for having a mind. Another possible view is that whenever organisms adapt to their circumstances in real time by adjusting their behavior, taking in information and acting in response to it, there is some degree of mentality or intelligence there. To say this sets a low bar. It is best not to set bars in either place. Roughly speaking, we are dealing with a matter of degree, though 'degree' is not quite the right term either. The evolution of a mind is the acquisition of a tool-kit for the control of behavior. The tool-kit includes some kind of perception, though different animals have very different ways of taking in information from the world. -
Xenosaurus Tzacualtipantecus. the Zacualtipán Knob-Scaled Lizard Is Endemic to the Sierra Madre Oriental of Eastern Mexico
Xenosaurus tzacualtipantecus. The Zacualtipán knob-scaled lizard is endemic to the Sierra Madre Oriental of eastern Mexico. This medium-large lizard (female holotype measures 188 mm in total length) is known only from the vicinity of the type locality in eastern Hidalgo, at an elevation of 1,900 m in pine-oak forest, and a nearby locality at 2,000 m in northern Veracruz (Woolrich- Piña and Smith 2012). Xenosaurus tzacualtipantecus is thought to belong to the northern clade of the genus, which also contains X. newmanorum and X. platyceps (Bhullar 2011). As with its congeners, X. tzacualtipantecus is an inhabitant of crevices in limestone rocks. This species consumes beetles and lepidopteran larvae and gives birth to living young. The habitat of this lizard in the vicinity of the type locality is being deforested, and people in nearby towns have created an open garbage dump in this area. We determined its EVS as 17, in the middle of the high vulnerability category (see text for explanation), and its status by the IUCN and SEMAR- NAT presently are undetermined. This newly described endemic species is one of nine known species in the monogeneric family Xenosauridae, which is endemic to northern Mesoamerica (Mexico from Tamaulipas to Chiapas and into the montane portions of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala). All but one of these nine species is endemic to Mexico. Photo by Christian Berriozabal-Islas. amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 01 June 2013 | Volume 7 | Number 1 | e61 Copyright: © 2013 Wilson et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Com- mons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License, which permits unrestricted use for non-com- Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 7(1): 1–47. -
Aquiloeurycea Scandens (Walker, 1955). the Tamaulipan False Brook Salamander Is Endemic to Mexico
Aquiloeurycea scandens (Walker, 1955). The Tamaulipan False Brook Salamander is endemic to Mexico. Originally described from caves in the Reserva de la Biósfera El Cielo in southwestern Tamaulipas, this species later was reported from a locality in San Luis Potosí (Johnson et al., 1978) and another in Coahuila (Lemos-Espinal and Smith, 2007). Frost (2015) noted, however, that specimens from areas remote from the type locality might be unnamed species. This individual was found in an ecotone of cloud forest and pine-oak forest near Ejido La Gloria, in the municipality of Gómez Farías. Wilson et al. (2013b) determined its EVS as 17, placing it in the middle portion of the high vulnerability category. Its conservation status has been assessed as Vulnerable by IUCN, and as a species of special protection by SEMARNAT. ' © Elí García-Padilla 42 www.mesoamericanherpetology.com www.eaglemountainpublishing.com The herpetofauna of Tamaulipas, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status SERGIO A. TERÁN-JUÁREZ1, ELÍ GARCÍA-PADILLA2, VICENTE Mata-SILva3, JERRY D. JOHNSON3, AND LARRY DavID WILSON4 1División de Estudios de Posgrado e Investigación, Instituto Tecnológico de Ciudad Victoria, Boulevard Emilio Portes Gil No. 1301 Pte. Apartado postal 175, 87010, Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Email: [email protected] 2Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Código Postal 68023, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 3Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 79968-0500, United States. E-mails: [email protected] and [email protected] 4Centro Zamorano de Biodiversidad, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana Zamorano, Departamento de Francisco Morazán, Honduras. E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: The herpetofauna of Tamaulipas, the northeasternmost state in Mexico, is comprised of 184 species, including 31 anurans, 13 salamanders, one crocodylian, 124 squamates, and 15 turtles. -
Freshwater Fishes
WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE state oF BIODIVERSITY 2007 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 Introduction 2 Chapter 2 Methods 17 Chapter 3 Freshwater fishes 18 Chapter 4 Amphibians 36 Chapter 5 Reptiles 55 Chapter 6 Mammals 75 Chapter 7 Avifauna 89 Chapter 8 Flora & Vegetation 112 Chapter 9 Land and Protected Areas 139 Chapter 10 Status of River Health 159 Cover page photographs by Andrew Turner (CapeNature), Roger Bills (SAIAB) & Wicus Leeuwner. ISBN 978-0-620-39289-1 SCIENTIFIC SERVICES 2 Western Cape Province State of Biodiversity 2007 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Andrew Turner [email protected] 1 “We live at a historic moment, a time in which the world’s biological diversity is being rapidly destroyed. The present geological period has more species than any other, yet the current rate of extinction of species is greater now than at any time in the past. Ecosystems and communities are being degraded and destroyed, and species are being driven to extinction. The species that persist are losing genetic variation as the number of individuals in populations shrinks, unique populations and subspecies are destroyed, and remaining populations become increasingly isolated from one another. The cause of this loss of biological diversity at all levels is the range of human activity that alters and destroys natural habitats to suit human needs.” (Primack, 2002). CapeNature launched its State of Biodiversity Programme (SoBP) to assess and monitor the state of biodiversity in the Western Cape in 1999. This programme delivered its first report in 2002 and these reports are updated every five years. The current report (2007) reports on the changes to the state of vertebrate biodiversity and land under conservation usage. -
Failure to Launch? the Influence of Limb Autotomy on the Escape Behavior of a Semiaquatic Grasshopper Paroxya Atlantica
Behavioral Ecology doi:10.1093/beheco/arr045 Advance Access publication 4 May 2011 Original Article Failure to launch? The influence of limb autotomy on the escape behavior of a semiaquatic grasshopper Paroxya atlantica (Acrididae) Philip W. Batemana,b,c and Patricia A. Flemingb aDepartment of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa, bSchool of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia, and cArchbold Biological Station, Lake Placid, PO Box 2057, Lake Placid, FL 33862, USA Downloaded from Autotomy is an extreme escape tactic where an animal sheds an appendage to escape predation. Many species alter their behavior postautotomy to compensate for this loss. We examined the escape behavior in the field of a semiaquatic grasshopper (Paroxya atlantica) that could escape either by flight and landing in vegetation or flight and landing in water and swimming to safety. We predicted that animals missing a hind limb would be more reactive (i.e., have longer flight initiation distances; FID) and would beheco.oxfordjournals.org prefer to escape to vegetation rather than to water as loss of a limb is likely to reduce swimming ability. However, our predictions were not supported. FID in autotomized animals was not different from that in intact animals. Furthermore, although autotom- ized grasshoppers paused more often and swam slower than intact individuals, autotomized grasshoppers more often escaped to water, reaching it via shorter flights that were lateral to the approach of the observer (intact grasshoppers more often flew directly away from the observer). We also noted differences in behavior before disturbance: Autotomised animals perched lower on emergent vegetation than did intact ones, presumably in readiness for escape via water, and also showed a greater likelihood to at Murdoch University on June 19, 2011 hide (squirreling) from the approaching observer prior to launch into flight. -
Mantodea (Insecta), with a Review of Aspects of Functional Morphology and Biology
aua o ew eaa Ramsay, G. W. 1990: Mantodea (Insecta), with a review of aspects of functional morphology and biology. Fauna of New Zealand 19, 96 pp. Editorial Advisory Group (aoimes mae o a oaioa asis MEMBERS AT DSIR PLANT PROTECTION Mou Ae eseac Cee iae ag Aucka ew eaa Ex officio ieco — M ogwo eae Sysemaics Gou — M S ugae Co-opted from within Systematics Group Dr B. A ooway Κ Cosy UIESIIES EESEAIE R. M. Emeso Eomoogy eame ico Uiesiy Caeuy ew eaa MUSEUMS EESEAIE M R. L. ama aua isoy Ui aioa Museum o iae ag Weigo ew eaa OESEAS REPRESENTATIVE J. F. awece CSIO iisio o Eomoogy GO o 1700, Caea Ciy AC 2601, Ausaia Series Editor M C ua Sysemaics Gou SI a oecio Mou Ae eseac Cee iae ag Aucka ew eaa aua o ew eaa Number 19 Maoea (Iseca wi a eiew o asecs o ucioa mooogy a ioogy G W Ramsay SI a oecio M Ae eseac Cee iae ag Aucka ew eaa emoa us wig mooogy eosigma cooaio siuaio acousic sesiiiy eece eaiou egeeaio eaio aasiism aoogy a ie Caaoguig-i-uicaio ciaio AMSAY GW Maoea (Iseca – Weigo SI uisig 199 (aua o ew eaa ISS 111-533 ; o 19 IS -77-51-1 I ie II Seies UC 59575(931 Date of publication: see cover of subsequent numbers Suggese om o ciaio amsay GW 199 Maoea (Iseca wi a eiew o asecs o ucioa mooogy a ioogy Fauna of New Zealand [no.] 19. —— Fauna o New Zealand is eae o uicaio y e Seies Eio usig comue- ase e ocessig ayou a ase ie ecoogy e Eioia Aisoy Gou a e Seies Eio ackowege e oowig co-oeaio SI UISIG awco – sueisio o oucio a isiuio M C Maews – assisace wi oucio a makeig Ms A Wig – assisace wi uiciy a isiuio MOU AE ESEAC CEE SI Miss M oy -
