bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Functional directional asymmetry in fallow deer (Dama dama) antlers
Authors: Alvarez Fernando
Published: March 2009

The right antlers of fallow deer are significantly more developed than the left antlers with respect to the lengths of the beam, trez tine and palm, as well as antler weight and number of points. The cross‐section at the base is also more elliptical in the right antler. The size difference is correlated with the more intense use of right antlers in fighting, and with the greater breadth of the areas of insertion of the neck muscles in the skull's nuchal region.
The specialized locomotory apparatus of the freshwater hatchetfish family Gasteropelecidae
Authors: Wiest Francine C.
Published: March 2009

High‐speed video (200 frames/second) and kinematic analysis of the specialized locomotion of the Gasteropelecidae reveal a take‐off mechanism from water to air with highly stereotyped components: a bilateral pectoral fin abduction and a C‐start. With variations in timing between components of the take‐off mechanism, a wide range of trajectories, all consistent with projectile motion, can be elicited. Correlated with studies of pectoral and caudal osteology and myology, the analysis indicates that active flight in the gasteropelecids is unlikely. Rather, the mechanism produces a jump, a modified startle response, achieved through the activation of powerful abductor muscles through the Mauthner mediated cell complex.
Variability in the distribution and composition of adipose tissue in wild arctic foxes (Alopex lagopus) on Svalbard
Authors: Pond Caroline M. , Mattacks Christine A. , Prestrud P.
Published: March 2009

Adipose tissue was dissected completely from 35 adult and subadult arctic foxes collected between November 1991 and March 1992 in four different areas of Svalbard (latitude 78°5′ to 79° 50′ N). The gross mass, lipid, protein and collagen content and mean adipocyte volume were measured in adipose tissue from six superficial, four intra‐abdominal, three intermuscular and two cardiac depots homologous to those of other terrestrial mammals. The total adipocyte complement was calculated from the mass of each depot and its site‐specific adipocyte volume. The mean fatness was 14.81 ± 1.3% and sex differences were not significant. All depots except the epicardial enlarged with increasing fatness, but the superficial depots expanded more than the internal depots. The average partitioning of adipose tissue between intra‐abdominal and superficial depots was consistent with predictions from allometric equations fitted to data from other Carnivora, but there was much unexplainable variation between individuals. The relative masses of the four intra‐abdominal depots were also variable. The mean adipocyte complement was low compared to other continually or seasonally obese arctic mammals, only slightly larger than that predicted from allometric equations relating adipocyte complement to body mass in other carnivorous mammals, but there were large differences between specimens, with some having more than four times the expected number and others only half the expected number. The size of the adipocyte complement was unrelated to age, sex or fatness. Because of such variation in number and size of adipocytes, measurements of adipocyte volume from biopsies of adipose tissue would not provide an accurate estimate of fatness.

Almost all the adipose depots found in other terrestrial mammals were present. Site‐specific differences in adipocyte volume and the lipid and protein content of adipose tissue were similar to those of other wild mammals and did not change with fatness. The collagen content was highest in superficial and lowest in intra‐abdominal adipose depots. The differences of up to 60% in the collagen content of homologous depots of different foxes could not be explained by age or cytologically visible blood vessels and fascia but correlated with adipocyte complement.
Egg‐morphs and host preference in the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus): an analysis of cuckoo and host eggs from European museum collections
Authors: Moksnes Arne , ØSkaft Eivin r.
Published: March 2009

An examination of about 12000 clutches of European passerines that contained eggs of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), held in museum egg‐collections, revealed statistically significant correlations between the cuckoo and the host eggs within a clutch in volume, ground colour, and size and percentage coverage of the spots. Although most cuckoo eggs were yellowish, the range in coloration and the percentage coverage of spots indicate that in these respects the cuckoo eggs are distributed along a continuum. However, a similar distribution was also found among the pooled host eggs. These results provide some support for the ‘host preference hypothesis’, which states that each cuckoo female specializes on one particular host species.

By using a subjective classification, we found that there are at least 15 different cuckoo egg‐morphs in Europe, but only 44% of the clutches contained cuckoo eggs of the egg‐morph corresponding to the host eggs. The ‘host preference hypothesis’ therefore cannot provide a satisfactory explanation for the variation found among cuckoo eggs in Europe. However, 77% of the cuckoo eggs had been laid in nests of hosts with nesting sites similar to those of the main host of the egg‐morph. This indicates that cuckoos also parasitize several species whose nest sites are similar to those of their main host. These results therefore provide support for the ‘nest site hypothesis’ which states that each cuckoo female parasitizes a group of host species with similar eggs or nest sites. The ‘natal philopatry hypothesis’ which states that female cuckoos may search for nests completely at random in their natal habitat is only weakly supported and can probably be rejected.

