Methods to determine genetic diversity and relatedness within populations are essential tools for proper wildlife management. Today the approach of choice is polymerase chain reaction-based microsatellite analysis. Seven new polymorphic loci were isolated from a microsatellite-enriched Caribbean flamingo genomic library and used to characterize survey populations of Caribbean and African greater flamingos. In addition, four of these loci were used to verify parentage relationships within a captive-breeding population of African greater flamingos. Parentage predictions based upon gamekeeper observations of breeding and nesting did not always agree with genetic-based parentage analyses of the nine suggested family groups. Four family groups were supported (groups I, II, III and VI) by there results. However, an analysis of the remaining five suggested groups, with a total of eight offspring/dam and eight offspring/sire suggested relationships, yielded seven exclusions of the suggested dam and six exclusions of the suggested sire. This put the overall suggested dam exclusion rate at 35% and exclusion rate for suggested sires at 29%. Although the keeper observation data for our family groups must be considered a variable of concern at this time, these findings are certainly suggestive that more carefully controlled studies may reveal that flamingos are not monogamous as long accepted, but rather socially monogamous or even promiscuous. Thus we have now been able to both characterize and demonstrate the utility of our polymorphic microsatellite loci. We hope these results will interest additional wildlife facilities in further parentage and behavioral studies that will collectively aid to improve monitoring and maintenance of genetic diversity, and as provide better insight into breeding habits of both wild and captive populations.

When a species is housed in captivity there are facets of the managed environment that can impact on individual and population welfare. A key component of an individual’s environment is its social environment, which can have important implications for animal health and welfare. Highly social species may experience impoverished welfare if kept in captive groups that differ in size, structure and demographic to that experienced by free-living animals. Amongst the most common of social animals to be housed in captivity are the flamingos (Phoenicopteridae). The unique evolutionary biology of these birds means that key aspects of their behaviour depends upon group living. A positive relationship between breeding success and increasing flock size has previously been noted, but how flamingo flocks are structured socially remains mysterious. All six species of flamingo are currently found in captive collections. The three more generalist species, greater (Phoenicopterus roseus), Caribbean (P. ruber) and Chilean (P. chilensis) flamingos are found commonly in zoos and can, under the right conditions, breed well. The other flamingo species are much more specialised in their habitat and dietary requirements and have proved more challenging with regards to their captive management. These three species are the Andean (Phoenicoparrus andinus), James’ (P. jamesi) and lesser (Phoeniconaias minor) flamingos. All six species are included in the experimental work presented in this thesis. This research aimed to evaluate specific elements of flamingo group living using social network analysis (SNA). It also aimed to assess influences of the captive environment (i.e. enclosure style and visitor number) and climate on enclosure usage, time-activity budgets and behavioural diversity to provide, as far as possible, a complete insight into how to measure, assess and evaluate captive flamingo welfare. A synthesis of the relevance of SNA to zoo animal management, and a review of current literature to identify research needs that could evidence good flamingo husbandry form the basis of the first two chapters. These two overview chapters support the questions asked in the following data-based sections of the thesis. Flamingos were observed at WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre from March 2012 to July 2016 with data on patterns of social associations being collected four times daily (depending upon weather and bird husbandry). Associations were defined as birds within one neck length of each other and, using photos, the affiliations of each bird in the group were recorded. For assessment of bond strength, network position and identification of preferred/avoided partners a Half-Weight Index was applied to these data. Permutation testing was applied to association matrices to determine the difference between the number of observed preferential bonds (and avoided bonds) and Mantel tests were used to compare matrix correlations to assess differences between seasons, species, years and enclosures (where appropriate). The SNA programmes Socprog, UCInet and Netdraw were used to analyse network data. These network data form the basis of three chapters and show that flamingos associate preferentially with non-random bonds occurring in all flocks observed. Influences of social bonds on courtship display were also examined, and temporal changes in association were considered across time, season and year. Finally, to see any influence of animal health on bond preferences, scores of foot condition (used to identify and evaluate the presence and severity of pododermatitis on an individual bird) were analysed alongside of network measures for three flocks of flamingos. To measure enclosure usage, each species’ exhibit was measured and zones accessible to the birds were defined. As exhibit use can be based on resource use (and these resources can form differently-sized areas within an exhibit) a modified Spread of Participation Index (SPI) was used to provide an outcome between 1 (one area or resource used more than others) and 0 (equal use of all resource zones). Time-activity budgets were calculated for all flocks over daytime, and for one flock (measured using remote camera traps) over night. These data are presented in two chapters and demonstrate that captive flamingos can change their activity patterns in a similar manner to that noted in wild birds. Interestingly, flamingos are very active during the night and this provides useful data for zoo personnel to consider when re-assessing husbandry and management plans for these most ubiquitous of zoo birds.

