sept. 15, 20101 lecture outline 1. why take this mammalogy course? 2. why study mammals? 3....
TRANSCRIPT
Sept. 15, 2010 1
Lecture Outline
1. Why take this Mammalogy course?2. Why Study Mammals?3. Approaches to Studying Mammals4. Mammal Characteristics (continued in next lecture)
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Why take Mammalogy 425?
Add breadth and depth to your understanding of Class Mammalia.
Integration – link what you have learned in previous courses into a comprehensive package.
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Why Study Mammals? 1. Consumptive resource 2. Transport (domestication literally shaped society) 3. Pets 4. Recreation 5. Safety (direct and indirect) 6. Medicine 7. Ecosystem health (e.g., conservation) 8. Reflection
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Consumptive resource Meat, hides, bones, fur, blubber,
horns/antlers, & sometimes organs
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Pets 39% of US households have a dog 33% of US households have a cat http://www.thebarkleypethotel.com/accommodations/canine_quarters.aspx
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Recreation and tourism 10.7 million hunters pursue big-game
annually (USFWS 2006) Wolf-based tourism at Yellowstone = $5 mil
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Safety Lions – 871 people injured or killed in Tanzania in last 15 years (NSF 2005)
Tsavo lions = 140 workers in Kenya (1898) (Smithsonian.com) Njombe lions = 1,500 people between 1932-1947 (Smithsonian.com)
Leopard of Rudraprayag – 125 victims (1918-1926) Leopard of Panar – killed 400 (1940s) Tigers
Champawat Tigress (early 1900s)– killed 200 people in Nepal and another 236 in India before she was tracked down an killed.
Bear Mother grizzly mauls 3 in Montana (7/2010) Mother grizzly attackes 3 bikers in Anchorage (7/2010) Grizzly attacks geologist in Alaska Range (6/2010) Grizzly attacks biker in Anchorage (6/2010)
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Safety (cont.) Vectors or reservoirs of human disease
The Plague (rats and prairie dogs) Hantavirus (rodents) Lyme disease (deer) Ebola (monkeys) Rabies (raccoons, skunks, fox, dogs,…)
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Medicine Animal testing
Development of treatments Ensure safety of food and drugs
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TMC) 700 kg of bear gall bladder each year (1 bear gall
bladder = 50g) (Yaoting 1994). Deer antler and velvet = arthritis, stress,
depression, sexual disorders,… Tiger penis
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Ecosystem health Conservation
Preserve biodiversity – core of life Prevent more extinctions
Saudi Gazelle (extinct 2008)
Sound management requires rigorous research and knowledge
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Environmental damage and human conflict Crop damage Invasive species
Rat Island in Alaska http://aprn.org/2010/09/01/rats-eliminated-from-aleutian-island/
Fox removal Livestock predation Predator control
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Reflection
By learning more about other mammals, we learn more about humankind. “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the
integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” Aldo Leopold
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” Charles Darwin.
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Approaches to studying mammals 1. Field methods 2. Lab & Museum methods (Sept. 28 lab) 3. Systematic methods
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Field Capture & Marking
Trapping Net gunning http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAj9GvCpCS8&feature=related
Tranquilizer darts Hair snares http://gallery.usgs.gov/videos/15
Feces Physical features (whale fins) Tags (implants, ear clips) Radiocollars
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Surveying & monitoring Radiotelemetry (VHF and GPS) Passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags Powdertracking Fecal pellet surveys Track surveys Genetics
Feces, hair, bones
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Observation (Ex. LARS, Denali) Focal animal sampling – recording specific
behaviors or watching a specific individual Scan sampling – recording behavior at pre-
determined intervals
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Laboratory methods Physiological – study of how tissues and organs
function Nutrition Metabolism Reproduction
Genetics Population structure and dynamics Speciation Phylogeny
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Isolate pieces of DNA that are unique among individual deer
Microsatellite Markers
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Investigate population dynamics Abundance, survival, movement
Determine phylogeny and phylogeography AND…the technology will only improve!
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Systematics: The field of biology that deals with the diversity of living organisms, usually divided into the two subdisciplines of taxonomy and phylogenetics.
Taxonomy: The science of describing, naming, and classifying (grouping) organisms.
Taxon (plural: taxa): Any named group of organisms (not necessarily a clade). A subspecies respresents a "taxon," as does every hierarchical level up to Kingdom.
Phylogenetics: The field of biology that deals with the relationships between organisms, including the discovery of these relationships and the study of the causes (e.g., evolution) behind these patterns.
Systematic Methods
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Systematic methods Intraspecific variation – morphological,
physiological, behavioral, and spatial differences within a species.
Intraspecific phylogeography – geographic distribution of genealogical lineages within a species.
Species boundaries – identifying units of biodiversity
Classification – grouping species into progressively more inclusive categories.
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CLASSIFICATION: The process and practice of describing, defining and ranking taxa within a hierarchical series of groups; permits organizing and ordering knowledge about organisms, and creates a simplified language for conveying information about order in the diversity of life. In biology, we use the Linnean classification hierarchy (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species).
What’s a mammal?
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Simply… Classification = grouping species into progressively
more inclusive categories.
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What’s a mammal? Kingdom = Animalia
Phylum = Chordata Subphylum = Vertebrata
Class = Mammalia Order = Primates Family = Hominidae Genus = Homo Species = sapiens
Orders = 26 Species ≈ 5000
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Unique features (soft anatomy)
Hair Mammary glands Four chambered heart with left aortic arch Enucleated red blood cells Muscular diaphragm
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Mammary glands Highly modified sweat glands Produce milk (mostly female) Number & location varies
Located high on side
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Mammary glands - structural variation
Hairs Nipples(most mammals)
Teat(e.g., cows)
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Common features (but not unique or not found in all mammals)
1. Endothermy (birds)
2. Give birth to live young (reptiles, fish,..)