摘要:

SUMMARY1The nest‐building behaviour of domesticated canaries was studied.2The principal activities, or groups of activities, studied were inspecting, gathering, carrying and sitting (building). The latter includes a number of stereotyped motor patterns functioning in shaping the cup.3The nest‐site is selected by the female as or before building begins.4Building activity reaches its peak three or four days before the laying of the first egg, and slightly before the peak of copulation. The temporal relations between building and egg‐laying are highly variable between individuals. The male plays only a small part in nest‐building.5The total times spent gathering, carrying and sitting per watch are positively correlated. Since the change‐over from one activity to the next does not depend solely on external stimuli, this suggests that these activities share internal causal factors.Two characteristics of building behaviour (total time building per watch and number of placings per watch) are not fully correlated with each other, and there are differences between the relations of the total times spent gathering, carrying and sitting with each of these characteristics (Figs. 3 and 4). The concept of a nest‐building drive is thus not useful, for the selection of criteria whereby it could be quantified is arbitrary.The median bout lengths of gathering, carrying and sitting first increase and then decrease with increase in the number of placings per watch (Figs. 5 and 6) and there are correlations between the bout lengths of the different activities in each nest‐building sequence. Each activity can be interrupted by the activity which functionally follows it before it own motivation has fallen to the normal threshold.The appetitive/consummatory behaviour dichotomy is not useful in analysing the relationships between gathering, carrying and sitting, but these can be understood in terms of concepts such as common causal factors, threshold differences, and self‐suppressing effects consequent upon performance.6The stereotyped movements of nest‐building differ in frequency between individuals “Scrabbling” is influenced by the size of the nest.7The decrease in nest‐building activity around the time of egg‐laying is due partially to internal changes, and partially to stimuli from the nest.8The length of sitting bouts is influenced by stimuli from the nest‐pan as well as internal factors.9The change‐over from building with grass to building with feathers which occurs shortly before egg‐laying is due partially to internal changes and partially to stimuli from the nest.10Canaries reared without material show a number of bizarre patterns of behaviour which are established by learning during deprivation. The mere performance of nest‐building movements has some reinforcing value.11Many of the constituent patterns of nest‐building behaviour occur in naive birds, but their integration

ISSN:0370-2774    

DOI:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1958.tb00631.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1958

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

SUMMARYThe nauplius ofDactylopusioides macrolabris(Claus) is described and figured. The second antenna is modified to form a biting appendage, while the mandibles are not capable of biting.The nauplii and an associated adult female were found in galleries in the fronds of the brown algaDictyota dichotoma, from Torquay, Devon. This is the first British record of this copepod, and the first record of a copepod mining the fronds of a member of the Phaeophyceae.

ISSN:0370-2774    

DOI:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1958.tb00632.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1958

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

SUMMARYPhysa fontinalisis a hermaphrodite gastropod in which the gametes formed in the ovotestis pass down the common hermaphrodite duct to the albumen gland, where the male and female systems separate. The spermatozoa are carried down the vas deferens to the penis and are introduced into the bursa copulatrix of the copulatory partner, whilst the eggs, after fertilisation, pass through the oviduct, where they receive the mucous coverings which form the egg capsule.The morphology and histology of the reproductive system of P.fontinalishave been described, together with an account of the role of each of the genital organs. When mature, the spermatozoa are liberated from the ovotestis and are stored in the hermaphrodite duct, whereas, the eggs are released only immediately before oviposition and pass through the mass of male gametes. It is suggested that the muscle sheath which surrounds the junction of the hermaphrodite duct, vas deferens and oviduct constitutes a regulating mechanism, directing the ova and the majority of the spermatozoa into their correct channels.The vas deferens is a ciliated, non‐glandular duct, but the semen receives secretory additions formed by the prostate follicles, the glandular products being driven out of these diverticula by the action of small, interstitial, ciliated cells. During the breeding season, the characteristic, glandular cells in the penis sheath and praeputial gland become greatly swollen and secrete mucopolysaccharides which probably facilitate the eversion of the penis.The female duct is composed of a glandular oviduct and muscular vagina, the former being divisible into three regions. The bursa copulatrix serves as a receptacle for foreign sperm and its duct opens into the vagina. Unlike the representatives of the other families of the Hygrophila which have been studied, a true albumen gland duct is missing and the ova pass into the albumen gland before entering the oviduct.InP. fontinalisfertilisation occurs in the lower part of the hermaphrodite duct and not in the “fertilisation pockets”. It appears that the animal is largely self‐fertilising, but it is suggested that after several generations have been produced by this means, a physiological barrier to the animal's own sperm is developed, so permitting fertilisation by foreign sperm.The albumen gland secretes galactogen and, after fertilisation, the ova enter this organ to receive a coating of its nutritive secretion. As the eggs pass down the oviduct, they are surrounded by the mucous envelopes which constitute the egg capsule, each portion of the duct having a separate function in the formation of the different inve