The seven-pass transmembrane atypical cadherin, Flamingo (also known as Starry Night) is evolutionally conserved in both structure and function in vertebrates and invertebrates. It plays important roles during the establishment of planar cell polarity (PCP) of epithelial tissues and during the development of axons and dendrites in both peripheral and central neurons. / This thesis looks at the role of Flamingo/Starry Night in axon growth and guidance in the embryonic abdominal peripheral nervous system (PNS) of Drosophila. It describes the expression pattern of Flamingo in the PNS and its environment. A combination of single cell labelling and immunohistochemical techniques was used to define the effect of mutations in flamingo as well as several genes coding for potential Flamingo interaction partners. Rescue- and over-/mis-expression experiments featuring targeted expression of either a wild type version or mutant versions of flamingo provide information on the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which Flamingo regulates sensory axon development. Loss of Flamingo function results in a highly penetrant axon stall phenotype. Both sensory and motor axons frequently halt their advance early along their normal trajectories. Flamingo appears to mediate an axon growth promoting signal upon contact of sensory growth cones with specific early intermediate targets. Expression of Flamingo in sensory neurons is sufficient to rescue the mutant sensory axon phenotype. This rescue is at least partially independent of most of the extracellular region of the Flamingo protein. While Flamingo was previously found to have homophilic adhesion properties in vitro and appears to function by a homophilic mechanism during the neurite development of several types of neurons, this study supports a heterophilic signalling mechanism by which Flamingo fulfils its role in abdominal sensory axon growth promotion.

Unambiguous gender identification (ID) is needed to assess parameters in studies of population dynamics, behavior, and evolutionary biology of Caribbean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber ruber) and other birds. Due to its importance for management and conservation, molecular (DNA-based) avian gender ID assays targeting intron-size differences of the Chromosome Helicase ATPase DNA Binding (CHD) gene of males (CHD-Z) and females (CHD-W) have been developed. Male (ZZ) and female (WZ) genotypes are usually scored as size polymorphisms through agarose or acrylamide gels. For certain species, W-specific restriction sites or multiplex polymerase chain-reaction (PCR) involving CHD-W specific primers are needed. These approaches involve a minimum of three steps following DNA isolation: PCR, gel electrophoresis, and photo-documentation, which limit high throughput scoring and automation potential. In here, a short amplicon (SA) High-resolution Melting Analysis (HRMA) assay for avian gender ID is developed. SA-HRMA of an 81-Base Pair (bp) segment differentiates heteroduplex female (WZ) from homoduplex male (ZZ) genotypes by targeting Single-nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) instead of intron-size differences between CHD-Z and CHD-W genes. To demonstrate the utility of the approach, the gender of Caribbean Flamingo (P. ruber ruber) (17 captive from the Dallas Zoo and 359 wild from Ria Lagartos, Yucatan, Mexico) was determined. The assay was also tested on specimens of Lesser Flamingo (P. minor), Chilean Flamingo (P. chilensis), Saddle-billed Stork (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis), Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber), White-bellied Stork (Ciconia abdimii), Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja), Marabou Stork (Leptoptilos crumeniferus), Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus), and Attwater's Prairie Chicken (Tympanuchus cupido attwateri). Although the orthologous 81 bp segments of Z and W are highly conserved, sequence alignments with 50 avian species across 15 families revealed mismatches affecting one or more nucleotides within the SA-HRMA forward or reverse primers. Most mismatches were located along the CHD-Z gene that may generate heteroduplex curves and thus gender ID errors. For such cases, taxon and species-specific primer sets were designed. The SA-HRMA gender ID assay can be used in studies of avian ecology and behavior, to assess sex-associated demographics and migratory patterns, and as a proxy to determine the health of the flock and the degree by which conservation and captive breeding programs are functioning.

