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Results for “The American Naturalist”

Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

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At least 397 records · Page 22Linked to original sources
USGS1995

Characteristics of mineral licks used by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

Characteristics of mineral licks used by white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) were examined in the northern Black Hills of South Dakota in May 1992. Concentrations of sodium, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, chloride and magnesium, and soil texture, organic matter and pH for licks and nonlick soils were compared. Black Hills lick and nonlick samples also were compared to 67 other North American licks characterized by Jones and Hanson (1985). Degree of use (high or low), and vegetative and topographic characteristics also were determined. Use of mineral licks by deer was highest in spring and early summer; mineral licks were not used by deer in winter. Mostly adult females, and on a few occasions fawns visited licks. Soil texture was finer and organic matter was lower (P < 0.05) in lick than nonlick soils. Soil pH, soluble salts, sodium and nitrate nitrogen were higher (P < 0.05) in lick than in nonlick soils. Chloride was the only mineral that differed (P = 0.03) between high-use and low-use licks but was not considered important in lick selection. Sodium was the primary mineral sought by white-tailed deer using mineral licks.

American Midland Naturalist↗
USGS1995

Disarticulation of turtle shells in north-central Florida: How long does a shell remain in the woods?

From 1985 through 1991, I examined and categorized the sequential shell disarticulation patterns of 80 turtle specimens, representing six species and three families, in N-central Florida. Shells were allowed to disarticulate on land under natural environmental conditions. Turtle shells were observed from 5-54 mo. Based on examinations of photos, nine stages of disarticulation were identified. Although it is relatively easy to classify turtle shells into disarticulation stages, the amount of time between death and shell discovery cannot be determined precisely due to individual and species-specific variation in disarticulation rates. Shells do not necessarily pass sequentially through well-defined disarticulation stages. In general, shells of the most commonly observed species, Gopherus polyphemus, Pseudemys nelsoni and P. floridana, routinely remained intact from 12-30 mo, depending on species. Shells usually disarticulated completely by 40 mo or longer.

American Midland Naturalist↗
USGS1995

Minnesota wolf dispersal to Wisconsin and Michigan

Records are presented of three wolves that dispersed ≥200 km from northern Minnesota to the Minnesota-Wisconsin border, to southern Wisconsin, and to Michigan. This report documents that wolves cross major highways and other developed areas and that the recently recolonized wolf population in Wisconsin and Michigan could have originated from wolf populations in Minnesota other than those living along the Minnesota-Wisconsin border.

Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin↗
USGS1995

Sympatric occurrence of Eubranchiopoda in ephemeral pools: A comment

Debrey et al. (1991) observed what they thought was the atypical occurrence of three species of Eubranchiopoda, each belonging to a different order in a vernal prairie pond in southeastern Wyoming. Co-occurrence of Eubranchiopoda in ephemeral pools is not unusual. Evidence of multi-species temporary pool communities is presented, along with a brief discussion of what may structure ephermeral pond communities.

American Midland Naturalist↗
USGS1992

Distribution of Yellowstone grizzly bears during the 1980s

Grizzly bear ( Ursus arctos horribilis ) females with young occupied a greater proportion of area east of Yellowstone National Park during 1980-1989 compared to 1973-1979. Occupancy by all bears and females with young was lower in all peripheral areas compared to the Park, but greater east and south compared to north and south of the Park. Observed changes reflect not only a static or slightly increasing population trend, but may also reflect biases in data collection. These biases are discussed and distributions of all observations and females with young are presented. Methodological problems implicit in analyzing changes in distribution of grizzly bears are also discussed.

Idaho, Montana, Wyoming↗
USGS1993

Wolf nipple measurements as indices of age and breeding status

We measured nipple sizes of 29 captive wolves ( Canis lupus ), of known breeding histories, throughout the year and tested distinctions among various known breeding statuses of 20 wild wolves examined in northeastern Minnesota from May through September. For ca. 8 mo of the year only breeders and nonbreeders can be classified. Distinctions between current and former breeders were not reliable.

American Midland Naturalist↗
USGS1994

A single deer stands-off three wolves

The first record of a deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) standing off three wolves ( Canis lupus ) is documented by an aerial observation in northeastern Minnesota.

