Next-generation sequencing provides a powerful new approach for developing functional genomic tools for nonmodel species, helping to narrow the gap between studies of model organisms and those of natural populations. Consequently, massively parallel 454 sequencing was used to characterize a normalized cDNA library derived from skin biopsy samples of twelve Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gaze...

Long temporal records of Holocene wild mammal communities are essential to examine the role human impacts and climatic fluctuations in configuration modern ecosystems. We show that such can be assembled through extensive radiocarbon dating faunal remains obtained from biogenic cave deposits. dated 110 mammalian 19 different sites Judean Desert. use dates combination with archaeological survey d...

Top carnivores play an important role in maintaining energy flow and functioning of the ecosystem, and a clear understanding of their diets and foraging strategies is essential for developing effective conservation strategies. In this paper, we compared diets and prey selection of snow leopards and wolves based on analyses of genotyped scats (snow leopards n = 182, wolves n = 57), collected wit...

Procapra picticaudata Hodgson, 1846, is commonly called the Tibetan gazelle, goa (5 Tibetan), or zang yuan ling (5 Chinese) and is monotypic. It is a high-elevation specialist endemic to the Tibetan Plateau where it prefers alpine meadow and alpine steppe but uses other lower-elevation plains and valleys. It is partial to good grasslands with high diversity of forbs. There have been no systemat...

1 By viewing animal movement paths as realizations of a continuous stochastic process, we introduce a rigorous likelihood method for estimating the statistical parameters of movement processes. This method makes no assumption of a hiddenMarkov property, places no special emphasis on the sampling rate, is insensitive to irregular sampling and data gaps, can produce reasonable estimates with limi...

Title of Document: ANIMAL DISTRIBUTIONS AND MOVEMENT BEHAVIORS IN RELATION TO RESOURCE DYNAMICS Thomas Mueller, Ph.D., 2008 Directed By: Professor William F. Fagan Department of Biology Animal movements, whether spatially constrained or spread across broad spatial scales, are often motivated by a need for resources. This thesis seeks to explore the role spatial and temporal resource dynamics ma...