Este trabalho examina o romance O último voo do flamingo, do escritor moçambicano Mia Couto, publicado pela primeira vez em 2000, em Portugal. Inicialmente apresentado como um enredo policial, o romance é narrado por um personagem que testemunhou os fatos: o tradutor de Tizangara, responsável por traduzir o diálogo entre a cultura eurocêntrica e as crenças míticas moçambicanas. A mediação cultural, a narração da história e os momentos em que o narrador/tradutor conta sua vida pressupõem um trânsito de pontos de vista que se estuda por meio das considerações dos pesquisadores Oscar Tacca e Gérard Genette. A ambivalência que é tanto causa quanto consequência dessa construção narrativa reflete a contrariedade em que vive a pequena vila moçambicana de Tizangara, cenário do romance. A partir da concepção de mito estabelecida por Mircea Eliade, verifica-se que a visão sagrada de mundo, característica de parte da história das tradições moçambicanas, é representada em O último voo do flamingo por antepassados, feiticeiros e homens mais velhos, os detentores de sabedoria nas crenças africanas. Diante disso, a corrupção, marca do poder dos governantes locais em Tizangara, ameaça a continuidade da vila, conduzindo a narrativa ao cenário apocalíptico proposto por Mia Couto enquanto uma forma de recomeço. Para compreender esse contraponto, considera-se o percurso histórico não só de Moçambique como também de Tizangara, uma metonímia do país africano. Como reflexo do complexo momento histórico por que passa aquele país, o ano de 1992 é escolhido para contar a história – primeiro ano de paz após décadas de guerra (de libertação e civil). Ainda que já liberto da colonização portuguesa desde 1975, Moçambique permanece colonizado, agora de forma distinta. Identificam-se também algumas das condições que contribuíram para o neocolonialismo com apoio bibliográfico proveniente sobretudo de Stuart Hall e Kwame Anthony Appiah. A apresentação histórica de Moçambique baseia-se nas diretrizes estabelecidas pelo historiador africano Joseph Ki-Zerbo. / This work examines the novel O último voo do flamingo, written by the Mozambican author Mia Couto, published for the first time in 2000, in Portugal. Initially presenting as a police plot, the novel is narrated by a character who witnessed the facts: the Tizangara‘s translator, responsible for translating the dialogue between Eurocentric culture and Mozambican‘s mythical beliefs. The cultural mediation, the story‘s narrative and the moments in which the narrator/translator tells his life presuppose a shift of points of view which are studied under considerations of the researchers Oscar Tacca and Gérard Genette. Ambivalence, which is both cause as well as consequence of this narrative construction, reflects the contrariety lived by the small Mozambican village of Tizangara, scenario of the novel. From the conception of myth established by Mircea Eliade, it is seen that the sacred worldview characteristic of part of Mozambican‘s historical traditions, is represented in O último voo do flamingo by ancestors, wizards and eldest men, the bearers of wisdom in African beliefs. Given that, corruption, as a sign of power of Tizangara‘s local governors, threatens continuity of life, leading the narrative to the apocalyptical scenario suggested by Mia Couto as a way of restart. To understand this contrast, it is considered not only the historical background of Mozambique as well as Tizangara, a metonym of the African country. Reflecting the complex historical moment in which that country is going through, the year of 1992 is chosen to tell the story – first year of peace after decades of war (emancipation and civil). Even though freed from Portuguese colonization since 1975, Mozambique remains colonized, in a different way now. We identify as well some of the conditions that contributed to neocolonialism with bibliographic support of Stuart Hall and Kwame Anthony Appiah. The historical presentation of Mozambique is based on guidelines established by the African historian Joseph Ki-Zerbo.

