bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Flatworms and Ribbon Worms
Authors: Gibson R , Knight-Jones E W
Published: November 2023

These ‘flatworms’ are bilaterally symmetrical, with marked cephalization, mostly with a mouth, gut, and protonephridia, and typically with hermaphrodite reproductive systems, but without a special body cavity, anus, or circulatory system. Five classes may be recognized. The Aspidogastraea, Digenea, Monogenea, and Cestoda are entirely parasitic and their hosts include many marine species, particularly among fish, molluscs, and macrocrustaceans. These classes are remarkable for storing yolk, not in oocytes which may develop, but in special ‘yolk cells’ (modified oocytes?). These are formed in yolk glands, which appear to be specialized branches of the ovary. Early embryos ingest the yolk cells thus provided.
Arachnids, Insects, Millipedes, and Sea Spiders
Authors: King P E , Pugh P J A
Published: November 2023

Animals of terrestrial origin on the seashore include insects (Phylum Hexapoda), arachnids (Phylum Chelicerata), and myriapods (Phylum Myriapoda). These usually occupy very different habitats from animals of marine origin, because most require periodic exposure to air. In contrast to their terrestrial relatives, their main problems are respiration, maintenance of position, and osmoregulation. They are restricted to habitats which allow them to survive tidal immersion, spray, wave action, desiccation, and temperature extremes, although one family of mites, the Halacaridae, cannot tolerate exposure to air and remain permanently submerged, or at least wetted, and occur even in the sublittoral.
Bryozoans
Authors: Ryland J S
Published: November 2023

Bryozoans (Phylum Bryozoa) are sessile, colony-forming coelomates. Each colony arises by asexual budding from an ancestrula formed by the metamorphosis of a sexually produced larva. The individual units of the colony, or zooids, remain in communication with each other through pores. Zooid polymorphism is developed to a varying degree: the normal feeding zooids are termed autozooids and specialized morphs are called heterozooids. Each autozooid has a circular lophophore bearing a series of slender, ciliated tentacles, which can be withdrawn into an anterior introvert of the body, called the tentacle sheath. The alimentary canal is deeply looped, so that the anus opens near the mouth, but just outside the lophophore. The skeletal component of the zooid is sometimes termed the zooecium, in contrast to the viscera which constitute the polypide. Colonies, but not necessarily zooids, are hermaphrodite; embryos are generally brooded, either in the mother zooid or in special brood chambers.
Introduction
Authors: Hawkins Bradford A , Sheehan William
Published: November 2023

These are exciting times for parasitoid ecologists. An active international research community is pursuing a wide range of topics, and the field is moving rapidly. Although there are several excellent books on parasitoids (Askew 1971; Price 1975; Waage and Greathead 1986; Godfray 1994), none has been devoted to the theme of parasitoid communities. Yet, ecological communities that include parasitoids represent a large proportion of all such communities on the planet. Given their importance and ubiquity, and because the issues raised by the study of parasitoid communities are germane to many of the central ecological issues of our time, a book concentrating on some of these issues is needed. This book is partly the product of a symposium at the Entomological Society of America annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland in December 1992. Our goal in organizing the symposium, and subsequently compiling this book, has been to bring together researchers working on what we consider to be critical issues in the field. As we shall see, more questions are raised than can be answered, but this is a good time to take stock of what we know and what we need to know. First, let’s briefly look at where we have come from.
Determinants of species richness and composition in egg parasitoid assemblages of Lepidoptera
Authors: Hirose Yoshimi
Published: November 2023

Insect eggs are a small, but nutritive food source for parasitoid progeny. They are sedentary and unable to resist attacks of parasitoid wasps or to escape from them, and lack an immune system or other pervasive internal defence (Strand 1986). Thus, they are attacked by many species of small hymenopterous parasitoids, such as chalcidoids and proctotrupoids. Among insect eggs, those of Lepidoptera are frequently attacked by such parasitoids, probably because they are often exposed. Therefore, it is not surprising that a host species supports several egg parasitoid species. According to Miller and Ehler (1990), such assemblages of egg parasitoids are referred to as component parasitoid guilds, defined by the host stage attacked.
Parasitoid guilds: a comparative analysis of the parasitoid communities of tortricids and weevils
Authors: Mills Nick J
Published: November 2023

There has been renewed interest in the rules governing ecological communities in recent years (Anderson and Kikkawa 1986; Diamond and Case 1986; Esch et al. 1990; Cornell and Lawton 1992; Ricklefs and Schluter 1993). This may in part be a response to the increasing need to understand biodiversity in an age of environmental concern and global climatic change. However, it also represents a continual challenge for ecologists to combine observations from the ecology of individuals and populations into a broader framework. Parasitoid community ecology remains a relatively new and rapidly expanding field of research, and one which requires a clear definition of terminology.
Induced plant responses: effects on parasitoids and other natural enemies of phytophagous insects
Authors: Faeth Stanley H
Published: November 2023

