Sibling recognition in spiny mice (Acomys cahirinus)

Summary Sibling recognition by spiny mice (Acomys cahirinus) was investigated by housing groups consisting of two pairs of littermates together and recording frequency of dyadic pairing. A total of 136 animals (68 pairs of siblings) were tested in three experiments. Sibling pairs were observed more often than pairings between nonsiblings; however, such preferences were no longer evident if the nonsiblings were exposed to one another prior to testing. Animals made anosmic through zinc sulfate treatment did not differ on their frequencies of sibling vs. nonsibling pairing and showed a higher incidence of group huddling (by all four animals) than did intact controls. Weanling A. cahirinus appear to be able to recognize (i.e., are attracted to) their littermate siblings through olfactory cues, which seems to be a modifiable attraction to odors to which the littermates were exposed rather than an irreversible imprinting-like process.The research project reported herein was supported by grant # 00973 from NICHD     

Inter-male competition for high-quality host-plants: the evolution of protandry in a territorial grasshopper

Summary Males of the desert grasshopper Ligurotettix coquilletti typically eclose 3–5 weeks prior to females. Early-eclosed males experience more female encounters than the later-eclosed individuals. Evidence suggests that the number of encounters may be proportional to male lifetime mating success. Early-eclosed males enjoyed greater adult lifespans, occupied and defended higher quality territories (Larrea shrubs), and tended to be dominant on these shrubs if several males were present. The elevated number of female encounters were not conferred on early-eclosed males by their extended survivorship, but rather by the high quality of their territories, which retained numerous females, and their dominant behavior. We evaluate several female-benefit and male-benefit hypotheses for the evolution of protandry and propose that in L. coquilletti, the phenomenon arose due to male-male competition for female-encounter sites, a mechanism not considered in earlier models. Finally, we discuss several reasons for the high variance in the date of male eclosion.     

Sexual selection on alleles that determine body size in the swordtail Xiphophorus nigrensis

Summary In a natural population, we document changes in the frequencies of alleles influencing body size and size-correlated alternative male reproductive tactics, and we examine the possible role of sexual selection in producing these changes. Male swordtails (Xiphophorus nigrensis, Rio Choy) exhibit three body size classes (small, intermediate, and large) that primarily derive from allelic variation (s, I, L) at the Y-linked pituitary (P) locus. Some XX individuals are male. They are small and can be fathered either by XX or XY males. We compared the frequencies of Y-linked P alleles across two generations in a natural population. There was a significant decrease in the Y-s genotype relative to Y-I and Y-L genotypes. Laboratory experiments suggest that the disadvantage of Y-s resulted, at least in part, from female preference for larger courting males relative to small chasing males. All larger courting males are of the Y-I or Y-L genotypes. Although the frequency of Y-linked P alleles changed across generations, there was no change in the distribution of male body size classes. The stability of the phenotypic distribution across generations, despite changes in P allele frequencies, was maintained by the production of small XX sons by Y-I and Y-L males. Offprint requests to: M.J. Ryan     

Grundwassergefährdung durch Holzschutzmittel

Goal and Background

As a consequence of the implementation of EU Directive 98/8/EC into national law in June 2002, all biocidal products will be subjected to an authorization procedure. Condition for issue of an authorization is that the product or its residues do not exert unacceptable effects on human and animal health or on surface water and groundwater. Hence, among other issues, impact of wood preservatives on groundwater is to be assessed. Focus is particularly on impregnating plants with open-air storage sites for treated wood.

Methods

Based on already in-use versions of the leaching model PELMO, an advanced version (MC-PELMO 3.0) was developed with a specific focus on estimating groundwater contamination under storage sites at wood preserving facilities in Germany. The model processes twenty-two different leaching scenarios that were derived from twelve characteristic soil profiles representing pedological regions in Germany along with recorded meteorological data from nine weather stations. These data are related to geographic distribution of industrial wood preserving activity. The model calculates statistic probabilities of concentrations of wood preservatives in seepage water beneath timber storage sites of regions to be selected by the user.

Results and Discussion

The reports provided by MC-PELMO 3.0 include mean average concentrations, 55 to 99 percentiles, and single maximum concentrations for each of the scenarios. the results can be related to the total area of Germany, its forest area or to the density of preversation activity in various regions. Beside concentrations of the parent compounds, those of degradation products may be calculated for the seepage water.

Conclusion

The described model is a particularly useful tool for comparative assertion of various wood preservative products under aspects of the exposure of groundwater resources. Comparative assertion is a new element within EU-chemicals policy, for the first time materialized in the biocidal products directive 98/8/EC. Furthermore, the results of model calculations identify vulnerable regions in Germany for which appropriate risk management measures have to be taken in order to protect groundwater from contamination.     

