bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Landholding and Peasantry in the Brahmaputra Valley C . 5Th-13Th Centuries a. D
Authors: Lahiri Nayanjot
Published: April 2008

In the world of the Brahmaputra valley inscriptions between the 5th and the 12th/13th centuries A.D. the Brahmins, traditionally at the apex of the caste hiearchy, had their position as the dominant landholding class buttressed by certain fiscal and administrative-judicial privileges that went along with the donations of land they received from the contemporary kings. However, in contrast to certain other areas of India, such as Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra where the donated plots of land were supposedly in waste areas, giving the donee Brahmins absolute land tenure rights, the rights of the already existing peasantry in the donated plots of land in the Brahmaputra valley were unlikely to have been impaired because these plots of land were in already settled regions and not in areas to be reclaimed. The reclamation of land went on in the hilly fringe of the Brahmaputra valley as late as the 19th century, and the peasants, originally tribals, cnjoyed a permanency of tenure in the land they reclaimed. The Brahmaputra valley was reclaimed before the period of our inscriptions, and this means that the Brahmins got only the rent which the resident peasantry used to give earlier to the king. The ranks of the peasantry also included such occupational groups as boatsmen, potters and weavers, suggesting on the whole a picture of occupational mobility which could be found even the early 20th century Assam, mainly because of the general availability of cultivable waste land and the insignificance of trade conducive to the growth of occupational groups. The peasant production was geared to wet rice cultivation which had an irrigational system, perhaps honed by the Kachari element of the population of our period, to fall back upon. The Kachari participation in this irrigation system can be surmised both from the occurrence of the related language words in the inscriptions and the general ethnographic literature on pre-modern irrigation in the Brahmaputra valley. The interaction between the Brahmins and the general range of peasantry which undoubtedly had a significant tribal element ushered in what would be called the process of Sanskritization of the grassroots village level in the Brahmaputra valley. The data on the systems of landholding and the general character of the peasantry are not much in the inscriptions of our period, constituting, in fact, its basic historical source, but viewed in the light of the relevant ethnographic evidence in the context of pre-modern Assam, even this limited amount of data can offer a coherent picture, howsoever brief.
La Quête Du Sens Dans Le Symbolisme Yoruba: Le Cas D'Erinle
Authors: Witte Hans
Published: April 2008

The article shows that in Yoruba mythology Erinle is a male hunter who is named after (or associated with) an elephant and who-for diverse reasons-is finally transformed into a water-spirit. In his cult Erinle is mainly venerated as a river-god who, like the river goddesses Qsun and Yemoya, blesses his followers with children. In the iconography of his cult, however, the material symbols of a Yoruba water-spirit (terra-cotta pots with water and pebbles from the river: fans) are mixed with those that refer to the hunter and the symbol-complex of the god of iron and of the wilderness (iron chains; fly whisks; wrought iron staffs topped by birds). Outside his cult Erinle is sometimes symbolized by the image of an elephant with reference to his name. In the cult of his close friend Sango, the Oyo god of thunder, Erinle is figurated as a mudfish or a human being with mudfish legs, symbolizing him as a water-spirit. Comparison with mudfish symbolism in other Yoruba cults suggests that this mudfish symbolism refers to Erinle only when he is assimilated to Sango as the founding ancestor of the Qyo kingdom.
The Almohad Tawhid: Theology Which Relies On Logic
Authors: Fletcher Madeleine
Published: April 2008

The Almohad dynasty of twelfth century Spain and North Africa patronized the study of Greek philosophy. Almohad scholars were largely responsible for editing and commentating the texts of Aristotle which came into the hands of Thomas Aquinas, greatly facilitating the development of scholastic theology in thirteenth century Europe. This paper investigates the theology of Ibn Tumart to describe the extent to which this taste for philosophy was consistent with the teaching of the aforementioned founder of the Almohad movement who was a Berber jurist from the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. We find that Ibn Tumart's teaching assigns a radically important role to reason in theology, declaring reason to be a source of religious doctrine along with scripture (the Koran and the Hadith). Throughout the essay, internal evidence provided by an ongoing comparison between Ibn Tumart's two murshidas and what had previously been assumed to be his most important credal document, his 'aqīda, reveals the latter to have been the product of a heavy editing process which occurred after Ibn Tumart's death, probably in 1183 at the time of the writing down of the manuscript a'azzu ma yutlab which was published as Le livre d'Ibn Toumert by Luciani in 1903. The paper attempts to define Ibn Tumart's theology of tawhīd in relation to other systems in which the word functions as a concept. Possible definitions thus provided are accepted or rejected. Questions considered are: 1 Whether Almohad lawhīd can be seen as a denial of the attributes of God as in Mu'tazilite theology. 2 Whether Almohad tawhīd can be seen as the tawhīd of ittisāl or of Pantheistic monism. 2 Whether Almohad tawhīd and its aspect of anti-anthromorphism can be seen as a rejection of animistic and folkloric remnants.
The Making of an Immortal: the Exaltation of Ho Chih-Chang
Authors: Kirkland Russell
Published: April 2008