Este trabalho examina o romance O último voo do flamingo, do escritor moçambicano Mia Couto, publicado pela primeira vez em 2000, em Portugal. Inicialmente apresentado como um enredo policial, o romance é narrado por um personagem que testemunhou os fatos: o tradutor de Tizangara, responsável por traduzir o diálogo entre a cultura eurocêntrica e as crenças míticas moçambicanas. A mediação cultural, a narração da história e os momentos em que o narrador/tradutor conta sua vida pressupõem um trânsito de pontos de vista que se estuda por meio das considerações dos pesquisadores Oscar Tacca e Gérard Genette. A ambivalência que é tanto causa quanto consequência dessa construção narrativa reflete a contrariedade em que vive a pequena vila moçambicana de Tizangara, cenário do romance. A partir da concepção de mito estabelecida por Mircea Eliade, verifica-se que a visão sagrada de mundo, característica de parte da história das tradições moçambicanas, é representada em O último voo do flamingo por antepassados, feiticeiros e homens mais velhos, os detentores de sabedoria nas crenças africanas. Diante disso, a corrupção, marca do poder dos governantes locais em Tizangara, ameaça a continuidade da vila, conduzindo a narrativa ao cenário apocalíptico proposto por Mia Couto enquanto uma forma de recomeço. Para compreender esse contraponto, considera-se o percurso histórico não só de Moçambique como também de Tizangara, uma metonímia do país africano. Como reflexo do complexo momento histórico por que passa aquele país, o ano de 1992 é escolhido para contar a história – primeiro ano de paz após décadas de guerra (de libertação e civil). Ainda que já liberto da colonização portuguesa desde 1975, Moçambique permanece colonizado, agora de forma distinta. Identificam-se também algumas das condições que contribuíram para o neocolonialismo com apoio bibliográfico proveniente sobretudo de Stuart Hall e Kwame Anthony Appiah. A apresentação histórica de Moçambique baseia-se nas diretrizes estabelecidas pelo historiador africano Joseph Ki-Zerbo. / This work examines the novel O último voo do flamingo, written by the Mozambican author Mia Couto, published for the first time in 2000, in Portugal. Initially presenting as a police plot, the novel is narrated by a character who witnessed the facts: the Tizangara‘s translator, responsible for translating the dialogue between Eurocentric culture and Mozambican‘s mythical beliefs. The cultural mediation, the story‘s narrative and the moments in which the narrator/translator tells his life presuppose a shift of points of view which are studied under considerations of the researchers Oscar Tacca and Gérard Genette. Ambivalence, which is both cause as well as consequence of this narrative construction, reflects the contrariety lived by the small Mozambican village of Tizangara, scenario of the novel. From the conception of myth established by Mircea Eliade, it is seen that the sacred worldview characteristic of part of Mozambican‘s historical traditions, is represented in O último voo do flamingo by ancestors, wizards and eldest men, the bearers of wisdom in African beliefs. Given that, corruption, as a sign of power of Tizangara‘s local governors, threatens continuity of life, leading the narrative to the apocalyptical scenario suggested by Mia Couto as a way of restart. To understand this contrast, it is considered not only the historical background of Mozambique as well as Tizangara, a metonym of the African country. Reflecting the complex historical moment in which that country is going through, the year of 1992 is chosen to tell the story – first year of peace after decades of war (emancipation and civil). Even though freed from Portuguese colonization since 1975, Mozambique remains colonized, in a different way now. We identify as well some of the conditions that contributed to neocolonialism with bibliographic support of Stuart Hall and Kwame Anthony Appiah. The historical presentation of Mozambique is based on guidelines established by the African historian Joseph Ki-Zerbo.

