Friday, December 4, 2009

Rameriz et al. 2009 HCB


Fat body and liver mass cycles in S. grammicus (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae) from southern Hidalgo, Mexico

Abstract—We describe changes in liver and fat body mass of males and females of the viviparous lizard, Sceloporus grammicus from southeastern Hidalgo, México. The changes in the masses of the liver and fat bodies of males and females are usually asynchronous. Typically, reproductively active males and females deplete fat body reserves and experience increased liver mass. However, we observed maximum fat body and liver masses during spermatogenesis (July-August) and vitellogenesis (July-November). In females, the liver and fat body masses decreased while carrying developing embryos. This pattern demonstrates the ability of these lizards to bolster energy reserves during reproductive activity and the high energetic cost associated with embryo development. Also, this response pattern is similar to other populations of this species and to some other species of temperate lizards.


A RAMÍREZ-BAUTISTA,D HERNÁNDEZ-RAMOS, AR MARTINEZ, AND JC MARSHALL


Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, A.P. 1-69 Plaza Juárez, C.P. 42001, Pachuca, Hidalgo, México, Department of Zoology, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah 84408, USA


Herpetological Conservation and Biology 4(2):164-170

Monday, August 17, 2009

Traveling Field Station


New addition to the Marshall lab.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Summer Field Work 2009


Dr. Marshall was invited to give a talk at the research campus of the Universidade do Porto in May a few days after classes ended.  After the talk he spent nearly two weeks in the field collecting lizards, snakes, turtles, and spiders, across Portugal, Spain, and mostly Morocco.  The research team was headed by Dr. D. James Harris and included people from Spain, Portugal, England, and Holland.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Perez-Losada et al. MPE 2009



The Aporrectodea caliginosa species complex includes the most abundant earthworms in grasslands and agricultural ecosystems of the Paleartic region. Historically this complex consisted of the following taxa: A. caliginosa s.s. Savigny, 1826, A. trapezoides Dugés (1828), A. tuberculata (Eisen, 1874), and A. nocturna Evans (1946). These four taxa are morphologically very similar and difficult to differentiate because of their morphological variability. Consequently, their taxonomic status and their phylogenetic relationships have been a matter of discussion for more than a century. To study these questions, we sequenced the COII (686 bp), 12S (362 bp), 16S (1200 bp), ND1 (917 bp), and tRNAsAsn-Asp-Val-Leu-Ala-Ser-Leu (402 bp) mitochondrial and 28S (809 bp) nuclear gene regions for 85 European earthworms from 27 different localities belonging to the A. caliginosa species complex and four outgroup taxa. DNA sequences were analyzed using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian approaches of phylogenetic inference. The resulting trees were combined with morphological, ecological, and genomic evidence to test species boundaries (i.e., integrative approach). Our molecular analyses showed that A. caliginosa s.s. and A. tuberculata form a sister clade to A. trapezoidesA. longa, and A. nocturna, which indicates that A. longa is part of the A. caliginosa species complex. We confirm the species status of all these taxa and identify two unrecognized Aporrectodea species in Corsica (France). Moreover our analyses also showed the presence of highly divergent lineages within A. caliginosaA. trapezoides, and A. longa, suggesting the existence of cryptic diversity within these taxa.

Perez-Losada, M., R. Maigualida, J.C. Marshall, and J. Dominguez (2009) Phylogenetic assessment of the earthworm Aporrectodea caliginosa species complex (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae) based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 52: 293–302

Evolution Meetings, Moscow, Idaho 2009



Weber State undergraduate student Paul Buttars presents the poster:

In the Academic Job Market, Will You Be Competitive? A Case Study in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Jonathon C. Marshall1*, Paul Buttars1, Thomas Callahan2, John J. Dennehy3, D. James Harris4, Bryce Lunt2, and Robert Shupe2

1Dept. of Zoology, Weber State University, Ogden, UT, USA; 2Dept. of Biology Southern Utah University, Cedar City, UT, USA; 3Queens College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, Flushing, NY, USA; 4Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Vairão, Portugal.