Comparative Autecology of the Lizard Cnemidophorus Tigris in Different Parts of Its Georgraphic Range

A wide variety of animals show latitudinal cline in body size, which can be caused not only by abiotic factors such as temperature but also by biotic ones such as diet quality. In seed feeding insects, adult body size is affected by seed size. Therefore, seed size may be an important factor to explain the latitudinal cline in body size if the seed size also shows a latitudinal cline. In the present study, we detected a latitudinal cline in body size of an alien bruchid, Acanthoscelides pallidipennis, which was introduced into Japan from North America with its host plant Amorpha fruticosa. In 13 out of 24 populations that we collected in Japan, A. fruticosa seeds were infested with A. pallidipennis. Both body size of A. pallidipennis and host seed weight increased with latitude in the infested populations, but not in the non‐infested populations. There was a significant positive correlation between body size and seed weight in both field observation and laboratory experiment. In a common environmental condition, there was no significant difference in body size among three latitudinally different populations. Our results show that the latitudinal cline in adult body size of A. pallidipennis across a non‐native range could be explained by the latitudinal cline in seed weight of A. fruticosa, but not by genetic differentiation among populations.

Cambrian and Ordovician shelf, platform, and basin rocks are present in Sonora, Mexico, and southern Arizona and were deposited on the southwestern continental margin of North America (Laurentia). Cambrian and Ordovician rocks in Sonora, Mexico, are mostly exposed in scattered outcrops in the northern half of the state. Their discontinuous nature results from extensive Quaternary and Tertiary surficial cover, from Tertiary and Mesozoic granitic batholiths in western Sonora, and from widespread Tertiary volcanic deposits in the Sierra Madre Occidental in eastern Sonora. Cambrian and Ordovician shelf rocks were deposited as part of the southern Laurentian miogeocline on the southwestern continental margin of North America. Lower Cambrian shelf units in Sonora consist mainly of quartzite, siltstone, and silty limestone; limestone increases upward in the sequence. Middle Cambrian shelf rocks consist mostly of limestone, dolostone, and siltstone. Upper Cambrian shelf rocks are sparse in Sonora; where present, they consist chiefly of siltstone and minor limestone. Cambrian shelf rocks display subtle facies changes from west to east across Sonora. In northwestern Sonora, these rocks attain their maximum thickness and may represent the Early Cambrian shelf margin. At the Sierra Agua Verde section, 110 km (68 mi) east of Hermosillo, these rocks thin, have greater proportions of clastic material, and were probably deposited in an inner-shelf setting. A major unconformity is present near the base of the Cambrian in Sonora and is similar to the Sauk I unconformity in the Wood Canyon Formation in Nevada and California. The top of the Cambrian is transitional with overlying Ordovician strata. Cambrian cratonic platform rocks are exposed in northern Sonora and southern Arizona and include the Middle Cambrian Bolsa Quartzite and Middle and Upper Cambrian Abrigo Limestone. The most complete sections of Ordovician shelf rocks in Sonora are 50 km (31 mi) northwest of Hermosillo. In these sections, the Lower Ordovician is characterized by intraclastic limestone, siltstone, shale, and chert. The Middle Ordovician is mostly silty limestone and quartzite, and the Upper Ordovician is cherty limestone and some argillaceous limestone. A major disconformity separates the Middle Ordovician quartzite from the overlying Upper Ordovician carbonate rocks and is similar to the disconformity between the Middle and Upper Ordovician Eureka Quartzite and Upper Ordovician Ely Springs Dolomite in Nevada and California. In parts of northwestern Sonora, Ordovician rocks are disconformably overlain by Upper Silurian rocks. Northeastward in Sonora and Arizona, toward the craton, Ordovician rocks are progressively truncated by a major onlap unconformity and are overlain by Devonian rocks. Except in local areas, Ordovician rocks are generally absent in cratonic platform sequences in northern Sonora and southern Arizona.