Most of the hosts, main and secondary, nest among low vegetation or on the ground, whereas tree‐nesting species are seldom parasitized. The most frequently used hosts in the egg collections we examined were species of the Acrocephalus and Sylvia genera of warblers, all species that breed in low vegetation.
Air‐breathing littoral mites of sub‐Antarctic South Georgia
Authors: Pugh P. J. A.
Published: March 2009

Nine species of littoral air‐breathing Acari were collected at Husvik Harbour, South Georgia, comprising threeParasitiphis(Rhodacaridae), oneNanorchestes(Nanorchestidae), twoHalo‐zetes(Podacaridae) and threeHyadesia(Hyadesidae). All of the adaptive physiological and structural features observed in these mites are paralleled in related European littoral species. Although the predatoryParasitiphisspp. may cohabit in upper littoral crevices and feed on similar prey, they forage among different habitats. By contrast,HalozetesandHyadesiaspp. frequently occur together and occupy very similar niches, but competition does not appear to be significant and co‐habitation may be a mutually advantageous strategy to prevent dislodgement by wave action.
Seasonal field analyses of water and fat content in the long‐lived millipede Polyzonium germanicum (Diplopoda, Polyzoniidae)
Authors: David J.‐F. , Vannier G.
Published: March 2009

Two hundred and seventy‐nine Polyzonium germanicum individuals of various stadia were collected seasonally in winter, late spring‐early summer (the breeding period) and early autumn. Fresh weight, dry weight and defatted dry weight were determined for each specimen. Seasonal changes in water content and fat content, expressed as percentages of defatted dry weight, were analysed in relation to body size and sex. Changes in water content were more pronounced in the smallest individuals (juveniles), whereas changes in fat content were more pronounced in the largest (adults). Seasonal fluctuations in water and fat content were similar in both sexes despite the sexual dimorphism of body weight. The results suggest the following relationships within the species life‐cycle: (i) water content increases during the warm months (up to 295% for juveniles in early autumn), which coincides with the moulting period, (ii) Fat content increases subsequently to moulting; overall maxima are reached in early autumn (population mean = 62–5%), as well as in early summer for the young, (iii) Both water and fat content decrease (to about 150% and 50%, respectively) in winter; however, there is no evidence of starvation–at least in ovigerous females which increase in dry weight during that season, (iv) Fat content strongly decreases (below 30% in the largest specimens) in adults of both sexes during the breeding period.
The evolution of viviparity within the Australian scincid lizardLerista bougainvillii
Authors: Qualla Carl P. , Shine Richard , Donnellan Steve , Hutchinsonm Mark
Published: March 2009

The semi‐fossorial scincid lizard, Lerista bougainvillii, is oviparous throughout its extensive range in south‐eastern mainland Australia. However, two widely separated (by approximately 1000 km) island populations are viviparous; in these populations the eggshell is lost and females retain their offspring in utero until embryogenesis complete. One mainland population in south‐eastern Victoria shows an intermediate condition, in which the eggshells are incomplete and uterine embryogenesis is prolonged.

Morphological and electrophoretic analyses confirm a high degree of morphological and genetic similarity between populations (i.e. there is no evidence for the presence of more than one species), and phenetic analyses of these data show that each of the two disjunct viviparous populations more closely resembles adjacent oviparous populations than the other viviparous group. Hence, we infer that viviparity may have arisen twice within L. bougainvillii, in both cases on offshore islands with a cold climate.
Bite forces used by Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata yakui) on Yakushima Island, Japan to open aphid‐induced galls on Distylium racemosum (Hamamelidaceae)
Authors: Hill D. A. , Lucas P. W. , Cheng P. Y.
Published: March 2009

Japanese macaques on Yakushima Island have been seen attempting to open thick, woody plant galls in order to eat aphids contained within them. We analysed a sample of galls and gall fragments with toothmarks and found that 22% were still intact indicating a failure to open them. These marks were examined and measured. Ten pits had a mean indentational area of 1.44 mm2 (S.D. 0.28 mm2), while 15 elongated scratches had a mean width of 1.26mm (S.D. 0.27 mm). The gall resembled a light wood in its mechanical properties and had a microhardness of 80.4MPa. Assuming that at least two marks were formed in any given bite, indentational analysis gave a mean estimate of bite forces of 232N (maximum 291 N) to produce pits and 255 N (maximum 487N) to produce scratches. These forces are consistent with, but at the high end of, limits predicted by anatomical analysis.
Spatial organization in the Ethiopian wolf Canis simensis: large packs and small stable home ranges
Authors: Zubiri C. Sillero , Gottelli D.
Published: March 2009

The spatial organization of the rare Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) was studied in the Afroalpine heathlands of Bale Mountains National Park, southern Ethiopia, between 1988 and 1992. Nineteen animals were radio‐tracked, 48 ear‐tagged and 64 others recognized by coat patterns and observed directly. Dry season (October—March) home ranges of resident wolves covered between 2 and 15 km2. The ranges of adult males were slightly larger than those of females, and subadults' home ranges were slightly smaller than those of adults. The population density of the wolves was correlated with prey biomass. In optimal habitat, wolves lived in packs of 3—13 adults (mean 5.9 wolves > 1year old) containing several close‐kin males; adult sex ratio favoured males 1.88: 1 and combined pack home ranges averaged 6.0km2. In an area of lower prey productivity, wolves lived in pairs or small groups (mean 2.7), adult sex ratio was 1:1 and home ranges averaged 13.4 km2.