An unusual case of a Chinese "immortal" (hsien) was the T'ang dynasty statesman Ho Chih-chang (659-744). During his life, Ho displayed little interest in religion until a late-life ordination as a Taoist priest. During the Sung dynasty, however, he was gradually elevated to "immortality" in a series of hagiographical tales. In the 10th-century T'ai-p'ing kuang-chi, Ho appears as a character who learns humility. In the 11 th-century Kao-tao chuan, he appears as a character who yields to the Taoist ideals of restraint and orderly progress. In the 13th-century Chia-ting Ch'ih-ch'eng chih, Ho appears as a master of pharmika who ascends to heaven after a life of several centuries. In that text, the figure of Ho no longer has moral significance: he represents a romantic ideal of "the immortal," but no longer serves as a meaningful spiritual exemplar. In fact, in that text he ceases to function as a representative of Taoist values, for Taoists always aspire to a moral and spiritual elevation, a personal perfection for which the concept of "immortality" serves as a potent metaphor. I suggest that the compilers of such texts appropriated honored historical figures like Ho in an effort to persuade sceptical members of the Chinese elite that "immortality" was a valid and respectable ideal.
When Is a Theft Not a Theft? Relic Theft and the Cult of the Buddha's Relics in Sri Lanka
Authors: Trainor Kevin M.
Published: April 2008

This essay examines the phenomenon of relic theft in the Theravada Buddhist tradition of Sri Lanka. Having noted the relative paucity of scholarship on this topic, the essay first examines the canonical warrant for the practice of relic veneration in the Mahāparinibbāna-sutta, and identifies a fundamental tension that the cult of veneration poses for the tradition. Relics, as valued material objects subject to human manipulation and possession, would appear to encourage attachment. The canonical passages that deal with the cult of veneration simultaneously affirm the value of the practice, while warning of the danger that attachment to the relics poses. The essay goes on to note evidence, in the form of expanded relic lists in canonical sources, of the expansion of the relic cult and of the need to affirm the authenticity of new centers of sacrality associated with the enshrinement of particular relics. The essay then examines several accounts of relic theft in the Pali chronicle (vamsa) literature, noting that these accounts serve to simultaneously affirm the desirability of relics, and to account for the orderly movement of these valued objects from one location to another. Yet these accounts of relic theft are problematic in that they appear to endorse the practice of stealing, which is a violation of both lay and monastic Buddhist ideals. In response to this problem, the essay identifies two different models of relic theft, noting that one model is religiously affirmed, while the other is condemned. The essay concludes with a brief comparison of relic theft accounts in the Buddhist and Christian traditions.
Shrines, Medicines, and the Strength of the Head: the Way of the Warrior Among the Diola of Senegambia
Authors: Baum Robert M.
Published: April 2008

The history of warfare has long be associated with a variety of religious practices designed to lessen the likelihood of death and enhance the possibility of victory. Warriors enter a world where the expectation of a normal life span is challenged by the death of comrades and where martial skill cannot ensure survival. This paper examines the way in which the Diola of Senegambia used religious practices and ideas to lessen the uncertainty of war during the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Diola warriors sought the assistance of spirit shrines to lessen the uncertainties and dangers of war. There are strong parallels between the types of ritual employed by Diola warriors and Diola wrestlers, who share a common mission of eliminating risks. These parallels are discussed briefly before a detailed examination of Diola rituals related to war, the types of ritual prophylaxis utilized by warriors, and the types of Diola (as well as Christian and Muslim) medicines used for spiritual protection. Several specific war shrines are described as well as the means by which they were created. Finally, the article discusses the "strength of the head", special powers that enable warriors to protect themselves from harm, evade capture, and even transform themselves into certain types of animals. The article concludes with an analysis of the impact of colonial wars, with their greater firepower and more far-reaching consequences, on the connections between religion and the Diola way of the warrior. A central part of the spiritual crisis accompanying the colonial conquest, not only for the Diola but for many other African peoples, was the defeat of the religious structures that provided spiritual support for the way of the warrior.
Geography and Mentality Some Aspects of Max Weber's Protestantism Thesis
Authors: Dolphin Amy C. , Ay Karl-Ludwig
Published: April 2008