American Midland Naturalist↗
USGS1997

External morphology of spermatozoa and spermatozeugmata of the freshwater mussel Truncilla truncata (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Unionidae)

Truncilla truncata males release spherical aggregates of spermatozoa, called spermatozeugmata, at spawning. Sperm aggregates from other bivalve species have been described, but few detailed studies exist of the morphology of unionid spermatozeugmata and spermatozoa. We provide the first description of the external morphology of spermatozeugmata and spermatozoa of T. Truncata. The spermatozeugmata had an inside diameter of 76 mu m and contained 8000-9000 spermatozoa. Heads of spermatozoa were directed toward the center of the sphere into a translucent shell; tails were arranged radially and caused the spermatozeugmata to rotate. Spermatozoa of T. Truncata measured 3.3 mu m in length (excluding tail) and each had a head, a midpiece and a flagellum. We also documented the release of spermatozeugmata in two additional unionid species, Lampsilis cardium and Amblema plicata plicata.

American Midland Naturalist↗
USGS2015

Rafinesque’s names for western American mammals, including the earliest scientific name for the coyote ( Canis latrans Say, 1822), based on the apocryphal journal of Charles Le Raye

In 1817, the naturalist Constantine S. Rafinesque named nine new species of mammals from the American West, indicating the recently published journal of Charles Le Raye as the primary source for his descriptions. Le Raye was purported to be a French Canadian fur trader who, as a captive of the Sioux, had traveled across broad portions of the Missouri and Yellowstone river drainages a few years before the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806) traversed much of the same region. Le Raye's journal was relied upon by generations of scholars as a valuable source documenting the native peoples and natural history of the Upper Missouri river in the era just prior to European settlement. Subsequent research, however, has shown that Le Raye never existed, and his purported journal is fraudulent. Despite this, Rafinesque's creation of the names followed conventional and accepted practice at the time, and they are porentially available. Fortunately, much of the Le Raye journal was based on verifiable sources, such as Patrick Gass's published account of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Identification of the original source materials makes it possible to establish the correct application of Rafinesque's names and to determine their current status. This process reveals that the earliest scientific name for the coyote ( Canis latrans Say, 1822) was Canis chlorops Rafinesque, 1817; this name is now a nomen oblitum , however, and is no longer available.

Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washingto↗
USGS1993

Population trends of Alaskan seabirds

Ornithology in Alaska formally began with the observations of Georg Wilhelm Steller during Vitus Bering's voyage of discovery in 1741. Steller's journal makes brief mention of various seabird species he encountered during his travels in the Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian Islands (Frost and Engel 1988). For more than 100 years following Steller, the Russian-American Company was active in commercial fur harvesting throughout southern coastal Alaska, but this period saw little contribution to a scientific understanding of the region's avifauna. With the purchase of Alaska by the United States in 1867, a period of American exploration began that included significant work by pioneering naturalists such as Dall (1873, 1874), Elliot (1881), Nelson (1883), and Turner (1885, 1886). While this activity established a comprehensive list and general knowledge of the distribution of seabird species occurring in Alaska, early observers provided no quantitative estimates of abundance for any colony or region. The observations of Heath (1915) and Willett (1912, 1915, 1917) at two locations in southeastern Alaska are notable for including the first numerical estimates of any seabird populations for comparison with recent data. Willett's (1912, 1915) estimates of 13 species are given in Table 1 with results from a 1976 Survey at Forrester Island (DeGange et al. 1977) and a 1981 survey at St. Lazaria Island (Nelson et al 1982). In the aggregate, seabird numbers appeared to increase dramatically at both sites, but the differences may be largely artificial. Because Willett (1915) did not employ rigorous sampling methods, DeGange et al. (1977) surmised that he grossly underestimated the populations of burrowing species such as storm-petrels, Cassin's Auklets. and Rhinoceros Aulkets. Nelson et al. (1982) offered a similar interpretation of total storm-petrel numbers at St. Lazaria, but felt that a shift in the species ratio of Leach's and Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels had likely occurred. It seems reasonably certain that real changes in some of the open-nesters like Common Murres (down at Forrester Island, up at St. Lazaria) and Glaucous-winged and Herring Gulls (absent or down at both sites) have occurred since Willet's time.

