WEST, John B.; University of California San Diego: Human Adaptation to Extreme Altitude Humans who normally live near sea level make extraordinary short-term adaptations to extreme altitude, a process called acclimatization. The most important feature of the adaptation is intense hyperventilation which, on the summit of Mt. Everest, reduces the alveolar Pco2 to less than […]

HUEY, R.B.; Univ. of Washington, Seattle: Himalayan Mountaineering: Patterns of Success and Death in Thin Air Since the first ascent of Mt. Everest in 1953, tens of thousands of mountaineers have traveled to the Himalayas in pursuit of summits and adventure. Some have been successful, and some have died. It is now possible to compile […]

BEALL, C.M.; Case Western Reserve University: Andean, Tibetan and Ethiopian patterns of human adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia. High altitude environments have been particularly informative natural laboratories for investigating human adaptation because the stress of high-altitude hypoxia is severe and constant. Traditional people had and have no ability to create non-hypoxic microclimates. As a result, everyone […]

DEGNAN, BM*; ADAMSKA, M; University of Queensland; University of Queensland: Pre-mesoderm: the expression of Wnts during sponge gastrulation and their ancestral role in metazoan development While the original body plan from which all living metazoans evolved remains obscure, recent insights into the genome and development of basal animals, such as cnidarians, ctenophores and sponges, suggest […]

PRICE, Alivia L.*; PATEL, Nipam H.; The Salk Institute; Univ. of California, Berkeley; Howard Hughes Medical Institute: Mesoderm development in arthropods: a view from crustaceans The Arthropoda is a highly diverse group of organisms including the Chelicerata, Myriapoda, Crustacea, and Insecta. Studies of comparative development in arthropods can benefit from the vast amount of knowledge […]

BURTON, Patrick M*; PANG, Kevin; KRONE, Cassandra; MARTINDALE, Mark; FINNERTY, John; University of Maryland; University of Hawaii; Boston University; University of Hawaii; Boston University: An Endodermal Origin of Mesoderm Mesoderm played a critical role in the radiation of triploblastic bilaterians, allowing the evolution of more complex body plans than their diploblastic predecessors. The diploblastic phylum […]

KINGSLEY, Evan P.; RABINOWITZ, Jeremy; LAMBERT, J. David*; University of Rochester; University of Rochester; University of Rochester: A Nanos ortholog is required for endomesoderm specification in the snail Ilyanassa In the several animal phyla with spiralian development, most of the mesodermal structures are thought to derive from one particular cell, the 4d micromere. This cell […]

Meeting Abstract S5-1.6  Friday, Jan. 4  Yolk steroids in the green anole, a lizard with genotypic sex determination: exploring the environment-mother-offspring link LOVERN, M.B.*; ADAMS, A.L.; Oklahoma State University; Oklahoma State University matt.lovern@okstate.edu The vertebrate egg serves as a main focus of research in our lab. In particular, we are interested in understanding (1) the factors that […]

Meeting Abstract S5-1.4  Friday, Jan. 4  Patterns of yolk steroid decline during incubation and potential effects on offspring in species with temperature-dependent sex determination BOWDEN, RM*; PAITZ, RT; Illinois St. Univ.; Illinois St. Univ. rmbowde@ilstu.edu Steroids, of maternal origin, are present in the yolk of egg-laying reptiles at oviposition. Using two emydid turtle species, the painted turtle […]

Meeting Abstract S5-1.1  Friday, Jan. 4  Maternal Yolk Steroid Effects on Offspring: Questions and Answers from Galliform Birds ADKINS-REGAN, E*; VAN VEEN, SC; JOHNSON, P; Cornell University er12@cornell.edu The first part of the talk will summarize results of experiments with Japanese quail and chickens supporting the hypothesis that maternal yolk steroids, especially progesterone, may be a mechanism […]