Contemporary hybridization between female mule deer and male white-tailed deer in west Texas differs from the hypothesized sex mating patterns recovered from ancient hybridization events
Canadian Journal of Zoology, Ahead of Print. Introgressive hybridization between members of Odocoileus was examined using the mitochondrial cytochrome-b (maternal marker) and paternal sex-determining region Y (Sry) genes. Eight out of 130 free-ranging individuals from the Panhandle and Trans-Pecos regions of Texas were determined to possess the mitochondrial haplotype of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus (Rafinesque, 1817)) and the paternal haplotype of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Rafinesque, 1832). Results indicated that hybridization between deer species in Texas (6.15%) was more broadly distributed than previ...
Source: Canadian Journal of Zoology - September 27, 2023 Category: Zoology Authors: Emily A. Wright Jacob V. Bayouth Joseph P. Bayouth Asha E. Worsham Grant E. McDaniel Tess S. Hollinger Vivienne A. Lacy Emma K. Johnston David R. Pipkin Emma K. Roberts Robert D. Bradley Source Type: research
Experimental manipulation of perceived predation risk alters survival, cause of death, and demographic patterns in juvenile snowshoe hares
Canadian Journal of Zoology, Ahead of Print. Perceived predation risk alters prey behaviour and physiology, but few studies have examined downstream consequences on prey demography in wild populations. Perceived predation risk could alter adult reproductive performance via reduced investment in offspring quality and post-birth care. We manipulated perceived predation risk in snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus Erxleben, 1777) by exposing pregnant mothers to chases by a domestic dog (Canis familiaris Linnaeus, 1758). Litter size was comparable between risk-augmented and control groups, but treated females had more stillbirths...
Source: Canadian Journal of Zoology - September 26, 2023 Category: Zoology Authors: Jacob L. Seguin Melanie R. Boudreau Sophia Lavergne Ryan Lamoureux Charles J. Krebs Rudy Boonstra Source Type: research
Two large structure-forming sponges from opposite North American coasts: a taxonomic review of Arctic –Pacific Mycale (Mycale) loveni and the description of a new Arctic–Atlantic Mycale
Canadian Journal of Zoology,Volume 101, Issue 9, Page 807-823, September 2023. Mycale (Mycale) loveni (Fristedt, 1887) is a very large structure-forming sponge that has previously been reported in the North Pacific, North Atlantic, and Arctic oceans. Through morphological and molecular examination, North Atlantic and Eastern Canadian Arctic specimens are now described as a new species, Mycale (Mycale) lorea sp. nov. The two species have similar external morphology; however, the spicules that make up their skeletons differ in size and shape, and the species are also separated phylogenetically by multiple genetic markers. (S...
Source: Canadian Journal of Zoology - September 1, 2023 Category: Zoology Authors: Curtis Dinn Bruce Ott Mari ève Bouchard Marmen Royce Steeves Genevi ève Côté Vonda Hayes Claude Noz ères Meredith V. Everett Abigail Powell Jackson W.F. Chu Source Type: research
Phylogenetic position of Drosophila bocainensis (Diptera, Drosophilidae) in the willistoni group and the paraphyletic status of the bocainensis subgroup
Canadian Journal of Zoology, Ahead of Print. The willistoni group of Drosophila is subdivided into the alagitans, bocainensis, and willistoni subgroups, and has been an important model for studying evolutionary processes in the Neotropics for decades. Phylogenetic studies place the bocainensis subgroup as a grade in relation to the monophyletic willistoni subgroup, although these included molecular or morphological data for up to 4 species of the 12 species included in the first subgroup. Here, we characterized the first nucleotide sequences for three mitochondrial and five nuclear genes of Drosophila bocainensis Pavan&...
Source: Canadian Journal of Zoology - August 31, 2023 Category: Zoology Authors: Henrique R.M. Antoniolli Mar índia Deprá Vera L.S. Valente Source Type: research
A comparative methodological approach to studying the diet of a recovering marine predator, the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus)
Canadian Journal of Zoology, Ahead of Print. Anthropogenic influences caused depletion and subsequent recovery of marine predators, but ecological consequences of altered predator abundance are not well understood. Although many methods are used to study predator diets, methodological biases and logistical challenges preclude robust sampling schemes. We aimed to compare two non-invasive methods: metabarcoding scat-derived deoxyribonucleic acid and hard parts analysis of scat for the Northwest Atlantic grey seal (Halichoerus grypus (Fabricius, 1791)), a species that rebounded after near extirpation. We hypothesized that met...