In his essays on the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism Max Weber proceeds from the observation that in Germany there is a clearly recognizable difference between the economic behaviour of Catholics and Protestants. As one of the reasons for this difference, the essays reveal-as a guiding principle for people's conduct of life-the principle of worldly asceticism inherent in Protestantism. This, Weber said, especially contributed to the formation of modern bourgeois capitalism in the occidental world. This thesis was mainly developed on the evidence of phenomena which Weber observed in Western Europe and North America and which he himself related to Calvinism. The problem now is that the Germany of Weber's time, as a leading industrial state, participated in modern western capitalism without Calvinism playing for the German Protestants a role which would have been in any way comparable to its role in the more western countries. Detailed examination of governmental, economic, and social conditions in the history of the denominalisation of some German territories and the comparison with the living conditions of Protestants in Western Europe and America leads to the conclusion that the later development of bourgeois economy and what I would like to call "Word Culture" (cf. p. 176f.) depended on the following factors: on with what methods and with what severity the rulers of the Reformation Era succeeded in imposing their own personal choice of faith upon their subjects or how far they allowed things to take their course without interference; then on whether they in this way curtailed, permitted or even supported the development of that capitalist and bourgeois economic spirit and "Word Culture" which had its roots as far back as the pre-Reformation era and which had then been boosted by Calvinism. Both individual belief and the rulers' power over this belief influenced equally vigorously and lastingly the mentality of all people concerned. Even more generalized: depending on whether and to what extent the religious and intellectual culture of a society are subjected to state oppression and coercive formation over a long period of time, the intellectual culture and economic attitude and potential of this society will develop. Life-style, economic ethic and cultural profile of many later generations depend on this.
The Martyr as Witness Coptic and Copto-Arabic Hagiographies as Mediators of Religious Memory1
Authors: Naguib Saphinaz-Amal
Published: April 2008

This article argues for a novel reading of Coptic and Copto-Arabic hagiographies. Relying on the analysis of Coptic and Copto-Arabic traditions belonging to the Passion of Victor son of Romanos, also known as Victor the General, the author investigates issues concerning the transmission of texts, intertextuality, the dialectics between history and memory and their implications in the articulation of Coptic religious memory. In the present article the body of the martyr is viewed as a text and the memory of bodily experiences transmitted through texts as pertaining to religious memory. The author posits that far from negating his body, the martyr made it the chart of his belief and placed it in the foreground for everybody to see, to hear about and to remember. She explicates that the practices to which the martyr subordinated his body and the experience of martyrdom placed him in a state of liminality.
The Identity of the Destroyer in the Mahābhārata
Authors: Thomas Lynn
Published: April 2008

This paper examines the identity of the deity associated with the periodic destruction of the cosmos as found in the numerous pralaya upamāna in the Mahābhārata. While this deity is usually identified as Siva in the Purānas and later texts, the present paper contends that the situation is rather different in the Mahābhārata, and probably points to an earlier stage in the myth's development. In order to establish this, the instances and characteristics of the various identifications given in these similes are considered in some detail. Antaka, Kala, Krtānta, Kalantaka, Rudra/Siva and Yama are each examined in separate sections. From this examination, the conclusion is drawn that the deity most readily identified with the role of cosmic destroyer in the Mahābhārata is Yama, either by name or, more often, by epithets associated with him. Some possible reasons for this are considered briefly, as well as the implications which this identification could have for our understanding of the myth.
Pearls From Bones: Relics, Chortens, Tertons and the Signs of Saintly Death in Tibet
Authors: Martin Dan
Published: April 2008

Although there has been much work, in recent years, on the sacrum of Christianity, and some important studies have appeared on Buddhist relic cults and related facets of Buddhism, so far very little has been written on Tibetan Buddhist relics. This paper, while offering some material for a historical perspective, mainly seeks to find a larger cultural pattern for understanding the interrelationships of a complex of factors active in Tibetan religious culture. Beginning with problems of relic-related terms and classifications, we then suggest a new assessment of the role of the Terton ('treasure revealer'). Then we discuss 'miracles' in Tibet, and the intersection of categories of 'signs of saintly death' and relics. Much of the remaining pages are devoted to those items that fall within both categories, specifically the 'pearls' that emerge miraculously from saintly remains and images that appear in bodily or other substances connected with cremations. After looking at a number of testimonials on these miraculous relics, we examine the possibility that these items might be 'deceitfully manufactured', looking at a few Tibetan polemical writings which raise this possibility. In the conclusion, we suggest that there are some critical links between three spheres of Tibetan religiosity: 1. sacrum which are not relics, 2. relics, and 3. signs of sainthood. Finally, we recommend an approach to religious studies that takes its point of departure in actual practices, and particularly the objects associated with popular devotional practice.
Animal Rights and Human Social Issues
Authors: Nibert David A.
Published: April 2008

Using survey data from a sample of residents of Clark County, Ohio, the author explores the relationship between support for animal rights and opinions on eleven social issues pertaining to gun control, acceptance of violence, and rights for minority groups. Findings show that support for animal rights is significantly related to seven of the eleven variables, suggesting the existence of an important link between one's disposition toward human and nonhuman animals.
Conflicting Ideologies: Views of Animal Rights Advocates and Their Opponents
Authors: Atwood Lawrence Elizabeth
Published: April 2008

In order to understand the animal rights movement as it exists today in American society, it is necessary to explore the ways in which the beliefs of those who support the movement differ from the beliefs of their adversaries. Societal views generally determine the perceived differences and similarities between people and animals, and the issues surrounding these differences are fundamental to the animal rights controversy.
Children, Animals, and Leisure Settings
Authors: Birney Barbara Ann
Published: April 2008

