Rapid organismal radiations occurring on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) and the mechanisms underlying Asia-Africa intercontinental disjunctions have both attracted much attention from evolutionary biologists. Here we use the genus Isodon (Lamiaceae), a primarily East Asian lineage with disjunct species in central and southern Africa, as a case study to shed light upon these processes. The mo...

Two hundred castrated male Angora goats (18 mo of age) were divided equally between rangeland sites in the oak savannah of the Edwards Plateau (EP) and the mixed-brush shrublands of the South Texas Plains (STP) for 5 yr to study influence of environment and age on body weight (BW), mohair production, and mohair fiber characteristics. Goats were grazed on rangeland typical of the respective regi...

A decrease in the ratio of 18O to 16O (delta18O) of sedimentary carbonate from the Bolivian Altiplano has been interpreted to indicate rapid surface uplift of the late Miocene Andean plateau (AP). Here we report on paleoclimate simulations of Andean surface uplift with an atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) that tracks oxygen isotopes in vapor. The GCM predicts changes in atmospheric ci...

AIM To determine the location of medial tibial plateau stress fractures and its relationship with tibial plateau morphology using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS A retrospective review of patients with a diagnosis of stress fracture of the medial tibial plateau was performed for a 5-year period. Fourteen patients [three female and 11 male, with an average age of 36.4 years (range, 1...

Using species distribution data, we developed a georeferenced database of troglobionts (cave-obligate species) in Tennessee to examine spatial patterns of species richness and endemism, including >2000 records for 200 described species. Forty aquatic troglobionts (stygobionts) and 160 terrestrial troglobionts are known from caves in Tennessee, the latter having the greatest diversity of any sta...

The Blackwater River is a natural division in the central part of the British Columbia Interior Plateau that separates the Nechako Plateau to the north from the Fraser Plateau to the south. Bedrock mapping in the southemmost part of the Nechako Plateau began in 1992, and to date an area of 3500 square kilometres, centred on the Fawnie and Nechako ranges, has been mapped at l:50 000 scale (Fig...

An accumulation of evidence suggests that the force-velocity relationship (FVR) of skeletal muscle plays a major role in limiting maximum human sprinting speed. However, most of the theories on this limiting role have been non-specific as to how the FVR limits speed. The FVR is characterized by three parameters that each have a different effect on its shape, and could thus limit sprinting speed...

Disturbances, both human-induced and natural, may re-shape ecosystems by influencing their composition, structure, and functional processes. Plateau zokor (Eospalax baileyi) is a typical subterranean rodent endemic to Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), which are considered ecosystem engineers influencing the alpine ecosystem function. It is also regarded as a pest aggravating the degradation of ove...

All Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) endemic species are assumed to have originated recently, although very rare species most likely diverged early. These ancient species provide an excellent model to examine the origin and evolution of QTP endemic plants in response to the QTP uplifts and the climate changes that followed in this high altitude region. In this study, we examined these hypotheses b...