Tail Autotomy Plays No Important Role in Influencing Locomotor Performance and Antipredator Behavior in a Cursorial Gecko
ethology international journal of behavioural biology Ethology Tail Autotomy Plays No Important Role in Influencing Locomotor Performance and Anti-Predator Behavior in a Cursorial Gecko Hong-Liang Lu* , Guo-Hua Ding , Ping Ding* & Xiang Ji * Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology for Endangered Wildlife of the Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangz- hou 310058, Zhejiang, China Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210046, Jiangsu, China Correspondence Abstract Xiang Ji, Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life We used the frog-eyed sand gecko (Teratoscincus scincus) as a model sys- Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing tem to evaluate the locomotor costs of tail loss, and to examine whether 210046, Jiangsu, China. tailless geckos use alternative anti-predator behavior to compensate for E-mail: [email protected], xiangji150@ the costs of tail loss. Of the 16 field-captured geckos, eight were used as hotmail.com experimental animals and the remaining ones as controls. Locomotor performance, activity level and anti-predator behavior were measured Received: January 21, 2010 Initial acceptance: February 22, 2010 for experimental geckos before and after the tail-removing treatment. Final acceptance: March 15, 2010 Control geckos never undergoing the tail-removing manipulation were (J. Kotiaho) measured to serve as controls for the measurements taken at the same time for experimental geckos. Experimental geckos did not differ from doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2010.01780.x controls in activity level before they underwent the tail-removing manipulation, but became less active thereafter. -
Octopus Consciousness: the Role of Perceptual Richness
Review Octopus Consciousness: The Role of Perceptual Richness Jennifer Mather Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4, Canada; [email protected] Abstract: It is always difficult to even advance possible dimensions of consciousness, but Birch et al., 2020 have suggested four possible dimensions and this review discusses the first, perceptual richness, with relation to octopuses. They advance acuity, bandwidth, and categorization power as possible components. It is first necessary to realize that sensory richness does not automatically lead to perceptual richness and this capacity may not be accessed by consciousness. Octopuses do not discriminate light wavelength frequency (color) but rather its plane of polarization, a dimension that we do not understand. Their eyes are laterally placed on the head, leading to monocular vision and head movements that give a sequential rather than simultaneous view of items, possibly consciously planned. Details of control of the rich sensorimotor system of the arms, with 3/5 of the neurons of the nervous system, may normally not be accessed to the brain and thus to consciousness. The chromatophore-based skin appearance system is likely open loop, and not available to the octopus’ vision. Conversely, in a laboratory situation that is not ecologically valid for the octopus, learning about shapes and extents of visual figures was extensive and flexible, likely consciously planned. Similarly, octopuses’ local place in and navigation around space can be guided by light polarization plane and visual landmark location and is learned and monitored. The complex array of chemical cues delivered by water and on surfaces does not fit neatly into the components above and has barely been tested but might easily be described as perceptually rich. -