ISSN:0370-2774    

DOI:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1958.tb00633.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1958

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

SUMMARY1The basic idea of affinity as overall similarity, which is logically and historically prior to that of evolutionary affinity, is described. It is in constant use in taxonomy2After an analysis of the ideas of different forms, the general plan of construction of an organism, similarity in general plan, and the single character, a procedure is worked out which makes precise the judgment of affinity, and enables us to obtain a numerical value for the mean character difference between any two forms3As a result, it is shown that the family tree diagram can be used only for the evolutionary topology of a group, not for showing amount of evolutionary difference4A measure of therelevanceof a taxonomic comparison is described5The possibility of giving a quantitative basis to the taxonomic hierarchy is pointed out

ISSN:0370-2774    

DOI:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1958.tb00634.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1958

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

SUMMARY1The mountain hare undergoes three annual moults. These are a spring moult from white to brown, an autumn moult from brown to brown, a winter moult from brown to white2Flat air‐dried skins were used to trace the course of the moults because new growth is clearly indicated by hair root marks on the flesh side of the skin3The pelage of the mountain hare consists of fur, pile hair and guard hair. The summer pelage is described4The autumn moult begins in June and ends in September. It begins about the end of the main breeding season. Some white hair is grown, particularly on the feet5The winter moult begins in October. Winter fur is longer, finer in texture and denser than that of summer or autumn. Projecting as “fine white hair” to the tips of the pile hair it is largely responsible for the hare's white colouring. Moulting on the body ceases in December; on the head not until January or early February6The spring moult begins in February, rather later than the beginning of the breeding season. Pelage is shed before replacement in this moult and in the autumn moult; in the winter moult the old hair is only shed when the new hair is almost or fully grown7No significant regional variations, owing to temperature, occur within England and Scotland. Variations in the progress of the moult, due to temperature, may occur8There is some blanching of winter pile and guard hairs and probably of whiskers9In season and duration the moults resemble those of the Scottish pta

ISSN:0370-2774    

DOI:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1958.tb00635.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1958

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

SUMMARY1The distribution ofElminius modestusalong the coast of France may be divided into four sectors. From the Belgian frontier to Cap de la Hague, it is ubiquitous both on the coast and in harbours wherever suitable surfaces for settlement exist. From Cap de la Hague to the Trieux estuary, it is scarce or absent. From the Jaudy to the Rade de Brest, it is plentiful in all sheltered estuaries but scarce on the open coast. South of the Rade de Brest, only isolated individuals have been met in a few estuaries, the furthest afield being at St. Jean‐de‐Luz close to the Spanish frontier.2The distribution on the Channel coast of France resembles closely that on the coast of southern England3It is suggested that the tidal races and the absence of large bodies of sheltered water form a barrier to its westward spread both at Portland Bill and at Cap de la Hague4Conditions in the Gulf of St. Malo, unlike those in Lyme Bay, are probably not directly unfavourable to the growth and development of individuals, but are probably unfavourable for the initial establishment of a population on account of the large tides that occur there. These may sweep locally developing populations of larvae out of the river systems and so disperse them too widely for reproduction to be possible.5The Brittany population and that of the eastern part of the Channel must have been established independently. Both are now fairly stable and well established6The Brittany population is most likely to have been disseminated from the Rade de Brest; that east of Cap de la Hague either from Cherbourg or more likely from Le Havre, Trouville and the Seine estuary, perhaps at or soon after the Allied invasion in 19447The populations in Holland and France, though now continuous: probably arose independently. The two populations probably merged on the coast of Belgium approximately in 1949

ISSN:0370-2774    

DOI:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1958.tb00636.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1958

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

SUMMARYThe relevance of a functional understanding of the skull architecture of living forms to the study of fossils is pointed out.A brief description of the food and feeding habits of the extant Bushpig (Potamochoerus koiroptamus) and Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) is given, and the muscles of mastication and those controlling the movements of the rhinarium are described. The features in the skull of the Bushpig which are related to the digging habit and those of the Warthog which are related to its grass eating habit are pointed out.The adaptive features in the skull of the Forest Hog (Hylochoerus meinertzhageni) are discussed.The way in which an analysis in terms of the functional basis of skull characteristics may throw light on the modes of life of fossil suids is briefly indicated.

ISSN:0370-2774    

DOI:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1958.tb00637.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1958

数据来源: WILEY