Interest in how plant properties influence the third trophic level, natural enemies of herbivores, has accelerated among basic and applied researchers in the past decade. Much of this research has focused on the mechanisms by which natural enemies, particularly hymenopteran parasitoids, use plant traits to locate phytophagous insect hosts, or how plant physical and chemical traits affect the quality of the host for predator consumption or survival of offspring of parasites (cf. Price et al. 1980, 1986; Price 1986; Hare 1992; Roitberg and Isman 1992).
Evolution of parasitoid communities
Authors: Price Peter W
Published: November 2023

Working from the discovery of patterns in nature to the mechanistic explanation of such patterns forms the basis for the development of ecological and evolutionary theory. Here I use the term ‘scientific theory’ to describe the factually based mechanistic explanation of broad patterns in nature. Hence, the search for broad patterns in parasitoid communities is central to the progress of our field of science toward a theoretically based discipline (Price 1991a). The search for and discovery of pattern in parasitoid communities has progressed rapidly over the past few years. Many patterns have been described in this book, and hypotheses have been erected to account for the patterns. Patterns have developed because of interacting ecological and evolutionary forces involving the interplay of the three trophic levels inevitably involved in plant, herbivore, and parasitoid systems, and the environmental setting in which species interact. Unravelling the ecological factors impinging on parasitoid communities from the evolutionary factors becomes an almost impossible task with our present state of knowledge, so this chapter will not focus on the evolution of parasitoid communities alone.
Prologue
Authors: Hanski llkka
Published: November 2023

The traditional approach to population ecology assumes that the individuals in which we happen to be interested share the same environment-they belong to the same population. We estimate the sizes of populations, and we study the factors affecting population growth rates. Models are constructed to predict how population size changes under different environmental conditions, including the effect of population size itself. The population concept has been absolutely indispensable for the progress that ecologists and other population biologists have made since the early part of this century (Kingland 1985; McIntosh 1985). We cannot even express ourselves without using the term population.
Preliminaries
Authors: Hanski llkka
Published: November 2023

Three processes are in the hearth of metapopulation ecology: migration and how it affects local dynamics, population extinction and the establishment of new local populations. A vast literature exists on the dynamics of local populations, including population extinction; a substantially smaller but not insignificant literature exists on population establishment. The purpose of this chapter is to assemble some elements from this knowledge that are particularly useful for the study of metapopulation ecology.
Metapopulations of two local populations
Authors: Hanski llkka
Published: November 2023

This chapter is concerned with questions about migration among local populations that have no risk of stochastic extinction. How does migration affect population sizes, and how does it affect the type of dynamics? In the absence of population turnover it is sufficient, for many purposes, to consider the simplest case of a metapopulation consisting of just two local populations. The two populations and the respective habitat patches might or might not be similar. In source-sink metapopulations, there are substantial differences between the intrinsic growth rates of local populations.
Metapopulation Patterns and Processes
Authors: Hanski llkka
Published: November 2023

In ecology, the context matters but so does the scale. In a review of field studies on population responses to habitat fragmentation, Doak et al. (1992) found that the median number of habitat fragments per study was 34, the median distance among patches was 30 m, and the median duration of the study was less than one generation. Most of these studies were not concerned with metapopulations, but they reflect the general practical problems of conducting research across large areas. The results reviewed by Doak et al. (1992) also reflect, indirectly, the current emphasis on experimental studies, which are almost impossible to extend to most metapopulations in nature. However, accepting that a different approach is needed for ecological research on large scales, the difficulties need not be insurmountable. It also helps, of course, to select a study system with convenient attributes for field work. For instance, the plant-pathogen metapopulation studied by Antonovics and his colleagues occurs along roadsides in Virginia, USA (Antonovics 1994; Antonovics et al. 1997).
Management of Asiatic lions in the Gir forest, India
Authors: Chellam Ravi , Johnsingh A J T
Published: November 2023

We present the summarized results of our four years of field research (1986-1990) on the ecology of the Asiatic lions (Panthera leo persica) in the Gir forest, Gujarat, India, with special reference to the management of this endangered sub-species. The study also documents the changes in the ecology and conservation status of the lions from the early 1970s which have resulted from the various management practices of the Gujarat Forest Department. Currently the population of lions in Gir is estimated to be 284 and is the only population in the wild. Pure-bred Asiatic lions are a rarity in zoos around the world, but for the captive population in Sakkarbaugh zoo, Junagadh. Problems faced by sole populations of endangered species are numerous. For the effective conservation of the Asiatic lions, the establishment of a second population in the wild is an urgent necessity. Successful translocation of large carnivores requires an in-depth understanding of the animal’s ecology, careful site selection and long-term monitoring. Data presented on the predation ecology, ranging patterns and habitat use of the lions are vital for the selection of habitats for lion translocation and for the management of the lions in Gir and in their second home. The prevailing management regime in Gir and the present conservation status of the Asiatic lions are reviewed and suggestions for the improved management of the Gir forest and the lions are made.
Wild and domestic canids as reservoirs of American visceral leishmaniasis in Amazonia
Authors: Macdonald D W , Courtenay O
Published: November 2023