Home ranges overlapped extensively (mean 85%) between members of the same pack. Four to seven percent of the population was additionally composed of non‐resident females, inhabiting larger ranges (mean 11.1 km2). Home ranges of neighbouring packs were largely discrete, forming a tessellating mosaic of packs occupying all available habitat. Pack home ranges were stable in time, drifting only during major pack readjustment after the disappearance of a pack or significant demographic changes. Ethiopian wolf home ranges were smaller than would be expected for a carnivore of its size and sociality, presumably as a result of the high rodent productivity of the Afroalpine ecosystem.
Allozymes and the genetics of antler development in red deer (Cervus elsphus)
Authors: Hartl G.B. , Klein F. , Willing R. , Aapollonio M. , Lang G.
Published: March 2009

In order to examine a previously hypothesized influence of selective hunting on allele frequency changes at some regularly polymorphic allozyme loci in red deer (Cervus eluphus), antler characters, serving as criteria for culling, were examined in relation to electrophoretic variation in two free‐ranging populations of the Vosges, Eastern France, and an enclosure in Central France. When homozygous for the allele Idh‐2125, stags ≥ 2 years old had a significantly higher number of antler points (NAP). When homozygous for the allele Acp‐2100, stags older than 5 years had antlers that were significantly larger for a number of traits (NAP, main beam length and circumference, coronet circumference, brow tine length). Among younger stags, all antler traits in Acp‐2100 homozygotes were significantly smaller than in carriers of the alternative allele, Acp‐285. Our data suggest the presence of at least two independent genetic components (one associated with early development of a high NAP, the other with generally large antler size in adults), affecting antler expression in red deer. Those genetic components, possibly major genes which are chromosomally linked with the allozyme loci studied, compensate or reinforce each other in their phenotypic effects. By playing a role in balancing benefits and costs of male reproductive success, they may be part of a genetic mechanism enabling the rapid adaptation of a population to various environmental and demographic conditions. The three populations studied originate from one another, and, based on an assessment of effective population sizes, it could be demonstrated that selective hunting for antler shape has changed allelic frequencies at the associated marker loci within a few generations.
Evolutionary relationships of cartilaginous fishes: an immunological study
Authors: Lawson R. , Burch S.J. , Ooughterson S. M. , Heath S. , Davies D. H.
Published: March 2009

An investigation of the phylogenetic relationships of a number of cartilaginous fish based on the use of the immunological properties of the iron‐binding serum protein, transferrin. is presented. Data on immunological distance and the rate of amino acid substitution are used to produce a dendrogram. The tree confirms the close relationships of the holocephalan species examined which are a sister group of other neoselachians. The tree also indicates that the squaloids and galeoids are separate groups and that Heterodontus belongs with the galeoids. It is also clear that the divergence between the squaloids, galeoids (including Heterodontus) and the Holocephali is an ancient one and that the rajids probably diverged from this basal stock rather than any more recent squaloid/squatinoid/galeoid grouping.
The food feeding ecology of the white‐chinned petrel Procellaria aequinctialis at South Georgia
Authors: Croxall J. P. , Hall A. J. , Hill H. J. , North A. W. , Rodhouse P. G.
Published: March 2009

The diet of the white‐chinned petrel at Bird Island, South Georgia was studied during chickrearing in 1986 by quantitative analysis (by weight, frequency of occurrence and number of individuals) of regurgitated or lavaged adult stomach contents. Antarctic krill comprised over 90% of prey items and formed 47% of the diet by weight; fish and squid occurred in 67% and 35% of samples and formed 33% and 19% of the diet by weight, respectively. Decapods, amphipods and salps occurred in a few samples. The fish were mainly lanternfish (Myctophidae) of eight species (chiefly Electrona and Gymnoscopelus, forming 80% by number and 52% by mass of fish prey) and the nototheniid Patagonotothen guntheri (14% by number and 35% by mass). Of squid taken, the ommastrephid Martialia hyadesi comprised 57% by number and 52% by mass and the gonatid Gonatus antarcticus 14% by number and 42% by mass. These dietary data confirm white‐chinned petrel as the most important avian consumer of fish and squid at South Georgia (and the third most important consumer of krill). In 1986 the nototheniid fish were probably obtained via commercial fishing operations but the myctophids and squid were probably live‐caught, most likely at night. Meal size increased rapidly until chicks were three weeks old and then remained constant until the chicks were within 10 days of fledging, when it decreased. Meal delivery rate was high (one per day) for young chicks (1–10 days old) and thereafter fluctuated between 0.56 and 0.88 meals per day until close to fledging, when it was halved. These provisioning rates, and the proportion of krill in the diet, are higher than those recorded previously at South Georgia and Indian Ocean sites, probably reflecting high local availability of krill at South Georgia in 1986. In many respects, white‐chinned petrels at South Georgia are intermediate ecologically between prions and albatrosses, although specialized in their extensive consumption of myctophids. Because krill and all the main fish prey are currently the targets of substantial commercial fishing and the main squid prey (Martialia) is a potential target, the ecological role and status of white‐chinned petrels are of additional importance.
Cephalopods in the diet of the striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba from the western Mediterranean during an epizootic in 1990
Authors: Blanco C. , Aznar J. , Raga J.A.
Published: March 2009

Fifteen cephalopod species from 28 stomach contents of striped dolphins, Stenella coeruleoalba (Meyen, 1833), stranded during an epizootic on the western Mediterranean coast in summer 1990, were analysed.

