bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Anatomical observations on the bill of the Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus occidentalis) in relation to feeding behaviour
Authors: Heppleston P. B. 
Published: August 2009

Oystercatchers have recently increased as inland breeders in Northern Britain. Concurrently, they have been observed feeding in coastal fields in winter. It is suggested that the bill of this species possesses dual characteristics enabling them to feed on shellfish adn also to probe in the soil for terrestrial invertebrates.The gross internal morphology of the bills of adults and young is described. A bony core contains large nerves running the length of the bill. These break up towards the tip where numerous sensory corpuscles are seen. It is concluded that the possession of a strong bone core together with numerous sense organs at the tip has been of considerable importance in enabling the Oystercatcher to exploit inland situations.
The circadian basis of photoperiodically controlled spermatogenesis in the Greenfinch Chloris chloris
Authors: Murton R. K. , Lofts B. , Westwood N. J. 
Published: August 2009

Batches of Greenfinches were held for variable periods on daily light schedules of 7L (seven hours light) ‐ 17D (17 hours dark) (6L+ 1L ‐ 17D) the time when the lights initially switchedon (dawn) being kept constant. They were subsequently given new schedules whereby they received the 6rst 6 hours photostirnulation as before, but were given the seventh hour at variable times throughout the scotophase according to group. In this way cycles which ranged from 6L ‐ fD ‐ 1L ‐ 16+D to 6L ‐ 11D ‐ 1L ‐ 6D were given. It has already been established that a cycle of the former kind stimulates a peak in LH secretion, without spermatogenesis occurring. It is now shown that spermatogenesis could be stimulated with cycles in which the one‐hour light phase occurred 91/2 to 18 hours from dawn, peak spermatogenesis being found with a cycle of 6L ‐ 7D ‐ 1L ‐ 10D. Such a cycle does not correspond with much LH activity.The testicular histology of all specimens is described and discussed and the conclusion made that LH and FSH are produced at different phases of a circadian type rhythm(s). In consequence, short constant photoperiods (winter days) may only engage the LH sensitive phase leading to interstitial cell rehabilitation, whereas long days engage both LH and FSH phases leading to spermatogenesis. With the special conditions of the experiment it was possible to engage one secretory phase to the partial exclusion of the other and this led to some unusual histological manifestations. Thus in some groups a Sertoli cell steatogenesis occurred while spermatogenesis was in progress, and in others there was an accumulation of primary‐spermatocytes in very large tubules. This last condition was considered to result from gonadotropin secretion in the absence of an adequately prepared interstitium so that insufficient androgen was available to facilitate the maturation of the later germ cell stages. This aspect is discussed in detail, as is also the significance for birds of circadian based photoresponses of the Kind demonstrated.
Histology of the globiferous pedicellariae of Psammechinus miliaris (Echinodermata: Echinoidea)
Authors: Chia Fu‐Shiang 
Published: August 2009

The general morphology, function and histology of the globiferous pedicallariae of the regular sea‐urchin, Psammechinus miliaris are described. There is a ganglion under the sensory epidermis on the inner surface of each jaw. This is the first discovery of a ganglion in any echinoid.The regeneration of globiferous pedicellariae in laboratory conditions takes 25 to 40 days.
Some population dynamics of the Bank vole, Clethrionomys glareolus and the Wood mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus in mixed woodland
Authors: Crawley M. C. 
Published: August 2009

The population dynamics of Clethrionomys glareolus Schr.and Apodemus sylvaticus (L.) in mixed woodland in County Durham, were studied from March 1963 to January 1965. Two areas of 0.9 ha (2.25 acres) each were trapped monthly and information was obtained on population size, reproduction, survival and growth from marked animals. Clethrionomys populations increased from June to an autumn peak; then declined, at first rapidly, but then more slowly in winter, before reaching a spring trough. The breeding season of Clethrionomys was from May to December; juveniles were caught from mid‐June to December. Survival was in general poor during the breeding season but good at other times. Survival of young born early in the summer was particularly good on one of the areas and some individuals lived long enough to breed in two successive years. On both areas young born early in the year matured rapidly and bred in the year of their birth. Young born in late summer and early autumn ceased growing at a weight of about 14.5 g, remained immature, and formed the bulk of the overwintering population. Growth was completed at the time of sexual maturation the following spring.Trapping failed to provide adequate samples of juvenile Apodemus in summer to account for subsequent recruitment. The possibility that a substantial proportion of the adult population of this species was also either trap shy or had emigrated temporarily is discussed. Breeding occurred from April until the following January, but the numbers trapped remained very low throughout the early months of the breeding season. Large scale recruitment of young fecund animals into the trap‐revealed population occurred during the autumn. Apodemus males continued to grow rapidly during the winter.
The millipedes of a Cheshire wood
Authors: Blower J. Gordon 
Published: August 2009