Although once described as common in lowland central and southern Arizona (Bendire 1888, Fisher 1893, Breninger 1898, Gilman 1909, Bent 1938), cactus ferruginous pygmy owls (Glaucidium brasilianum cactorum; hereafter, pygmy owls) have been extirpated throughout much of their former range in Arizona. As a result, this northernmost subspecies of ferruginous pygmy owls (Van Rossem 1937, Johnsgard 1988) are now listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS 1997, Hardy et al. 1999). Immediately south of Arizona in northern Sonora, Mexico, pygmy owls occur primarily in desert-scrub and grassland vegetation communities where woodlands are near stands of large saguaro cacti (Carnegia gigantea) (Flesch 2003a). Because pygmy owls are thought to be abundant in northern Sonora, these populations may prove critical for recovery in Arizona as well as for long-term persistence of pygmy owls in the Sonoran Desert. Natural or facilitated dispersal of pygmy owls from Sonora may augment populations in Arizona, especially when combined with habitat management (USFWS 2003). Numerous threats to pygmy-owl habitat exist in northern Sonora, however, including woodcutting, vegetation clearing for agriculture or buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare), and overgrazing, and there are few regulatory mechanisms in place to protect habitat. Despite the importance of pygmy-owl populations in northern Sonora, there are currently no data on population trends or on design parameters for population monitoring. Therefore, between 2000 and 2004 we monitored relative abundance of pygmy owls in northern Sonora, estimated temporal variation in relative abundance, and assessed the efficacy of different sampling designs for monitoring population trends. Our goals were to assess population trends, determine environmental factors that explained variation in trends, and evaluate the statistical power of our monitoring program for future monitoring efforts.

Human exposure to the neurotoxic methylmercury (MeHg) occurs primarily via the consumption of marine fish, but the processes underlying large-scale spatial variations in fish MeHg concentrations [MeHg], which influence human exposure, are not sufficiently understood. We used the Atlantic silverside (Menidia menidia), an extensively studied model species and important forage fish, to examine latitudinal patterns in total Hg [Hg] and [MeHg]. Both [Hg] and [MeHg] significantly increased with latitude (0.014 and 0.048 μg MeHg g-1 dw per degree of latitude in juveniles and adults, respectively). Four known latitudinal trends in silverside traits help explain these patterns: latitudinal increase in MeHg assimilation efficiency, latitudinal decrease in MeHg efflux, latitudinal increase in weight loss due to longer and more severe winters, and latitudinal increase in food consumption as an adaptation to decreasing length of the growing season. Given the absence of a latitudinal pattern in particulate MeHg, a diet proxy for zooplanktivorous fish, we conclude that large-scale spatial variation in growth is the primary control of Hg bioaccumulation in this and potentially other fish species.

We have prepared a digital map of soil parameters for the international Ambos Nogales watershed to use as input for selected soils-erosion models. The Ambos Nogales watershed in southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico, contains the Nogales wash, a tributary of the Upper Santa Cruz River. The watershed covers an area of 235 km2, just under half of which is in Mexico. Preliminary investigations of potential erosion revealed a discrepancy in soils data and mapping across the United States-Mexican border due to issues including different mapping resolutions, incompatible formatting, and varying nomenclature and classification systems. To prepare a digital soils map appropriate for input to a soils-erosion model, the historical analog soils maps for Nogales, Ariz., were scanned and merged with the larger-scale digital soils data available for Nogales, Sonora, Mexico using a geographic information system.

We reject the notion of a Jurassic continental arc in eastern Mexico, termed the “Nazas arc,” on geologic grounds. Instead, we propose that the Jurassic continental arc of the SW Cordilleran U.S. and northern Sonora, Mexico, passed southward into the oceanic realm and is represented by Jurassic arc volcanic and plutonic rocks that fringed the Mexican paleo-Pacific margin, which are currently found in the western Peninsular Ranges of southern California, USA, and Baja California, the Vizcaino Peninsula of Baja California, and western mainland Mexico. To show this, we present a summary of the geologic features of a continental arc, using the geology of the southern end of the Jurassic continental arc, in southern Arizona and northern Sonora. These features include multi-kilometer–thick sections of volcanic rock; large volcanic centers, including silicic calderas; major eruptive units that can be correlated for distances of 100 km or more; abundant, large plutonic suites; and continuity of these features for distances of hundreds of kilometers along the length of the continental arc. Then we show that the “Nazas arc” consists of scattered, small continental rift basins with thin (meters to tens of meters thick) volcanic sections at the base of clastic sections that are hundreds of meters thick. Plutonic rocks are entirely absent from the “Nazas arc,” despite the fact that post-Jurassic tectonic events should have exposed them if they existed. This paper also presents a tabulation of all published U-Pb zircon dates in the Jurassic continental arc of southern Arizona, USA, and northern Sonora (Table 1A), and in the “Nazas arc” of eastern Mexico (Table 1B), with ages, methods, the rock type dated, and notes on geologic relations. We use this to detail the abundance of thick, laterally extensive volcanic sections and large plutonic suites in a continental arc (the Jurassic arc of southern Arizona–northern Sonora), which contrasts sharply with the “Nazas arc.”The term “Nazas arc” has been in widespread usage for volcanic rocks in eastern Mexico for decades in many dozens of papers, and it is portrayed as a 2000-km-long, 250-km-wide belt that extends from Sonora through eastern Mexico to Chiapas. It has been misunderstood to form a subduction-related silicic large igneous province (SLIP), and it has been proposed that the Gulf of Mexico formed as a backarc basin behind the “Nazas arc.” The “Nazas arc” model also requires an east-dipping subduction zone under Mexico, and a separate west-dipping subduction zone under the oceanic arc rocks of western Mexico, which those models portray as an exotic arc, despite the presence of abundant detrital zircon from the Mexican margin. We urge workers to abandon the term “Nazas arc” and replace it with “Nazas rift province,” which represents continental rift basins formed during the breakup of Pangea.

