GIBB, AC; O’NEILL, MW; KRAUS, NJ; Northern Arizona University; NAU; St. Norberts College: Chemical denervation: Using botulinum toxin to test functional hypotheses in teleost fishes Techniques currently used for testing hypotheses in functional morphology, such as transecting nerves, tendons or ligaments, are highly invasive and may cause unintended structural damage, thereby yielding misleading functional results. […]

BLACKBURN, D.C.; Harvard University: The effect of miniaturization on skeletal morphology within the African frog family Arthroleptidae Miniaturization�the evolution of extremely small body size�has broad implications for many aspects of vertebrate evolution. Its dramatic effects include novel morphologies, increased morphological variation, and changes in proportions and anatomical organization. Within the frog family Arthroleptidae, which is […]

CLAESON*, Kerin M.*; LUNDBERG, John G.; Amherst College, Amherst, MA; Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA; *University of Texas, Austin: Micro Catfish Micro CATscans Tendencies toward extremely small body size occurred several times during the course of teleost evolution. The catfishes (Siluriformes) are a group of fishes in which miniaturization occurred multiple times. We present […]

MILLER, G.*; ANGIELCZYK, K.D.; California Academy of Sciences; California Academy of Sciences: Geometric Morphometric Analysis of Shell Kinesis in Emydine Turtles To provide context for an ongoing study of plastron (lower shell) shape variation in the emydine turtle Emys marmorata, we examined plastron shape in six other emydine species (E. blandingii, E. orbicularis, Clemmys guttata, […]

HANKEN, J.*; GROSS, J.B.; Harvard University; Harvard University: Fate maps evolve, too: neural crest derivation of the bony skull in frogs, revealed by transgenic labeling We utilize a novel transgenic labeling system to assess the contribution of cranial neural crest to the bony adult skull in the clawed frog, Xenopus laevis. This system is suitable […]

GROSS, J.B.*; HANKEN, J.; Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University; Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University: Embryonic origin of adult cranial cartilages in Xenopus: A view from the crest. Characterizing the embryonic origin of the adult skull in frogs has long been problematic. This is due largely to the technical difficulty of following embryonic cells […]

Meeting Abstract 61.1  Jan. 7  Utilization of the North Pacific By Marine Mammals and Others Top Predators: Tagging of Pacific Pelagics: Using Electronic tags to discover Hotspots in the Pelagic Realm COSTA, D.P.*; BLOCK, B.; BOGRAD, S.; KOCHEVAR, R; TOPP-SCIENCE-TEAM, ; Univ of California, Santa Cruz; Stanford University; ERD-SWFCS-NMFS; Monterey Bay Aquarium costa@biology.ucsc.edu In an effort to […]

Meeting Abstract 61.5  Jan. 7  To what extent does life-history affect space utilization in marine top-predators? TREMBLAY, Yann*; ROBINSON, Patrick W; SHAFFER, Scott A; KAPPES, Michelle A; MCDONALD, Birgitte I; CROCKER, Dan E; COSTA, Dan P; Univ. of California, Santa Cruz; Univ. of California, Santa Cruz; Univ. of California, Santa Cruz; Univ. of California, Santa Cruz; Univ. […]

Meeting Abstract 61.2  Jan. 7  Interannual variability in the foraging behavior of California sea lions: behavioral responses to environmental variation KUHN, Carey E.*; COSTA, Daniel P.; University of California, Santa Cruz; University of California, Santa Cruz Kuhn@biology.ucsc.edu The California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) is an abundant predator along the west coast of the United States and populations […]

Meeting Abstract 61.6  Jan. 7  Individual-based foraging strategies in male California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) WEISE, M.J.*; COSTA, D.P.; UC Santa Cruz; UC Santa Cruz weise@biology.ucsc.edu Historically conspecifics were often treated as ecological equivalents in studies of foraging theory, but more recently the variation among individuals is no longer considered as irrelevant noise, but a focus of […]