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Results for “Audubon”

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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2016

Pranked by Audubon: Constantine S. Rafinesque's description of John James Audubon's imaginary Kentucky mammals

The North American naturalist Constantine S. Rafinesque spent much of the year 1818 engaged in a solo journey down the Ohio River Valley to explore parts of what was then the western United States. Along the way, he visited a number of fellow naturalists, and he spent more than a week at the Henderson, Kentucky, home of artist and ornithologist John James Audubon. During the succeeding two years, Rafinesque published descriptions of new species that resulted from his expedition, including eleven species of fishes that eventually proved to have been invented by Audubon as a prank on the credulous naturalist. Less well known are a number of “wild rats” described by Rafinesque that include one recognized species ( Musculus leucopus ) and ten other, imaginary “species” fabricated by Audubon ( Gerbillus leonurus , G. megalops , Spalax trivittata , Cricetus fasciatus , Sorex cerulescens , S. melanotis , Musculus nigricans , Lemmus albovittatus , L. talpoides , Sciurus ruber ). Rafinesque's unpublished sketches of these animals provide important insight regarding the supposed nature of the animals invented by Audubon and ultimately published by Rafinesque.

Archives of Natural History↗
USGS1983

Evaluation of the effects of Lake Audubon on ground- and surface-water levels in the Lake Nettie area, eastern McLean County, North Dakota

Water logging and flooding of some roads and agricultural lands have become a problem in the Lake Nettie area of eastern McLean County. Part of the flooding is caused by the raising of Lake Audubon about 13 feet from an elevation of about 1,835 feet to 1,848 feet and its effect on ground-water levels in the upper unit of the Lake Nettie aquifer by way of leakage from the lower unit. The major part of the flooding is caused by the greater than normal precipitation and the resulting runoff. Recharge to the aquifer is from the direct infiltration of precipitation and snowmelt, the lateral percolation of water from the adjacent Fort Union Formation and glacial-drift aquifers, and from Lake Audubon. Discharge is by evapotranspiration and by ground-water movement into undrained surface-water basins in the Lake Holmes-Lake Williams area and southward through Lake Ordway or westward to Lake Audubon. Trends shown on hydrographs indicate that near equilibrium between recharge and discharge has been reestablished in the lower unit of the Lake Nettie aquifer in the area between Lake Audubon and Lake Nettie, but east of Lake Nettie water levels are still rising. As of 1982, water-level rises caused by the raising of Lake Audubon are as much as 4 feet in the lower unit of the Lake Nettie aquifer and are between 1 and 2 feet in the upper unit of the Lake Nettie aquifer, which is hydraulically connected to Lake Nettie, Crooked Lake, and Slough No. 1. There is a rise in Slough No. 1, about 2 miles east of Lake Audubon, that can be attributed to the higher levels of Lake Audubon. Apparently rises also have occurred in many other sloughs. Water levels have risen in the Turtle Lake aquifer both as a result of raising the water level in Lake Audubon to an elevation of about 1,848 feet and the McClusky Canal to an elevation of about 1,844 feet. Water levels have risen as much as 6 feet near the canal, but generally less than 1 foot at distances of about 0.5 mile.

North Dakota↗
USGS2006

Cluster analysis of water-quality data for Lake Sakakawea, Audubon Lake, and McClusky Canal, central North Dakota, 1990-2003

As a result of the Dakota Water Resources Act of 2000, the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of the Interior, identified eight water-supply alternatives (including a no-action alternative) to meet future water needs in portions of the Red River of the North (Red River) Basin. Of those alternatives, four include the interbasin transfer of water from the Missouri River Basin to the Red River Basin. Three of the interbasin transfer alternatives would use the McClusky Canal, located in central North Dakota, to transport the water. Therefore, the water quality of the McClusky Canal and the sources of its water, Lake Sakakawea and Audubon Lake, is of interest to water-quality stakeholders. The Bureau of Reclamation collected water-quality samples at 23 sites on Lake Sakakawea, Audubon Lake, and the McClusky Canal system from 1990 through 2003. Physical properties and water-quality constituents from these samples were summarized and analyzed by the U.S. Geological Survey using hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis (HACA). HACA separated the samples into related clusters, or groups. These groups were examined for statistical significance and relation to structure of the McClusky Canal system. Statistically, the sample groupings found using HACA were significantly different from each other and appear to result from spatial and temporal water-quality differences corresponding with different sections of the canal and different operational conditions. Future operational changes of the canal system may justify additional water-quality sampling to characterize possible water-quality changes.

North Dakota↗
USGS2018

Evidence for a duplicated mitochondrial region in Audubon’s shearwater based on MinION sequencing

Mitochondrial genetic markers have been extensively used to study the phylogenetics and phylogeography of many birds, including seabirds of the order Procellariiformes. Evidence suggests that part of the mitochondrial genome of Procellariiformes, especially albatrosses, is duplicated, but no DNA fragment covering the entire duplication has been sequenced. We sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of a non-albatross species of Procellariiformes, Puffinus lherminieri (Audubon’s shearwater) using the long-read MinION (ONT) technology. Two mitogenomes were assembled from the same individual, differing by 52 SNPs and in length. The shorter was 19 kb long while the longer was 21 kb, due to the presence of two identical copies of nad6 , three tRNA, and two dissimilar copies of the control region (CR). Contrary to albatrosses, cob was not duplicated. We further detected a complex repeated region of undetermined length between the CR and 12S. Long-read sequencing suggests heteroplasmy and a novel arrangement within the duplicated region, indicating a complex evolution of the mitogenome in Procellariiformes.

Mitochondrial DNA Part A↗