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Seeing in depth in different species

Ian P. Howard and Brian J. Rogers

in Seeing in Depth: Volume 1: Basic Mechanics/ Volume 2: Depth Perception 2-Volume Set

This chapter discusses depth vision in animals other than cats and primates. These include invertebrates, fish, amphibian, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

Photoperiodism in Amphibians and Reptiles

Zachary M. Weil and David Crews

in Photoperiodism: The Biological Calendar

This chapter provides a broad overview of photoperiodic regulation of reproductive and nonreproductive responses in amphibians and reptiles. It focuses mostly on laboratory investigations of ... More

This chapter provides a broad overview of photoperiodic regulation of reproductive and nonreproductive responses in amphibians and reptiles. It focuses mostly on laboratory investigations of photoperiodic and seasonal phenomena where environmental factors can be precisely controlled, and the respective contributions of day length and environmental temperature elucidated.Less

The biota

D. Dudley Williams

in The Biology of Temporary Waters

This chapter presents summaries of each taxonomic group inhabiting temporary waters, providing examples of habitat-specific requirements and adaptations throughout. Insects and crustaceans are the ... More

This chapter presents summaries of each taxonomic group inhabiting temporary waters, providing examples of habitat-specific requirements and adaptations throughout. Insects and crustaceans are the dominant community members and, consequently, the best studied groups. However, information is also provided on lesser known groups, such as the prokaryotes, fungi, nematodes, tardigrades, and rotifers. Higher plants, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are discussed. Detailed case histories are given of the biotas from common habitat types. Global and regional comparisons of temporary water communities are made and commonality is demonstrated.Less

Introduction

Richard P. Hilton

in Dinosaurs and Other Mesozoic Reptiles of California

This book explores the Mesozoic reptile fossil discoveries made in California. It describes the fossils and what they tell about the animals that they were a part of, and it chronicles the efforts of ... More

This book explores the Mesozoic reptile fossil discoveries made in California. It describes the fossils and what they tell about the animals that they were a part of, and it chronicles the efforts of those who made the discoveries. It first describes every Mesozoic reptile that has been found and identified in California and then explores the history of their discovery. It concludes with astonishing discoveries made in southern California and Baja California.Less

Embracing Human Diversity in Conservation

Whit Gibbons

in Amphibian Declines: The Conservation Status of United States Species

Disease, pollution, invasive species, overcollecting, global changes, and other causes have been documented or proposed to be responsible for particular or widespread amphibian population declines. ... More

Disease, pollution, invasive species, overcollecting, global changes, and other causes have been documented or proposed to be responsible for particular or widespread amphibian population declines. Yet, finding solutions for any of these causes will not matter for most species in the long term if the basic components of their natural habitats are degraded or eliminated by human use of natural resources. Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC) is an initiative designed to find solutions to the loss of habitat and other problems faced by herpetofauna. Groups or individuals with an agenda involving beleaguered amphibians (frogs, salamanders, and caecilians) are encouraged to become involved with PARC. PARC differs from many other conservation groups. PARC recognizes that reptiles are more globally threatened than are amphibians, and, hence, these two major classes of vertebrates are coupled in conservation efforts. PARC has been organized to involve not only the person or group with a concern for amphibians and their habitats, but also any person or group whose actions and attitudes are perceived by some as detrimental to the well-being of amphibians.Less

The Reign of the Reptiles

Frank H. T. Rhodes

in Origins: The Search for Our Prehistoric Past

This chapter examines reptiles and the rise and fall of their early dominion over the planet through the land, sky, and sea. The secret of the reptiles' success has been the development of the ... More

This chapter examines reptiles and the rise and fall of their early dominion over the planet through the land, sky, and sea. The secret of the reptiles' success has been the development of the amniotic egg, and from here the chapter traces the origins of the early reptiles and their proliferation throughout the ages, culminating in the Mesozoic Era—the great era of “Middle Life”—which was above all else the Age of the Dinosaurs: the “kings” of the Ruling Reptiles. Dinosaurs appeared, as did the mammals, in Triassic times, about 230 million years ago, and for some 140 million years they dominated life on the land.Less