Albraliopsis pfefferi, Onychoteuthis banksii, Todarodes sagittatus and Brachioteuthis riisei are species showing higher relative importance indices. Composition and characteristics of cephalopod preys were discussed and compared to the scarce literature for this cetacean. The data showed a mixed diet of muscular and gelatinous body squids, mainly consisting of oceanic and pelagic or bathypelagic species.
Description of a new species:Dorylaimus parasiticus, a parasite of amphibians in the Iberian Peninsula (Nematoda: Dorylaimida)
Authors: Navarro P. , Guerrero F. , Perez‐Mellado V. , Lluch J.
Published: March 2009

Dorylaimus parasiticus
sp. nov. (Nematoda: Dorylaimidae) si described from the digestive tract and general body cavity of Salamandra salamandra, Rana perezi, and Bufo bufo, amphibians of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain). This is the first record of a member of the Order Dorylaimida size, a thick transversely striated body cuticle with 20 to 26 longitudinal ridges.
Dispersal and philopatry in the European badger, Meles meles
Authors: Woodroffe Rosie , Macdonald D. W. , da Silva J.
Published: March 2009

In comparison with other carnivores, European badgers, Meles meles L., show an unusually high degree of natal philopatry. In this paper, we present data on temporary and permanent movements between groups, in both male and female badgers, in a moderately high density population. A relatively small proportion of males dispersed, alone, to neighbouring territories. Dispersing males were larger than those remaining in their natal groups, and following dispersal they had higher testosterone titres and maintained testicular activity for a greater part of the year. Circumstantial evidence suggests that immigrants were the principal breeding males in their new territories. Dispersal was slightly more common in females, which dispersed away from large groups, where their chances of breeding were relatively low. Females dispersed in coalitions of 2–3, over longer distances, to territories occupied by single females. Resident females disappeared following the arrival of the immigrants, suggesting that territory ‘takeovers’ may have occurred. Members of both sexes also made temporary ‘visits’ to neighbouring territories, probably to obtain extra‐group matings. Comparison with other badger populations suggests that the frequency of male dispersal declines at high population densities. In contrast, there is no effect of density on female dispersal, which occurs only rarely in some other populations. We suggest that the pattern of female/female competition is too complex to be explained solely in terms of variation in population density.
Land nemertines of Rodrigues
Authors: Moore J. , Moore N. W. , Gibson R.
Published: March 2009

Two species of land nemertines have been reported from Rodrigues. The first, Geonemertes rodericana, was discovered by Gulliver in 1874 at which time extensive searches revealed no other species on the island; in 1993 two of the present authors visited Rodrigues and could find only G. pelaensis, a species which is widespread on other Indopacific islands including Rkunion, a new locality reported in the present paper. Histological re‐examination of G. rodericana shows that, while the two species are closely related, both being correctly placed in the genus Geonernertes (Prosorhochmidae), they differ not only in colour but also in internal features; for example, G. pelaensis is hermaphroditic while G. rodericana is dioecious. A full description of G. rodericana is given here for the first time. Geonemertes rodericana has only been recorded from the island of Rodrigues and is now feared to be extinct.
Egg size and clutch size in the reproductive investment of American Kestrels
Authors: Wiebe K. L. , Bortolotti G. R.
Published: March 2009

We studied causes and consequences of egg‐size variation among clutches of American kestrels (Falco sparverius). Egg. from 275 clutches were measured 1990 to 1992. To test the hypothesis that the size of eggs was contrained by food availability in the pre‐laying period, we censused small mammal populations in the three years and performed a food supplementation experiment in 1990 and 1991. Kestrels did not advance the date they laid their first egg but did lay significantly larger eggs in response to extra food. The size of eggs was correlated with small mammal abundance on the territoty, and females in good body condition tended to lay large eggs. Body size did not affect egg size, and there were no relationship between agg size and laying date except in 1900, the poorest food year. Clutches with a large mean egg volume had better hatching success than clutches containing small eggs. We argue that there is a phonetypic component to egg size in kestrels, and that kestrels use egg size to fine‐tune reproductive investiment to available resources.
Flight performance, echolocation and foraging behaviour in noctule bats Nyctalus noctula
Authors: Jones Gareth
Published: March 2009

