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47 results for “Gopherus”
Gopherus polyphemus (Testudinidae) - whole organism - unspecified
Image of Gopherus polyphemus (Testudinidae) - whole organism - unspecified
Ephemeral vegetation drivers of occupancy dynamics of Mojave desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii)
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Data from: Shaping species with ephemeral boundaries: the distribution and genetic structure of the desert tortoise (Gopherus morafkai) in the Sonoran Desert region
Aim: We examine the role biogeographical features played in the evolution of Morafka's desert tortoise (Gopherus morafkai) and test the hypothesis that G. morafkai maintains genetically distinct lineages associated with different Sonoran Desert biomes. Increased knowledge of the past and present distribution of the Sonoran Desert region's biota provides insight into the forces that drive and maintain its biodiversity. Location: Sonoran Desert biogeographical region; Sonora and Sinaloa, Mexico and Arizona, USA. Methods: We examined wild tortoises from Mexico (n = 155) and Arizona (n = 78), spanning their known distribution. We used mtDNA sequences to reconstruct matrilineal relationships and 25 microsatellite (STR) loci for Bayesian analyses of gene flow. We performed clinal analyses on both mtDNA and STR loci to determine the position and amount of introgression where lineages co-occur. We used GIS to assess the association of genetic structuring with ecological features. We used these data in a hypothesis-driven approach to assess different models of how genetic diversity is maintained and distributed in G. morafkai. Results: Gopherus morafkai was found to comprise genetically and geographically distinct 'Sonoran' and 'Sinaloan' lineages. Both lineages occurred in a relatively narrow zone of overlap in Sinaloan thornscrub, where it transitions into Sonoran desertscrub. Limited introgression occurred at the contact zone. The best-fit model suggests that these lineages diverged in parapatry where the distribution of genotypes is environment-dependent and introgression is inhibited by exogenous selection. Main conclusions: The historically shifting ecotone between tropical deciduous forest and Sonoran desertscrub appears to be a boundary that fostered divergence between parapatric lineages of tortoises. The sharp genetic cline between the two lineages suggests that periods of isolation in temporary refugia due to Pleistocene climatic cycling influenced divergence. Despite incomplete reproductive isolation, the Sonoran and Sinaloan lineages of G. morafkai are on separate evolutionary trajectories.
Fig. 4 in Stopped Dead in Their Tracks: The Impact of Railways on Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) Movement and Behavior
Fig. 4. Principal component analysis (PCA) with 95% confidence ellipses comparing tortoise behavior expressed over a one-hour observation period. Confidence ellipse fills are based on railway familiarity in addition to the control group. Control tortoises fall well outside the multivariate space of tortoises placed in the railway, demonstrating the inability of tortoises to cross railways.
Fig. 2 in Stopped Dead in Their Tracks: The Impact of Railways on Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) Movement and Behavior
Fig. 2. (A) The trench dug underneath the rails and between the railway ties. A game camera faces the entrance/exit on the west side of the railway to photograph Gopher Tortoises passing from one side to the other. (B) A series of pictures of a single Gopher Tortoise moving from the east side of the tracks to the west side.
Fig. 1 in Stopped Dead in Their Tracks: The Impact of Railways on Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) Movement and Behavior
Fig. 1. (A) The 20 m railway plot in which Gopher Tortoises were tested for crossing ability and behavioral differences between Habituated (n ¼ 12) and Naïve (n ¼ 12) railway familiarity. (B) The control plot in which tortoises (n ¼ 12) were tested for crossing ability and behavioral differences solely on the presence of a visual barrier.
Fig. 3 in Stopped Dead in Their Tracks: The Impact of Railways on Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) Movement and Behavior
Fig. 3. (A) Three simulated correlated random walks (CRWs) by a single tortoise (ID: 5233) confined to the coastal strand habitat. Each simulation is a different patterned line with the start point designated by the triangle (m) and the stop points designated by squares (&). Each simulation counted the number of times the tortoise crossed the railway (represented by the thick dotted line). (B) Histogram of the number of expected railway crosses based on 1000 simulated CRWs by a single tortoise (ID: 5233). The observed number of crosses is plotted with the dotted line and is significantly below the expected number of crosses.