Leishmaniasis remains one of the great protozoological scourges of mankind and occurs, in its various forms, throughout most of tropical and subtropical America, Africa, India, parts of Eastern Asia, Central Asia, the Mediterranean basin and some neighbouring European countries. The causative agents are species of the protozoan genus Leishmania (Kineto plastida: Trypanosomatidae), and the vectors, with no known exception, are phlebotomine sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae). Cutaneous leishmaniasis may cause considerable mutilation, and the mucocutaneous form can totally destroy the tissues of the nose, palate and pharynx. The visceral disease is very frequently fatal, unless treated, and largely affects children younger than 15 years.
Genetic ecology of marine mammals
Authors: Hoelzel A R
Published: November 2023

Recent advances in the field of molecular genetics have facilitated the application of genetic techniques to the analysis of population structure. This paper presents a brief review of the results from studies of genetic variation within and between marine mammal populations. There are at least three categories of applications: paternity testing and kinship analysis to assess aspects of behaviour that limit variation or introduce genetic structure into local populations; (2) the estimation of effective population size, and the interpretation of historical events (such as population bottlenecks) through the analysis of present-day molecular variation; and (3) the assessment of genetic distance between populations. The identification of genetically differentiated populations, and the processes that limit or generate patterns of variation, will be important to the effective conservation of genetic diversity in these species.
Influence of rare ecological events on pinniped social structure and population dynamics
Authors: Trillmich Fritz
Published: November 2023

Drastic changes in physical parameters and food resources, e.g. during the 1982-83 El Nino event in the eastern Pacific, and (2) disease outbreaks such as the 1988 epizootic caused by phocine distemper virus in harbour seals. These events were particularly drastic, but smaller events seem to occur quite regularly, if unpredictably. Such events are part of the environmental variance to which most animals are exposed during their lifetime and they may have significant consequences for social and population processes or structure. Elninos can also serve as models of the potential reaction of top predators to human-induced global changes. During both the 1982-83 El Nino and the epizootic, social patterns changed in response to reduced competition for space and food in the declining pinniped populations. Mother-young interactions and interactions among both females and males were altered, and animals were redistributed over the available habitat. Dispersal, mortality and fertility changed in the affected populations. The magnitude of the effects on sex, cohorts and (sub-) populations depended on the timing of the event in relation to the annual life cycle of the animals.
Recent advances in diet analysis of marine mammals
Authors: Pierce G J , Boyle P R , Watt J , Grisley M
Published: November 2023

Analysis of marine mammal diets has traditionally been based on identification of fish otoliths recovered from stomachs and faeces. However, not all prey species have otoliths which appear in stomachs or faeces. One promising new approach is the identification of fish muscle protein residues using specific antisera. This methodology has been validated for salmonid and sandeel proteins and has been successfully applied to field studies of common seal and grey seal diets. Further development is required for routine use on a wider scale. Fish prey have also been identified from other hard remains, although there are few guides or keys. Discriminant analysis of bone morphometrics may assist identification of prey species. The sizes of fish eaten are normally estimated from measurements of otoliths or bones, but a major difficulty is the differential degradation of these hard parts. Degradation of otoliths and bones in vitro has helped to quantify reduction in size due to digestion. Analysis of marine mammal diets has traditionally relied on identification of hard remains of prey in stomach contents and faeces. In the case of piscivorous species, diets are primarily assessed by identifying and counting fish otoliths. Prey importance may be further quantified by calculating fish weight from measurements of otoliths. Similar methods may be applied to species feeding on cephalopods, the beaks of which are resistant to digestion. For species feeding primarily on other invertebrates, prey may be identified from remains of exoskeletons or shells.
Prologue
Authors: Aitken M J
Published: November 2023

There are a number of dating methods which can establish the time of formation of a wide range of organic and inorganic materials, radiocarbon dating being predominant in respect of the former; but for direct dating of the time of deposition of sediments the methods are relatively few. Principal among them for the Late Quaternary are the luminescence methods and, of these, optical dating is proving to be increasingly advantageous. The characteristic of this method that makes it of importance to geoscientists and archaeologists primarily concerned with sedimentary deposits is that its ‘clock’ can be set to zero by exposure to light. Because, for most such deposits, there is exposure of the sediment to sunlight or daylight in the course of deposition this is the event which is dated rather than sediment’s comminution from parent rock usually a very long time before.
Setting-to-zero
Authors: Aitken M J
Published: November 2023

As illustrated in Fig. 1.9, the bleaching of OSL is much more rapid and effective than that of TL; hence the former can be used for depositional circumstances in which the duration of the bleaching leaves an inconveniently large TL residual. But inevitably as sediments which have had shorter and shorter depositional exposure to light are tackled a stage is reached at which the residual is liable to become a limitation with OSL too; this is especially the case for sediment deposited from water on account of absorption, particularly of the more effective bleaching wave lengths. Of course the younger the sample the more stringent is the zeroing requirement and there are depositional contexts in which ‘absolute zero’ is an unattainable ideal; there are others in which it can be effectively reached as long as carefully devised procedures are used.