Este trabalho examina o romance O último voo do flamingo, do escritor moçambicano Mia Couto, publicado pela primeira vez em 2000, em Portugal. Inicialmente apresentado como um enredo policial, o romance é narrado por um personagem que testemunhou os fatos: o tradutor de Tizangara, responsável por traduzir o diálogo entre a cultura eurocêntrica e as crenças míticas moçambicanas. A mediação cultural, a narração da história e os momentos em que o narrador/tradutor conta sua vida pressupõem um trânsito de pontos de vista que se estuda por meio das considerações dos pesquisadores Oscar Tacca e Gérard Genette. A ambivalência que é tanto causa quanto consequência dessa construção narrativa reflete a contrariedade em que vive a pequena vila moçambicana de Tizangara, cenário do romance. A partir da concepção de mito estabelecida por Mircea Eliade, verifica-se que a visão sagrada de mundo, característica de parte da história das tradições moçambicanas, é representada em O último voo do flamingo por antepassados, feiticeiros e homens mais velhos, os detentores de sabedoria nas crenças africanas. Diante disso, a corrupção, marca do poder dos governantes locais em Tizangara, ameaça a continuidade da vila, conduzindo a narrativa ao cenário apocalíptico proposto por Mia Couto enquanto uma forma de recomeço. Para compreender esse contraponto, considera-se o percurso histórico não só de Moçambique como também de Tizangara, uma metonímia do país africano. Como reflexo do complexo momento histórico por que passa aquele país, o ano de 1992 é escolhido para contar a história – primeiro ano de paz após décadas de guerra (de libertação e civil). Ainda que já liberto da colonização portuguesa desde 1975, Moçambique permanece colonizado, agora de forma distinta. Identificam-se também algumas das condições que contribuíram para o neocolonialismo com apoio bibliográfico proveniente sobretudo de Stuart Hall e Kwame Anthony Appiah. A apresentação histórica de Moçambique baseia-se nas diretrizes estabelecidas pelo historiador africano Joseph Ki-Zerbo. / This work examines the novel O último voo do flamingo, written by the Mozambican author Mia Couto, published for the first time in 2000, in Portugal. Initially presenting as a police plot, the novel is narrated by a character who witnessed the facts: the Tizangara‘s translator, responsible for translating the dialogue between Eurocentric culture and Mozambican‘s mythical beliefs. The cultural mediation, the story‘s narrative and the moments in which the narrator/translator tells his life presuppose a shift of points of view which are studied under considerations of the researchers Oscar Tacca and Gérard Genette. Ambivalence, which is both cause as well as consequence of this narrative construction, reflects the contrariety lived by the small Mozambican village of Tizangara, scenario of the novel. From the conception of myth established by Mircea Eliade, it is seen that the sacred worldview characteristic of part of Mozambican‘s historical traditions, is represented in O último voo do flamingo by ancestors, wizards and eldest men, the bearers of wisdom in African beliefs. Given that, corruption, as a sign of power of Tizangara‘s local governors, threatens continuity of life, leading the narrative to the apocalyptical scenario suggested by Mia Couto as a way of restart. To understand this contrast, it is considered not only the historical background of Mozambique as well as Tizangara, a metonym of the African country. Reflecting the complex historical moment in which that country is going through, the year of 1992 is chosen to tell the story – first year of peace after decades of war (emancipation and civil). Even though freed from Portuguese colonization since 1975, Mozambique remains colonized, in a different way now. We identify as well some of the conditions that contributed to neocolonialism with bibliographic support of Stuart Hall and Kwame Anthony Appiah. The historical presentation of Mozambique is based on guidelines established by the African historian Joseph Ki-Zerbo.

