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44 results for “Alligator mississippiensis”
Fig. 1 in Gastric nematode diversity between estuarine and inland freshwater populations of the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis, daudin 1802), and the prediction of intermediate hosts
Fig. 1. Collecting localities of alligators in Georgia and Florida.
Fig. 4 in Gastric nematode diversity between estuarine and inland freshwater populations of the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis, daudin 1802), and the prediction of intermediate hosts
Fig. 4. Prey stomach contents categorized to taxonomic class levels.
Body size measurements and stomach contents of Alligator mississippiensis on Jekyll Island, Georgia
<p>Human-driven land use change can fundamentally alter ecological communities, especially the diversity and abundance of large-bodied predators. Yet despite the important roles large-bodied predators play in structuring communities through feeding, there have been only a few investigations of how the feeding patterns of large-bodied predators change in human-dominated landscapes. One group of large-bodied predators that has been largely overlooked in the context of land use change is the crocodilians. To help fill these gaps we studied the feeding patterns of juvenile American alligators (<em>Alligator mississippiensis</em>) on neighboring barrier islands on the southeast coast of Georgia, USA. Jekyll Island has multiple golf courses and substantial amounts of human activity, while Sapelo Island does not have any golf courses and a much smaller amount of human activity. We found that juvenile alligator populations on both islands ate the same types of prey but in vastly different quantities. Sapelo Island alligators primarily consumed crustaceans while alligators that lived on Jekyll Island's golf courses ate mostly insects/arachnids. Furthermore, the Jekyll Island alligators exhibited a much more generalist feeding pattern (individuals mostly ate the same types of prey in the same quantities) than the more specialized Sapelo Island alligators (diets were more varied across individuals). The most likely explanation for our results is that alligators living on golf courses have different habitat use patterns and have access to different prey communities relative to alligators in more natural habitats. Thus, land use change can strongly alter the feeding patterns of large-bodied predators and, as a result, may affect their body condition, exposure to human-made chemicals, and role within ecological communities.</p>
Body size measurements and stomach contents of Alligator mississippiensis on Jekyll Island, Georgia
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Anatomy, ontogeny, and evolution of the archosaurian respiratory system: a case study on Alligator mississippiensis and Struthio camelus
<p>The avian lung is highly specialized and is both functionally and morphologically distinct from that of their closest extant relatives, the crocodilians. It is highly partitioned, with a unidirectionally ventilated and immobilized gas-exchanging lung, and fully decoupled, compliant, poorly vascularized ventilatory air-sacs. To understand the evolutionary history of the archosaurian (birds, crocodilians and their common ancestors) respiratory system, it is essential to determine which anatomical characteristics are shared between birds and crocodilians and the role these shared traits play in their respective respiratory biology. To begin to address this larger question, we examined the anatomy of the lung and bronchial tree of ten American alligators (<i>Alligator mississippiensis</i>) and eleven ostriches (<i>Struthio camelus</i>) across an ontogenetic series using traditional and micro-computed tomography (µCT), three-dimensional (3D) digital models, and morphometry. Intraspecific variation and left to right asymmetry were present in certain aspects of the bronchial tree of both taxa but was particularly evident in the cardiac (medial) region of the lungs of alligators and the caudal aspect of the bronchial tree in both species. The cross-sectional area of the primary bronchus at the level of the major secondary airways and cross-sectional area of ostia scaled either isometrically or negatively allometrically in alligators and isometrically or positively allometrically in ostriches with respect to body mass. Of fifteen lung metrics, five were significantly different between the alligator and ostrich, suggesting that these aspects of the lung are more interspecifically plastic in archosaurs. One metric, the distances between the carina and each of the major secondary airways, had minimal intraspecific or ontogenetic variation in both alligators and ostriches, and thus may be a conserved trait in both taxa. In contrast to previous descriptions, the 3D digital models and CT scan data demonstrate that the pulmonary diverticula pneumatize the axial skeleton of the ostrich directly from the gas-exchanging pulmonary tissues instead of the air sacs. Global and specific comparisons between the bronchial topography of the alligator and ostrich reveal multiple possible homologies, suggesting that certain structural aspects of the bronchial tree are likely conserved across Archosauria, and may have been present in the ancestral archosaurian lung.</p>
Data from: Joint histology in Alligator mississippiensis challenges the identification of synovial joints in fossil archosaurs and inferences of cranial kinesis