The density and surface activity of the millipedes in a quarter of an acre of a sycamore ash wood are described. Seven species were extracted by Tullgren funnels from samples of soil and litter over five years and were also caught in pitfall traps during a further two years; four other species occurred occasionally in the traps. Each square metre of the site supported 100 individuals over the winter, rising to 300 in the summer. Of these, 85 % belonged to three species, Iulus scandinavius, Polydesmus angustus and P. denticulatus.Male I. scandinavius become adult in either the ninth, tenth or eleventh stadium; females in the tenth and eleventh. Eggs are laid in spring and these take three years to become adults which breed and then die. The majority of Polydesmus spp. in the samples are young belonging to the first six of the eight free‐living stadia. The adults fell into the traps in the summer and newly emerged young appear in the samples at this time. They overwinter in their first year mainly as fifth stadia; some might reach maturity (eighth stadia) in the summer following, but it is not certain that they could breed at this time.The pattern of dispersion of lulus is fairly even and is correlated with the distribution of leaf litter but the Polydesmus spp. are highly aggregated. All stadia of lulus fall into the traps but only the last two of Polydesmus. The aggregation of Polydesmus spp. appears to be correlated with the relative inactivity of the younger stadia. The estimates of density of Polydesmus spp. are unreliable because of their aggregation but those of lulus have determinable limits and it is possible to derive rough though meaningful standing crop, production and life‐table data. The overwintering standing crop of lulus consists of the survivors of three generations of 5, 2.2 and 1.4% of the original eggs laid; it has a fresh weight of about 1.25 g and a production in the order of 1.5–2.5 g/m2.
Decapod Crustacea from the International Indian Ocean Expedition The species of Thalassocaris (Caridea) and their larvae
Authors: Menon P. Gopala , Williamson D. I. 
Published: August 2009

Plankton collections from the Indian Ocean contain adults and larvae of three species of Thalassocaris: T. lucida (Dana), T. crinita (Dana) and T. obscura sp.n. The new species was previously confused with T. crinita by Borradaile and with T. lucida by Kemp.Larvae of Thalassocaris are described for the first time. In each species there are 10–13 zoeal stages. The cephalothorax is very broad and shallow, the maxilla has only one coxal endite, and exopods develop on legs 1–4. T. crinita is a shallow‐water species with a wide distribution in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific. T. lucida and T. obscura are open ocean species. T. lucida is most common in the eastern Indian Ocean (and probably in the western Pacific) and is not recorded from the Arabian Sea. T. obscura is most common in the Arabian Sea and is not recorded from the south‐eastern Indian Ocean or from the Pacific.Larval characters do not support the inclusion of Thalassocaris in the Pandalidae. Recognition of the family Thalassocarididae, comprising the genera Thalassocaris and Chlorosocoides, is advocated.
Some observations on the breeding, age structure, dispersion and habitat of populations of Macropus robustus and Macropus antilopinus (Marsupialia)
Authors: Russell Eleanor M. , Richardson B. J. 
Published: August 2009

Differences in breeding, population structure, dispersion and habitat are described between various species and subspecies of wallaroo (Macropus robustus robustus; M. r. cervinus; M. r. alligatoris; M. r. erubescens; Macropus antilopinus; Macropus bernardus).Pouch young of Macropus robustus erubescens in western New South Wales were born throughout the year, while in both M. r. alligatoris and M. antilopinus then Northern Territory, most pouch young found were born during March and April.In the populations of wallaroos in western New South Wales and the Northern Territory where there had been no systematic shooting of wallaroos for many years, 11|X% of the animals were immature. In the New England district of New South Wales where regular shooting occurs, 46|X% of the animals were immature.The habitat of M. r. alligatoris of the Northern Territory was very similar to that of M. erubescens in inland Australia, amongst rocky hills and gullies. M. antilopinus, which is sympatric with M. r. alligatoris in the Northern Territory, also occurred in the rocky hills, but it was also found in open savannah woodland in flat and gently undulating country. M. r. erubescens and M. r. alligatoris were almost always seen alone or in pairs, while M. antilopinus often formed larger groups.
The natural stimulus for spawning in Xenopus laevis (Amphibia)
Authors: Savage R. Maxwell 
Published: August 2009

