Björklund, M. 2003: Variation and selection — what are we measuring? — Ann. Zool. Fennici 40: 387–394.
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Franz-Odendaal, T. A. & Kaiser, T. M. 2003: Differential mesowear in the maxillary and mandibular cheek dentition of some artiodactyls. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 40: 395–410.
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Lajus, D., Ciostek, M., Makowiecka, M. & Sywula, T. 2003: Geographic and ontogenetic patterns of chaetotaxy variation in glacial relict Saduria entomon (L.) (Crustacea, Isopoda): inter-population, inter-individual and intra-individual variations (fluctuating asymmetry). — Ann. Zool. Fennici 40: 411–429.
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Votypka, J., Simek, J. & Tryjanowski, P. 2003: Blood parasites, reproduction and sexual selection in the red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio). — Ann. Zool. Fennici 40: 431–439.
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Kiiskinen, P., Huuskonen, H., Hyvärinen, H. & Piironen, J. 2003: Effects of daylength and winter fasting on growth and smolting of one-year-old Saimaa landlocked salmon (Salmo salar m. sebago Girard) under fish farm conditions. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 40: 441–458.
Abstract
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Tryjanowski, P., Rybacki, M. & Sparks, T. 2003: Changes in the first spawning dates of common frogs and common toads in western Poland in 1978–2002. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 40: 459–464.
Abstract
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Björklund, M. 2003: Variation and selection — what are we measuring? — Ann. Zool. Fennici 40: 387–394.
Variation is a necessity for evolution and consequently patterns of variation have been analysed extensively. This analysis can be divided into two parts, a predictive part, where variation is analysed in terms of possible future evolutionary change (adaptive significance), and a narrative, which aims to understand the evolutionary history of current variation. Most often variation in morphology can be found in terms of overall size, with minor variation in shape. This suggests either that selection on size has been historically unimportant (selectively neutral), or that stochastic events override causal relations between size and fitness. The pattern of current multivariate variation suggests that selection on trait combinations has been far more important than selection on size, and should therefore be the focus of more intensive studies.
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Franz-Odendaal, T. A. & Kaiser, T. M. 2003: Differential mesowear in the maxillary and mandibular cheek dentition of some artiodactyls. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 40: 395–410. Back to the top
Lajus, D., Ciostek, M., Makowiecka, M. & Sywula, T. 2003: Geographic and ontogenetic patterns of chaetotaxy variation in glacial relict Saduria entomon (L.) (Crustacea, Isopoda): inter-population, inter-individual and intra-individual variations (fluctuating asymmetry). — Ann. Zool. Fennici 40: 411–429. Back to the top
Votypka, J., Simek, J. & Tryjanowski, P. 2003: Blood parasites, reproduction and sexual selection in the red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio). — Ann. Zool. Fennici 40: 431–439. Back to the top
Kiiskinen, P., Huuskonen, H., Hyvärinen, H. & Piironen, J. 2003: Effects of daylength and winter fasting on growth and smolting of one-year-old Saimaa landlocked salmon (Salmo salar m. sebago Girard) under fish farm conditions. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 40: 441–458. Back to the top
Tryjanowski, P., Rybacki, M. & Sparks, T. 2003: Changes in the first spawning dates of common frogs and common toads in western Poland in 1978–2002. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 40: 459–464.
The mesowear method assesses the dietary regime of herbivorous mammals based on the attrition/abrasion equilibrium by evaluating cusp shape and relief of upper second molars. The method has recently been extended to include four tooth positions, upper P4–M3, in equids. In this study we determine whether the method can be extended in ruminants by applying it to maxillary and mandibular dentitions of a browser, the giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) and two mixed feeders, the oribi (Ourebia ourebi) and the musk ox (Ovibos moschatus). We find that including the upper third molar in addition to the upper second molar provides consistent mesowear classifications in these species. Lower dentitions of mixed feeders score significantly differently in terms of mesowear as compared with upper dentitions. We infer that adaptive optimization in differential anisodonty is related to the composition of the diet and should be mirrored in differential mesowear signals of adjoining upper and lower molars. Our results suggest that in mixed feeders, sharpness is maximized in upper teeth, whereas in specialized feeders this is not the case.