FIG. 1 in Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) Vertebrate Burrow Commensals within a Private, Working Forest Landscape
FIG. 1. Number of unique observations of vertebrate burrow commensals by taxonomic group (top left), reptile and amphibian species (top right), bird species (bottom left), and mammal species (bottom right). Vertebrate burrow commensal data were collected in a private, working forest landscape dominated by planted Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda) stands located in the Upper Coastal Plain ecoregion of Georgia, USA from 2018– 2019.
FIG. 3 in Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) Vertebrate Burrow Commensals within a Private, Working Forest Landscape
FIG. 3. Three axes of non-metric multidimensional scaling of the vertebrate commensal community across abandoned (blue), active (yellow), and inactive (gray) Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) burrows. Species detected are represented by the black points. Vertebrate burrow commensal data were collected in a private, working forest landscape dominated by planted Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda) stands located in the Upper Coastal Plain ecoregion of Georgia, USA from 2018–2019.
FIG. 2 in Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) Vertebrate Burrow Commensals within a Private, Working Forest Landscape
FIG. 2. Rarefaction curves of species richness during 2018 and 2019. Vertebrate burrow commensal data were collected in a private, working forest landscape dominated by planted Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda) stands located in the Upper Coastal Plain ecoregion of Georgia, USA from 2018–2019.
FIG. 3 in On the Road Again: Assessing the Use of Roadsides as Wildlife Corridors for Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus)
FIG. 3. (A) Log-scaled minimum convex polygon (MCP) home ranges compared between habitat types (i.e., ruderal corridors, inland scrub, and coastal strand). Corridor tortoises occupied slightly smaller home ranges but were not significantly different because of the large variance seen in their home ranges. Inland home ranges were obtained from Smith et al. (1997). (B) Log-scaled average distances traveled between tracking events (m) compared between habitat types (i.e., ruderal corridors, coastal strand) but excluding inland scrub for which the data were unavailable. Average distances were not significantly different between habitat types.
FIG. 2 in On the Road Again: Assessing the Use of Roadsides as Wildlife Corridors for Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus)
FIG. 2. Details of the two distinct sites within Kennedy Space Center, USA, used for the different parts of this study where (A) and (B) correlate to the study sites outlined in Figure 1. (A) Map of the study site where current roadside corridor use was determined via radiotelemetry of tortoises captured along the roads. Eight example minimum convex polygon (MCP) home ranges are colored showing movement confined to areas along the corridor but no movement directly through the corridor. Tortoise 5221 was the only individual observed moving from the corridor to coastal strand habitat over a distance of 500 m. (B) Map of the study site where we assessed the feasibility of roadsides to function as movement corridors. We translocated tortoises (dotted colored lines) from either inland or coastal habitat into the potential corridor. Daily radiotelemetry (solid colored lines) determined if tortoises used corridors rather than straight-line paths to return to their original home range.
FIG. 1 in On the Road Again: Assessing the Use of Roadsides as Wildlife Corridors for Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus)
FIG. 1. Map of Gopher Tortoise range highlighting their conservation status in different parts of their range. Included is an outline of the study site at Kennedy Space Center, USA, with the potential roadside corridors connecting coastal and inland habitat outlined in black. We conducted both parts of this study along two different roads (boxed and labeled). Details of these two distinct sites appear in Figure 2. Box (A) is the study site for examining current roadside corridors use using radiotelemetry to determine how Gopher Tortoises in this region spatially used the roadsides. Box (B) is the study site for translocating tortoises along the roadside to determine if movement through the corridor back to their original home range was feasible.
FIG. 4 in On the Road Again: Assessing the Use of Roadsides as Wildlife Corridors for Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus)
FIG. 4. An example rose diagram (circular histogram) of a single inland tortoise's (ID: 5250) direction of travel when the distance traveled was>7 m. The Rayleigh test of directional uniformity displayed insignificance in the directional movement for both true and corridor homing.