This chapter discusses factors relevant to rapidity of bleaching and the level reached, with emphasis on possible ways in which a sample may carry intrinsic evidence as to that level. The latter aspect is carried further in Chapter 7 after discussion of some detrimental thermal effects.
Ascending cholinergic pathways in the rat brain
Authors: Mesulam B H Wainerandm.-M
Published: November 2023

During the past 25 years considerable efforts have been devoted towards identifying the neurotransmitters associated with particular neural systems and, in fact, the term chemical neuroanatomy has become accepted as defining a subdiscipline within the neurosciences (Bjorklund and Hokfelt 1983). This interest has been intensified with the continuing discovery of new neurotransmitter substances and with the revolution of knowledge concerning the mechanisms of neurotransmitter actions (Kupfermann 1979; Bloom 1988; Mattson 1988; Nicoll 1988; Strange 1988).
Functions of the primate hippocampus in spatial processing and memory
Authors: Rolls Edmund T
Published: November 2023

The aims of this chapter are to consider which spatial functions are performed by the primate hippocampus, how these are related to its memory functions, and how it performs these functions. In addition to the evidence that is available from anatomical connections, the effects of lesions to the system, and recordings of the activity of single neurons in the system, neuronal network models of hippocampal function will also be introduced, as they have the promise of enabling one to understand what and how the hippocampus computes, and thus the functions being performed. Many of the studies described have been with macaque monkeys in order to provide information as relevant as possible to understanding amnesia in humans. Effects on memory are produced by damage to the hippocampus or to some of its connections, such as the fornix, and these structures are collectively referred to below as the hippocampal system.
Neurocomputing concepts in motor control
Authors: Morasso Pietro , Sanguineti Vittorio
Published: November 2023

The nature of the computational processes that underly initiation, generation, and termination of co-ordinated movements is still largely unknown. Earlier computational metaphors, such as the motor programme concept, have clearly demonstrated insurmountable difficulties in dealing with excess degrees of freedom, context sensitivity, and so on.
Does group selection occur in commensal house mice (Mus domesticus)?
Authors: Baker A E M
Published: November 2023

Commensal house mice, Mus domesticus, owe their worldwide distribution to their ability to colonize patchily distributed stored food, to survive passive transportation in the food and, when an adequate food supply is available, their ability to breed rapidly in a wide variety of climates, photoperiods, and cultural conditions (Berry 1981; Bronson 1984; Sage 1981; Meehan 1984). Their ability to breed rapidly is a result of postpartum oestrus, short gestation (about 19 days, non-lactating; 21 days, lactating), short duration between birth and reproductive maturity (about 40 days, females; 60 days, males; Bronson 1979; Meehan 1984), dispersal by pregnant females and young coming into reproduction (Myers 1974; Baker and Petras 1986; Baker in preparation), stimulation of uterine growth by the plant hormone gibberellic acid (Olsen 1981), stimulation of puberty by the presence of a male, and stimulation of breeding by changes in physical surroundings or social interactions (Walkowa 1981; Crowcroft and Rowe 1958; Vandenbergh 1987). Breeding can be inhibited by inadequate food supply (Bronson 1984) and the presence of other species (DeLong 1966; Blaustein 1980). High densities of conspecifics inhibit breeding by most females (Lloyd 1975; Southwick 1958; Newsome and Crowcroft 1971; Bronson 1979), though some (7 out of 60) continue breeding (Massey 1986).
Dimension of graphs of functions
Authors: Hastings Harold M
Published: November 2023

In the previous chapter we developed the theory and computation of the fractal dimension (and related exponents) of spatial patterns. We now consider the dimension of graphs of functions, and especially the graphs of time series.
Beyond the basic model: empirical evidence for inhomogeneous mixing
Authors: Anderson Roy M , May Robert M
Published: November 2023

The assumption of homogeneous mixing leads to predictions about the way in which the fraction susceptible, the average age at infection, and the interepidemic period change under mass immunization. It also necessarily implies that the force of infection is not dependent on age. In this chapter, these implications of homogeneous mixing are tested against available facts.
Introduction: coexistence or conflict?
Authors: Toft Catherine A , Aeschlimann Andr á
Published: November 2023

