The racket-tipped tail of the motmots is uniquely shaped and its formation has attracted much attention. Barbs that grow along the wire of the motmot’s two central tail feathers are weakly attached and shed soon after development. The cause of the weak attachment of these barbs is unclear. I induced feather growth by plucking the central tail feathers from seven turquoise-browed motmots Eumomot...

The blindsnake superfamily Typhlopoidea (Gerrhopilidae, Typhlopidae, and Xenotyphlopidae) is a diverse, widespread part of the global snake fauna. A recent systematic revision based on molecular phylogenetic analyses and some morphological evidence presented a preliminary solution to the non-monophyly of many previously recognized genera, but additional clarification is needed regarding the rec...

Ellobius remains are common and often abundant in southeastern Europe, western central Asia archaeological sites. A correct identification of species is crucial for our understanding the evolution communities through time, including biostratigraphic sequences to be established. This study applies geometric morphometric methods (GMM) first lower molars, with objectives: 1) discriminate modern ex...

[1] Brush removal is commonly conducted to increase water availability in arid areas, such as central Texas, where water resources are stressed. The effectiveness of brush clearing to enhance recharge, however, remains uncertain as numerous studies have yielded contradictory results. This study assesses the effects of brush clearing on recharge to a cave at Natural Bridge Caverns, central Texas...

background: the best-known dangerous spiders belong to the six genera. the genus loxosceles or violin spiders are well known for their ability to cause skin necrosis or loxoscelism. all loxosceles species have medical im­portance due to their necrotizing venom. the present article reports the occurrence of l. rufescens in charkhab cave, south of iran (larestan). methods: the specimens were coll...

—We describe a strikingly distinct new species of Acutotyphlops from Kalinga Province of Luzon Island, Philippines. The new species is most closely related to other members of the genus Acutotyphlops from Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands and represents a new genus and species group record for the Philippines. A revised definition of Acutotyphlops is presented along with a synopsis of th...

The subterranean environment of Christmas Island is diverse and includes freshwater, marine, anchialine, and terrestrial habitats. The cave fauna comprises swiftlets, and a diverse assemblage of invertebrates, both terrestrial and aquatic, which includes a number of rare and endemic species of high conservation significance. At least twelve species are probably restricted to subterranean habita...

Cave animals, compared to surface-dwelling relatives, tend to have reduced eyes and pigment, longer appendages, and enhanced mechanosensory structures. Pressing questions include how certain cave-related traits are gained and lost, and if they originate through the same or different genetic programs in independent lineages. An excellent system for exploring these questions is the isopod, Asellu...

In this paper, necessary and sufficient conditions are stated for the Craig-Sakamoto equation det(I − sA − tB) = det(I − sA)det(I − tB) to hold for all scalars s, t ∈ C. Moreover, spectral properties for matrices A and B that satisfy this equation are investigated.

The causes of the late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions are still enigmatic. Although the fossil record can provide approximations for when a species went extinct, the timing of its disappearance alone cannot resolve the causes and mode of the decline preceding its extinction. However, ancient DNA analyses can reveal population size changes over time and narrow down potential causes of extinc...