The noctule Nyctulus noctula (Schreber, 1774) is a relatively large (c. 25 g) insectivorous bat which catches insects on the wing (by aerial hawking). Emergence at a maternity roost was earliest relative to sunset when females were lactating, and bats may then have risked predation by flying at higher light levels during a period of high energy demand. Flight performance was quantified by using stereophotogrammetry. At feeding sites bats flew at 6.0 ± 2.1 m/s. This was faster than predicted minimum power speed (V mp), and either between V mp and maximum range speed (V mr), or close to their predicted V mr, depending on which aerodynamic model of flight power requirements was used. The echolocation behaviour of noctules is flexible. Long duration, low frequency calls (c. 20 kHz) with little frequency modulation were emitted while cruising, but at foraging sites the calls became more frequency‐modulated. As the noctule is traditionally thought of as using low frequency echolocation, it was expected to receive weak echoes from small targets and therefore to specialize in eating large insect prey. Although the bats ate mainly beetles, large numbers of small dipterans were also eaten. The noctule is probably able to detect such small items because, when foraging, its calls become broadband and sweep from high frequencies. Higher harmonics are also present, and these may assist in the detection of small prey. In noctules, as in many bats, there appears to be a 1:1 link between wingbeat and call production during the search phase of foraging.
Acoustical communication and the mating system of the Australian whistling moth Hecatesia exultans (Noctuidae: Agaristinae)
Authors: Alcock J. , Bailey W. J.
Published: March 2009

Males of the Australian whistling moth Hecatesia exultans produce ultrasonic acoustical signals while perched on low vegetation. Some males call more or less continuously for several hours during midday with individuals occupying the same general calling area for up to several weeks. The nearest neighbour of calling males is typically 15 to 25m distant, at the outer edge of the estimated range at which neighbours can detect each other's ultrasonic signals. Calling male intruders occasionally enter an occupied territory, resulting in aerial clashes with nearly continuous signalling by both combatants. Males respond to playback of taped signals by flying toward the speaker and sometimes by calling while perched on or near the speaker. Females sometimes visit calling males, with copulation following very soon after the female alights on vegetation near the male's perch. Males increase the rate of sound production by about 11% when presented with moving pinned specimens or paper models of conspecifics. These observations and experiments indicate that males use ultrasound as long‐distance communication signals designed to attract sexually receptive females and to establish territorial residency in competition with other males.
Feeding behaviour in Cylindrophis and its bearing on the evolution of alethinophidian snakes
Authors: Cundall David
Published: March 2009

Cylindrophis ruffus ingests prey using two distinct mechanisms. During initial phases of prey transport, lateral movements of the rear of the braincase combine with small unilateral movements of the toothed bones of each side; prey is usually constricted during this phase to permit the snake to push its head over the prey. Once transport has carried the leading part of the prey into the anterior oesophagus, Cylindrophis begins to use bilaterally synchronized movements of the jaw apparatus combined with low‐amplitude, short wave‐length flexions of the anterior vertebral column. Transport of prey is many times faster during the bilateral phase than during the unilateral phase.

Radiographic and cinematographic evidence indicates that the mandibular tips of Cylindrophis do not separate more than 1.5–2.0 times the resting distance between the dentary tips. Although this limits potential gape size, the intramandibular joint is highly mobile, allowing the mandibles to conform to a variety of prey shapes. Manipulations of anaesthetized and fresh, dead specimens revealed that the palatomaxillary arches are tightly attached to the ventral bones of the snout, movements of each arch being reflected in equivalent movements of the ipsilateral elements of the snout.

Cylindrophis represents a functional stage intermediate between most lizards with limited palatomaxillary kinesis and advanced snakes with considerable palatomaxillary mobility. Contrary to previous hypotheses, however, upper jaw liberation in Cylindrophis is due to liberation of the ventral snout, not to reduction of attachments to the braincase and snout. This suggests that the nose played a crucial role in the evolution of the feeding apparatus in alethinophidian snakes.
Evidence of a counter‐current heat exchanger in the ray, Mobula tarapacana (Chondrichthyes: Elasmobranchii: Batoidea: Myliobatiformes)
Authors: Alexander R. L.
Published: March 2009

A vascular network, or rete, has been found in the pectoral fin of the mobulid ray, Mobula tarapacana. This rete appears to be a counter‐current heat exchanger which, in conjunction with a high level of red muscle, indicates that this ray is warm‐bodied. Preliminary results on other closely related rays indicate that retia may be more common amongst the rays than previously thought.
The penis of elephant shrews (Mammalia: Macroscelididae)
Authors: Woodall P. F.
Published: March 2009

The penis of elephant shrews is very long, extending cranially to near the sternum where it emerges from a small caudally‐pointing prepuce. The distal half of the penis lies free in a sheath and is termed the glans. In most species the corpus cavernosum is the main vascular body and extends to the tip of the penis while the corpus spongiosum around the urethra becomes much reduced distally, but in Rhynchocyon all vascular bodies are small and most of the penis consists of connective tissue. The distal tip of the penis is elaborated into various shapes, characteristic for each genus as currently defined. These penile features have more similarities with soricids and paenungulates than with archontans and lagomorphs but they are likely to be primitive characters and so should be interpreted cautiously.
The ecology and functional morphology ofTrigonothracia jinxingae(Bivalvia: Anomalodesmata: Thracioidea) from Xiamen, China
Authors: Morton Brian
Published: March 2009

All anomalodesmatans are ‘rare’ butTrigonothrucia jinxingaeis relatively common in Xiamen Harbour, Fujian Province, China. This is because the species has a life span of approximately one year and is a simultaneous hermaphrodite, probably with either a short or absent planktonic larval stage. That is, success results from rapid maturation, self‐fertilization, direct development and within‐habitat recruitment over an extended period in early summer.