Forty-eight children were interviewed on topics including the behavior of wild and captive animals. Half of the children toured a series of North American exhibits at a natural history museum and half toured a comparable series of exhibits at a zoo. Children demonstrated a high degree of recall about their visits and retained specific memories of the animals that interested them. Zoo children's remarks contained more references to behavior and were more positive in their assessment of what animals could do. Museum children made more references to environmental elements and issues such as human impact.
Who Said That? Status Presentation in Media Accounts of the Animal Experimentation Debate
Authors: Kruse Corwin R.
Published: April 2008

In recent years, the issue of experimentation upon nonhuman animals has become the subject of media attention. One aspect of the media presentation is the status attributed to claims-makers on either side of the issue. Research suggests that perceived expertise of the source of arguments can play a role in attitudes formed by audiences. This study examines mainstream print and broadcast media presentation of the status of individuals quoted regarding the issue of animal experimentation. Those supporting continued experimentation are significantly more likely to be presented as professionals or experts. Attitude formation is discussed in light of these findings.
Childhood Socialization and Companion Animals: United States, 1820-1870
Authors: Grier Katherine C.
Published: April 2008

Between 1820 and 1870, middle-class Americans became convinced of the role nonhuman animals could play in socializing children. Companion animals in and around the household were the medium for training children into self-consciousness about, and abhorrence of, causing pain to other creatures including, ultimately, other people. In an age where the formation of character was perceived as an act of conscious choice and self-control, middle-class Americans understood cruelty to animals as a problem both of individual or familial deficiency and of good and evil. Training children to be self-conscious about kindness became an important task of parenting. Domestic advisors also argued that learning kindness was critical for boys who were developmentally prone to cruelty and whose youthful cruelty had implications both for the future of family life and for the body politic. The practice of pet keeping, where children became stewards of companion animals who were then able to teach young humans such virtues as gratitude and fidelity, became a socially meaningful act.
Human Development as Transcendence of the Animal Body and the Child-Animal Association in Psychological Thought
Authors: Olin Myers Eugene
Published: April 2008

This paper explores the association of children and animals as an element in Western culture's symbolic universe. Three historical discourses found in the West associate animality with immaturity and growing up with the transcendence of this condition. The discourses differ in how they describe and evaluate the original animal-like condition of the child versus the socialized end product. All, however, tend to distinguish sharply between the human and the nonhuman. This paper explores expressions of this tendency in developmental theories that set as the criterion of maturity the actualization of some capacity that is believed to set humans apart from animals. Seeing relationships with animals as marginally important in human development and life is a consequence of these assumptions. Simultaneously, these assumptions also marginalize the body. This constitutes a dual renunciation of body and animal, criticized for its effects both on inquiry and on our realization of the roles and values of nonhuman animals in development. Such research can help reveal the self-organizing nature of the human animal body.
New Light On the Interpretation of Hosea Vi 2
Authors: Barre M.L.
Published: April 2008

We have tried to show that the two verbs yh and qwm in Hos. vi 2 form a fixed parallel pair in Hebrew. Evidence for this comes not only from other OT passages, but from Aramaic and (especially) Akkadian as well. From the Akkadian texts, in particular the medical omen series, it is clear that the pair derives from the context of medical prognosis. It is this setting-in-life which also provides the explanation for the temporal phrases in Hos. vi 2, since the same expressions occur in both texts. From these and other considerations we may state that Hos. vi 2 has reference to the healing of the sick rather than the resurrection of the dead. It is hoped that this study has contributed to resolving what has been a long acknowledged crux interpretum. We must point out, however, that our analysis concerns only what we have called the "primary" level of meaning in the passage. But since any understanding of the applied level of meaning must be based on this, perhaps this paper may serve as a foundation for further discussions in this area 31).
Jeremiah X 1-16: a Re-Examination
Authors: Margaliot M.
Published: April 2008

1. Jeremiah x 1-16 has to be interpreted against the historical and religious background of the exiled Israelites in Mesopotamia between 627 and 605 B.C.E. Its polemics reflect their religious situation during the transition from Assyrian to Neo-Babylonian rule and religion. The absence of any historical allusion points to its composition before 605. 2. Linguistic criteria clearly indicate that it was not written by Second Isaiah, but that Jeremiah must be considered its author. Moreover, Jeremiah was very much concerned about the religious situation of the exiled. 3. The passage is composed of four polemical paragraphs, each constrasting the idol-gods of the nations with the divinity of Y. 4. The very logical structure of the Massoretic text is to be preferred to the text of the LXX (and to any modern emendations and reconstructions). The large variations between them do not admit so far
Earth's Insights: A Geographer's Perspective on its Rationale and Method
Authors: Proctor James
Published: April 2008

J. Baird Callicott's argument in Earth's Insights that a global conservation ethic resonant with Leopold and postmodern science is emerging emanates from a particular point of departure and method of justification. I provide a perspective on Callicot's rationale and method as a way of critically examining this argument's underlying basis, and in the spirit of fostering greater interaction between geographers and others with an intellectual interest in environmental ethics.
Discourse on Knowledge, Dialogue and Diversity: Peasant Worldviews and the Science of Nature Conservation
Authors: Parajuli Pramod
Published: April 2008

