Transcript Mammal Characteristics Why Study Mammals? Approaches to

Lecture Outline
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1. Why take this Mammalogy course?
2. Why Study Mammals?
3. Approaches to Studying Mammals
4. Mammal Characteristics (continued in next
lecture)
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Why take Mammalogy 425?
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Add breadth and depth to your understanding
of Class Mammalia.
Integration – link what you have learned in
previous courses into a comprehensive
package.
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Why Study Mammals?
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1. Consumptive resource
2. Transport (domestication literally shaped society)
3. Pets
4. Recreation
5. Safety (direct and indirect)
6. Medicine
7. Ecosystem health (e.g., conservation)
8. Reflection
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Consumptive resource
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Meat, hides, bones, fur, blubber, horns/antlers,
& sometimes organs
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Transport and utility
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Pets
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39% of US households have a dog
33% of US households have a cat
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http://www.thebarkleypethotel.com/accommodations/canine_quarters.aspx
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Recreation and tourism
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10.7 million hunters pursue big-game
annually (USFWS 2006)
Wolf-based tourism at Yellowstone = $5 mil
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Safety
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Lions – 871 people injured or killed in Tanzania in last 15 years (NSF 2005)
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Tsavo lions = 140 workers in Kenya (1898) (Smithsonian.com)
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Njombe lions = 1,500 people between 1932-1947 (Smithsonian.com)
Leopard of Rudraprayag – 125 victims (1918-1926)
Leopard of Panar – killed 400 (1940s)
Tigers
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Champawat Tigress (early 1900s)– killed 200 people in Nepal and another 236 in India before she
was tracked down an killed.
Bear
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Mother grizzly mauls 3 in Montana (7/2010)
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Mother grizzly attackes 3 bikers in Anchorage (7/2010)
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Grizzly attacks geologist in Alaska Range (6/2010)
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Grizzly attacks biker in Anchorage (6/2010)
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Safety (cont.)
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Vectors or reservoirs of human disease
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The Plague (rats and prairie dogs)
Hantavirus (rodents)
Lyme disease (deer)
Ebola (monkeys)
Rabies (raccoons, skunks, fox, dogs,…)
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Medicine
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Animal testing
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Development of treatments
Ensure safety of food and drugs
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TMC)
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700 kg of bear gall bladder each year (1 bear gall
bladder = 50g) (Yaoting 1994).
Deer antler and velvet = arthritis, stress,
depression, sexual disorders,…
Tiger penis
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Ecosystem health
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Conservation
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Preserve biodiversity – core of life
Prevent more extinctions
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Saudi Gazelle (extinct 2008)
Sound management requires rigorous research and
knowledge
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Environmental damage and human
conflict
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Crop damage
Invasive species
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Rat Island in Alaska
http://aprn.org/2010/09/01/ratseliminated-from-aleutian-island/
Fox removal
Livestock predation
Predator control
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Reflection
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By learning more about other mammals, we
learn more about humankind.
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“A thing is right when it tends to preserve the
integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic
community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.”
Aldo Leopold
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives,
nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one
that is most adaptable to change.” Charles
Darwin.
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Approaches to studying mammals
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1. Field methods
2. Lab & Museum methods (Sept. 28 lab)
3. Systematic methods
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Field
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Capture & Marking
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Trapping
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Net gunning http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAj9GvCpCS8&feature=related
Tranquilizer darts
Hair snares http://gallery.usgs.gov/videos/15
Feces
Physical features (whale fins)
Tags (implants, ear clips)
Radiocollars
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Surveying & monitoring
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Radiotelemetry (VHF and GPS)
Passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags
Powdertracking
Fecal pellet surveys
Track surveys
Genetics
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Feces, hair, bones
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Observation (Ex. LARS, Denali)
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Focal animal sampling – recording specific
behaviors or watching a specific individual
Scan sampling – recording behavior at predetermined intervals
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Laboratory methods
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Physiological – study of how tissues and organs
function
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Nutrition
Metabolism
Reproduction
Genetics
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Population structure and dynamics
Speciation
Phylogeny
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DNA-filled
coating
DEER PELLET
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Extract DNA
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Microsatellite
Markers
Isolate pieces of DNA that
are unique among
individual deer
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Investigate population dynamics
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Abundance, survival, movement
Determine phylogeny and phylogeography
 AND…the technology will only improve!
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Systematic Methods
Systematics: The field of biology that deals with the diversity of living
organisms, usually divided into the two subdisciplines of taxonomy and
phylogenetics.
Taxonomy: The science of describing, naming, and classifying (grouping)
organisms.
Taxon (plural: taxa): Any named group of organisms (not necessarily a clade).
A subspecies respresents a "taxon," as does every hierarchical level up to
Kingdom.
Phylogenetics: The field of biology that deals with the relationships between
organisms, including the discovery of these relationships and the study of the
causes (e.g., evolution) behind theseSept.
patterns.
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Systematic methods
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Intraspecific variation – morphological,
physiological, behavioral, and spatial differences within a
species.
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Intraspecific phylogeography – geographic
distribution of genealogical lineages within a species.
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Species boundaries – identifying units of
biodiversity
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Classification – grouping species into progressively
more inclusive categories.
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What’s a mammal?
CLASSIFICATION: The process and
practice of describing, defining and ranking
taxa within a hierarchical series of groups;
permits organizing and ordering knowledge
about organisms, and creates a simplified
language for conveying information about
order in the diversity of life. In biology, we
use the Linnean classification hierarchy
(Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family,
Genus, Species).
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Simply…
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Classification = grouping species into progressively
more inclusive categories.
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What’s a mammal?
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Kingdom = Animalia
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Phylum = Chordata
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Subphylum = Vertebrata
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Class = Mammalia
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Order = Primates
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Family = Hominidae
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Genus = Homo
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Species = sapiens
Orders = 26
Species ≈ 5000
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Alaska tiny shrew
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Unique features (soft anatomy)
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Hair
Mammary glands
Four chambered heart with left aortic arch
Enucleated red blood cells
Muscular diaphragm
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Hair (fur or pelage)
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Insulation
Protection
Camouflage
Sensory
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Mammal hair:
invagination
Bird feather: evagination
Dermal vs.
Epidermal
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Mammary glands
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Highly modified sweat glands
Produce milk (mostly female)
Number & location varies
Located high on side
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Mammary glands - structural variation
Hairs
Nipples
(most mammals)
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Teat
(e.g., cows)
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4-chambered heart with functional left
aortic arch
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Enucleated red blood cells
Muscular diaphragm
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Common features (but not unique or
not found in all mammals)
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Endothermy (birds)
Give birth to live young (reptiles, fish,..)
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Next Lecture
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Common features of mammals (skeletal)
Evolution
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM
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