Trigonothracia jinxingaeis interesting in another way, however. The Thraciidae is the Mesozoic stem group of the Thracioidea which also contains the more modern (Caenozoic) Laternulidae and Periplomatidae. Features of the anatomy ofT. jinxingae, such as the method of hydraulically moving the foot by the pumping of blood into a capacious pallial haemocoel, and the structure of the stomach, are reminiscent of the earliest (Palaeozoic) anomalodesmat́ans, i.e. the Pholadomyoidea, represented today byPholadomya candida.The thraciidAsthenothaerussp. (Pelseneer, 1911) even has, likeP. cundida, an opisthopodium on its visceral mass.P. candida, however, fed on sub‐surface deposits using its foot.T. jinxingaeis also a deposit feeder, but on surface deposits using the inhalant siphon.

Modern periplomatids resemble thraciids in their separate siphons, but both representatives of this family and the Laternulidae are suspension feeders with extensive sorting areas on the wall of the stomach to process such material. The Thraciidae thus form a link between the oldest, pedal feeding, pholadomyoidean anomalodesmatan and the most advanced, suspension feeding, laternulids and periplomatids.
Acoustic signalling in palaeotropical bushcrickets (Orthoptera: Tettigonioidea: Pseudophyllidae): does predation pressure by eavesdropping enemies differ in the Palaeo‐ and Neotropics?
Authors: Heller Klaus‐Gerhard
Published: March 2009

When producing its calling song, a male bushcricket exposes itself to predators which use this sound for localization. Male signalling therefore has to be a compromise between attracting females and avoiding predators. In this study, the calling song structure of six Malaysian bushcricket species of the family Pseudophyllidae was examined. The lowest frequency of longdistance signals in insects yet discovered is the 600 Hz produced by Tympanophyllum arcufolium. The peak frequency of all six species and three additional species, from which only handling sounds were examined, was below 12 kHz. The duty cycle (that period of time spent signalling) was low, between one and five percent in four species and more than 20 percent in the remaining two species, typical for species which rely on camouflage. None of the various types of bat avoidance behaviour observed in the neotropical Pseudophyllidae was found in the Malaysian species. This difference is discussed in regard to the possibility of different predation pressures in the Palaeo‐ and Neotropics.
The effects of anthrax on endangered African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus)
Authors: Creel S. , Creel N. Marusha , Matovelo J. A. , Mtambo M. M. A. , Batamuzi E. K. , Cooper J. E.
Published: March 2009

African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) are large, social canids formerly found throughout sub‐Saharan Africa. Wild dogs are now endangered; only six nations hold populations larger than 100 individuals. Considerable evidence suggests that disease plays a central role in the regulation of some wild dog populations. In particular, it has been suggested that epizootics of rabies, canine distemper and anthrax can have strong local effects on wild dog numbers. Resolution of the regulatory importance of these diseases has been hampered by lack of data from wild populations. Here we report on an outbreak of anthrax among wild dogs in the Selous Game Reserve in southern Tanzania, describing clinical signs and diagnosis, measuring mortality, and testing for effects on hunting success and movements. Only one of five packs under study was affected. Immediate mortality was mild, with none of 18 adults (0%) and four of 24 pups (17%) dying. Mortality was significantly higher among puppies (<1 year old) than among adults. Mortality of individuals that showed signs of disease but did not die immediately was not significantly elevated over the following six months. The hunting success and movement patterns of the pack were not affected by the outbreak. Collectively, these data suggest that African wild dogs possess a degree of resistance to anthrax.
The biology and functional morphology of Pteria brevialata (Bivalvia: Pterioidea), epizoic on gorgonians in Hong Kong
Authors: Morton Brian
Published: March 2009

Pteria brevialata characteristically attaches to Hicksonella princeps (Cnidaria: Gorgonoidea) at depths > 10 m in Hong Kong and the South China Sea. Attachment is by a stout byssus to the basal regions of the gorgonian colonies. The shell appears typical of the Pteriidae, but closer inspection shows that the antero‐ventral margin, in particular, moulds itself to the form of the cylindrical gorgonian, which also changes its growth form, so that securer attachment is achieved. The margin of the right valve is not nacred so that the flexible outer prismatic layer adpresses firmly against the more extensively nacred left valve when they close; mantle and ctenidia also being withdrawn deeply. This is probably an anti‐predation device. There are no mantle fusions, even between posterior inhalant and exhalant streams. The mantle margin is, however, complexly tentaculate. Pteria brevialata is monomyarian with reduced anterior byssal retractor muscles. The anterior face of the shell is thus greatly reduced whereas the posterior is inflated and postero‐dorsally ’winged’.