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July 2003 Volume 13, N u1nber 3 ISSN 0268-0130 PubJisbed by the Indexed in BRITISH HERPETOLOGlCAL SOCIETY Current Contents HERPETOLOGICAL JOURNAL, Vol. 13, pp. 101-111 (2003) TROPHIC ECOLOGY AND REPRODUCTION IN THREE SPECIES OF NEOTROPICAL FOREST RACER (DENDROPHIDION; COLUBRIDAE) PETER J. STAFFORD Th e Na tural HistoryMuseum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK Aspects of ecology are described and compared forthree species of the Neotropical colubrid genus Dendrophidion: D. nuchale, D. percarinatum and D. vinitor. These slender, racer-like snakes of Central American rainforestshave overlapping distributions and similar, relatively specialized diets. Within each species, over 50% of prey items recovered from museum specimens were leptodactylid frogs. Dendrophidion vinitor is a small species that feedsalmost entirely on these anurans (>90% by frequency), whereas D. nuchale and D. percarinatum are larger forms that in addition to frogs also eat lizards, mostly anoles (Polychrotidae). Sample numbers were limited and the dietary data insufficient for conclusive analysis, but niche separation based on this taxonomic difference in food habits - and also prey size (larger mean prey volume in D. nuchale) - may be important for these snakes in areas of co-occurrence. Reproductive data for D. percarinatum and D. vinitor in lower Central America suggest an extended or possibly continuous cycle and the production in individual femalesof more than one clutch per year. The intensity of reproduction in all three species, however, is likely to fluctuate with annual variation in rainfall and prey availability. Dendrophidion percarinatum shows a much higher frequencyof tail breakage than D. nuchale or D. vinitor, suggesting that predation pressure in this species is relatively more intense. -
Life History, Mating Behavior, and Multiple Paternity in Octopus
LIFE HISTORY, MATING BEHAVIOR, AND MULTIPLE PATERNITY IN OCTOPUS OLIVERI (BERRY, 1914) (CEPHALOPODA: OCTOPODIDAE) A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI´I AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ZOOLOGY DECEMBER 2014 By Heather Anne Ylitalo-Ward Dissertation Committee: Les Watling, Chairperson Rob Toonen James Wood Tom Oliver Jeff Drazen Chuck Birkeland Keywords: Cephalopod, Octopus, Sexual Selection, Multiple Paternity, Mating DEDICATION To my family, I would not have been able to do this without your unending support and love. Thank you for always believing in me. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank all of the people who helped me collect the specimens for this study, braving the rocks and the waves in the middle of the night: Leigh Ann Boswell, Shannon Evers, and Steffiny Nelson, you were the hard core tako hunters. I am eternally grateful that you sacrificed your evenings to the octopus gods. Also, thank you to David Harrington (best bucket boy), Bert Tanigutchi, Melanie Hutchinson, Christine Ambrosino, Mark Royer, Chelsea Szydlowski, Ily Iglesias, Katherine Livins, James Wood, Seth Ylitalo-Ward, Jessica Watts, and Steven Zubler. This dissertation would not have happened without the support of my wonderful advisor, Dr. Les Watling. Even though I know he wanted me to study a different kind of “octo” (octocoral), I am so thankful he let me follow my foolish passion for cephalopod sexual selection. Also, he provided me with the opportunity to ride in a submersible, which was one of the most magical moments of my graduate career. -
0187 Gerrhonotus Multicarinatus.Pdf
187.1 REPTILIA: SQUAMATA: SAURIA: ANGUIDAE GERRHONOTUS MULTICARINATUS Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles. Shaw (1943, 1952), and Stebbins (1954). Stebbins (1944)reported a specimen killed by a millipede, and Brodie (1968)noted death from LAIS, P. MIKE. 1976. Gerrhonotus multicarinatus. Taricha skin toxin. Parasitism by ticks was recorded by Mohr et al. (1964), and by a cestode by Telford (1965). Temperature data are in Brattstrom (1965), and notes on physiological responses to Gerrhonotus multicarinatus (Blainville) temperature in Dawson and Templeton (1966), Cunningham Sonthern alligator lizard (1966), Regal (1966), and Dawson (1967). Hoffman (1973) discussed locomotor activity and metabolic scope, and Schultz and Cordylus (Gerrhonotus) multi-carinatus Blainville, 1835:37. Type• Norberg (1970) the effect of visual loss on activity. Endocrine locality, "Californie," restricted to Monterey, [Monterey system morphology has been studied by Retzlaff (1949, adrenal), County] by Fitch (1934b:173). Holotype, adult, Museum Lynn and Colorigh (1967, thyroid), H. Saint Girons (1967, National d'Histoire Naturelle 2002, collected by P.E. Botta hypophysis), Gabe et a1.(1964, adrenal), and Gabe (1970, adrenal). (holotype examined by author). Brain morphology was described by Senn and Northcutt (1973), Elgaria multicarinata: Gray, 1838:39l. Gerrhonotus caeruleus: Boulenger, 1885:273 (part). Gerrhonotus scincicauda: Stejneger, 1893:195. Gerrhonotus multi-carinatus: Fitch, 1934b:172. Revalidation of I multicarinatus . \. • CONTENT. Five subspecies are recognized: multicarinatus, , .:... webbii, scincicauda, ignavus, and nanus. <. ...• • DEFINITION. A large species of Gerrhonotus (maximum '- snout-vent length 175 mm., tail length over twice snout-vent length), with dorsal scales in 14 longitudinal rows and 40 to 66 transverse rows, and undivided interoccipital. Dorsal scales of both body and tail are heavily keeled.