Browsing by Subject "Salamanders"
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Item A Comparison of the Hemoglobins of Larval and Transformed Ambystoma Tigrinum(Texas Tech University, 1971-08) Wade, Margaret GastonNot Available.Item A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF ENVIRONMENTAL DNA TO DETECT THE PRESENCE OF RARE EURYCEA SALAMANDERS IN THE DEVILS RIVER, TEXAS(6/5/2014) Serio, Tara Camille; Serio, Tara Camille; Dixon, Micheal T.; Dixon, Michael T; Eoff, Shirley M; Ammerman, Loren KPreliminary surveys at the Southern Unit of the Devils River State Natural Area (DRSNA-SU) near Del Rio, Texas, suggest that two undescribed species of Eurycea salamanders may inhabit this westernmost area of their projected habitat range, but no research has specifically investigated their presence. Members of the genus Eurycea found in central Texas are primarily aquatic and inhabit aquifers. Most species of Hill Country Eurycea salamanders are suspected to be threatened or endangered. Following an unsuccessful trapping effort, primers were designed from the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene that have the potential to be specific to the genus Eurycea. As part of an introductory investigation these primers were used to explore the potential of extracting environmental DNA (eDNA) to demonstrate species presence. While these methods did not yield conclusive results, this project contributes to the growing body of work on eDNA as an inexpensive way to monitor freshwater species.Item Competition among five species of cave associated salamanders (family Plethodontidae)(Texas Tech University, 1980-05) Rudolph, Daniel Craig.Item Energetics in Different Life Histories of Ambystoma Tigrinum(Texas Tech University, 1977-05) Chambers, R. ChristopherPronghorn in the Texas Panhandle occur on scattered, isolated islands of uncultivated prairie. With changing land use patterns in the Panhandle, there is some concern about the ability of pronghorn to cope with habitat alterations. This study was designed: (1) to determine the plant species most commonly eaten by sympatric pronghorn and cattle in 3 study areas, (2) to assess the availability and degree of utilization of the vegetation in each study area, and (3) to assess the dietary flexibility and overlap between pronghorn and cattle, and compatibility of pronghorn with livestock grazing within and between 3 habitats. Three vegetatively different areas were chosen for study, ranging from the open prairie grassland of the High Plains, to the mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) savanna of the Rolling Plains, to the shinnery oak (Quercus havardii) Sandhills. Forbs made up the bulk of the pronghorn diet (68%-90%) on all sites and showed little seasonal variation, regardless of different forb availabilities among study areas. Grass use was minor and ranged from l%-4% of the annual diet among study areas. Use of shrubs occurred only when forbs were not available (4%-22% of the diet among areas). The percentage that each food plant occurred in the diet was divided by the percentage it occurred on the range to yield a Selection Index (SI). Although flexibility in pronghorn diets was not seen, almost all food plants were selected with Si's greater than 1.0, indicating a high degree of selectivity. Cattle ate mainly grass on all areas (46%-63%). Forbs constituted 12%-31% of the annual diet among areas and shrub use was 2%-20%. Cattle were less selective in feeding than pronghorn in that many of the major dietary items had Si's at or near 1.0. Dietary overlap of pronghorn and cattle varied among areas and ranged from 10%-37%. Data suggested that dietary overlap among areas varied inversely with the quality of pronghorn habitat. Habitat vii selection data indicated pronghorn used open, gently rolling areas, and significant preference/avoidance for different vegetation types was expressed only on the Rolling Plains where vegetation types were highly varied. Factors affecting the use of different pastures by pronghorn were similar among areas; vegetative composition appeared to be more important than the presence or absence of cattle. Thus, pronghorn range use data indicated that separation from cattle was not maintained spatially (via pasture or vegetation type use), but maintained through selective food habits and grazing. Competition for forage with cattle was not as important as quality of habitat in determining pronghorn success in the Texas Panhandle.Item Everything is liquid(2014-05) Swan, Taylor; Rifkin, Ned; Higgins, Kathleen MarieIf we are to imagine universal reality--a reality where both subjectivity and objectivity exist--mapped as a hollow sphere, the outer shell that defines its physical presence would be the objective reality and the vacuum of space encased would be subjectivity. The hollow core is not defined by--or representative of--a singular piece of the shell, but only of the shell in its entirety. The human subject solely roams this inner space since they are nothing outside themselves. Their task is to wander the spectrum of subjectivity completely until they have reached objectivity. The objective reality only defines shape and mass. It is concrete and monolithic. Energy is distributed equally along its surface and each point reinforces the structural existence of the adjacent points. All of humanity is a varying degree of subjectivity, but the spectrum is finite with objectivity always at one end; objectivity is subjectivity's ultimate experience. Death is the crystallization into the shell of objectivity for the subject becomes pure matter and form that is severed from will. It seems then the only real limit to an individual’s experience is death, the human's subjective experience permeating into objectivity and transforms from a state that is on the inside perceiving out, to a state that is outside of itself, which is to say nothing. It is possible to observe this transformation as a continuous seam of reality with varying degrees of transformation, and not a bold division of two states.Item Heart Rates, Oxygen Requirements, and Activity Rhythms of Two Morphs of Ambystoma Tigrinum(Texas Tech University, 1972-05) Kenney, Jimmy WayneNot Available.Item Morphological, physiological and behavioral polymorphism among populations of Ambystoma tigrinum mavortium(Texas Tech University, 1973-05) Armentrout, DedeBy subjecting populations of salamanders living in either kind of habitat to examination based on the aforementioned characters, it was hoped that some insight could be gained regarding divergence of these populations. It was assumed that information gathered in this study would be useful in a projection of the evolutionary status of divergent populations of Ambystoma tiqrinum mavortium inhabiting the semi-arid grasslands of western Texas.Item Serum protein changes during transformation in Ambystoma tigrinum(Texas Tech University, 1971-08) De Lisle, Katherine R.Not available