This article suggests that people endowed with an ecosystem operate within their own tradition of knowledge and can offer a useful critique of the increasingly globalised schemes of nature conservation such as parks, sanctuaries and biodiversity preserves. I compare and contrast two competing proposals for nature conservation. While one is the conservation strategy based upon in-farm nurturing of the biodiversity that adheres to the cultural diversity of people residing in an ecosystem, the other is a strategy that excludes the ecosystem people in order to conserve nature. But the contest between the two is not about whether nature should be kept pristine or be made available for human use; it is about the scale of use and the mode of use. It is about who should use, how much, and for what purpose. The debate is also about what kinds of technologies are going to be used in preserving as well as harvesting, using as well as enhancing nature. Ultimately, it is about the very nature of the relationship between human collectivity and non-human collectivity.
Gandhi's Khadi Spirit and Deep Ecology
Authors: Torchia Adela Diubaldo
Published: April 2008

Although Mohandas K. Gandhi died before ecological concern was a pervasive issue, his ethical and religious approach to the treatment of all fellow creatures, was founded on an identification with all that lives. Such an identification is a prerequisite to the understanding of the profound biological and spiritual interconnectedness advocated by the modem deep ecology movement. For Gandhi the broad ideal of ahimsa, or non-injury, was out of reach without such an awareness of the interdepency of all of life. And ahimsa was also impossible without 'self-purification', a largely ascetical life of renunciation of material and physical indulgence. Gandhi was an early pioneer of both the more-with-less approach to ecologically-sound living, and deep ecology's perspective of the oneness of all elements of the biosphere, and their spiritual link.
Becoming Native: An Ethos of Countermodernity II
Authors: Mathews Freya
Published: April 2008

One of the deepest roots of the environmental crisis is the contempt for matter per se which follows from the materialism which is a presupposition of modernity. Forms of environmentalism which share this contempt by favouring the natural, the wild or the ecological over the urban, the architectural or the artefactual in fact perpetuate the deeper presuppositions and psychodynamics of modernity and thus unwittingly betray their own goals. A position which is genuinely counter to modernity will involve dwelling within and affirming the given, whatever form the given takes. Nativism is such a position.
Josephus and the New Testament
Authors: Montefiore H.W.
Published: April 2008

The major part of this article has already been published in an earlier number of this volume, fasc. 2 (December 1960), pp. 139 -160. The intention of the writer is to point out similarities between some key events recorded in the synoptic Gospels and Acts, and a series of prodigies described by Josephus (Jewish War 6.5.3) and connected by him with the destruction of the Temple. Remarkably close correspondences of date between the two series of events have been suggested and possible allusions to some of them have been found in the Gospel to the Hebrews, the Talmud (j. Yoma 6. 43c) and Tacitus (Hitories, v. 13). The Star at Jesus' Birth, The Rending of the Temple Veil and the Cleansing of the Temple have already been discussed.
The Dentition of the European Glass Lizard Ophisaurus apodus (PALLAS, 1775) (Reptilia, Sauria: Anguidae), with Notes on the Pattern of Tooth Replacement
Authors: Roček Zbynek
Published: April 2008

The description of individual teeth, the dentition as a whole, and the main features of tooth-bearing bones in Ophisaurus apodus is given. The tooth replacement is rather different from that described for non-mammalian vertebrates (the wave replacement of alternate teeth). The wave of replacement affects adjacent teeth, not even and odd teeth separately. In some periods of the life none of the teeth are replaced which suggests that replacement is not continuous in time. As a result the posterior set of teeth becomes permanent and much worn in aged specimens.
Ecological Relationships of the Tree Snakes Uromacer catesbyi and U. oxyrhynchus (Colubridae) on Isla Saona, República Dominicana
Authors: Henderson Robert W. , Binder Mary H. , Sajdak Richard A.
Published: April 2008

Uromacer catesbyi and U. oxyrhynchus are diurnal, arboreal colubrids endemic to Hispaniola. Uromacer oxyrhynchus is an attenuate-snouted, slender ambush predator that is morphologically and behaviorally adapted to prey on active lizards (primarily Anolis, but also Ameiva), and it feeds exlusively on them. U. catesbyi is blunt-snouted and heavier-bodied than U. oxyrhynchus and exploits branches of wider diameter. The diet of U. catesbyi is composed of diurnally sedentary hylid frogs (ca. 96% by vol. and 71 % by frequency) and active lizards (Anolis). Trophic niche overlap between catesbyi and oxyrhynchus on Isla Saona is low (0.37). U. catesbyi was encountered with food in its stomach less frequently than U. oxyrhynchus (22.4% vs. 42.8%), but mean prey size (vol.) was 2.8 times larger for U. catesbyi.
Actividad y termorregulación estival de Podarcis pityusensis BOSCÀ, 1883 (Saura: Lacertidae) en Ibiza y Formentera
Authors: Pérez Mellado Valentin , Salvador Alfredo
Published: April 2008

