Quaternary small-mammal fossils are widespread and have served as valuable paleoclimatic proxies through niche-modeling or otherwise relating presence-absence data to climatic data. This paper examines the potential for a new, more resolved type of paleoclimate proxy in the form of Microtus tooth shape, using an abundant California species, Microtus californicus. Geometric morphometrics and par...

Hybridization drives the evolutionary trajectory of many species or local populations, and assessing the geographic extent and genetic impact of interspecific gene flow may provide invaluable clues to understand population divergence or the adaptive relevance of admixture. In North America, hares (Lepus spp.) are key species for ecosystem dynamics and their evolutionary history may have been af...

We used 126 Sherman live traps on a 9 by 14 grid at the University of California Santa Cruz Forest Ecology Research Plot (FERP) to look at small mammal diversity in a mixed evergreen forest. The ability for Peromyscus boylii and Peromyscus californicus to coexist in the same area is believed to be a form of niche partitioning at the canopy level. We used multivariate logistic regression to look...

In Nysius californicus (family Lygaeidae, subfamily Orsillinae), a pest commonly known as the seed bug, the chromosome complement is 2n = 16 (12A + 2m + XY), testes are formed by seven seminiferous tubules covered by an orange-colored membrane, and spermatogenesis is cystic. At prophase, sex chromosomes are heteropycnotic and autosomes usually show a chiasma. At metaphase, sex chromosomes along...

We examined the prevalence, quantity, and diversity of Campylobacter species in the excreta of 159 California gull (Larus californicus) samples using culture-, PCR-, and quantitative PCR (qPCR)-based detection assays. Campylobacter prevalence and abundance were relatively high in the gull excreta examined; however, C. jejuni and C. lari were detected in fewer than 2% of the isolates and DNA ext...

the foraging behavior of a natural enemy is greatly affected by temperature. the influence ofdifferent constant temperatures on the functional response and prey consumption of the mated female ofneoseiulus barkeri hughes on nymphal stages of tetranychus urticae koch was evaluated. four ambienttemperatures (20, 25, 30 and 35 â± 1â°c) and six prey densities (2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 individuals) we...