A deep conviction permeates much of the literature on parasite-host interactions, regardless of discipline —ecology and evolutionary biology, physiology and immunology, systematic parasitology, medical and veterinary parasitology, and epidemiology (see Chapter 2 by Cheng, this volume for different ‘views’ of parasitism). The ‘good’ or ‘better adapted’ parasite does not unduly harm its host. Any exceptions can be viewed as new associations between particular parasites and particular hosts. Often, but not always, such harmful interactions are indeed demonstrated to be new or at least more recent than comparable more benign interactions (see review by Toft and Karter 1990).
Focal cerebral lesions damaging (subcortical) fibre projections related to memory and learning functions in man
Authors: Cramon D Y von
Published: November 2023

As we all know, memory and learning, as do many other cognitive functions, critically depend on the accurate functioning of neocortical association areas. This chapter, however, focuses on the ‘subcortical wiring’ of a neuronal system necessary for ‘explicit’ memory processes (Graf and Schacter 1985). If the subcortical constituents of this ‘memory operating system’ are exclusively lesioned, explicit memory processes are invariably impaired, although the huge neocortical associative information stores are presumably intact.
Speech and language deficits after subcortical lesions of the left hemisphere: a clinical, CT, and PET study
Authors: Alexander Michael P
Published: November 2023

Brain lesions in the non-thalamic deep structures of the left hemisphere may produce aphasia (Naeser et al. 1982; Damasio et al. 1982; Brunner et al. 1982; Wallesch et al. 1983; Cappa et al. 1983; Puel et al. 1984; Basso et al. 1987; Perani et al. 1987; Alexander et al. 1987; Vallar et al. 1988; H0jerPederson and Petersen 1989; Metter et al. 1988). Beyond that generic assertion, there is little agreement about the so-called ‘subcortical aphasias’. Difficulties in demonstrating consistent brain-behaviour relationships with subcortical lesions is, in part, due to the same methodological issues that have plagued investigations of the ‘cortical aphasias’. Some of these difficulties can be identified. First, there is the problem of differing assessment strategies for aphasia, ranging from the strictly taxonomic (Metter et al. 1988), to the loosely taxonomic (Brunner et al. 1982; Cappa et al.1983; Puel et al.1984), to the assembly of specific profiles (ignoring traditional taxonomies) (Basso etal. 1987; Perani etal. 1987; Alexander etal. 1987; Vallar etal. 1988), to the descriptive clinical (Naeser et al. 1982; Damasio et al. 1982; H0jerPederson and Petersen 1989). Second, there is the problem of wildly variable time post-onset. Some studies restrict this factor tightly (Basso et al. 1987; Vallar et al. 1988), others accept very acute cases (Puel et al. 1984; Perani et al.1987), but most accept patients across a broad time spectrum. This occurs despite the common assertion that patients with subcortical lesions may improve rapidly and the well-known phenomenon that aphasia profiles change with time. Third, there is the problem of differing aetiologies, particularly the inclusion of acute haemorrhage cases (Cappa et al. 1983; Puel et al. 1984; Perani et al. 1987; Vallar et al. 1988; Metter et al. 1988), although these can produce non-specific disturbance in global attention until mass effects recede (Alexander et al. 1987).
Species and history
Authors: Rieppel Olivier
Published: November 2023

The role of the species category and of species taxa in cladistic theory and phylogeny reconstruction is reviewed from an ontological as well as an epistemological perspective. The call for ‘reality’ of species with reference to evolutionary theory is misguided, because evolutionary theory is the process explanation for patterns (or regularity) of character distribution. The distinction of species from higher taxa or monophyletic groups creates conceptual as well as methodological confusion. In a similar sense, the distinction of systematization versus classification is beyond the reach of empirical sciences. Empirical sciences deal with regularity of phenomena suggestive of an under lying cause which becomes the subject of an explanatory theory. In the context of systematics as an empirical science, evolution becomes the explanatory theory for observed regularity of character distribution specifying an inclusive hierarchy of groups within groups. Since the distinction of homology versus homoplasy is a matter of character congruence, the hierarchy of taxa always remains hypothetical. The notion of an empirical class is introduced to refer to monophyletic groupings which include the species level.
The role of models in reconstructing evolutionary trees
Authors: Penny* David , Lockhart* Peter J , Steel† Michael A , Hendy† Michael D
Published: November 2023

Models are an integral part of science but conversely, if a study is to be called scientific, it must be possible for the data to reject the model. We describe a scientific model for sequence evolution in three parts: the tree or graph; the mechanism being tested; and the rates of evolution (initial conditions). When there is no common underlying mechanism for the different characters in a data set we show that for a general model with 2-state characters the par simony tree is the maximum likelihood tree. However, under these conditions neither parsimony nor maximum likelihood is statistically consistent; neither is guaranteed to converge to the correct tree as the number of characters grows. When there is a common underlying mechanism appropriate corrections can be made for multiple changes after which selection procedures, including parsimony, are consistent (that is, converge to the correct tree). Conversely, if inappropriate mechanisms are assumed then tree selection criteria that were consistent, including maximum likelihood, can become inconsistent. The problem of identifying appropriate transformations is a central problem for the successful reconstruction of evolutionary pathways. Bootstrapping gives NO indication of whether the tree is correct, only whether parts of the tree are likely to change as longer sequences become available. We report that a new ‘LogDet’ transformation which uses determinants of a divergence matrix for pairs of taxa allows the correct tree to be recovered when sequences differ in nucleotide composition.
An empirical example of parsimony behaviour
Authors: Allard Marc w.
Published: November 2023