Other features of the anatomy are described, including the ctenidial eyespot and simple photoreceptors in the inner component of the duplicated outer mantle folds, under the periostracum. Similar structures in other pterioideans and arcoideans suggest a close relationship between their respective orders.

It is concluded that gorgonian‐associated pterioids can be derived from an epibyssate, crevice‐dwelling ancestor, exploiting, as solitary individuals, the currents and clean oceanic waters above the substratum. This has three important advantages: (a) removal from surface‐roving predators (the gorgonian providing additional protection); (b) exploitation of a niche hitherto unoccupied by bivalves and (c) removal of the animal from the sea‐bed and exclusive exploitation of potential food held in suspension. Current stresses to attachment are avoided by modifications to the shell.
Ontogeny of ‘true’ flight and other aspects of growth in the bat Pipistrellus pipistrellus
Authors: Hughes P. M. , Rayner J. M. V. , Jonesg G.
Published: March 2009

We describe the ontogeny of pipistrelle bats Pipistrellus pipistrellus Schreber (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae), including for the first time the development of true napping flight. The study animals were born to a group of 20 adults taken into captivity just before parturition, and allowed free flight and association within a room designed to approximate external conditions. All juveniles were aged to within one day and individually marked. All adults were ringed. Comparison to wild studies and the application of a set of growth models to forearm and body mass data gave no indication that development had been altered by captivity. Forearm data were best fitted by the logistic growth model and mass data by the ‘Gompertz’ growth model. Preliminary flight observations were followed, once the bats had become truly volant, by experiments in a flight enclosure with stroboscopic stereophotogrammetry. As the bats aged they used slower wingbeat frequencies (scaling with age D as D‐0–40), but flew faster, speed scaling with age as D0–65. Wingbeat amplitude did not alter significantly with age, nor did the total mechanical power for flight, calculated by using a flight performance model, although the cost of transport fell as the bats grew older. This was probably due to the improving efficiency of the wing; the development of wingspan, wing area, wing loading, aspect ratio and tip area ratio are presented, and adaptations for reducing the energy requirements during early flights are discussed. These included a mass recession which occurred after the time of first flights. The flight model was also used to explore the hypothetical flight of bats with the morphology of neonates, and we discuss the extent of sexual dimorphism in the young bats and in their mothers.
The fluidity of nationalistic and ethnic aspirations in Aceh
Authors: NA THALANG CHANINTIRA
Published: March 2009

ABSTRACT. Peace negotiations between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have resulted in the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) ultimately ending a three‐decade‐long struggle for independence. Through a historical comparative analysis, this article explores the changing nature of Acehnese nationalism. It explores how Acehnese ethnicity and nationalism are constructed and how they have transformed over the decades in conflict with the Indonesian government. Acehnese ethnicity and nationalism, which are political in nature and ethnic in character, have ideologically shifted throughout time. Historical junctures and myths were utilised to legitimise these changing ideological goals. Despite the transformation of Acehnese nationalism and consequent changes in its ideological basis, a strong Acehnese identity still remains a constant.
Vulnerability and nationalism: the support for the war against Iraq in five established states
Authors: BECKER PER
Published: March 2009

ABSTRACT. This essay attempts to shed light on why aggressive ideas gain support within established western states. To do that it attempts to answer the question why the armed conflict against Iraq received such varied support during the first four months of 2003 within the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, France and Spain. A comparative study indicates that the justifications for the armed conflict must be endorsed in the national identities of the particular states. If not, either the justifications or national identities have to be modified. The dominant elite emerge as essential to this process, as does the public experience of vulnerability. It appears that the war against Iraq received such varied support because the initial definitions of national identities endorsed the justifications for the war to different degrees, the dominant elites promoted different opinions and the people experienced different degrees of vulnerability.
Passions, patriotism and nationalism, and Germaine de Staël1
Authors: SLUGA GLENDA
Published: March 2009

ABSTRACT. This essay examines the influence of sentimentalism on conceptions of patriotism at the turn of the nineteenth century in order to historicise conventional views of the nature of patriotism as a fundamental human emotion. It uses a focus on the intellectual thought of Germaine de Staël in order to understand how a ‘sentimental’ view of patriotism took hold at a crucial moment in the European history of the idea of the nation and of the conceptualisation of emotions. I argue that de Staël's ideas and influence lead us to a radical reconsideration of the significance of the emotional history of patriotism for how we explain nationalism.
Differentiating neural responses to emotional pictures: Evidence from temporal‐spatial PCA
Authors: Foti Dan , Hajcak Greg , Dien Joseph
Published: March 2009