Reproduction in Cnemidophorus tigris at Tucson, Arizona follows a seasonal cycle in which gonadal size is minimal in September‐October. Male reproductive organs gradually recrudesce during the winter months spent underground. After the lizards emerge from hibernation in March‐April the testis, seminiferous epithelial height and tubule diameter gradually increase in size through April and May, reaching maximum size in June‐July followed by rapid regression in August. Mating is first observed in the field in May. The ovaries undergo a period of heavy yolk deposition from early April to May, and remain functional until August. A thick circumtesticular subtunic layer of equivalent interstitial material (Leydig cells) is reported and described for the testis of Cnemidophorus.

Controlled ovarian hyperstimulation results in elevated levels of estrogen during in vitro fertilization (IVF). Although serum ovarian steroid hormones were found to influence central nervous system and anesthetic requirements, the relationship between propofol requirements and serum estrogen concentration in women undergoing oocyte retrieval has not been studied. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between serum estrogen and progesterone concentrations and the required propofol dose for loss of consciousness (LOC). Ninety patients undergoing oocyte retrieval for IVF were enrolled. Anesthesia was induced by administration of 200 mL/h propofol (1%) infusion to reach LOC. Anesthesia was maintained with a propofol infusion guided by entropy. The correlation between estrogen, progesterone levels and propofol dose at the time of LOC was analyzed. Emergence time from anesthesia and total propofol consumption were recorded. The mean serum estradiol concentration was 1825 ±1135 pg/mL. There was a significant positive correlation between serum estradiol and propofol dose required for LOC (Pearson's correlation r = 0.28, P = 0.008). Progesterone had no significant correlation with total propofol dose at the time of LOC. Patients with high estradiol levels (higher than the median value) had similar propofol requirement for LOC, total propofol consumption and emergence time with patients who had low (below the median value) levels. Although increased estrogen levels create a positive correlation with propofol dose for LOC, estrogen does not seem to be the only factor for anesthetic requirement of patients undergoing controlled ovarian hyperstimulation.

Latitudinal trends in wood anatomical characters in three Asiatic species of Cornus sensu lato (s.l.) were studied and compared with those for the whole genus based on an extensive sampling covering the specific distribution ranges and the generic data from a previous study. We studied 124 specimens of C. controversa growing between 31.5° and 45.3° N, 54 of C. kousa between 24.4° and 40.5° N, and 64 of C. macrophylla between 27.8° and 41.0° N. Characters studied were vessel element length, fiber length, vessel frequency, tangential vessel diameter, and vessel grouping index. At the species level no latitudinal trends were detected throughout the distribution ranges of the species. Neither tree size, altitude, nor climatic factors had a significant correlation with wood anatomical characters. In contrast, at the genus level, latitudinal trends were significant not just for the whole genus, but for both New and Old World species groups. At the genus level, latitude and three climatic factors all had a significant correlation with wood anatomical characters, but correlation coefficients with latitude were markedly high. The difference in latitudinal trends between the genus and species levels may be due to the radiation of Cornus along paleoclimatic gradients in the early Tertiary.

Biological invasion poses a huge threat to ecological security. Spartina alterniflora was introduced into China in 1979, and its arrival corresponded with negative effects on native ecosystems. To explore geographical variation of its expansion rate in coastal China, we selected 43 S. alterniflora sites from Tianjin Coastal New Area to Beihai. The area expansion rate, expansion rate paralleling and vertical to the shoreline were analysed based on Landsat images and field survey in 2015. Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) and climate data were collected to statistically analyse the influential factors of expansion rate. Results showed that significant difference of S. alterniflora area expansion rate among different latitude zones (P < 0.01), increasing from 6.08% at southern (21°N–23°N) to 19.87% in Bohai Bay (37°N–39°N) along latitude gradient. There was a significant difference in expansion rate vertical to shoreline in different latitude zones (P < 0.01) with the largest occurring in Bohai Bay (256 m/yr, 37°N–39°N), and showed an decreasing tendency gradually from north to south. No significant difference and latitudinal clines in expansion rate paralleling to shoreline were observed. Expansion rate had significant negative correlation with mean seawater temperature, the lowest seawater temperature, current zonal velocity and meridional velocity and presented a reducing trend as these biotic factors increased; however, they were not significantly correlated with the highest seawater temperature and mean seawater salinity. We identified significant correlations between expansion rate and annual mean temperature, the lowest temperature in January and annual precipitation, but there was little correlation with annual diurnal difference in temperature and the highest temperature in July. The rapid expansion rate in high-latitude China demonstrated a higher risk of potential invasion in the north; dynamic monitoring and control management should be established as soon as possible.