Source: Canadian Journal of Zoology - August 30, 2023 Category: Zoology Authors: Christina M. McCosker Zachary H. Olson Kathryn A. Ono Source Type: research
Industrial agricultural and woody encroachment associated with American Woodcock habitat selection in an altered grassland ecosystem
Canadian Journal of Zoology, Ahead of Print. Animal distributions continue to undergo dramatic shifts in response to environmental change as many ecosystems become altered or transition away from their historic states. The North American Great Plains was historically a vast prairie ecosystem that has been heavily altered into a patchwork of remnant grasslands, industrial agriculture, and tracts invaded by woody vegetation. We studied the habitat selection of a forest-dwelling bird, the American Woodcock (Scolopax minor J. F. Gmelin, 1789), at the westward periphery of the species ’ range to determine how this species use...
Source: Canadian Journal of Zoology - August 30, 2023 Category: Zoology Authors: Stephen J. Brenner Joel G. Jorgensen Source Type: research
The influence of environmental stressful conditions on the interaction between heat shock proteins and chaperone-assisted proteins in land snails, Helix pomatia L.
Canadian Journal of Zoology, Ahead of Print. Snails are often exposed to high variability of ambient temperatures, thus in response to that, they function for prolonged periods in a dormant state. It is known that molecular chaperones (like heat shock proteins (HSPs)) fulfill important functions in maintaining cell homeostasis and the cellular responses to stress, and that they are activated in many different species upon exposition to various environmental stressors. HSPs defend organisms from the harmful consequences of heat shock and potentially alternative stressors too. After thorough consideration, we decided to iden...
Source: Canadian Journal of Zoology - August 28, 2023 Category: Zoology Authors: Paulina A. Idczak-Figiel Maciej Ostrowski Anna Nowakowska Source Type: research
The nose knows: a review of the diversity, form, and function of the external and internal features of the bat nose
Canadian Journal of Zoology, Ahead of Print. Dr. M. Brock Fenton has been intrigued by the diversity of bats throughout his long career, and has combined his research and photography skills to capture the extensive morphological diversity found across the order Chiroptera. In this paper, we honour Brock ’s fascination with diversity by conducting a review of the external and internal characteristics of the bat nose, a morphological feature that Brock’s photographs have beautifully captured in many bat species. Specifically, we explore variation in form and function of the bat rostrum and its ro le in respiration, echol...
Source: Canadian Journal of Zoology - August 24, 2023 Category: Zoology Authors: Yvonne A. Dzal Erin H. Gillam Source Type: research
Taxonomic revision of the sexually dimorphic flies of the Neotropical genus Euepalpus Townsend, 1908 (Diptera: Tachinidae), with notes on sexual patches in Tachinini
Canadian Journal of Zoology, Ahead of Print. Euepalpus Townsend, 1908 is a small Neotropical genus of bristle flies (Diptera: Tachinidae: Tachinini), which includes two valid species whose taxonomy is unclear, mainly because males and females are sexually dimorphic. Males exhibit a pair of sexual patches on the dorsal surface of abdominal tergite 5, an unusual feature in Tachinidae. Here, the genus is revised, including a key to species and detailed descriptions and illustrations of the type material and males and females of each species. The male and female terminalia of Euepalpus species are described for the first time....
Source: Canadian Journal of Zoology - August 24, 2023 Category: Zoology Authors: Filipe Macedo Gudin Source Type: research
Using the electron transport system as an indicator of organismal thermal tolerance and respiratory exploitation
Canadian Journal of Zoology, Ahead of Print. Freshwater ecosystems are undergoing rapid thermal shifts, making it increasingly important to understand species-specific responses to these changes. Traditional techniques for determining a species ’ thermal tolerance are often lethal and time consuming. Using the enzyme activity associated with the electron transport system (ETS; hereafter referred to as enzyme assay) may provide a non-lethal, rapid, and efficient alternative to traditional techniques for some species. We used largemouth ba ss Micropterus salmoides (Lacepede, 1802) to test the efficacy of using an enzyme as...
