摘要:

The paper describes habitat preferences, spacing, range sizes, group composition and territorial behaviour of the European badger in a study area in southern England. Animals were followed at night with the aid of radio‐location and night‐vision equipment, and colour‐marked food was used to establish range

ISSN:0952-8369    

DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1978.tb03262.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1978

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Three species ofLithobius, L. sechellarumBrölemann,L. inflatitarsissp. nov. andL. abbreviatesp. nov., are described from the Seychelles. All belong to the oriental subgenusAustralobiuswhich is reviewed. The species are believed to be endemic and thus support the view that the Seychellean fauna is akin to that of the Oriental Region

ISSN:0952-8369    

DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1978.tb03263.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1978

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Claudiconcha japonicaDunker 1882 is a member of the Petricolidae in which family there is a clear trend towards a tunnelling mode of life culminating in the evolution of species such asPetricola pholadiformis–a borer of soft rocks and shales–with appropriate anatomical and morphological adaptations. Such convergent adaptations recall those seen in another unrelated group of rock‐borers–the Pholadidae.The tunnelling habit in modern petricolids undoubtedly arose from a nestling mode of life which is commonly encountered in other members of the Veneracea. Some, possibly more primitive, petricolids only have the ability to enlarge the crevice they inhabit.C. japonicais different, however, in that for the first part of its life it is a motile (though usually found byssally attached), equivaive bivalve. With site selection, however, the margin of the right valve undergoes considerable enlargement to curl around and partially enclose the unmodified left valve. This development, associated with the selection of a crevice for permanent habitation, has no effect upon the disposition of the organs of the mantle and body cavities as in other inequivalve bivalves and they remain typically bilaterally equal.It is impossible forC. japonica totunnel since the secondary development of the right valve fills the chosen site and in so doing comparatively immobilizes the left valve and closes the pedal gape. ThusC. japonicaand its close relatives must be considered to be on a separate line of evolution from other petricolids and it is doubtful that the present sub‐generic status ofClaudiconchais sufficient to highlight this difference. It seems more appropriate to genericize this name thereby amplifying this trend.In other morphological respects, which are described,C. japonicais clearly a member of the Petricolidae and functional aspects of these adaptations suit the animal to a life in relatively clear waters but where nevertheless the niche tends to accumulate detritus which must be kept out of or removed from the mantle cavity.The secondary enlargement of the right valve, associated with the selection of a suitable site for permanent habitation also appearstobe associated with the onset of sexual maturity –a feature again reminiscent of the tunnelling

ISSN:0952-8369    

DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1978.tb03264.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1978

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Analysis of the variability of shell dimensions within a large population ofLingulafrom Shelly Beach, near Townsville and comparison with five other Queensland populations indicates that existing taxonomy, which is based largely upon shell dimensions, is inadequate. Examination of data from original species descriptions and of material held in the Queensland Museum, suggests that four previously accepted species,Lingula bancrofti, Johnston and Hirschfeld,L. exusta, Reeve,L. hians, Swainson andL. murphiana, Reeve, should be assigned to the type speciesL. anatina, Lamark, 1801. A fifth speciesL. tumidula, Reeve, is accepted on morphological and ecological grounds.

ISSN:0952-8369    

DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1978.tb03265.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1978

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Size‐frequency data collected in large samples from five populations ofLingula anatinafrom North Queensland intertidal sandflats conformed to previously known brachiopod size‐frequency distributions. Probability paper analysis of the samples and constituent sub‐samples confirmed that all the distributions had a hidden poly‐modality resulting from a long but defined breeding season. Two patterns of annual recruitment were revealed; the first is the periodic failure of the populations to gain recruits and the second is one of patchy distribution of settlement cohorts. These patterns introduce sampling bias into the derivation of lingulid size frequency curves unless compensated by more extensive sampling methods than have previously been considered adequate. The interpretation of year classes has enabled a growth curve to be derived. The populations inhabited predominantly sandy sub‐strates and displayed aggregated distributions. Littoral distribution of the species is regarded as optimal rather than

ISSN:0952-8369    

DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1978.tb03266.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1978

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Female Eider ducks, living under natural conditions, do not drink salt water during the 26 days for which they incubate their eggs. In the course of incubation the nasal salt glands decrease in size, show a marked reduction in Na+/K+‐ATPase activity and in the rate at which they clear a salt load. The time course of these events is similar to that seen in laboratory studies on other species where salt intake is manipulate

ISSN:0952-8369    

DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1978.tb03267.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1978

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

A review of age determination techniques that have been applied to the family Canidae is presented. It is shown that the pattern of growth and development of the various species is very similar, the rate of development being greater in the smaller, shorter‐lived species, andvice versa.The occurrence of annuli in the hard tissues of London foxes is demonstrated; these annuli can be used reliably for age determination, despite suggestions that temperate zone animals from weakly continental climates have indistinct annuli. The objective ages determined by cementum annuli are then used to investigate the value of less time‐consuming age determination techniques, particularly in the separation of the young‐of‐the‐year from adults. The results obtained from different studies vary, and these differences are discussed. It is suggested that the speed of development varies slightly in different Red fox populations, and so caution must be exercised before data from one population areapplied to another p

ISSN:0952-8369    

DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1978.tb03268.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1978

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Uni‐ and multivariate analyses were made of nine morphological characters on three species of finchesNesospiza acunhae(Inaccessible, Nightingale),N. wilkinsi(Nightingale) andRowettia goughensis(Gough). The results of the univariate analysis were used to test four predictions about morphological changes with altered competitive backgrounds. Finch species that occur alone on an island or on an island where other finch species are rare have longer characters and more variable character distributions.A multivariate analysis of six bill characters showed that the bill ofRowettiais more similar to that ofacunhaethan either is towilkinsi.A multivariate analysis on wing length, tarsus length and hallux length shows thatRowettiais morphologically closer towilkinsithan it is toacunhae.It is suggested that nothing is gained by treating the Gough I. finch as belonging to a monotypic genu

ISSN:0952-8369    

DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1978.tb03269.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1978

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

House mice have colonized and survived successfully on a number of Sub‐Antarctic islands, where the mean annual temperature is only about 5°C, but where there is little seasonal fluctuation in climate. Surprisingly this allows almost continuous breeding. On at least two islands (Macquarie and Marion), there are significant changes in gene frequency in electro‐phoretically detected enzymes between young (less than three months of age) and old animals from the same population. This indicates natural selection acting in opposite directions at different stages of the life cycle. However the genetical compositions of the Macquarie and Marion populations are more distinct from each other than either is from most British samples. This means that detailed studies of the Sub‐Antarctic mouse populations are likely to reveal much about local adaptation, while comparison between the responses of different populations may lead to important generalisations about the possible reaction to evolutionary challenges of a species living close to its physiological

ISSN:0952-8369    

DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1978.tb03270.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1978

数据来源: WILEY