Copulatory behaviour of Richardson's ground squirrels (Spermophilus richardsonii) in the wild

1982 ◽  
Vol 60 (11) ◽  
pp. 2953-2955 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lloyd S. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Ground Squirrels ◽  
Spermophilus Richardsonii ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Copulatory Behaviour

In this paper I give the first authenticated account of copulation occurring above ground in Richardson's ground squirrels. Copulation occurs in a dorso-ventral position with both animals lying on their sides, and is characterized by a high degree of agonism between the pair.

Temporal Variation in Male Copulatory Behaviour in the Solitary Bee Nomadopsis Puellae (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae)

Behaviour ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 73 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 175-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald L. Rutowski ◽  
John Alcock
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Hypothesis ◽  
Sperm Precedence ◽  
Solitary Bee ◽  
Limited Data ◽  
Single Female ◽  
Mating Period ◽  
Duration Of Copulation ◽  
High Degree ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Copulatory Behaviour

Abstract1. Females of the solitary bee, Nomadopsis puellae, foraging for pollen at flowers will copulate with any male that can reach them but the duration of copulation is not constant over the daily foraging-mating period (which lasts from about 0900-1300). Early on, copulations are brief (usually less than 1 min). As the morning progresses, males tend not to release their mates spontaneously but remain in copula for as long as it takes a female to collect a full pollen load and return to her nest. In addition, late in the mating period males that have not secured a single female may begin to assault pairs in attempts to usurp a female from a copulating male. 2. We propose that males control the duration of mating in ways that reflect a change in the genetic gains associated with brief versus prolonged copulations over the course of the morning. We assume that sperm precedence occurs in this species and that females are more likely to oviposit at the end of the foraging period than at the beginning. If these assumptions are correct, guarding a mate through prolonged copulation could become increasingly advantageous as the mating period draws to a close each day. Given a high degree of competition for mates, a male that secured a female on her last trip of the morning could greatly improve the chance that his mate would use his sperm for fertilization if he prevented other males from reaching her until she was safely back inside her nest burrow. 3. An alternative hypothesis that the variation in copulation length is due to changes in the readiness of females to receive sperm from a male over the mating period is considered. Limited data suggest that females do not signal degrees of sperm receptivity to males. Males probably determine how long they will copulate, switching from the tactic of securing many short (unguarded) copulations to a few lengthy (guarded) matings in the course of a morning.

Effects of central injection of biogenic amines during arousal from hibernation

1979 ◽  
Vol 236 (3) ◽  
pp. R162-R167 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Glass ◽  
L. C. Wang
Keyword(s):  
Ambient Temperature ◽  
Specific Heat ◽  
Biogenic Amines ◽  
Heat Production ◽  
Ground Squirrels ◽  
Spermophilus Richardsonii ◽  
Simultaneous Measurements ◽  
Apparent Specific Heat ◽  
Intracerebroventricular Injections ◽  
Made In

Simultaneous measurements of heat production (HP) and heat loss (HL) and brain and rectal temperatures were made in Richardon's ground squirrels (Spermophilus richardsonii) rewarming from hibernation at an ambient temperature of 6.0 +/- 0.5 degrees C. Calculations from HP and HL measurements from control animals showed that due to differential rewarming, there was a reduction of apparent specific heat of the animal to 0.59 cal/g. degrees C. This resulted in an energy saving of 30%. Three intracerebroventricular injections of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) of 56 microgram each at brain temperatures of 10, 20, and 30 degrees C caused initial suppression of HP and a greater overall HL, which resulted in a slower rate of arousal as compared to the controls. Injections of norepinephrine (NE) of 12.5 microgram each at similar brain temperatures caused a greater rate of HP, which resulted in a faster rate of arousal as compared to the controls. The respective actions of 5-HT and NE on thermoregulation during rewarming are similar to those in some euthermic hibernators and nonhibernating species. Our data indicated that these substances evoke thermoregulatory responses during arousal in much the same manner as during normothermia.

Seasonal expressions of oxytocin and oxytocin receptor in the epididymides in the wild ground squirrels (Citellus Dauricus Brandt)

2020 ◽  
Vol 289 ◽  
pp. 113391
Author(s):  
Zhengrong Yuan ◽  
Yuhan Wang ◽  
Wenyang Yu ◽  
Wenqian Xie ◽  
Ziwen Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oxytocin Receptor ◽  
Ground Squirrels ◽  
In The Wild

Copulation and Associated Behaviour in The Quokka, Setonix brachyurus.