The behavioral thermoregulation of P. pityusensis was studied for a period of one week during August, 1980. The cloacal temperatures and the ground and air temperatures were recorded by means of thermistors. P. pityusensis behaves like a heliotermic species with a temperature range between 28.5 and 41.5 ° C. Very significant correlations were found to exist between the Tc (Body temperatures) and the Ta (Air temperatures) or between the Tc and the Ts (Ground temperatures) in all ofthe specimens analyzed. There are also significant statistical differences between te mean Tc in individuals during thermoregulation and the Tc of individuals active on the ground or inactive underneath stones. The daily pattern of activity is bimodal; the variations in body temperatures, being as a whole relatively independent of the fluctuations in the ambient temperature, adjust themselves to this pattern. P. pityusensis, roughly speaking, manifest several characteristics of the behavioral thermoregulation and pattern of activity similar to those described for other lizards such as Psammodromos algirus, inhabitants of the mediterranean region which is characterized by its hot, dry summers.
Zur relativen Genießbarkeit juveniler Feuersalamander, Salamandra salamandra (L.) (Amphibia, Urodela)
Authors: Horter Manfred , Greven Hartmut
Published: April 2008

Unexperienced, experienced, hungry and fed experimental predators (rats, chickens, ducks) find juvenile metamorphosed fire salamanders, Salamandra salamandra, with functioning mucous and poison glands fully palatable; dogs, however, do refuse them. Most of the juveniles show a predator-avoidance behaviour by fleeing. The observations are discussed with regard to the possible natural predators of juvenile fire salamanders.
Ovarian cycle and reproductive dynamics in the female adder, Vipera berus (Reptilia, Viperidae)
Authors: Nilson Göran
Published: April 2008

Studies of reproductive organs, fat body and liver in relation to different activity periods were made to describe the breeding biology of the female adder, Vipera berus, in SW Sweden. The female adder is a biennial breeder. Vitellogenesis and formation of preovulatory follicles start in autumn the non-reproductive year and continue to the end of May the following spring when ovulation takes place. Copulation precedes ovulation and sperm is found in uterus a month before ovulation. Primary oocytes were seen after ovulation in the reproductive year. Atresia were seen more frequently during reproductive years and in all classes of follicles. Clutch size (X=8.8) had a linear increase with female body size and juveniles were born in early August. Thecal gland cells increased in number and the epithelium of the uterus became hypertrophied late in the non-reproductive year and early in the reproductive year. The weight of the ovary, fat body and liver went through a cyclic pattern with the highest peak in the reproductive spring. Fat body and liver weights were lowest at the end of the gestation period. Feeding periods, fat mobilization, reproductive effort, endocrine ectivity and adaptive value of the biennial reproduction are discussed. The adaptation to short season habitats is stressed.
Abundanzmessungen an mitteleuropäischen Triturus-Populationen (Amphibia, Salamandridae)
Authors: Glandt Dieter
Published: April 2008

Investigations on size and density of Triturus populations were made between 1976 and 1979 at four small waters in the surroundings of Münster (West Germany). All waters contained mixed populations consisting of two or three species (Triturus vulgaris, T. alpestris, T. cristatus). Populations of individual species varied from very small numbers to nearly 890 adults. The largest mixed population had a maximum of about 1780 adults. Density was between less than 0,1 and more than 5 specimens per m2. In the largest mixed population the maximum density was about 10 specimens per m2. Water temperature has a great influence on population density. In one population the size did not vary within the study time (four years), but in all others, population fluctuations were observed. These fluctuations were small in large populations, but in small populations small as well as great fluctuations were observed.
Ploidy and immunological distance in Swedish water frogs (Rana esculenta complex)
Authors: Ebendal Ted , Uzzell Thomas
Published: April 2008

Frogs of the Rana esculenta complex from some Swedish populations were examined and compared with imported R. ridibunda. Four groups of the frogs were discriminated from morphometrical indices : two correspond to the parental species R. lessonae(LL) and R. ridibunda(RR, not found freeliving in Sweden), one with the triploid hybrids of RRL genotype, and finally one group with LR and LLR hybrids. Albumin patterns revealed by serum electrophoresis confirmed the genotypes, with gene dosage effects being apparent in the triploids. Triploids were furthermore identified by their large erythrocytes in blood smears. Immunological distances measured with antisera to the lessonae albumin and to the slow ridibunda albumin demonstrated the five groups of frogs in the material by distincly resolving all the possible combinations of genomes (LL, LLR, LR, RRL and RR).
Immunological Relationship of Western Palearctic Water Frogs (Salientia: Ranidae)
Authors: Uzzell Thomas
Published: April 2008