Hyporegulators Hyporegulators

Timothy J. Bradley

in Animal Osmoregulation

Many organisms living in the oceans or in salt lakes are hyporegulators, meaning that they maintain their body fluids hypo-osmotically to the external medium. Marine fish hyporegulate by drinking the ... More

Many organisms living in the oceans or in salt lakes are hyporegulators, meaning that they maintain their body fluids hypo-osmotically to the external medium. Marine fish hyporegulate by drinking the external medium and transporting sodium and chloride ions outward across the gills. Marine reptiles and birds use salt glands in the head to transport hyperosmotic fluids outward. Marine mammals are able to produce hyperosmotic urine in the kidneys. Insects use portions of the hindgut to actively transport ions out of their hemolymph. Brine shrimp are the champion hyporegulators of the animal kingdom. They use salt glands to rid their bodies of the salts accumulated in waters many times more concentrated than the oceans.Less

Sobek, Lord of the Land of the Lake

Edda Bresciani

in Divine Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt

The primeval power of Sobek is already acknowledged in a hymn from the Pyramid Texts (PT 317), where the dead pharaoh identifies himself with the god, who here appears as son of the Great ... More

The primeval power of Sobek is already acknowledged in a hymn from the Pyramid Texts (PT 317), where the dead pharaoh identifies himself with the god, who here appears as son of the Great Neith-Meher-Weret, the celestial cow of the inundation: “Sobek, green of feathers, alert-looking, broad-chested, sparkling, coming out from the legs and the tail of the Great One, who is in splendour.” This very ancient description of the divine reptile, who in the same “Pyramid Texts” bears also the epithet of Shedite (“that of Shedet,” the capital town of the swampy region of the Fayum lake), incorporates his basic characteristics. The deification and the cult of the crocodile belong to the religious phenomenon of the ancient Egyptian animal cult. The animal specimen which embodied the god was always unique, as a new one took the place of the dead one, who was mummified and buried with solemn rituals.Less

Type Specimens of Recent Amphibians and Nonavian Reptiles in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology

Javier A. Rodríguez-Robles, David A. Good, and David B. Wake

in Brief History of Herpetology in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, with a List of Type Specimens of Recent Amphibians and Reptiles

The herpetological gathering of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology was begun on March 13, 1909, with a collection of approximately 430 specimens from southern California and contained 232,254 specimens ... More

The herpetological gathering of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology was begun on March 13, 1909, with a collection of approximately 430 specimens from southern California and contained 232,254 specimens as of December 31, 2001. The collection is strongest in salamanders, accounting for 99,176 specimens, followed by “lizards” (squamate reptiles other than snakes and amphisbaenians, 63,439), frogs (40,563), snakes (27,937), turtles (2,643), caecilians (979), amphisbaenians (451), crocodilians (63), and tuataras (63). Every institution in which name-bearing specimens are deposited should publish a catalog of the type specimens in its care (Recommendation 72F.4, International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 1999). Accounts are arranged alphabetically in the list of species by clade (Anura, Caudata, Gymnophia, Squamata, Serpentes, Testudines), family, and species in that order. All types of localities, the geographic place of capture of holotypes, neotypes, syntypes, and paratopotypes, are given in quotation marks as they appear in the original description.Less

Pleistocene Events in the Herpetofaunas of Britain and Europe, and North America Compared

J. Alan Holman

in Pleistocene Amphibians and Reptiles in Britain and Europe

This last chapter deals with differences and similarities between British and European and North American Pleistocene herpetofaunas. Compared with North America, Britain and Europe had a ... More