Three lipotyphlan insectivore sequences were compared to 12S ribosomal rRNA gene sequences from five representative mammalian orders to examine distributions of supporting characters, and to determine whether one can predict where phylogenetically informative positions are likely to be found in this and other genes. To accomplish this task a well-supported lipotyphlan phylogeny was assessed by four taxon comparisons (three lipotyphlans and one other mammalian outgroup). Character comparisons were made for variable and conserved regions of the gene as well as for various substitutions (transitions and transversions). Selectively omitting characters by their substitution type was less effective at obtaining the well supported topology than were analyses of conserved versus variable regions. This has important implications for phylogeny reconstruction methods, which preferentially weight transversions over transitions with little regard for the variability observed across gene regions. Branch length differences between the lipotyphlans also effected how informative characters were distributed. Observations of character distribution were used to complement studies of computer simulation analyses and artificially created phylogenies of living organisms.
Cladograms and trees in biodiversity
Authors: Humphries* C J , Williams† P H
Published: November 2023

A review of current cladistic weighting procedures used in the assessment of biodiversity is provided. The distinction between unrooted cladograms, rooted cladograms, and phylogenetic trees is described to ascertain the different concepts of taxonomic weighting as applied in some of the more recently published methods by Vane-Wright, et al. (1991); Williams et al. (1991); Faith (1992b); and Nixon and Wheeler (1992).
Extinctions in the fossil record
Authors: Jablonski David
Published: November 2023

The October 1993 mailing for The Nature Conservancy (US) opens unequivocally: ‘Right now, today, species are becoming extinct at a rate faster than any time in the Earth’s history—one species per day.’ Most of the contributors to this volume assess present-day extinction rates, but I am going to address the palaeontological half of that statement. The fossil record provides an enormous database on extinctions, and I will briefly review the fossil record of extinction, how it is quantified and the potential sources of error, and outline some implications for today’s biota. Because of significant differences in scale, resolution, and taxa under study, I will argue that the statement quoted above is unjustified, and that profitable comparisons between ancient and ongoing extinctions are less likely to be based on absolute rates than on relative extinction intensities among taxa or regions, on relative recovery rates, or on the biogeographic and evolutionary behaviour of taxa during past intervals of global climate change.
Assessing the risk of plant extinction due to pollinator and disperser failure
Authors: Bond W J
Published: November 2023

Ecology has contributed two major insights to the biology of extinction: large areas hold more species than smaller areas and larger populations persist longer than smaller ones. No comparable generalization has emerged from studies of ecological interactions. In this chapter I attempt a new approach to predicting extinction which explicitly includes the importance of interactions. The patterns that emerge are not used to make general statements on probable species loss but rather to identify general traits which increase extinction risk. I use the interaction between plants and their pollinators and dispersers as an example of this species-centred view. These reproductive mutualisms epitomize the subtle, complex web of interactions which, if broken by human actions, could cause a cascade of extinctions. Janzen (1974,1987) has eloquently drawn attention to the possible ‘extinction of ecological interactions’ in tropical forests as a result of habitat transformation. Similar concerns, focusing on pollination, have been raised in other parts of the world including pesticide-sprayed north-temperate woodlands (Kevan 1975), alpine meadows (Vogel and Westerkamp 1991), and eroded African range lands (F. W. Gess and S. K. Gess 1993).
Population and environment-our nature and our fate: an evolutionary perspective
Authors: Harrison Geoffrey
Published: November 2023

Professor Geoffrey Ainsworth Harrison held a personal Chair in Biological Anthropology at Oxford University from 1976 until his retirement in 1994 and has been a Fellow of Linacre College since 1965. He has the unusual distinction of holding first degrees from both Cambridge (Trinity College) in natural sciences and archaeology and anthropology, and Oxford (Christ Church) in zoology. He also holds a B.Sc. from the University of London, and was awarded his Doctorate at Oxford in 1954. In that year Geoffrey Harrison was appointed to a lectureship in human anatomy at the University of Liverpool, where he stayed until 1963 when he returned to Oxford as Reader in Physical Anthropology and head of the anthropology laboratory. His fieldwork has taken him to south-west Africa, Ethiopia, Brazil, New Guinea, and Australia. His publications include The structure of human populations (1972) and Population structure and human variation (1977). The creation of a statutory Professorship of Biological Anthropology in the University of Oxford from 1994 testifies to the recognition that Geoffrey Harrison has won for his subject as a key discipline among the human sciences.
Introduction
Authors: Stoneley Robert
Published: November 2023