Reciprocal immunological distances between six albumins of five taxa (Rana lessonae, Italian non-hybrids, R. perezi, the slow and fast albumins of R. ridibunda, and a sample possibly representing R. saharica) were determined with microcomplement fixation. The immunological distances determined by each antiserum were scaled so that the sum of distances to each albumin was identical to the sum of distances from that albumin. The scaled reciprocal values were then averaged and used to generate 39 Fitch-Margoliash phenograms. The three lowest percent standard deviations (% SD) for phenograms were 5.7, 8.3 and 8.6; the next lowest was 12.1; eight phenograms had % SD less than 20. The three phenograms with lowest (% SD agreed in grouping (a) the two albumins of Rana ridibunda; (b) Rana lessonae and the Italian non-hybrid; and (c) Rana perezi and R. "saharica ". In the lowest % SD phenogram, the two ridibunda alleles are linked to the R. lessonae-Italian non-hybrid pair; in the next, the two ridibunda albumins were linked first to the R. perezi-R. "saharica" pair; in the third, the R. lessonae-Italian non-hybrid pair was linked first to the R. perezi-R. "saharica" pair. These latter two phenograms include legs of -5.8 and -4.7, respectively. Five triads of data among the 35 possible in the lowest% SD phenogram fail to conform to the triangle inequality; this is associated with the failure of the antiserum to the rapidly migrating ridibunda albumin to distinguish between the two ridibunda albumins. This posed no problem in grouping the albumins. The negative legs in the second and third ranked phenograms are like those generated by the Fitch-Margoliash algorithm when additive data are forced into a tree other than that specified by the additive data. The three lowest % SD phenograms agree with other data suggesting groupings of the taxa represented. They all place the two ridibunda albumins together, and they all group R. lessonae with the I talian non-hybrid form; these latter two share numerous electrophoretic markers. The data suggest a divergence ofwestern Palearctic water frogs from the eastern North American R. catesbeiana ofabout 43 x 106 years ago. R. lessonae and the Italian non-hybrid may have shared a common ancestor with R. ridibunda some 12 x 106 years ago; R. lessonae and the Italian non-hybrids may have diverged as recently as 4 x 106 years ago. The two ridibunda albumins may differ by as little as one amino acid residue. The Iberian R. perezi and saharica may have diverged from the central European cluster about 16 x 166 years ago, and from each other about 6 x 106 years ago; this latter divergence may reflect the refilling of the Mediterranean Sea following a dry period some 7-5.5 x 106 years ago.
Preliminary Observations on the Ecology of the Angulate Tortoise (Chersina angulata) in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
Authors: Branch W.R.
Published: April 2008

The ecology of the angulate tortoise, Chersina angulata SCHWEIGGER, has been studied using mark-recapture techniques, on a 100 ha farm near Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Biometrical parameters of sexual dimorphism are analysed, and preliminary estimates of growth, home range and density given. Temperature recordings from wild, active and sedentary tortoises indicated aprefered maximum temperature of 28-32 °C.
Discriminant Analysis of Amphibian habitat determinants in South-East England
Authors: Beebee Trevor J.C.
Published: April 2008

203 ponds and their environs in south-east England were studied with respect to the distribution of amphibians and to a number of specific habitat features. A discriminant analysis was carried out to identify the most important habitat features for each species and to derive discriminant functions capable of separating used and unused sites into characteristic groups.
Larval Diets related to Morphological Characters of five Anuran Species in the Biological Reserve of Doñana (Huelva, Spain)
Authors: Diaz-Paniagua Carmen
Published: April 2008

The diets of the larvae of five anuran species are described (Discoglossus pictus, Bufo calamita, Hyla meridionalis, Pelobates cultripes and Rana perezi). They all are basically composed of three abundant categories of food: algae, detritus and phanerogams. Other rarely encountered food categories are pollen, fungi, animals, bacteria and protozoa. A classification can be deduced by relating the use of the space in the ponds, diets and several morphological characters of larvae of each species: a) bottom-dwellers —tadpoles with a depressed body form which feed mainly on detritus — b) water column users — tadpoles with larger dorsal tail crests and tail surfaces which feed mainly on algae and phanerogams.
Field body temperature of the glass lizard Ophisaurus apodus in Yugoslavia
Authors: Meek R.
Published: April 2008

Observations have been made during both cloudy and sunny weather on the body temperatures of the glass lizard Ophisaurus apodus in Yugoslavia. The results indicate that during sunny weather this species is heliothermic elevating its body temperature to around 30°c. When the weather was cloudy glass lizards were observed abroad on grass covered clearings but body temperatures were significantly lower during cloudy weather than those recorded under sunny weather. There was no significant difference between body temperatures measured during sunny weather in May and sunny weather in September and October. The body temperatures of males, females and juveniles were not significantly different during sunny or cloudy weather. For most of the daily period there was little difference between body temperatures except between 1700-1900 hrs when they were significantly lower. In general, the body temperatures of field measured 0. opodus were lower than those recorded from animals in laboratory heat gradients (Cherchi, 1961; Hailey, 1984).
Temperature Diurne d'Activité des Males et des Femelles de Lacerta vivipara
Authors: Heulin Benoit
Published: April 2008

Mean body temperature (TC) of Lacerta vivpara ranges from 26°8 to 32° at Paimpont (France). There is a highly significant correlation between environmental temperatures (TS) and body temperatures (TC). The mean body temperature of pregnant females is lower than that of males and non-pregnant females. Also, the regression line TC = f(TS) calculated for pregnant females is different from those calculated for males and non-pregnant females. The possible relations between pregnancy and body temperature are discussed.
On the Diet of the Boa Epicrates striatus on Hispaniola, with Notes on E. fordi and E. gracilis
Authors: Ottenwalder José A. , Henderson Robert W. , Schwartz Albert , Noeske-Hallin Teresa A.
Published: April 2008

