DAVIS, E.S.: Forced Copulation as an Evolutionary Epiphenomenon To date, two general hypotheses regarding the evolutionary origin of forced copulation (FC) have been proposed. The first and most widely accepted was proposed by McKinney et al. (1983), who posited that FC serves as a secondary reproductive strategy for paired males. Although not essential to their […]

HIGGINS, C.L.; BUTLER, P.J.; STRAUSS, R.E.*: Discrimination of foraging paths produced by different search models The analysis of search paths plays a key role in optimal foraging theory. We developed a simplified model of resource acquisition in which we randomly dispersed N points (“food items”) of equal value within an arena, and considered only the […]

HULSEY, C/D; HENDRICKSON, D/A; MARKS, J; COHEN, A/E; WILLIAMSON, C/A: Role of Prey Functional Disparity in Maintenance of Fish Pharyngeal Jaw Polymorphism Polymorphism in feeding structure could be rare because it represents an ephemeral and transitional stage in speciation. Alternatively, intraspecific morphological specialization may be latent in many species and only arise in exceptional ecological […]

KELLY, D. A.: Rapid Gonopodium Movement in the Sailfin Molly (Poecilia latipinna) Male poeciliid fish have a highly modified anal fin used to inseminate females during copulation. This fin, called the gonopodium, has hypertrophied musculature compared to the female’s anal fin, and its anterior fin rays are lengthened and laterally compressed to form an approximately […]

TURINGAN, R. G.; BECK, J. L.: Predator-prey interactions in the marine plankton: functional and morphological bases of prey-capture performance in marine fish larvae Our knowledge of the relationship between feeding functional morphology and prey-capture performance in marine fish larvae is limited compared to our knowledge of juvenile and adult fish feeding ecomorphology. The central theme […]

HALL, MI; ROSS, CF: Eye Shape and Activity Pattern in Amniotes Most vertebrates rely on vision to interact with their environments. The ability to see well depends on absolute, not relative, eye size, since all animals must utilize the objective qualities of light. All visually dependent animals are selected to have a large overall eye […]

LIGHTON, J.R.B.*; TURNER, R.J.; Univ. of Nevada at Las Vegas; Spanlabs Inc.: Thermolimit respirometry: Quantifying metabolic effects and limits of thermal stress Assaying an animal’s ability to tolerate thermal stress is a notoriously subjective affair. Placing the animal in an acute thermal challenge and measuring time to lethality suffers from two drawbacks; the magnitude of […]

LEHMANN, F. O.; Univ. of Ulm: The Control of Breathing at Elevated Locomotor Activity in flying Fruit Flies The respiratory exchange system of many insects must maximize the flux of respiratory gases through the spiracles of the tracheal system while minimizing water loss. This trade-off between gas exchange and water loss becomes crucial when locomotor […]

OWERKOWICZ*, T.; CROMPTON, A.W.; Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; Harvard University, Cambridge, MA: Scaling of respiratory turbinates and trachea in mammals and birds All mammals and birds are characterized by the presence of intranasal respiratory turbinates (RTs), which act as a counter-current heat and water exchanger. It has been suggested that RTs are a physiological necessity […]

FOLTZ, J.L.; University of Massachusetts at Boston: Respiration and Metabolic Rates in Worker and Queen Carpenter Ants Despite their ecological importance and interesting social organization, few data exist about the physiological characteristics of ants, especially queens. Because of its relative large size, abundance, and economic importance as a wood-eating pest, we chose to study metabolic […]