This last chapter deals with differences and similarities between British and European and North American Pleistocene herpetofaunas. Compared with North America, Britain and Europe had a depauperate Pleistocene herpetofauna, which has carried over into modern times. For instance, the large, “warm” country of Spain, which by European standards has a rich modern herpetofauna, has only 13 species of snakes and four species of nonmarine turtles (Engelmann et al., 1986). On the other hand, Michigan, a northern border state with cold winters, has 17 species of snakes and 11 species of turtles (Holman et al., 1989; Harding and Holman, 1990). Indiana, just south of Michigan, has 31 species of snakes and 15 species of turtles (Minton, 1972; Brown, 1996; Conant and Collins, 1991). The southern coastal state of Florida has 45 species of snakes and 20 species of nonmarine turtles (Conant and Collins, 1991). This is almost twice as many snakes and more than three times as many nonmarine turtles as occur in Britain and Europe. In the Pleistocene, British or European herpetofaunas are considered to be rich when they contain 10 species. In North America, Pleistocene herptofaunas with more than 20 species are common, and sites with more than 40 herpetological species are known (Holman, 1995c). The reasons for these differences are as follows. Both North America and Europe became herpetologically enriched in the Miocene. But the climatic deterioration at the end of the Miocene caused a depletion of the herpetofauna in Europe. Because Europe was mainly isolated from Africa by the Mediterranean Sea and from warm areas to the east by mountain ranges and seas, its depauperate herpetofauna persisted into modern times. Ireland and Britain have even more depauperate modern herpetofaunas than the continent because these islands were cut off from the mainland before they could be reinvaded by all of the species displaced by the last glaciation (Fig. 45). In North America, however, with a vast, accessible southern land mass, and equable Pleistocene climates south of the periglacial regions (Lundelius et al., 1983), the richness of the Miocene herpetofauna persisted into Pleistocene and modern times. Less

Biodiversity and Conservation of Mesoamerican Dry-Forest Herpetofauna

Mahmood Sasa and Federico Bolaños

in Biodiversity Conservation in Costa Rica: Learning the Lessons in a Seasonal Dry Forest

The herpetofauna of Mesoamerica is one of the richest and complex vertebrate faunas, involving more than 210 genera, comprising approximately 693 species of reptiles and 598 species of amphibians. ... More

The herpetofauna of Mesoamerica is one of the richest and complex vertebrate faunas, involving more than 210 genera, comprising approximately 693 species of reptiles and 598 species of amphibians. This chapter examines the biodiversity and biogeographical aspects of reptiles and amphibians in the dry-forest environments of Mesoamerica. It discusses their resource and microhabitat use, feeding ecology, reproduction, and adaptations to the changing seasonal climate. Finally, it discusses some of the recommendations for the conservation of herpetofauna of Mesoamerican dry forests.Less

Herpetological Species as Paleoenvironmental Indicators

J. Alan Holman

in Pleistocene Amphibians and Reptiles in Britain and Europe

In Chapter 5 we have seen that Pleistocene herpetofaunas are often used to suggest paleoenvironmental conditions. The present chapter discusses the validity of this use. With the exception of ... More

In Chapter 5 we have seen that Pleistocene herpetofaunas are often used to suggest paleoenvironmental conditions. The present chapter discusses the validity of this use. With the exception of behavioral responses (and a few quasi-physiological adaptations in reptiles), herpetological species are poorly adapted to resist temperature changes. Or, to put it another way, amphibians and reptiles lack the complex internal physiological mechanisms that interact to regulate temperature in endotherms. This has led to the assumption by many that herpetological species, because of their supposed greater sensitivity to temperature changes, are much better indicators of local thermal conditions than are birds and mammals. Moreover, most Quaternary amphibians and reptiles represent extant species whose ecological tolerances and habitat preferences are well known, whereas many Pleistocene endotherms, especially large mammals, are extinct species whose ecological traits and specific habitat requirements are not totally understood. This suggests that Pleistocene herpetofaunas should give more refined information about specific habitats than endothermic faunas. Also, it can be argued that most amphibian and reptile species are more spatially confined than endothermic ones (especially birds and large mammals) and that Pleistocene herpetological species indicate paleoenvironmental conditions of more restricted areas. Bailón and Rage (1992) address this subject in the light of their European experience: “They (amphibians and reptiles] are unable to compensate for large climatic variations as endotherms (birds and mammals) can; therefore each amphibian and reptile species can live only in a definite climate.” (p. 95). Moreover,… Amphibians and reptiles present another advantage: whereas endotherm vertebrates are represented in Quaternary fossiliferous localities by a not negligible percentage of extinct species, practically all fossil amphibians and reptiles of that age belong to extant species. If a species is extinct its ecological requirements cannot be known with certainty and are open to speculation whereas living species present in fossiliferous assemblages afford accurate information, (p. 95)… They also state that the size of reptile home ranges is small, and that as these species are not the preferred prey of predaccous birds, they are probably not an admixture of species that live in a wide area around the locality. Let us examine these assumptions. Less

