This thesis examines the historical geography of Scottish natural history societies active during the period 1831-1900. It argues that the work of the societies described and constituted an important set of relations between science and Scottish civil society that has not been investigated hitherto. The institutional practices of natural history, including fieldwork and display, involved encounters between scientific and cultural expectations which were played out in relation to different audiences and in a variety of sites and spaces. A central concern of Scottish associational naturalists was to transpose science into the language of civic pride and progress. At the same time, members of these societies were anxious to maintain epistemic credibility in relation to a scientific culture itself in flux. The task of appealing both to a local public and to a scientific constituency took different forms in different civic and scientific contexts. The thesis attempts to detail this historical geography with reference to the societies' activities of display, fieldwork, publishing and collective scientific endeavour. The work is based on assessment of primary sources, published and unpublished, and a variety of secondary material. The thesis is organised to reflect the features central to the past geographies of Scottish natural history as associational civic science. The first substantive section (Section II, Chapters 2-5) analyses the efforts of society members to persuade local publics of the relevance and the benefits of associational natural history. Fieldwork involved a series of situated negotiations and affiliations between the language and practices of leisure, aesthetic taste, moral improvement and science. Through public events and built spaces natural history was promoted as an expression of civic culture and as a set of practices capable of transforming urban society. At an individual level, supporters of civic science championed an image of the naturalist as public servant and votary of nature, an image that linked scientific conduct to civic identity. The second substantive section (Section III, Chapters 6-7) examines the influence of the meaning and methods of later-nineteenth-century science on the organisation and activities of Scottish natural history societies. Initiatives to standardise the work of local scientific societies are considered alongside the efforts of individual members to secure a scientific reputation. In addition, the changing relations between the research activities of the societies and the emergence and consolidation of scientific disciplines are investigated alongside the maintenance of an inter-disciplinary ethos. In Chapter 7, engagement with evolutionary ideas is examined, uncovering the ways in which Darwinism was deployed to reinforce, and also to modify, an inductivist view of science and to argue for the continuing relevance of associational natural history to local civil society. In conclusion, the thesis reveals the historical geography of nineteenth-century Scottish natural history to be a dynamic narrative of intellectual and institutional activity conducted in different social and scientific spaces, and it suggests that these practices of local science were an important constituent of civic society and, in part, of national natural knowledge in nineteenth-century Scotland.

The protein bodies of the endosperm of the seeds of the castor oil plant Ricinus cannon is contain a variety of storage proteins, along with two lectins, ricin and Ricinus communis agglutinin. Ricin is a heterodimer consisting of an A chain which is toxic to cell-free translation systems, and a B chain which has galactose-binding activity; the whole molecule is toxic to cells and animals by virtue of the ability of the A chain to enzymatically inactivate ribosomes after it crosses the cell membrane, this latter being achieved after binding of the molecule to cell surfaces by the B chain. The agglutinin consists of two ricin-like species linked non-covalently, is divalent, and is not significantly toxic to cells. Previous work on the synthesis of the lectins indicated diet each subunit had its own precursor, each being co-translationally segregated and glycosylated, and assembly of the lectins was thought to occur after transport to the protein bodies. However, the putative B chain precursor was far larger than the mature B chains, and further protein-based evidence Indicated that It contains both A and B chain sequences. The former A chain precursor was Identified as an albumin which contaminated lectin preparations used for raising antisera. The work reported here confirms that the putative B chain precursor contains A and B chain sequences, by means of the cloning of cDNA complementary to lectin-specific mRNA. Clones of nearly full length have been obtained and sequenced, and the precursor is shown to have an N-terminal signal sequence, which is followed by the A chain sequence, and then by the B chain sequence. A linker of 12 amino acids is shown to be present between the two chains. Sequences corresponding to both lectins are reported, and the similarities and differences between them are discussed. The sequences are placed into context by comparison with other plant nucleotide and protein sequences. Literature on the castor bean lectins is reviewed, and the uses of the clones are discussed, with special reference to their possible use in immunotoxins for cancer therapy.