1999 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 139
Author(s):  
I.G. McLean ◽  
N.T. Schmitt
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Behaviour ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Copulatory Behaviour

While preparing a review of published descriptions of copulatory behaviour in macropod marsupials (McLean, Lundie-Smith and Jarman 1993), we were surprised to find no description for one of the most studied species, the quokka (Setonix brachyurus, e.g. see Bradshaw 1983). Copulating quokkas have been seen previously by researchers (e.g. Kitchener 1970), but no account was given. Here we provide descriptions of copulatory behaviour in quokkas, and comment on levels of sexual behaviour and activity by quokkas in the wild and in captivity.

scholarly journals A Single Banana Streak Virus Integration Event in the Banana Genome as the Origin of Infectious Endogenous Pararetrovirus

2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (13) ◽  
pp. 6697-6710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Gayral ◽  
Juan-Carlos Noa-Carrazana ◽  
Magali Lescot ◽  
Fabrice Lheureux ◽  
Benham E. L. Lockhart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Chromosome ◽  
Streak Virus ◽  
Banana Streak Virus ◽  
Genetic Cross ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Virus Integration ◽  
High Degree ◽  
First Time ◽  
Viral Sequences ◽  
Integration Event

ABSTRACTSequencing of plant nuclear genomes reveals the widespread presence of integrated viral sequences known as endogenous pararetroviruses (EPRVs). Banana is one of the three plant species known to harbor infectious EPRVs.Musa balbisianacarries integrated copies ofBanana streak virus(BSV), which are infectious by releasing virions in interspecific hybrids. Here, we analyze the organization of the EPRV of BSV Goldfinger (BSGfV) present in the wild diploidM. balbisianacv. Pisang Klutuk Wulung (PKW) revealed by the study ofMusabacterial artificial chromosome resources and interspecific genetic cross. cv. PKW contains two similar EPRVs of BSGfV. Genotyping of these integrants and studies of their segregation pattern show an allelic insertion. Despite the fact that integrated BSGfV has undergone extensive rearrangement, both EPRVs contain the full-length viral genome. The high degree of sequence conservation between the integrated and episomal form of the virus indicates a recent integration event; however, only one allele is infectious. Analysis of BSGfV EPRV segregation among an F1 population from an interspecific genetic cross revealed that these EPRV sequences correspond to two alleles originating from a single integration event. We describe here for the first time the full genomic and genetic organization of the two EPRVs of BSGfV present in cv. PKW in response to the challenge facing both scientists and breeders to identify and generate genetic resources free from BSV. We discuss the consequences of this unique host-pathogen interaction in terms of genetic and genomic plant defenses versus strategies of infectious BSGfV EPRVs.

Accelerated circannual cycles in ground squirrels, Spermophilus richardsonii, kept in constant conditions

1983 ◽  
Vol 61 (8) ◽  
pp. 1765-1770 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roman B. Melnyk
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Weight Gain ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Ground Squirrels ◽  
Food Utilization ◽  
Metabolic Processes ◽  
Reproductive Condition ◽  
Spermophilus Richardsonii ◽  
Upper Limit ◽  
Circannual Cycles

Six- to 8-month cycles of food intake, body weight, moult and reproductive condition in captive Richardson's ground squirrels (Spermophilus richardsonii) kept in 12 h light: 12 h dark and 23 ± 3 °C for over a year are described. A decrease in efficiency of food utilization towards the end of the weight gain period may be associated with metabolic processes which determine an upper limit for body weight. The advantages of this species as a model for the study of spontaneous obesity are discussed.

Description of Sarcocystis campestris sp. n. (Protozoa: Sarcocystidae): a parasite of the badger Taxidea taxus with experimental transmission to the Richardson's ground squirrel, Spermophilus richardsonii

1983 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 370-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Cawthorn ◽  
Gary A. Wobeser ◽  
Alvin A. Gajadhar
Keyword(s):  
Ground Squirrel ◽  
Prepatent Period ◽  
Ground Squirrels ◽  
Intermediate Hosts ◽  
Patent Period ◽  
Sporocyst Residuum ◽  
Experimental Transmission ◽  
Taxidea Taxus ◽  
Spermophilus Richardsonii ◽  
Large Round

Sarcocystis campestris sp. n. (Protozoa: Sarcocystidae) is an heteroxenous coccidium with badgers (Taxidea taxus) as natural and experimental definitive hosts and Richardson's ground squirrels (Spermophilus richardsonii) as experimental intermediate hosts. Free sporocysts (10.2 × 8.0 μm with a large, round sporocyst residuum consisting of a single refractile granule), obtained from intestinal scrapings of badgers (carcasses frozen 2 years at −20 °C), were orally administered to juvenile Richardson's ground squirrels. Acute fatal sarcocystosis developed in some squirrels at 11–13 days postinoculation (p.i.). Meronts (second generation) were present 9–12 days p.i. in the vascular endothelium of many tissues (especially the lungs). Cysts developed in skeletal muscle, contained metrocytes (7 × 5 μm) 30 days p.i., and beginning 46 days p.i., bradyzoites (12.0 × 3.5 μm) were present. Cysts were macroscopic as early as 258 days p.i. Squirrel carcasses containing cysts (76 days p.i.) of S. campestris sp. n. were fed to Sarcocystis-free badgers. The prepatent period was 9 days and the patent period at least 13 days. Both badgers were ill early in the patent period and passed unformed feces during the patent period. Free sporocysts were 10.2 × 8.0 μm and each had an elongate sporocyst residuum containing numerous small refractile granules.

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