GERLACH, N.M.**; KETTERSON, E.D.; Indiana University, Bloomington; Indiana University, Bloomington: Behavioral responses to a GnRH challenge in captive male dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis) This study examined the role of Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in eliciting courtship behavior in a male songbird. GnRH is a peptide produced by the hypothalamus that stimulates secretion of gonadotropins from the […]

SURMACZ, Cynthia A.; Bloomsburg University: Animal Locomotion: Bringing Structure-Function Relationships to Life in the Introductory Biology Lab This lab investigates one of the most striking characteristics of animals: movement. Movement is produced when nerves signal muscles to contract and exert a pulling force against a skeleton. There is great variation in the skeletal anatomy of […]

MCFARLAND, J.**; MEYERS, R.A.; Weber State University; Weber State University: Anatomy and Histochemistry of Hindlimb Flight Posture in Shorebirds During flight, birds support their hindlimbs in one of two possible positions. A flexed limb posture (seen in perching birds and parrots, among others) involves flexion of the hip, knee, and ankle joints, and results in […]

IKEMIRE, Montana*; REPENNING, Peter; TIFFANY, III, William J.; New College of Florida; New College of Florida; New College of Florida: An Integrated Approach to Teaching Field Ecology Numerous ecological habitats exist on or adjacent to the New College of Florida campus that are amenable to study by successive classes of field ecology students. These habitats […]

STEVENS, NJ*; WRIGHT, KA; COVERT, HH; NADLER, T; Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine; Johns Hopkins Medical School; University of Colorado at Boulder; Endangered Primate Research Center, Cuc Phuong National Park, Vietnam: A comparison of vertebral kinematics of Hatinh and Delacour�s langurs in the Cuc Phuong National Park of Vietnam Locomotor kinematics of the folivorous […]

HEYLAND, Andreas*; MOROZ, Leonid/L; The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida, FL; The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida, FL: A Search for Pro-Neuronal Genes: Understanding basal animals without brains Neurons or secretory cells with neuron-like organization might appear in evolution independently in […]

WILDER, S. M.*; RYPSTRA, A. L.; Miami University, Oxford, OH; Miami University, Hamilton, OH: A Comparison of Precopulatory and Postcopulatory Sexual Cannibalism in a Wolf Spider (Araneae, Lycosidae) In many species that exhibit sexual cannibalism, the killing and consumption of the male by the female can occur either before or after mating. Precopulatory cannibalism may […]

GARC�A-G , C; VILLALOBOS, P; JEZIORSKI , MC; VALVERDE-R , C; OROZCO , A*; Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico: 3,5-T2 has thyromimetic effects in killifish. 3,5-T2 has been considered an inactive by-product of T3 deiodination. However, we have shown that supra-physiological doses of 3,5-T2 exert an inhibitory effect upon hepatic iodothyronine deiodinase type 2 (D2) […]

SPEISER, D. I.*; JOHNSEN, S.; Duke University; Duke University: Wavelength-dependent phototaxis as a depth regulating mechanism in a ctenophore Opsins and photoreception well preceded the appearance of eyes in Metazoa. Our understanding of eye evolution may, therefore, be enriched by studying the photoreceptive systems present within basal phyla. Observations of Ocyropsis maculata, a lobate ctenophore, […]

KOT, B.W.; University of California, Los Angeles: Ventral Pouch Flow Dynamics in Feeding Rorqual Whales: A Kinematic Analysis Rorqual whales (Family: Balaenopteridae) capture prey intermittently by lunging into masses of prey organisms. They employ their unique filter-feeding anatomy to engulf prey and seawater. Due to the impossibility of directly investigating internal flow dynamics in wild […]