We studied the variation in the number of chaetae of 15 characters in Saduria entomon (L.) (Crustacea, Isopoda) from the Baltic (2 samples), White, and south-eastern Barents Seas. The following parameters were analysed: (i) means, (ii) inter-individual variance, (iii) intra-individual or stochastic variance measured by fluctuating asymmetry, i.e. random deviations from perfect bilateral symmetry, which is a measure of developmental instability. The samples from the Baltic Sea were characterised by a greater number of chaetae than those from the White and Barents Seas in almost all characters. Inter-individual variance in the Barents Sea sample was lower than in the other samples, possibly because of low genetic variation. Fluctuating asymmetry was the least in the sample from the Baltic Sea (Gulf of Gdansk), indicating that environmental conditions in this location are the most favourable. In juveniles the magnitude of the fluctuating asymmetry and its contribution to the total variance was higher than in adults.
We investigated the occurrence of blood parasites on the red-backed shrike Lanius collurio during a three-year study in southern Czech Republic. Selected traits of shrike body morphology, male plumage and reproduction were studied with respect to the presence and intensity of haematozoan infection in blood samples collected from 172 breeding adults. Haemoproteus lanii was found to be the most common parasite (72.7%), the prevalence of other parasites (i.e., haemoproteids Plasmodium sp. (cf. relictum) and Leucocytozoon sp., kinetoplastid Trypanosoma sp. and microfilariae Aproctella stoddardi) being markedly lower. Incidence of parasitemia did not differ between sexes in any of the parasite species considered. However, females infected by Haemoproteus lanii initiated egg-laying later in the season than uninfected females. Among males, infected individuals had significantly longer wings and larger melanin-based tail colour patterns (a secondary sexual trait) than uninfected individuals. Moreover, mating was assortative with respect to infection status.
The effects of extended autumn daylength and winter fasting on growth and smolting were studied in one-year-old Saimaa landlocked salmon. Underyearling juveniles were either exposed to extended light LD 20:4 regime (LD group) during August–October or reared under routine fish-farm illumination (ND group). After the photoperiod manipulation, LD fish were larger and a greater number of them belonged to upper size classes in comparison with ND fish. Upper size class fish from both photoperiod groups were selected for further experiments in which the fish were either fed or fasted during winter. Contrary to the LD fish, the ND fish increased their length and weight during January–March by which they achieved the size of the LD fish. There was a clear size difference between the ND fed and fasted groups during March–April, but the fasted fish compensated for their growth suppression soon after the feeding was started again. The activity of gill Na+,K+-ATPase was lower in the ND fasted group during January–March as compared with that of the ND fed group suggesting that smolting may be switched off by poor nutritional conditions. The different gill Na+,K+-ATPase profiles between the ND and the LD fish may indicate disturbed endogenous smolting cycle of the LD fish. However, despite these differences, all groups, independently of the treatment, completed their smolting at the same time in June as indicated by elevated gill Na+,K+-ATPase activity, enhanced salinity tolerance, and hypoosmoregulatory ability. Lower levels of plasma sodium, chloride and magnesium in freshwater observed in all groups during spring–early summer coincident with other changes typical for smolting indicate gradually increasing maladaptation of the fish to freshwater. These results as well as an observed increase in potassium concentration in freshwater during spring-summer suggest that downstream migration is more like a passive than active process.
We analysed longitudinal data of observations of the first spawning dates of two anuran species (Rana temporaria and Bufo bufo) from western Poland (1978–2002). For both species, a trend towards earlier breeding was found, corresponding to an eight to nine day shift over the 25-year period. These shifts appear to be associated with increased temperatures in the winter and early spring in our study area.