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Risultati della ricerca
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Journal article
Cranial volume and palate length of cats, Felis spp., under domestication, hybridization and in wild populations
Reduced brain size, compared with wild individuals, is argued to be a key characteristic of domesticated mammal species, and often cited as a key component of a putative ‘domestication syndrome’. However, brain size comparisons are often based on old, inaccessible literature and in some cases drew comparisons between domestic animals...Lesch, Raffaela ; Kitchener, Andrew C ; Hantke, Georg ; Kotrschal, Kurt ; Fitch, W Tecumseh
skull, conservation, brain size, wildlife, hybridization, and cranial capacity
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Journal article
Genetic examination of historical North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) bone specimens from the eastern North Atlantic: Insights into species history, transoceanic population structure, and genetic diversity
Species monitoring and conservation is increasingly challenging under current climate change scenarios. For the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) this challenge is heightened by the added effects of complicated and uncertain past species demography. Right whales once had a much wider distribution across the North Atlantic Ocean, although the...Frasier, Brenna A ; Springate, Leah ; Frasier, Timothy R ; Brewington, Seth ; Carruthers, Martin …
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Journal article
Abnormal (Hydroxy)proline Deuterium Content Redefines Hydrogen Chemical Mass
Analyzing the δ2H values in individual amino acids of proteins extracted from vertebrates, we unexpectedly found in some samples, notably bone collagen from seals, more than twice as much deuterium in proline and hydroxyproline residues than in seawater. This corresponds to at least 4 times higher δ2H than in any...Gharibi, Hassan ; Chernobrovkin, Alexey L ; Eriksson, Gunilla ; Saei, Amir Ata ; Timmons, Zena …
Biopolymers, Ions, Hydrogen , Peptides , Anatomy, proteins, and isotopes
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Blog post
On the edge: COP 15 and disappearing species
With COP 15 taking place in China this month, Principal Curator of Vertebrates Andrew Kitchener explores the case of the ivory-billed woodpecker. Thought to be extinct, but with potential sightings still reported, this bird is just one of many species we’re at risk of losing forever.Kitchener, Andrew C
Conservation , Birds , Natural Sciences , Audubon , and Natural World
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Blog post
Dedicated collector: Michael Daniels and his Eocene birds
A stunning collection of over 700 bird fossils has been bequeathed to National Museums Scotland. Collected in Essex by Michael Daniels, the fossils date from 54-56 million years ago, the beginning of the Eocene period. They represent the early stages in the evolution of modern birds and contain many species...Kitchener, Andrew C
Conservation , Fossil Hunters , Palaeontology, Birds , Collections, Fossils , and Natural Sciences
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Journal article
Biogeography in the deep: Hierarchical population genomic structure of two beaked whale species
The deep sea is the largest ecosystem on Earth, yet little is known about the processes driving patterns of genetic diversity in its inhabitants. Here, we investigated the macro- and microevolutionary processes shaping genomic population structure and diversity in two poorly understood, globally distributed, deep-sea predators: Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius... -
Journal article
Phenotypic plasticity determines differences between the skulls of tigers from mainland Asia
Tiger subspecific taxonomy is controversial because of morphological and genetic variation found between now fragmented populations, yet the extent to which phenotypic plasticity or genetic variation affects phenotypes of putative tiger subspecies has not been explicitly addressed. In order to assess the role of phenotypic plasticity in determining skull variation,... -
Journal article
Biogeography in the deep: Hierarchical population genomic structure of two beaked whale species
The deep sea is the largest ecosystem on Earth, yet little is known about the processes driving patterns of genetic diversity in its inhabitants. Here, we investigated the macro- and microevolutionary processes shaping genomic population structure and diversity in two poorly understood, globally distributed, deep-sea predators: Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius... -
Journal article
When did Alexander Philipp Maximilian, Prinz zu Wied-Neuwied, first describe Felis macroura?
The margay, Leopardus wiedii Schinz, 1821, is a Neotropical small spotted cat, whose nomenclatural history has long been confused (Thomas 1903; Pocock 1917; Allen 1919). This confusion began with Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, in Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière, avec la description du Cabinet du roi published in 1765,...Kitchener, Andrew C ; Sanderson, James G
Leopardus macrourus, margay, Leopardus wiedii, wild cat, Heinrich Rudolf Schinz, Reise nach Brasilien, and Felis wiedii
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Journal article
New fossils from the London Clay show that the Eocene Masillaraptoridae are stem group representatives of falcons (Aves, Falconiformes)
The Eocene taxon Masillaraptoridae includes long-legged, raptorial birds, the phylogenetic affinities of which are poorly resolved. Here, fossils from the London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex, U.K.) are described, which corroborate the hypothesis that masillaraptorids are stem group representatives of the Falconiformes (falcons). Two partial skeletons are assigned to a new...Mayr, Gerald ; Kitchener, Andrew C