This book is designed for those interested or involved in petroleum exploration and development, but who are not graduate Earth scientists. It is hoped that it will be useful for drafts people, secretaries, personnel people, engineers, accountants, and lawyers—to name but a few. Hopefully it may make their work more interesting and effective: it is always desirable to have some idea of what one’s colleagues are doing, why, and what their problems and constraints are. In their daily work, most ‘explorationists’ (a ghastly but commonly used term—see below) will be spending much of their time shuffling paper, or pushing a mouse to produce coloured images on the screen of their workstation. We are not concerned here, however, with how this day to day work is done; rather we are concerned to give a picture of why they are doing it, and what it is all about. Many of the tools that are used, including interactive workstations, continue to evolve very rapidly.
Exploration methods
Authors: Stoneley Robert
Published: November 2023

We saw in Section 2.4 that exploration in principle means studying the ‘magic five’, and trying to convince ourselves that they are all satisfied in a correct association in our area. If so, then there should be petroleum down there; if not, then there won’t be. It sounds easy, but we can never be one hundred per cent certain of these factors down under the ground where we cannot see the rocks. However much information we have, there will always be some uncertainty in our understanding; all we can do is to arrive at the best evaluations possible from the information available to us. It is the means of acquiring such information, as accurately as possible, that are outlined in this chapter.
Causes and consequences of long-term partnerships in Cassin’s Auklets
Authors: Sydeman William]. , pyle peter , Emslie, steven d. , Mclaren elizabeth b.
Published: November 2023

Cassin’s Auklets Ptychoramphus aleuticus are wing-propelled diving seabirds which feed extensively on krill and small fish of various species. Cassin’s Auklets are generally migratory; however, our study population on Southeast Farallon Island, California, is sedentary (Ainley et al. 1990). Here, its breeding biology, demography, foraging ecology, and diet have been studied since 1969. On Southeast Farallon, these birds nest in burrows or natural rock crevices. Birds will also use nest boxes which greatly facilitates research and monitoring. Cassin’s Auklets are nocturnal in their visits to breeding colonies owing to predation on adults by diurnally active Western Gulls Larus occidentalis.
Monogamy in a long-lived seabird: the Short-tailed Shearwater
Authors: Wooller Ron , Bradley Stuart
Published: November 2023

Short-tailed Shearwaters Puffinus tenuirostris are 500 g burrow-nesting seabirds which breed colonially on islands and headlands in south-eastern Australia. On average, their breeding season occupies 195 days (53%) of each year (Warham 1990). For the rest of the year they are pelagic, making an extensive annual transequatorial migration within the Pacific basin. All 23 million Short-tailed Shearwaters are extremely synchronous in their laying, most of which occurs between 23 and 28 November every year, over the entire breeding distribution of the species. Only one egg is laid each year and lost or unsuccessful eggs are not replaced. Up to one million of the large young of Short-tailed Shearwaters (muttonbirds) have been harvested annually for over a century. Concern about this exploitation resulted in the establishment in 1947 of a study that still continues, allowing analysis of the complete reproductive careers of all individuals in one population.
Health outcomes from a medical perspective
Authors: Goldacre Michael
Published: November 2023

A commonly quoted definition of health, used by the World Health Organization, is that it is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of illness or infirmity. A common comment on the definition, in its support, is that it emphasizes that our attitude to health should be a positive one. It can be interpreted as a statement of purpose (Kaprio 1969) as well as a definition. A point which is probably less obvious is that it is a definition which, with its focus on well-being, centrally incorporates the patient’s perspective. While the technical concern (as distinct from the pastoral concern) of the doctor is usually to determine the objective presence or absence of disease, the WHO’s definition reminds us of the subjective nature of well-being.
Host-parasite processes and demographic consequences
Authors: Hudson Peter J , Dobson Andrew P
Published: November 2023

Parasites are ubiquitous; the majority of living organisms are probably parasitic in one form or another and their omnipresence is testimony to their success at exploiting living organisms. The literature is full of reports of parasites associated with birds, so it is difficult to believe that parasites in one form or another do not play a part in the ecology and evolution of most birds. Nevertheless, few studies have been more than descriptive and few have addressed the question of whether parasites have a significant impact on bird populations. Indeed, not until recently have field and experimental studies been undertaken which allow us to test the statement made by David Lack, more than four decades ago (Lack 1954), that ‘While further evidence is needed, it seems unlikely that disease is an important factor regulating the numbers of most wild birds’.
Comparative studies of host-parasite communities
Authors: Gregory Richard D
Published: November 2023

The modern study of parasite communities owes its origin to the work of Dogie! and colleagues, who introduced concepts of ecological parasitology in the Soviet literature from the 1920s (see Dogie! et al. 1961; Dogie! 1964). Their studies were farsighted in many ways, not least in that they attempted to identify levels of organization within parasite communities and link these to the ecology of host species. This body of knowledge laid the foundations of the study of parasite community ecology. Modern thinking on the hierarchical organization of parasite communities was summarized by Holmes and Price (1986) (see Simberloff and Moore, Chapter 9).
Clinical science
Authors: Weatherall David
Published: November 2023

