The impressive program of research from the DiPietro laboratory succeeds in its aim to document the ontogeny of human fetal neurobehavioral development. From studies of great depth and breadth, and wielding creative methods of assessment, DiPietro et al. open a window into the largely inaccessible developing human fetal brain. This commentary, with reference to the seminal cardiovascular studie...

Until recently, little was known about the onset of olfactory function in humans or about the nature of alterations In smell function across the lifespan. Unequivocal answers to such basic questions as to whether neonates can detect odorants (Independent of trigeminal stimulation) or to what degree smell ability declines In old age were not available. During the last decade a number of behavior...

Identification of relevant taxonomic and evolutionary units is a recurrent issue in the fossil record, all more for ancient fossils devoid modern equivalents such as conodonts. Extensive morphological variation has often led to description numerous species, subspecies or morphotypes, which may correspond end-member morphologies reached through ontogeny. The platform elements Late Devonian conod...

Most studies addressing the development of animal communication have focused on signal production rather than receiver decoding, and similar emphasis has been given to learning over nonlearning. But receivers are an integral part of a communication network, and nonlearned mechanisms appear to be more ubiquitous than learned ones in the communication systems of most animals. Here we review the r...

A major goal of island biogeography is to understand how island communities are assembled over time. However, we know little about the influence of variable area and ecological opportunity on island biotas over geological timescales. Islands have limited life spans, and it has been posited that insular diversity patterns should rise and fall with an island's ontogeny. The potential of phylogeni...

The ontogeny of perennial polycarpic herb Panax ginseng C.A. Mey. (Araliaceae) under plantation conditions was described. Three periods (latent, pregenerative, and generative) and eight age stages have been identified in the ontogeny of cultivated P. ginseng. The generative period of this species is the longest ontogenetic period, which determines the timing of its cultivation in plantations. D...

I. Introduetion 375 11. Morphology and Ontogeny of Teliospore and Basidiospore Formation 376 A. Teliospore Morphology and Ontogeny 376 B. Teliospore Germination and Basidiospore Formation 380 III. Physiology of Teliospores 384 A. Factors That Induce Teliospore Formation under Natural Conditions 384 B. Artificial Induction 01 Teliospore Germination 385 IV. Germination and Penetration 01 Basidios...

In an era of global warming, the negative effects temperature stress on fertility could intensify predicted losses biodiversity. Male is particularly sensitive to stress, yet we have incomplete understanding when, during reproductive ontogeny, spermatogenesis most affected. Here, used a temperature-switch protocol identify when development affects expression sperm length and testes size in bruc...

The hagfish, an Agnathan cyclostomes is the most primitive of true vertebrates as evidenced by its formed, circulating RBC and haemaocytopoietic tissue in the submucosa of the gut tract.(1) Interested in the phylogeny of the IR the authors were prompted to ship from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and the kindness of Dr. David Jensen, about 120 California hagfish to explore this question....