Consistent with the notion that emotional stimuli receive preferential attention and perceptual processing, many event‐related potential (ERP) components appear sensitive to emotional stimuli. In an effort to differentiate components that are sensitive to emotional versus neutral stimuli, the current study utilized temporospatial principal components analysis to analyze ERPs from a large sample (N=82) while pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant images were passively viewed. Several factors sensitive to emotional stimuli were identified—corresponding to the N1, early posterior negativity (EPN), and P3; multiple factors resembling the late positive potential (LPP) emerged. Results indicate that the N1 represents the earliest component modulated by emotional stimuli; the EPN and the LPP represent unique components; the scalp‐recorded LPP appears to include a P3‐like positivity as well as additional positivities at occipital and central recording sites.
Measuring appetitive responding with the postauricular reflex
Authors: Sandt Arthur R. , Sloan Denise M. , Johnson Kareem J.
Published: March 2009

Recent research has provided evidence that the postauricular reflex (PAR) is potentiated while people view pleasant images relative to unpleasant and neutral images. The present study sought to extend these findings by investigating whether the PAR is more robustly modulated by the appetitive salience of the stimuli. Eyeblink startle and PAR responses of 51 participants were recorded while they viewed images that varied in valence and thematic content. Participants displayed significantly greater mean PAR magnitude during appetitive‐related images (e.g., food, erotica, families) compared with non‐appetitive‐related pleasant images. These findings support the contention that the PAR is a useful tool for measuring appetitive responding in humans.
Distraction by color and its electrophysiological correlates
Authors: Vierck Esther , Miller Jeff
Published: March 2009

We used the effects of colored distractors on ERPs to assess the psychophysiological consequences of selection by color. In Experiment 1 participants searched a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) sequence for a prespecified target letter that usually appeared in a cued color. ERPs elicited by cued‐color distractors were similar to those elicited by targets, indicating relatively complete distractor processing. In Experiment 2 one letter in the RSVP sequence was framed by an irrelevant distractor probe in either the cued color or an uncued color. Such distractor probes elicited a P1, N1, or P2 sequence that depended on their color. In addition, probes presented shortly before the target tended to suppress the ERP components associated with target processing, especially for probes in the cued color. These observed variations in ERPs depending on the distractor's type and its distance from the target help to reveal the time course and mechanisms of selection by color.
Planning of rapid aiming movements and the contingent negative variation: Are movement duration and extent specified independently?
Authors: Leuthold Hartmut , Jentzsch Ines
Published: March 2009

In the present study we investigated motor programming constraints implied by the Generalized Motor Program (GMP) view. A response precuing task was used in which participants performed aiming movements of either short or long duration to either a near or a far target position. Precues provided either no advance information or partial information about extent or duration or fully specified the aiming movement. Reaction time (RT) decreased and late Contingent Negative Variation (CNV) amplitude increased with the amount of advance information. In contrast to predictions of the GMP view, the extent precue led to faster responses and larger CNV amplitude than the duration precue. We conclude that late CNV amplitude reflects independent parameter specification processes at an abstract level at which GMP's motor programming constraints do not apply.
The instructed context of a motor task modulates covert response preparation and shifts of spatial attention
Authors: Gherri Elena , Van Velzen José , Eimer Martin
Published: March 2009

We investigated how covert response preparation is modulated by the instructed cognitive context of a motor task. Participants prepared left‐hand or right‐hand movements toward or away from the body midline, as indicated by a response cue (S1) presented prior to a go/no‐go stimulus (S2). Different participants were instructed that response cues specified the response hand or movement direction, respectively. This emphasis on effector versus movement direction selection modulated lateralized ERP components triggered during the S1–S2 interval. Attention shifts during movement preparation were assessed by measuring ERPs to irrelevant visual probes. Enhanced N1 components were found for probes near the effector when effector selection was emphasized, but for probes near the movement target location when movement direction selection was emphasized. Results demonstrate strong top‐down contextual biases on motor control and on the locus of spatial attention during response preparation.
Distraction of task‐relevant information processing by irrelevant changes in auditory, visual, and bimodal stimulus features: A behavioral and event‐related potential study
Authors: Boll Sabrina , Berti Stefan
Published: March 2009

Distractibility with auditory, visual, and bimodal stimulus changes was investigated using an audio‐visual distraction paradigm. Participants were asked to discriminate between equiprobable short and long audio‐visual stimuli. Infrequently, the auditory, the visual, or both parts of the stimuli changed. These rare deviations (deviants) were irrelevant for the actual task. The influence of the three types of deviant stimuli on the processing of task‐relevant information was assessed with behavioral and event‐related potential (ERP) measures assuming that bimodal deviants would lead to an increase in distraction. Behavioral and ERP results did not support this assumption, as reaction time (RT) prolongation and components amplitudes did not differ significantly for auditory and bimodal deviants. It is suggested that a maximal threshold of distraction accounts for these results. In addition, the processing of bimodal deviations was assessed. Audio‐visual interactions were found following modality‐specific deviance detection suggesting that integration only occurs with involuntary attention switching to task‐irrelevant changes.