Title of Document: COMPARATIVE SUB-LETHAL EFFECTS OF POLYBROMINATED DIPHENYL ETHERS FOLLOWING SIMULATED MATERNAL TRANSFER AND DIETARY EXPOSURE IN TWO SPECIES OF TURTLE Karen Marie Eisenreich, Ph.D., 2011 Directed By: Associate Professor Christopher Rowe, Marine Estuarine and Environmental Science Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are contaminants of concern as their concentrations have bee...

OBJECTIVE The long-eared hedgehog (Hemiechinus auritus) is a nocturnal animal living in Central and Southeast Iran. However, there are few studies concerning endoparasites, some of which are zoonotic, of the hedgehogs in the north and northwest of Iran. The aim of the present study is to investigate endoparasites in long-eared hedgehogs, living in Zabol district, Southeast Iran. MATERIALS AND...

In this paper new mitochondrial COI sequences of Common Barn Owl Tyto alba (Scopoli, 1769) and Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus (Pontoppidan, 1763) from southern Chile are reported and compared with sequences from other parts of the World. The intraspecific genetic divergence (mean p-distance) was 4.6 to 5.5% for the Common Barn Owl in comparison with specimens from northern Europe and Australasia...

Red-eared slider turtles are genetically bipotential for sex determination. In this species, as in many other reptiles, incubation temperature of the egg determines gonadal sex. At higher incubation temperatures females are produced and increasing temperature appears to increase estrogen production in the embryonic brain. Treatment of eggs incubating at a male-producing temperature with exogeno...

We investigated the relationship between predator detection threshold and antipredator behaviour in noctuoid moths. Moths with ears sensitive to the echolocation calls of insectivorous bats use avoidance manoeuvres in flight to evade these predators. Earless moths generally fly less than eared species as a primary defence against predation by bats. For eared moths, however, there is interspecif...

Echolocating bats detect prey using ultrasonic pulses, and many nocturnally flying insects effectively detect and evade these predators through sensitive ultrasonic hearing. Many eared insects can use the intensity of the predator-generated ultrasound and the stereotyped progression of bat echolocation pulse rate to assess risk level. Effective responses can vary from gentle turns away from the...

In Poland, just like in many other countries, selling Red-eared terrapins Trachemys scripta elegans as invasive has been prohibited, but there are other subspecies of Trachemys scripta on the pet market, constituting a threat to the native Pond turtle Emys orbicularis. I provide data on the structure of local trade in turtles in eastern Poland and the factors driving it after the introduction o...