Katz, E.P.*; Hillman, S.S.: Cross-Sectional Area of the Nasal Passages of the Odontoceti. Implications for Paleophysiology In search of evidence bearing on the endothermic dinosaur hypothesis, a recent study by Ruben et al. (1996) revealed that endotherms tend to have larger nasal cross-sectional areas than ectotherms of the same mass. The reason offered for this […]

SHEIL, C.S.: Amniote Phylogeny Inferred from Morphology Phylogenetic relationships among living and fossil amniotes remain uncertain, and the topic is among the most contentious in evolutionary biology. Numerous evolutionary hypotheses supported by molecular and morphological data have been published recently. Previously, I presented results of a collaboration that combined the largest set of morphological and […]

HUTCHINSON, J.R.: 2-D quasi-static simulations of stance and gait in Tyrannosaurus and other tetrapods Could the hindlimb muscles of a massive biped such as Tyrannosaurus support the stresses of running? I report preliminary results from biomechanical computer simulations of the net muscle moments required to maintain static equilibrium during bipedal standing (with extrapolations to mid-stance […]

WELCH, A.M.: What is good about “good genes” in gray tree frogs: How is call duration linked with larval quality? Male displays traits are predictive of offspring quality in some species, although the basis of the relationship between display traits and offspring quality is not well understood. Female gray tree frogs prefer male calls of […]

QUINN, V.S.*; HEWS, D.K.: Species variation in female preference for male behavioral and morphological signaling traits Handicap and Fisherian run-away theories of sexual selection predict that male traits and female preferences for those traits have coevolved. Thus, gains or losses of male traits are coincident with female preferences for those male traits. However, sensory bias […]

PETERSON, C.C.*; HUSAK, J.: Sexual selection and dimorphism of morphology and locomotor performance I n a polygynous, territorial lizard lizard Integrative, whole-animal traits such as locomotor performance could, in theory, evolve via sexual selection. Predictions of this hypothesis include: 1) such a secondary sexual performance characteristic should be sexually dimorphic in adults, but not in […]

Croll, G.A. *; McClintock, J.B.: Sexual dimorphism, cheliped assymetry and selection pressure in , Uca spp. Left-right claw asymmetry occurs in a variety of decapod species. The asymmetries can be present in early development or arise during sexual differentiation. In Uca spp., males have a dimorphic enlargement of one of the two chelipeds. The larger […]

PFENNIG, K.S.*; TINSLEY, R.C.: Parasites, female mating behavior and sexual selection on male traits Female choice for parasite-free mates often may favor the evolution of elaborate male traits that indicate male health. Yet, parasite infection of females can alter their mate preferences, thereby mitigating selection on male traits. Here, we show that female spadefoot toads […]

PACKARD, M.J.*; PACKARD, G.C.: Why Hatchling Painted Turtles Overwinter in Their Nest We placed hatchling painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) individually into pint-volume canning jars containing damp soil or artificial pond water and then exposed the animals to 4oC in a simulated hibernation lasting 70 days. Our goal was to gain new insight into why baby […]

KRENZ, J.G.*; JANZEN, F.J.: Turtle Phylogeny: Insights from a Nuclear Gene Turtles have a long and successful evolutionary history, dating back over 200 million years. Relationships among many extant turtle families remain unclear, despite a large data set containing morphological characters as well as DNA sequences from the mitochondrial cytochrome b and 12S ribosomal DNA […]