Archosaurs, like all vertebrates, have different types of joints that allow or restrict cranial kinesis, such as synovial joints and fibrous joints. In general, synovial joints are more kinetic than fibrous joints, because the former possess a fluid-filled cavity and articular cartilage that facilitate movement. Even though there is a considerable lack of data on the microstructure and the structure–function relationships in the joints of extant archosaurs, many functional inferences of cranial kinesis in fossil archosaurs have hinged on the assumption that elongated condylar joints are (i) synovial and/or (ii) kinetic. Cranial joint microstructure was investigated in an ontogenetic series of American alligators, Alligator mississippiensis. All the presumably synovial, condylar joints found within the head of the American alligator (the jaw joint, otic joint and laterosphenoid–postorbital (LS–PO) joint) were studied by means of paraffin histology and undecalcified histology paired with micro-computed tomography data to better visualize three-dimensional morphology. Results show that among the three condylar joints of A. mississippiensis, the jaw joint was synovial as expected, but the otherwise immobile otic and LS–PO joints lacked a synovial cavity. Therefore, condylar morphology does not always imply the presence of a synovial articulation nor mobility. These findings reveal an undocumented diversity in the joint structure of alligators and show that crocodylians and birds build novel, kinetic cranial joints differently. This complicates accurate identification of synovial joints and functional inferences of cranial kinesis in fossil archosaurs and tetrapods in general.
FIG. 5 in Nest Attendance Patterns in the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
FIG. 5. Nest visits were temperature-dependent, as most of the visits occurred at night when temperatures were lower, or, observationally, during periods of cloudy weather with thunderstorms during the mid-morning hours of the 2012 season.
FIG. 4 in Nest Attendance Patterns in the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
FIG. 4. An alligator confronts a wild hog in a nest defense behavior. The eggs were deposited in the nest on 10 June 2011, and thus this photo was captured on the second day after egg deposition. This was the only photo captured in the sequence. There was no damage to the nest, and no hair or blood was found at the nest site; thus, we assume that this confrontation resulted in a successful nest defense for the alligator.
FIG. 3. Cumulative rainfall for coastal southeast Texas. Note that the 2011 field season experienced only 54.8 in Nest Attendance Patterns in the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
FIG. 3. Cumulative rainfall for coastal southeast Texas. Note that the 2011 field season experienced only 54.8% of the normal rainfall through the first nine months of the year, while the 2012 season has much higher rainfall (71% above normal). This time frame covers the entire breeding, nesting, and incubation periods for alligators, and nest attendance patterns were not different between years despite drastic difference in climatic conditions.
FIG. 2 in Nest Attendance Patterns in the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
FIG. 2. Generalized additive model (GAM) analysis of alligator nest visitation varying over the incubation period in 2011 (A; v2 ¼ 64.31, r2 ¼ 0.07, P, 0.01) and 2012 (B; v2 ¼ 56.98, r2 ¼ 0.13, P, 0.01). Nests with an alligator present (1) or absent (0) are shown as binary classes (boxes) with darker shading indicating higher densities of observations. Binary data were used to calculate the proportion of nests with visits (circles). Nest attendance declined rapidly during the first weeks, remained low for the majority of incubation, and increased during
FIG. 1 in Nest Attendance Patterns in the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
FIG. 1. Minimum length of visits to nests, based on the number of photos in which the alligators were captured. Photos were captured every five minutes, and time ranges were based on the number of consecutive photos in which the alligators were captured.
Anatomy, ontogeny, and evolution of the archosaurian respiratory system: a case study on Alligator mississippiensis and Struthio camelus
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Data from: Joint histology in Alligator mississippiensis challenges the identification of synovial joints in fossil archosaurs and inferences of cranial kinesis
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Data from: A novel accessory respiratory muscle in the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
The muscles that effect lung ventilation are key to understanding the evolutionary constraints on animal form and function. Here, through electromyography, we demonstrate a newly discovered respiratory function for the iliocostalis muscle in the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). The iliocostalis is active during expiration when breathing on land at 28C and this activity is mediated through the uncinate processes on the vertebral ribs. There was also an increase in muscle activity during the forced expirations of alarm distress vocalisations. Interestingly we did not find any respiratory activity in the iliocostalis when the alligators were breathing with their body submerged in water at 18C, which resulted in a reduced breathing frequency. The iliocostalis is an accessory breathing muscle that alligators are able to recruit in to assist expiration under certain conditions.
