Gastric trichobezoar in a banner-tailed kangaroo rat (Dipodomys spectabilis)

Recent demographic bottlenecks are not accompanied by a genetic signature in banner-tailed kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spectabilis).

Single-sample methods of bottleneck detection are now routine analyses in studies of wild populations and conservation genetics. Three common approaches to bottleneck detection are the heterozygosity excess, mode-shift, and M-ratio tests. Empirical groundtruthing of these methods is difficult, but their performances are critical for the accurate reconstruction of population demography. We use t...

The composition of seed banks on kangaroo rat (Dipodomys spectabilis) mounds in a Chihuahuan Desert grassland

Disturbance is a major factor determining the plant community structure of ecological systems. In particular, small-scale disturbances from animals can increase heterogeneity and species diversity in plant communities. Kangaroo rat (Dipodomys spectabilis) mounds are small-scale disturbances that support unique plant communities compared to surrounding habitats. The seed bank, which is usually a...

A priori and a posteriori approaches for finding genes of evolutionary interest in non-model species: osmoregulatory genes in the kidney transcriptome of the desert rodent Dipodomys spectabilis (banner-tailed kangaroo rat).

One common goal in evolutionary biology is the identification of genes underlying adaptive traits of evolutionary interest. Recently next-generation sequencing techniques have greatly facilitated such evolutionary studies in species otherwise depauperate of genomic resources. Kangaroo rats (Dipodomys sp.) serve as exemplars of adaptation in that they inhabit extremely arid environments, yet req...

Ultraviolet Communication in the Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys ordii)

Recent demographic bottlenecks are not accompanied by a genetic signature in banner-tailed kangaroo rats

Single-sample methods of bottleneck detection are now routine analyses in studies of wild populations and conservation genetics. Three common approaches to bottleneck detection are the heterozygosity excess, mode-shift, and Mratio tests. Empirical groundtruthing of these methods is difficult, but their performances are critical for the accurate reconstruction of population demography. We use tw...