Journal Article Recent Research on the Boll Weevil in Northern Sonora, Mexico, and the Thurberia Weevil in Arizona Get access G. T. Bottger, G. T. Bottger Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar William H. Cross, William H. Cross Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar W. E. Gunderson, W. E. Gunderson Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar G. P. Wene G. P. Wene Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Journal of Economic Entomology, Volume 57, Issue 2, 1 April 1964, Pages 286–290, https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/57.2.286 Published: 01 April 1964 Article history Received: 25 July 1963 Accepted: 26 December 1963 Published: 01 April 1964

Recent discovery of one major and several minor early sixteenth century sites in southern Arizona has renewed interest in the route of the Coronado expedition of 1539–1542. Scholars from several fields including history, ethnography, geography, and archaeology have investigated the route through their respective disciplinary lenses. Despite these differences, there has long been agreement on the route through northern Sonora and southern Arizona. The new discoveries call into question that agreed upon route. This paper discusses these issues. It does so by first detailing the physical characteristics of the Río Sonora and San Pedro River relevant to the expedition. Then, based on the recent discovery of a major site, it proposes a minor variation for the long-accepted route. An issue with the lack of evidence in Sonora is then clarified. Finally, thoughts are offered about the nature of research. A totally new route through Sonora and Arizona for the Coronado expedition is not currently warranted.

Research Article| April 01, 1961 RUBIDIUM-STRONTIUM AGES OF SOME BASEMENT ROCKS FROM ARIZONA AND NORTHWESTERN MEXICO BRUNO J GILETTI; BRUNO J GILETTI DEPT. OF GEOLOGY, BROWN UNIVERSITY, PROVIDENCE, R. I.; DEPT. OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, TUCSON, ARIZ. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar PAUL E DAMON PAUL E DAMON DEPT. OF GEOLOGY, BROWN UNIVERSITY, PROVIDENCE, R. I.; DEPT. OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, TUCSON, ARIZ. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information BRUNO J GILETTI DEPT. OF GEOLOGY, BROWN UNIVERSITY, PROVIDENCE, R. I.; DEPT. OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, TUCSON, ARIZ. PAUL E DAMON DEPT. OF GEOLOGY, BROWN UNIVERSITY, PROVIDENCE, R. I.; DEPT. OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, TUCSON, ARIZ. Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 07 Nov 1960 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Copyright © 1961, The Geological Society of America, Inc. Copyright is not claimed on any material prepared by U.S. government employees within the scope of their employment. GSA Bulletin (1961) 72 (4): 639–643. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1961)72[639:RAOSBR]2.0.CO;2 Article history Received: 07 Nov 1960 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation BRUNO J GILETTI, PAUL E DAMON; RUBIDIUM-STRONTIUM AGES OF SOME BASEMENT ROCKS FROM ARIZONA AND NORTHWESTERN MEXICO. GSA Bulletin 1961;; 72 (4): 639–643. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1961)72[639:RAOSBR]2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Precambrian ages in the range 1200–1500 m.y. have been found by the Rb-Sr method for basement rocks in Arizona. The data extend the “1350 m.y.” orogeny to northwestern Arizona (Chloride granite) and southern Arizona (Oracle granite) near Tucson. Cretaceous-Tertiary ages were obtained from basement rocks in southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

Provenance analysis on detrital zircons from the back-arc Arivechi basin: Implications for the Upper Cretaceous tectonic evolution of northern Sonora and southern Arizona

Many mobile hunter-gatherer-raiders were identified in what is now southern Arizona, New Mexico, and in northern Sonora and Chihuahua by Spanish chroniclers at and long after first contact. Despite their ubiquity, most have yet to be identified. The Jocome—a group that featured prominently in fifteenth- through eighteenth-century regional politics—were among these and until recently little has been known about them except for a few documentary references between 1540 and the mid-1700s. Sustained archaeological investigations have isolated a material culture signature within the Jocome heartland in southern Arizona, revealing a range of site types with distinctive evidence that represents a variant of the Canutillo complex. Until groups like the Jocome that were influential in their time are incorporated into our discussions we will not fully understand the reorganizational processes of the late prehistoric period.