Extinction Patterns in the Herpetofauna of the Pleistocene of Britain and Europe

J. Alan Holman

in Pleistocene Amphibians and Reptiles in Britain and Europe

As we have seen in Chapter 4, many invalid European Pleistocene amphibian and reptile species were named on the basis of insufficient and inadequately described fossils (e.g., Estes, 1981, 1983; ... More

As we have seen in Chapter 4, many invalid European Pleistocene amphibian and reptile species were named on the basis of insufficient and inadequately described fossils (e.g., Estes, 1981, 1983; Rage, 1984c; Sanchiz, in press). Some of these forms have been synonymized with modern species, but others are in taxonomic limbo because of the international rules of zoological nomenclature. We now turn to a consideration of the few European Pleistocene fossil herpetological species that have been recognized as valid in recent years. These taxa fit into three catagories: (1) an extinct Pliocene anuran taxon that extended into the Pleistocene, (2) large Lacerta species that lived on oceanic islands, and (3) Pleistocene species that are probably morphological variants of living forms. All of the following taxa are addressed in Chapter 4. No extinct species of Pleistocene salamanders are currently recognized in Britain or Europe. The genus * Pliobatrachus from the Pliocene of eastern Europe extended into the Lower Pleistocene of Poland and the Middle Pleistocene of Germany in the form of * Pliobatrachus cf. Pliobatrachus langhae. The *Palaeobatrachidae, the only family in the history of the Anura that became totally extinct (Roček, 1995), represents the only extinct herpetological family known in the Pleistocene of Britain and Europe, and *Pliobalrachus represents the only extinct herpetologcal genus known in the Pleistocene of the region. Rocck (1995) suggested that the *Palaeobatrachidae did not survive the Pleistocene cooling because of their prevailingly aquatic mode of life, unlike, for instance, the Ranidac and Bufonidae that were able to withdraw from iceobliterated areas and return when climatic conditions improved. *Lacerta goliath is a Pleistocene or Holocene species that is known only from two localities in the Canary islands (see Chapters 4 and 5). It is twice the size of Lacerta lepida, the largest modern European Lacerta. *Lacerta maxima is another very large Pleistocene or Holocene Lacerta that is endemic to the Canary Islands. This species is known from a single fossil locality (see Chapters 4 and 5) and is differentiated from * Lacerta goliath on the basis of several trenchant osteological characters. Less

Rogues, reptiles and repentant sinners

Brian Mcnair

in Journalists in Film: Heroes and Villains

This chapter describes the representation of journalists in cinema as best, lovable rogues and as worst, loathsome reptiles. Runaway Bride stars Richard Gere in the lovable rogue role, opposite Julia ... More

This chapter describes the representation of journalists in cinema as best, lovable rogues and as worst, loathsome reptiles. Runaway Bride stars Richard Gere in the lovable rogue role, opposite Julia Roberts as a woman, Maggie Carpenter, who repeated leaves her fiancés at the altar. The representation of the journalist-as-reptile may be viewed both as a warning to the public in a democracy that their media are at worst akin to predators running wild, and that they bear some responsibility for putting them back in their cage. The Ace in the Hole, Mad City, To Die For and Natural Born Killers are four films which illustrate the journalist-as-reptile sub-type. The bad girl trio depicted in Rag Tale were as bad as it got in that decade and in the film these women were only doing what they had to do to get by in a working environment of brutish male hacks.Less