The mechanisms that order cellular packing geometry are critical for the functioning of many tissues, but are poorly understood. Here we investigate this problem in the developing wing of Drosophila. The surface of the wing is decorated by hexagonally packed hairs that are uniformly oriented towards the distal wing tip. They are constructed by a hexagonal array of wing epithelial cells. We find that wing epithelial cells are irregularly arranged throughout most of development but become hexagonally packed shortly before hair formation. During the process, individual cell junctions grow and shrink, resulting in local neighbor exchanges. These dynamic changes mediate hexagonal packing and require the efficient delivery of E-cadherin to remodeling junctions; a process that depends on both the large GTPase Dynamin and the function of Rab11 recycling endosomes. We suggest that E-cadherin is actively internalized and recycled as wing epithelial cells pack into a regular hexagonal array. Hexagonal packing furthermore depends on the activity of the Planar Cell Polarity proteins. The Planar Cell Polarity group of proteins coordinates complex and polarized cell behavior in many contexts. No common cell biological mechanism has yet been identified to explain their functions in different tissues. A genetic interaction between Dynamin and the Planar Cell Polarity mutants suggests that the planar cell polarity proteins may modulate Dynamin-dependent trafficking of E-cadherin to enable the dynamic remodeling of junctions. We furthermore show that the Planar Cell Polarity protein Flamingo can recruit the exocyst component Sec5. Sec5 vesicles also co-localizes with E-cadherin and Flamingo. Based on these observations we propose that during the hexagonal repacking of the wing epithelium these proteins polarize the trafficking of E-cadherin-containing exocyst vesicles to remodeling junctions. The work presented in this thesis shows that one of the basic cellular functions of planar cell polarity signaling may be the regulation of dynamic cell adhesion. In doing so, the planar cell polarity pathway mediates the acquisition of a regular packing geometry of Drosophila wing epithelial cells. We identify polarized exocyst-dependent membrane traffic as the first basic cellular mechanism that can explain the role of PCP proteins in different developmental systems.

The mechanisms that order cellular packing geometry are critical for the functioning of many tissues, but are poorly understood. Here we investigate this problem in the developing wing of Drosophila. The surface of the wing is decorated by hexagonally packed hairs that are uniformly oriented towards the distal wing tip. They are constructed by a hexagonal array of wing epithelial cells. We find that wing epithelial cells are irregularly arranged throughout most of development but become hexagonally packed shortly before hair formation. During the process, individual cell junctions grow and shrink, resulting in local neighbor exchanges. These dynamic changes mediate hexagonal packing and require the efficient delivery of E-cadherin to remodeling junctions; a process that depends on both the large GTPase Dynamin and the function of Rab11 recycling endosomes. We suggest that E-cadherin is actively internalized and recycled as wing epithelial cells pack into a regular hexagonal array. Hexagonal packing furthermore depends on the activity of the Planar Cell Polarity proteins. The Planar Cell Polarity group of proteins coordinates complex and polarized cell behavior in many contexts. No common cell biological mechanism has yet been identified to explain their functions in different tissues. A genetic interaction between Dynamin and the Planar Cell Polarity mutants suggests that the planar cell polarity proteins may modulate Dynamin-dependent trafficking of E-cadherin to enable the dynamic remodeling of junctions. We furthermore show that the Planar Cell Polarity protein Flamingo can recruit the exocyst component Sec5. Sec5 vesicles also co-localizes with E-cadherin and Flamingo. Based on these observations we propose that during the hexagonal repacking of the wing epithelium these proteins polarize the trafficking of E-cadherin-containing exocyst vesicles to remodeling junctions. The work presented in this thesis shows that one of the basic cellular functions of planar cell polarity signaling may be the regulation of dynamic cell adhesion. In doing so, the planar cell polarity pathway mediates the acquisition of a regular packing geometry of Drosophila wing epithelial cells. We identify polarized exocyst-dependent membrane traffic as the first basic cellular mechanism that can explain the role of PCP proteins in different developmental systems.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines 'omnifarious' as 'comprising or relating to all sorts or varieties', which quite accurately captures the very nature of octocorals and this thesis. The research reported here, aims to describe undocumented communities of coral reef organisms - the octocorals - which are an emergent dominant component within their threatened ecosystem of the Caribbean. Within the last four decades, coral reefs worldwide have experienced a precipitous plunge in many ecosystem services they provide, and most notably in the Caribbean. The foundation to reef resilience is structured on the ecosystem's ability to repair and restructure itself in the face of environmental shifts. These intricately complex strategies of resilience depend on repair mechanisms provided by a source of biodiversity, much of which remains poorly understood. This work explores many facets of the functioning within this potential future coral reef ecosystem. These reports are one of the most significant contributions to documenting and describing octocoral biodiversity (e.g. species, genetic, and community diversity) of the wider ecoregion of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System within the last three decades.