Source: Canadian Journal of Zoology - August 23, 2023 Category: Zoology Authors: Ehlana G. Stell Shannon K. Brewer Lindsay M. Horne Russell A. Wright Dennis R. DeVries Source Type: research
Association of reproduction with seasonality in a subtropical viviparous fish, Jenynsia tucumana (Cyprinodontiformes: Anablepidae)
Canadian Journal of Zoology, Ahead of Print. For fishes in temperate environments, the timing of seasonal reproduction has been correlated with changes in photoperiod and temperature. In tropical environments, seasonal hydrological patterns have been found to be drivers of the onset of reproduction. Despite these established relationships, data on reproductive seasonality for viviparous fish are limited. Here, we investigate aspects of reproduction in the viviparous fish Jenynsia tucumana Aguilera& Mirande, 2005 over the course of 12 months in the Salí River basin (Tucumán, Argentina), which is characterized by d...
Source: Canadian Journal of Zoology - August 21, 2023 Category: Zoology Authors: Hanna K. Jewell C.A. Noguera C.E. Hael Juli án Torres-Dowdall Gast ón Aguilera Source Type: research
Wind farm and wildfire: spatial ecology of an endangered freshwater turtle in a recovering landscape
Canadian Journal of Zoology, Ahead of Print. Wind energy presents many advantages, but wind farms pose risks to wildlife and habitats. We hypothesized that habitat changes caused by the impacts of wind farm construction and wildfire would alter the spatial ecology of Spotted Turtles (Clemmys guttata (Schneider, 1792)). In a space-for-time study design, we outfitted 28 turtles with radio transmitters in three treatments (Control n = 10, Wind farm n = 9, and Windburn (wind farm and wildfire n = 9)) and located turtles every 3–5 days throughout the active season. We did not detect any significant differences in tur...
Source: Canadian Journal of Zoology - August 18, 2023 Category: Zoology Authors: S.J. Delay O. Urquhart J.D. Litzgus Source Type: research
Microhabitat use of northern and southern flying squirrels in a recent hybrid zone
We examined the role of habitat use as a factor contributing to reproductive isolation of northern (Glaucomys sabrinus (Shaw, 1801)) and southern (Glaucomys volans (Linnaeus, 1758)) flying squirrels in an area of secondary contact in Ontario, Canada. Specifically, we looked at summer microhabitat use within sites of sympatry and allopatry to test for evidence of reinforcement due to diverging habitat use. We also examined differences in broad-scale habitat features at woodlots to determine predictors of species occurrence across sites. We used 18 years (2002 –2019) of flying squirrel summer capture data from six sites al...
Source: Canadian Journal of Zoology - August 16, 2023 Category: Zoology Authors: Paul P. O'Brien Jeff Bowman Sasha Newar Colin J. Garroway Source Type: research
Standard metabolic rate differs between rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) growth forms
Canadian Journal of Zoology, Ahead of Print. In variable environments, repeatable phenotypic differences between individuals provide the variation required for natural selection. The pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) provides a conceptual framework linking individual physiology and life histories to behaviour, where rapidly growing individuals demonstrate higher rates of resting or “standard” metabolic rate (SMR). If differences in SMR are consistent between fast- and slow-growing individuals, these differences may be important to capture in bioenergetic relationships used to describe their growth, energy acquisition, and a...
Source: Canadian Journal of Zoology - August 3, 2023 Category: Zoology Authors: B. Greenaway C. Veneruzzo M.D. Rennie Source Type: research
Running overnight and struggling to find sea ice: long-distance movement by an Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) from Russia
Canadian Journal of Zoology, Ahead of Print. Given the scale, speed, and complexity of recent changes in the Arctic, our understanding of their multiple implications for Arctic biota is still limited. We detail for the first time in the vast Russian Arctic the long-distance movement of an Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus (Linnaeus, 1758)) tracked with a GPS/iridium collar providing considerably high precision (several meters) and frequency of locations (every 4 h). Revealed diurnal activity patterns of the Arctic fox indicate that it ran greater distances in night hours and shortest in day hours during the most intense moveme...
Source: Canadian Journal of Zoology - August 3, 2023 Category: Zoology Authors: N. Sokolova K. Shklyar I. Fufachev V. Filippova A. Sokolov Source Type: research