I have already reported (Savage, 1965), preliminary experiments in which “natural spawning”, that is, spawning by frogs kept under as natural conditions as aquaria allow, and by frogs not injected or manipulated in any other way, had been induced by a variety of external stimuli, including unialgal cultures of various kinds.These experiments were planned and executed using as a guide, at every possible point, the statistical investigations of Rana temporaria obtained entirely from field data (Savage, 1935, 1961). The reasons for using Xenopus laevis and not R. temporaria were purely practical. R. temporaria breeds but once a year, and has other disadvantages, but X. laevis is a good laboratory animal.Since conclusions drawn from mathematical relations in one species have led without important deviation to the expected experimental results in another, it is unlikely that what I now have to report is peculiar to these two species, selected because of availability in one case and ease of working in another. The conclusions are probably quite general. The earlier conclusions have been extended, active materials have been isolated, and other factors relevant to reproduction have been found.
Observations of social and reproductive biology of the bent‐winged bat Miniopterus australis in northern Borneo
Authors: Medway Lord 
Published: August 2009

The small bent‐winged bat Miniopterus australis was studied at low tropical latitudes north of the equator, principally in Subis cave, Niah, Sarawak, East Malaysia. During the course of field‐work in 1957–58, most specimens were captured at roost in concavities in the cave ceiling, here termed “cupolas”. At all months of observation, roosting groups varied from one to seven bats. Solitary bats were predominantly males, and multiple groups rarely included more than one male. It is suggested that the sexes differ in their response to a potential or familiar roosting site, depending on the prior occupation by other bats. Roosting behaviour did not vary with the progress of the reproductive cycle and seemed to have no epigamic function.Observations of reproductive biology in 1957–58, supported by specimens captured in 1959–60, demonstrated that the species is monoestrous, with a brief annually recurrent breeding season in November‐December. Copulation was observed in early November and preceded ovulation. In unovulated females taken in early December the right uterine horn was distended with spermatozoa. The single embryo subsequently implanted in the right horn, although in the three females examined the fertilized ovum derived from the left ovary.Parturition occurred in late April and early May after a gestation period of 4 1/2–5 months. This period is considerably longer than the presumed species‐specific minimum, observed at latitude 15d̀ S. The prolonged gestation period is regarded as an adaptation to perennially low and variable food resources in an otherwise favourable environment, and there is evidence that the months of gestation and birth coincide with a period of limited seasonal increase in abundance of insect prey.
Neuroendocrine control of oocyte development in Poecilocera picta (Insecta: Orthoptera)
Authors: Saini R. S. 
Published: August 2009

The neuroendocrine control of oocyte development in Poecilocera picta Fab. has been described. The secretory activity of the A type of neurosecretory cells has been correlated with ovarian development. In P. picta during the first four days after emergence the neurosecretory material is seen passing down the axons but the cells are largely devoid of neurosecretory material. When the oocytes are developed the A type cells are with stored neurosecretory material.In P. picta the mature males do not appear to accelerate the process of maturation in females. The females which are reared without males or with castrated males also mature at the same time as the females which are reared with males. The corpus allatum also enlarges and decreases at the same period. The number of resorptive bodies is much more in the females which are reared with castrated males or without males. There appears to be some correlation in the secretion of the neurosecretory material, copulation, and the appearance of resorptive bodies. In P. picta the role of the mature male is only in copulation which very likely allows the cell to synthesize and secrete and release a large amount of neurosecretory material whose discharge in the haemolymph enables a successful development of the oocyte. Corpus allatum appears to be controlled by a precursor from the brain.Cautery of the cerebral neurosecretory cells, allatectomy and sectioning of the nerves have been done to find out the role of neurosecretory material.
A deep‐sea burrowing barnacle (Cirripedia: Acrothoracica) form Bermuda*
Authors: Newman William A. 
Published: August 2009

The Acrothoracica constitutes a group of burrowing barnacles limited in distribution to calcareous substrata. Members are found in most warm waters of the world but the greatest diversity is reached in the coralline seas where they are found in coral skeletons, molluscs shells and limestone.Until recently some 37 acrothoracican species were known from the tropical and temperate region, all from waters less than 30 m in depth (Tomlinson, 1969). It was interesting therefore that the first moderately deep water form to become known, occurring at depths between 300 and 650m, should be from cold waters well south of the Antarctic Convergence (Newman & Ross, 1971). This animal, Cryptophialus tomlinsoni, burrows in coral and barnacle shells and does not differ in size and form from littoral members of the genus.The new species described in the present report burrows in foraminifera1 limestone off Bermuda. It is not only remarkable in occurring as deep as 1000 m but in being very much larger and more generalized than any previously known pygophorans. Furthermore it has what is interpreted here as a rostral shell plate, whereas all previously known forms are considered to be without calcereous armament. The existence of what appears to be a rostral plate in the new species has a significant bearing on our understanding of the evolution of the order.
The life history and ecology of three paradoxosomatid millipedes (Diplopoda: Polydesmida) in northern Nigeria
Authors: Lewis J. G. E. 
Published: August 2009