Figure 5 from: Richardson DJ, Moser WE, Hammond CI, Lazo-Wasem EA, McAllister CT, Pulis EE (2017) A new species of leech of the genus Placobdella (Hirudinida, Glossiphoniidae) from the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) in Mississippi, USA. ZooKeys 667: 39-49. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.667.10680
Figure 5 - Dorsal surface, anal region, (note lack of papillae between anus and commencement of prominent paramedial papillae) of A Placobdella papillifera (YPM 083792) B Placobdella siddalli Richardson & Moser (YPM 083857). Scale bars: 1 mm.
Figure 4 from: Richardson DJ, Moser WE, Hammond CI, Lazo-Wasem EA, McAllister CT, Pulis EE (2017) A new species of leech of the genus Placobdella (Hirudinida, Glossiphoniidae) from the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) in Mississippi, USA. ZooKeys 667: 39-49. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.667.10680
Figure 4 - Dorsal surface, anal region. Medial row of small but distinct papillae (indicated by arrows) lying between the anus and commencement of prominent paramedial papillae, on A Placobdella rugosa (YPM 083787) B Placobdella ornata, syntype (YPM 000256) C Placobdella ali (YPM 058254) D Placobdella multilineata (YPM 083782). Scale bars: 3 mm (A), 1 mm (B), 4 mm (C), 2 mm (D).
Figure 1 from: Richardson DJ, Moser WE, Hammond CI, Lazo-Wasem EA, McAllister CT, Pulis EE (2017) A new species of leech of the genus Placobdella (Hirudinida, Glossiphoniidae) from the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) in Mississippi, USA. ZooKeys 667: 39-49. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.667.10680
Figure 1 - Holotype specimen of Placobdella siddalli Richardson & Moser, YPM 083857 A Dorsal surface B Ventral surface. Scale bar: 2 mm.
Figure 3 from: Richardson DJ, Moser WE, Hammond CI, Lazo-Wasem EA, McAllister CT, Pulis EE (2017) A new species of leech of the genus Placobdella (Hirudinida, Glossiphoniidae) from the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) in Mississippi, USA. ZooKeys 667: 39-49. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.667.10680
Figure 3 - Paratype specimen of Placobdella siddalli Richardson & Moser, YPM 083876 mounted in Canada balsam, crop ceca (CC), anterior salivary gland (A), posterior salivary gland (P), proboscis (Pr). Scale bar: 2 mm.
Figure 2 from: Richardson DJ, Moser WE, Hammond CI, Lazo-Wasem EA, McAllister CT, Pulis EE (2017) A new species of leech of the genus Placobdella (Hirudinida, Glossiphoniidae) from the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) in Mississippi, USA. ZooKeys 667: 39-49. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.667.10680
Figure 2 - Internal anatomy of Placobdella siddalli Richardson & Moser, YPM 083875. Dorsal view, anterior salivary gland (A), posterior salivary gland (P), proboscis (Pr). Scale bar: 1 mm.
Figure 6 from: Richardson DJ, Moser WE, Hammond CI, Lazo-Wasem EA, McAllister CT, Pulis EE (2017) A new species of leech of the genus Placobdella (Hirudinida, Glossiphoniidae) from the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) in Mississippi, USA. ZooKeys 667: 39-49. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.667.10680
Figure 6 - Ventral surface of various species of Placobdella. Note the diameter of the caudal sucker relative to body length and width of individuals. A Placobdella ali (YPM 058279) B Placobdella ornata (YPM 083847) C Placobdella siddalli Richardson & Moser (YPM 083857) D Placobdella multilineata (YPM 083850) E Placobdella papillifera (YPM 083856) F Placobdella parasitica (YPM 059092) G Placobdella rugosa (YPM 056680). Scale bars: 10 mm (A, F), 2 mm (B), 3 mm (C), 5 mm (D, G), 1 mm (E).
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