Karyotypic analyses have several applications in studies of chromosome organization, evolution, and cytotaxonomy. They are also essential to genome assembly projects. Here, we present for the first time karyotype description endangered species yellow cardinal, Gubernatrix cristata (Passeriformes, Thraupidae), using conventional staining with Giemsa 18S rDNA probes. This has 78 chromosomes, 12 p...

and wetlands, the star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata) is one of the most distinctive mammals anywhere on Earth. Extensively distributed throughout eastern Canada and northeastern USA, star-nosed moles are reported to inhabit subarctic regions as far north as the fifty-fifth parallel (Peterson and Yates, 1980). Active year-round, C. cristata is chronically exposed to low ambient temperatures th...

The mammalian visual range is approximately 400-700 nm, although recent evidence suggests varying ultraviolet (UV) extensions in diverse terrestrial species. UV sensitivity may have advantages in the dim, blue light shifted environment experienced by submerged marine mammals. It may also be advantageous when seals are on land as UV is reflected by snow and ice but absorbed by fur, enhancing vis...

The maintenance of genetic diversity and stochastic losses of diversity during periods of small population size have become major points of concern in conservation biology. However, empirical research on random evolutionary processes in natural plant populations is still scarce and is reviewed here in comparison to our case study on Dryopteris cristata. Detailed recent population histories of t...

We tested the role of interspecific competition in driving species distribution at multiple spatial scales using two sibling species of Galerida larks (G. cristata and G. theklae) in Morocco (sympatry), Balearic islands (G. theklae only) and Israel (G. cristata only). We first investigated regional-scale determinants by contrasting allopatric versus sympatric patterns in five distinct habitat t...

In a continuing effort to describe the cumacean fauna of Puerto Rico we describe three new species of Bodotriidae, a family that has never been reported from Puerto Rico before.  While finding and describing new microcrustacean species may not be an impossible task, if there is available taxonomic expertise, the currently described species were found in large numbers within a short distance fro...

Recent increases in Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws. forest density in the southwestern United States have severely reduced understory herbaceous biomass and altered understory species composition. To examine whether changes in graminoid species composition are caused by increased shading, we studied the effects of shade on leaf gas exchange, biomass, and reproductive characteristics of five gra...

Despite the expansion of floriculture, little is known about insects associated to this crop in northern Brazil. The objective was to identify the main species of defoliator grasshoppers, associated to crops of Heliconia spp. in the northeastern region of State of Pará, Brazil , in the municipalities of Castanhal, Belém and Benevides, from Aug 2004 to Mar 2005. Representatives with higher abund...

The morphological plasticity and community responses of algae competing with corals have not been assessed. We evaluated eight morphological characters of four species of stoloniferous clonal filamentous turf algae (FTA), including Lophosiphonia cristata (Lc) and Polysiphonia scopulorum var. villum (Psv), and the composition and number of turf algae (TA) in competition for space with the coral ...