The life history and ecology of three polydesmoid millipedes of the family Paradoxosomatidae in Zaria, Nigeria are described. The species are surface dwellers and feed on soil: cryptogams are probably important in the diet. The function of the swarming behaviour which characterizes most larval stadia of these species is discussed. Habrodesmus duboscqui completes its life cycle in one or two years, most Xanthodesmus sp. and Xanthodesmus physkon in one year. The adults are relatively short lived in all three species and die before the onset of the dry season. The species survive the dry season as diapausing larvae in the soil and the moulting chamber is probably important in water conservation.
Some behavioural differences between the European polecat, Mustela putorius, the ferret, M. furo, and their hybrids
Authors: Poole Trevor B. 
Published: August 2009

The aim of this work was to identify behavioural differences between the domesticated ferret Mustela furo and its wild counterpart the European polecat M. putorius and to obtain objective measures of one or more of these differences.The animals used in this study were tame M. putorius, M. furo, wild caught hybrids and laboratory reared F1 hybrids between the two species.Ferrets differed in their behaviour in unfamiliar environments and in the fact that they do not develop fear of man. The F1 hybrids resembled M. putorius in that they develop a fear of man if left with their mother during a critical period between 7½ and 8½ weeks of age. The phenomenon of imprinting may be involved in this developmental process.The attention response to a rustling noise was investigated under controlled conditions revealing differences in response decrement between the four types of polecat. M. putorius and the hybrids habituated more rapidly to the sound than did the ferrets.The results obtained for F1 hybrids depended upon the previous environmental history of the individual. Those individuals which had been living in outdoor cages responded differently from the ones in indoor cages. The hypothesis was put forward that the hybrids respond more frequently if the experimental situation provides a greater contrast with their normal environment and that the individual's response threshold is therefore “set” to specific environmental conditions.The results obtained agree with the hypothesis first put forward by Lorenz (1953) that the behaviour of domesticated animals resembles that of juvenile individuals of their wild counterpart.Summary:A comparison is made between the behaviour of European polecats (Mustela putorius), the domesticated ferret (M. furo) and hybrids between the two species.Differences were found in exploratory behaviour, fear of man and the frequency of occurrence of the “attention response”.The occurrence of the “attention response” was studied under controlled conditions. It was found, on playing the rustling sound 40 times at minute intervals, that this sound elicited the attention response for longer in ferrets than in European polecats and hybrids between the two species. The most rapid habituation occurred in polecats, the F1 hybrids being intermediate in their response between M. putorius and M. furo.The results obtained for the F1 hybrids were influenced by the conditions under which the animals were previously caged.The results appear to support Lorenz' view that domesticated animals show juvenility in their behaviour as compared with their wild counterparts.
On the mode of boring in Fungiacava eilatensis (Bivalvia: Mytilidae)*
Authors: Goreauand T. F. , Goreau N. I. , Yonge C. M. 
Published: August 2009

The burrows of Fungiacava in the skeleton of living fungid corals are initially superficial and peripheral, later they become deep; they always open into the coelenteron. Boring is exclusively chemical, possibly by secretion of a calcium‐chelating mucus by the epithelium of the pallial envelope, which surrounds the excessively delicate shell, and of the siphons. These epithelia also secrete aragonite with which all cavities in the corralum are filled and the presence of which reveals the track of the bivalve through the corallum. By the dual operation of resorption and secretion, Fungiacava always precisely fills the cavity it occupies. There is no reaction by the coral to the presence of the symbiont.Summary:The burrows of Fungiacava eilatensis within the skeleton of living Fungia scutaria are described.Burrows of young individuals are superficial, those of older ones are deep. They open respectively into peripheral and central regions of the coelenteron.Burrows change in shape from an ovoid to a dorso‐ventrally flattened heart‐shape with alteration in form of the bivalve.In view of the extreme delicacy of the shell and its complete enclosure within a pallial envelope, burrowing must be exclusively chemical, possibly by secretion of a calcium‐chelating mucus.The pallial envelope is ciliated and covered with a dendritic system of shallow grooves converging on the pallial gape. This may possibly assist in either application of secretion or removal of the products of resorption, or both.The burrow is enlarged but also altered in shape by selective resorption and secretion of aragonite—which fills in all trabecular spaces in the coral skeleton penetrated by the burrows—by the outer epithelia of the pallial envelope and the siphons.Movement of Fungiacava through the coral skeleton is clearly revealed by the presence of homogeneous aragonite deposits.There is no trace of reaction by the coral to the presence of the bivalve.Without knowledge of the life history, it is impossible to determine whether the initial superficial chambers are due to a possible initial tube secretion by the bivalve or to a reaction at this stage of the coral to the presence of the newly settled larva.