Alaska↗
USGS2015

Who invented the mule deer ( Odocoileus hemionus )? On the authorship of the fraudulent 1812 journal of Charles Le Raye

The captivity journal of Charles Le Raye was first published in 1812 as a chapter in A topographical description of the state of Ohio, Indiana Territory, and Louisiana , a volume authored anonymously by a late officer in the U. S. Army. Le Raye was purported to be a French Canadian fur trader who, as a captive of the Sioux, had travelled across broad portions of the Missouri and Yellowstone river drainages a few years before the Lewis and Clark expedition (1804-1806), and his account of the land, its people, and its natural resources was relied upon as a primary source by generations of natural historians, geographers, and ethnographers. Based directly on descriptions of animals in the published journal, the naturalist Constantine S. Rafinesque named seven new species of North American mammals, including what are currently recognized as the mule deer ( Odocoileus hemionus ) and a Great Plains subspecies of white-tailed deer ( O. virginianus macrourus ). Unfortunately, Le Raye never existed, and historical, geographical, and ethnographical evidence indicates that the journal is fraudulent. Determining the author of this work is relevant to identifying the sources used to construct it, which may help us to understand the real animals upon which Rafinesque's species are based. Traditionally, authorship of the volume was attributed to Jervis Cutler, but his role in composing the fraudulent Le Raye journal has been called into question. In this paper, I present additional evidence supporting the hypothesis that Jervis Cutler bears primary responsibility for the Le Raye journal and that he had the background, opportunity, and potential motive to author it.

Archives of Natural History↗
USGS2006

Distribution and abundance of American eels in the White Oak River estuary, North Carolina

Apparent widespread declines in abundance of Anguilla rostrata (American eel) have reinforced the need for information regarding its life history and status. We used commercial eel pots and crab (peeler) pots to examine the distribution, condition, and abundance of American eels within the White Oak River estuary, NC, during summers of 2002-2003. Catch of American eels per overnight set was 0.35 (SE = 0.045) in 2002 and 0.49 (SE = 0.044) in 2003. There was not a significant linear relationship between catch per set and depth in 2002 (P = 0.31, depth range 0.9-3.4 m) or 2003 (P = 0.18, depth range 0.6-3.4 m). American eels from the White Oak River were in good condition, based on the slope of a length-weight relationship (3.41) compared to the median slope (3.15) from other systems. Estimates of population density from grid sampling in 2003 (300 mm and larger: 4.0-13.8 per ha) were similar to estimates for the Hudson River estuary, but substantially less than estimates from other (smaller) systems including tidal creeks within estuaries. Density estimates from coastal waters can be used with harvest records to examine whether overfishing has contributed to the recent apparent declines in American eel abundance.

Southeastern Naturalist↗
USGS2013

Diet of the eastern mudminnow (Umbra pygmaea DeKay) from two geographically distinct populations within the North American native range

Umbra pygmaea (Eastern Mudminnow) is a freshwater species common in Atlantic slope coastal lowlands from southern New York to northern Florida and is typical of slow-moving, mud-bottomed, and highly vegetated streams, swamps, and small ponds. We examined its seasonal food habits at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), NJ and at the Croatan National Forest, NC. A total of 147 Eastern Mudminnow from 35–112 mm TL and 190 Eastern Mudminnow from 22–89 mm TL were examined from these sites, respectively. At both locations, we found it to be a bottom-feeding generalist that consumes cladocerans, ostracods, chironomid larvae, coleopteran larvae, and other insects and crustaceans. Ostracods were most common in the diet at the Great Swamp NWR and occurred in 62% ± 2.5% of the stomachs with food. At Croatan National Forest, chironomid larvae were most common and occurred in 66.7% ± 15.8% of the stomachs. There were no statistically significant differences in diet composition between the sites during the winter, summer, and fall. However, when compared on an annual basis, Jaccard’s Index (θ J = 0.636, P = 0.05) suggested that the diet at the two study sites was significantly different. While we identified the same major food groups at both locations, the utilization of these food groups varied seasonally. Detritus was a major stomach content at both locations throughout the year. We also documented cannibalism during the summer season at both locations. The seasonal diet of the Eastern Mudminnow was similar to that of Umbra limi (Central Mudminnow) and Umbra krameri (European Mudminnow). Our findings here are the first quantitative examinations of seasonal differences in the diet of the Eastern Mudminnow within its native North American range.

Northeastern Naturalist↗