The stomach contents of 214 specimens of Hispaniolan Epicrates (Serpentes: Boidae) were examined for prey remains. The largest species, E. striatus, exhibits a sharp ontogenetic shift in diet: snakes < 60 cm SVL ate predominantly Anolis lizards; snakes 60-80 cm SVL took anoles and small rodents; and snakes > 80 cm SVL ate birds and rats (Rattus rattus). Epicrates fordi preyed on anoles and small rodents, and E. gracilis took only Anolis. E. striatus ate larger individuals of the same species of Anolis consumed by Hispaniolan colubrids. Before the arrival of Europeans on Hispaniola, large Epicrates striatus most likely preyed upon birds and now-extict rodents (Brotomys, Isolobodon and Plagiodontia) and insectivores (Nesophontes). The diet of E. striatus would have gradually shifted from native to introduced mammals, and by the early 20th century, when most native, non-volant mammals had become extinct on Hispaniola, the shift would have become nearly complete, with the exotics Mus musculus and Rattus rattus becoming the predominant prey species.
Histochemical and biochemical changes in the ovary during sexual maturity of the soft-shelled turtle, Lissemys punctata punctata Bonnoterre
Authors: Maiti B.R. , Sen Mitra
Published: April 2008

Changes in some histochemical and biochemical aspects of the ovary between juvenile and adult (breeding) soft-shelled turtles, Lissemys punctata punctata have been studied. 3 ss-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity in the ovary was higher in adults than in juveniles. While cholesterol and ascorbic acid levels decreased, concentrations of sialic acid, glycogen, DNA and RNA with the phosphatases (both acid and alkaline) activities increased significantly in adults from those of juveniles. It is suggested that alterations in the above parameters are related to ovarian steroidogenesis as well as to gonadotropic activity.
Selección de microhabitat del lagarto verdinegro (Lacerta schreiberi) (Sauria: Lacertidae)
Authors: Salvador Alfredo
Published: April 2008

Microhabitat use of Lacerta schreiberi was studied at one locality in the Cantabrian mountains of León province, Spain. Lizards do not use the microhabitat categories in proportion to their availability. Ontogenetic shifts in microhabitat selection have been observed. Juveniles are found in grass and rush areas, while adults prefer bushes. Subadults were present in both microhabitat types. Lizards perch on plants, mainly bushes, between 10 and 80 cm height. Microhabitat selection changes seasonally only in subadults.
Le cycle sexuel des mâles chez Lacerta laevis sur la côte du Liban et comparaison avec les lézards de montagne
Authors: Bloquet G. , Hraoui-Bloquet S.
Published: April 2008

Une étude comparative du cycle sexuel de deux populations d'un Lacertidae du Liban, Lacerta laevis vivant l'une en montagne, l'autre sur la côte montre: La spermiogenèse devient très active à partir de la deuxième quinzaine d'octobre pour la population de la côte. Elle apparait 2 à 4 semaines plus tard que dans la population de la montagne. Elle dure 2 à 4 semaines de plus. L'involution des tubes séminifères se fait dès le début d'août pour la population côtière, 2 à 4 semaines plus tard que pour la population de la montagne. L'hypertrophie des caractères sexuels secondaires de la population côtière s'étend du 15 novembre jusqu'à la fin de juillet. Elle apparait 2 semaines après celle de la montagne et reste 1 mois de plus.
Intervention des membres dans la locomotion et le creusement du nid chez la tortue luth
Authors: Renous Sabine , Lescure Jean , Gasc Jean-Pierre , Bels Vincent
Published: April 2008

La tortue luth (Dermochelys coriacea) adaptée à la vie pélagique, possède aussi un déplacement terrestre tout à fait original qui implique un système économique de traction du corps. Un répertoire précis de mouvements est utilisé: mouvements périodiques et synchrones des membres antérieurs et postérieurs. Les mouvements qui interviennent dans le balayage de l'aire de ponte appartiennent également à ce même répertoire. Par contre, les mouvements de creusement du nid, qui correspondent à une alternance d'activité des membres postérieurs suggèrent la réactivation du patron moteur utilisé par les tétrapodes.
Age estimation of habu, Trimeresurus flavoviridis (Viperidae) using growth bands in angulares
Authors: Nishimura Masahiko
Published: April 2008

White bands in the angulares of captive-grown habu, Trimeresurus flavoviridis, were counted by see-through methods, and numbers of the bands were found to be correlated with age of a snake.
Is there a direct link between the ophidian tongue and Jacobson's organ?
Authors: Young Bruce A.
Published: April 2008

An analysis of the interaction between the tongue and Jacobson's organ was conducted using x-ray cinematography and two experimental procedures. The results failed to support the traditional hypothesis of a direct linkage between the tongue and Jacobson's organ since the tongue was never observed to enter the lumen of Jacobson's organ. Conversely, the results presented provide strong support for the role of elevation of the anterior lingual processes as the mechanism for stimulus transfer.