Movement and environmental preferences of Greenland sharks (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Somniosus microcephalus</Emphasis>) electronically tagged in the St. Lawrence Estuary,Canada

Three Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) were tagged with electronic tags, in Baie St. Pancrace, St. Lawrence Estuary, Quebec, Canada. One shark was tagged on 23 July 2004, with an acoustic telemetry tag. Two sharks were each tagged with a pop-up satellite archival tag (PSAT) on 27 August 2004. Two of the sharks remained in or close to the bay, one for 47 days and the other for at least 66 days. The third shark left the bay immediately after tagging on 27 August 2004. This shark entered the main channel of the St. Lawrence Estuary, and had moved 114.9 km upstream by 1 November 2004 when the tag reported to ARGOS satellites. The tags provided a total of 179 days of data on the movement and environmental preferences of Greenland sharks in the St. Lawrence Estuary. Sharks that reported depth and ambient water temperature data from the bay showed significant diel differences in depth preferences and corresponding ambient temperatures. The sharks remained near the bottom of the water column during the day and displayed increased vertical movements at night. The shark that resided in the main channel did not show this pattern, but generally remained at depths between 325 and 352 m. Sharks in the bay experienced water temperatures that ranged from −1.1 to 8.6°C at depths from 0 to 67 m. In the main channel the shark experienced temperatures that ranged from 1.0 to 5.4°C at depths from 132 to 352 m. This is the first report of numerous Greenland sharks inhabiting shallow near shore bays during summer and autumn.     

The evolution of cheating and selfish behavior

Summary We examine the necessary conditions for the spread of genes that determine selfish and cheating behaviors and the rate of spread of these genes through structured populations, in order to address the question of the invadability of altruistic systems by anti-social mutations. We find that, although cheaters always have a higher relative fitness than altruists within groups, population structures which permit the evolution of altruism also preclude invasion by anti-social mutations. These results are related to a discussion by Hamilton (1971) concerning the limits to the evolution of altruistic and selfish behaviors.     

Factors controlling lead bioavailability in the Butte mining district,Montana, USA

Microprobe analyses of 38 soil and 5 mine-waste samples from Butte, Montana, demonstrated that the samples contain predominantly sulphide/sulphate and oxide/phosphates of lead (Pb)-bearing phases associated with mine waste. The sulphide/sulphate assemblage consists primarily of galena altering to anglesite and plumbojarosite, with secondary jarosite precipitating and rinding the Pb-bearing minerals. In addition, galena was encapsulated within pyrite or quartz grains. The oxide/phosphate assemblage consists of pH-neutral soils in which a plausible paragenetic sequence of PbO to Pb phosphates, PbMnO, or PbFeO is proposed, dependent on the activity of P, Mn, Fe, and Cl in the soil. In addition, Pb-bearing grains are occasionally armoured by the presence of a 1- to 3-(m rind of authigenic silicate. The low solubility of the Pb-bearing minerals resulting from encapsulation in non-Pb-bearing reaction rinds may provide an explanation for the limited Pb bioavailability observed when Butte soils were fed to rats (Freemanet al., 1992). Further evidence of the lack of absorption of lead from these soils is provided by the results of a blood-Pb study indicating very low blood-Pb levels in Butte children. The lower bioavailability of Pb from mining sites, compared to smelting and urban environments, is also due to kinetic limitations that control dissolution rates of Pb-bearing solids relative to the residence time of soil in the gastrointestinal (Gl) tract. When the test soil was fed to New Zealand White rabbits, only 9% of the total Pb was solubilised in the stomach, and therefore available for absorption. Anin vitro assay, developed to estimate maximum available Pb from soil, demonstrates that ingestion of mine-waste-bearing soil results in limited Pb dissolution, and produces results similar to thein vivo testing.     

An experimental examination of female preference patterns for components of the male advertisement call in the quacking frog,<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Crinia georgiana</Emphasis>

Even though females prefer particular components of a male display, their preferences may not be expressed during mate choice. Here, we quantified female preference patterns in the frog Crinia georgiana for call rate, pulse number and dominant frequency using two-speaker trials. Females typically chose signals emitted at a higher rate, with more pulses (when variation was extreme) and with an average dominant frequency. The results for pulse number and call rate agree with a previous field study which found that these two call components explained significant variation in male mating success. In contrast, the strong preferences for average dominant frequencies detected here disagree with the previous field study which failed to find any relationship between dominant frequency and male mating success. To explain the discrepancy we investigated whether the patterns of female preference for dominant frequency changed when another property, call rate, was varied simultaneously. Most females chose the call with an average dominant frequency when offered a choice between a call with an average dominant frequency and call rate or a non-average dominant frequency (±2 SD) and high call rate. When the differences in dominant frequency were reduced (±1 SD), females showed no clear preference for either signal. Accordingly, female preference patterns for one call component can vary with the expression of another. These results do not explain why dominant frequency did not account for any variation in male mating success under field conditions.Communicated by T. Beschlitz