Data from: Shaping species with ephemeral boundaries: the distribution and genetic structure of the desert tortoise (Gopherus morafkai) in the Sonoran Desert region
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Data from: Neutral genetic processes influence MHC evolution in threatened gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus)
Levels of adaptive genetic variation influence how species deal with environmental and ecological change, but these levels are frequently inferred using neutral genetic markers. Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes play a key role in the adaptive branch of the immune system and have been used extensively to estimate levels of adaptive genetic variation. Parts of the peptide binding region, sites where MHC molecules directly interact with pathogen and self-proteins, were sequenced from a MHC class I (95/441 tortoises) and class II (245/441 tortoises) gene in threatened and non-threatened populations of gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus), and adaptive genetic variation at MHC genes was compared to neutral genetic variation derived from 10 microsatellite loci (441 tortoises). Genetic diversity at the MHC class II locus and microsatellites was greater in populations in the non-threatened portion of the gopher tortoise's range (MHC class II difference in mean A = 8.11, AR = 0.79, HO = 0.51, and HE = 0.16; microsatellite difference in mean A = 1.05 and AR = 0.47). Only MHC class II sequences showed evidence of positive selection (dN/dS > 1, Z = 1.81, P = 0.04). Historical gene flow as estimated with Migrate-N was greater than recent migration estimated with BayesAss, suggesting that populations were better connected in the past when habitat was less fragmented. MHC genetic differentiation was correlated with microsatellite differentiation (Mantel r = 0.431, P = 0.001) suggesting neutral genetic processes are influencing MHC evolution, and advantageous MHC alleles could be lost due to genetic drift.
Data from: Male body size predicts reproductive success but not within-clutch paternity patterns in gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus)
In many vertebrates, body size is an important driver of variation in male reproductive success. Larger, more fit individuals are more likely to dominate mating opportunities, skewing siring success and resulting in lower effective population sizes and genetic diversity. The mating system of the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) has been characterized as both female-defense and scramble-competition polygyny. Mating systems are typically not fixed and can be influenced by factors such as population density, demographic structure, and environmental conditions; however, most populations will have a predominant strategy that results from local conditions. We assessed how male body size influences patterns of paternity and reproductive success in a natural population of gopher tortoises in Florida, USA. Using microsatellites, we assigned parentage of 220 hatchlings from 31 nests collected during two reproductive seasons. Larger males were significantly more likely to sire offspring and sired more offspring than smaller males; however, the likelihood of a clutch being multiply-sired was unrelated to male body size. We also found evidence of mate fidelity across years. Although paternity patterns in this high-density population are more consistent with defense polygyny, female monopoly by males was incomplete, with both large and small males contributing to multiply-sired clutches. Additional behavioral data are needed to clarify the role of female mate selection in paternity outcomes. The context-dependence of mating systems underscores the need to compare parentage patterns across populations and to recognize the potential for more than one strategy to be employed within a single population.
Figure 2 from: Murphy R, Berry K, Edwards T, Leviton A, Lathrop A, Riedle J (2011) The dazed and confused identity of Agassiz's land tortoise, Gopherus agassizii (Testudines: Testudinidae) with the description of a new species and its consequences for conservation. ZooKeys 113: 39-71. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.113.1353
Figure 2 - Distribution of the desert tortoises aligned with Gopherus agassizii. The locality of BYU 39706 from Baja California Sur is shown as a black dot. The location of the hybrid population described in McLuckie et al. (1999) is shown as a star.
Figure 1 from: Murphy R, Berry K, Edwards T, Leviton A, Lathrop A, Riedle J (2011) The dazed and confused identity of Agassiz's land tortoise, Gopherus agassizii (Testudines: Testudinidae) with the description of a new species and its consequences for conservation. ZooKeys 113: 39-71. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.113.1353
Figure 1 - Portrait of Dr. James Graham Cooper, M.D. who discovered and described Xerobates agassizii (courtesy of the Archives of the California Academy of Sciences).
Figure 3 from: Murphy R, Berry K, Edwards T, Leviton A, Lathrop A, Riedle J (2011) The dazed and confused identity of Agassiz's land tortoise, Gopherus agassizii (Testudines: Testudinidae) with the description of a new species and its consequences for conservation. ZooKeys 113: 39-71. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.113.1353
Figure 3 - Implied alignment of the mitochondrial DNA sequence data spanning the partial genes NADH3, tRNAArg and ND4L from tortoises of the Gopherus agassizii complex. BYU 39706 is the holotype of Gopherus lepidocephalus. USNM 7888 is the lectotype of Gopherus agassizii. GenBank sequence DQ649394 is the sequence of Gopherus agassizii in widespread group A of Murphy et al. (2007), DQ649398 is from narrowly distributed group B, and DQ649406 is a specimen of Gopherus morafkai from Tucson, Arizona. "n" indicates unresolved or ambiguous base pairs.
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