Sir David Weather all belongs to a very small group of outstanding doctors who are also outstanding scientists. Neither the conventional image of the caring GP, nor the suave Harley Street specialist, is easy to reconcile with the stereotype of the cold, analytical laboratory scientist. This implies the question of whether, in the United Kingdom at least, there is a genuine difficulty in practising good medicine and doing good science at the same time.
Three quarks for muster mark
Authors: Gell-Mann Murray
Published: November 2023

Particle physics is, to most of us, a mysterious and unimaginable world with vocabulary to match. The behaviour of nuclear particles is accounted for by their being composed of basic building blocks called quarks, which cannot be directly detected but, nevertheless, possess characteristics dubbed colour and flavour, where the flavours have names like strangeness and charm. At least some of the responsibility for this exotic lexicon has to be laid at the door of Murray Gell-Mann.
The weirdest off ancies
Authors: Glashow Sheldon
Published: November 2023

In 1979 Sheldon Glashow, Abdus Salam and Steven Weinberg received the Nobel prize in physics for work which showed that electromagnetism, one of the four fundamental forces of nature, and the so-called weak force, which acts at the sub-atomic level, were aspects of a single, more basic principle. It’s only a matter of time, most physicists believe, before the other two forces, gravity, and the strong nuclear force, are brought into a grand unified theory.
A family affair
Authors: Mitchison Avrion
Published: November 2023

Certain families seem to breed great biologists. Darwin’s grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, was, in his own time, equally as famous as his grandson. Thomas Henry Huxley, Darwin’s defender, was President of the Royal Society, and so was his grandson, the Nobel laureate, Andrew Huxley. No less distinguished is the line descended from the physiologist, J. S. Haldane. His son, J.B. S. Haldane, was a founder of biochemical and population genetics, and became professor of genetics at University College, London. Haldane’s sister is the writer, Naomi Mitchison, and Avrion Mitchison is the youngest of her three sons. He is a leading immunologist and, at the time we spoke to him, was Professor of Zoology at University College, London. Murdoch, his older brother, is Professor of Zoology in Edinburgh, and the oldest brother, Dennis, recently retired as Professor of Bacteriology at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London.
Interphase chromosome positions and structure during silencing, transcription and replication
Authors: Manuelidis Laura
Published: November 2023

Before 1975 there was little appreciation of the high degree of chromosomal folding within interphase nuclei. Classical cytologists were limited to descriptions of different chromatin staining patterns in cells of different lineage. Condensed chromatin, which was stained darkly by basic dyes, was known to include the inactivated X chromosome in female cells (Barr body). Such dense or heterochromatic regions of the nucleus were all assumed to be genetically silent. The other major compartment for DNA was called euchromatin. This ‘good’ chromatin was thought to be ‘open’ and possibly completely unravelled, a necessary structural prelude for RNA transcription and subsequent synthesis of proteins essential for life.
The origin and maintenance of eusociality: the advantage of extended parental care
Authors: Queller David C
Published: November 2023

In the eusocial insects, many individuals give up their own reproduction in order to help rear the offspring of relatives. Hamilton's (1964a, b, 1972) inclusive fitness theory has become the accepted framework for understanding the evolution of such reproductive altruism but there is no consensus on the nature of the selective forces involved. In this paper, I will argue that this may be because we have often been asking the wrong question, and when we do ask the right question, we have neglected what may be the most important kind of answer.
Ultrastructure of the heart-kidney complex in smaller classes supports symplesiomorphy of molluscan coelomic characters
Authors: Morse M Patricia , Reynolds Patrick D
Published: November 2023

Coelom-derived characters, such as those that relate to the heart-kidney complex, have been central to phylogenetic analyses of the origin and evolution of the Mollusca (Salvini- Plawen, 1985; Wingstrand, 1985; Scheltema, 1988; Ghiselin, 1988).The most recent phylogenetic analysis of the early molluscan lineage strongly supports the coelomic ancestry of the phylum (Scheltema, 1993); however, reviews of excretion and circulation (Hill and Welsh, 1966; Martin, 1983; Andrews, 1988) clearly show that form and function of these systems in the smaller molluscan classes (Aplacophora, Polyplacophora, Monoplacophora and Scaphopoda) are poorly known. This is in striking contrast to the attention received by the Gastropoda, Bivalvia and Cephalopoda, generally considered to be more successful classes, due to both their extensive radiation into diverse eco-physiological niches and the development of complex apomorphic characters. The neglect of the smaller classes likely has stemmed both from inaccessibility of specimens and the availability in the more diverse and larger classes of morphologies that are more amenable to quantitative physiological experimentation.