Heart rate (f\(_H\)) and rate of oxygen ( V\(_{O2}\) consumption were recorded from adult macaroni penguins while exercising on a treadmill. No differences were found in the relationship between f\(_H\) and V\(_{O2}\) in breeding and moulting female penguins, but a significant difference was found between male and female penguins. These relationships were used to estimate field metabolic rate (FMR) for free-ranging female penguins, which were implanted with heart rate and temperature data loggers. While foraging to provision their chick, FMR was 8.92 ± 0.44 W kg\(^{-1}\) and 9.07 ± 0.42 W kg\(^{-1}\) respectively while at-sea during the brood and crèche phases of the breeding season. While on-shore, the FMR was 6.08 ± 0.43 W kg\(^{-1}\) and 5.64 ± 0.40 W kg\(^{-1}\) respectively for the brood and crèche phases. During their moult fast, male and female penguins showed a pattern of increasing and then decreasing FMR and females had a mean FMR of 5.25 ± 0.88 W kg\(^{-1}\). The peak of energy expenditure was associated with maximum feather loss, probably due to increased costs of thermoregulation. During natural diving, penguins showed complex fluctuations in heart rate. Abdominal temperature fell during dive bouts with the magnitude of this decline increasing with bout length. Put together, these adjustments in heart rate and circulation may be enough to enable all natural dives to be aerobic in nature.

This research is united by both geographical area, principally the Vale of York, and methodology, stressing the use of insect remains in interpreting archaeological environments. Firstly the Cover Sands of North Lincolnshire and the Vale of York are considered. A terminal Devensian age is suggested for the majority of this extensive aeolian deposition and evidence for mode of origin and palaeoenvironment is discussed, with particular regard to insect faunas from within the Sands at Flixborough and Messingham, near Scunthorpe. A brief examination of the nebulous Creswellian industry in relation to the Sands is followed by the study of Mesolithic and Neolithic artifacts from on top of the Cover Sands at Misterton Carr, Nottinghamshire, and the affinities of the earlier part of this assemblage are considered with some current archaeological models of the palaeoenvironment. The trackway beneath Thorne Moor provides an opportunity to examine a local Bronze Age environment and the problems of the genesis of this lowland raised bog and also to discuss more widely the insect fauna of undisturbed forest and the effects of human interference, particularly forest clearance, upon it. The Roman sewer in York contrasts with the largely natural environments examined previously and the attempt to interpret the slight environmental data obtained leads into an essay upon synanthropic insects and the archaeological evidence for their long association with man. This unwanted alliance provides the means to reinterpret a Roman deposit, the Malton burnt grain, which has been linked with the historical events of A.D. 296. The apparent evidence for barbarian attack in northern England is reviewed and a less histrionic interpretation suggested.

Crocodylians today comprise only 24 recognised species, and are often regarded as morphologically conservative. However, the fossil record of crocodylomorphs, which includes the extinct relatives of crocodylians, is much richer and extends over the last ~220 million years. This great biodiversity is reflected in their morphological disparity, with crocodylomorph species occupying a much wider range of ecological niches. Research effort has concentrated mostly on the description of new taxa and on placing them within the crocodylomorph evolutionary tree, and has greatly contributed to our understanding of crocodylomorph phylogeny and diversity. Nevertheless, another fundamental aspect of crocodylomorph macroevolution, morphological disparity, has only recently been the subject of quantitative scrutiny, with the focus often limited to specific subgroups rather than the entire clade. In this thesis, crocodylomorph morphological disparity is quantitatively assessed using distinct types of data. Body size patterns, characterised via a model-fitting approach, provide new insights into the adaptive landscape of crocodylomorphs. Patterns of cranial shape variation suggest an important link between ecological diversification and morphological disparity. Finally, the action of heterochrony, underlying remarkable cranial modifications in the crocodylomorph clade Notosuchia, is tested using geometric morphometrics. Together, these results represent a significant contribution to better understanding crocodylomorph phenotypic evolution.

Understanding what environmental factors influence species’ responses is crucial for adequate conservation management and prediction of responses to climate change. My study focused on a widespread aquatic migratory bird in Brazil; the Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger). Throughout the thesis I investigated the reliability of using photographs, citizen data, and visual observation to assess biological data such as moult score, occurrence, and identification of sexes. I also used stable isotopes and counts to assess changes in Black Skimmer’s resource use and abundance according to ENSO. I found photographs can be used to score moult in primary feathers, and that sexes in this species can be identified by visual observation from skins and photographs with Black Skimmer males being significantly larger than females. Using citizen photographs from nature enthusiasts web platforms, I found Black Skimmers moult during austral spring to summer in Brazil. Individuals select areas mostly in southern and southeastern Brazil to perform moult. Both sub-species (Amazonian and South American Black Skimmers) and sexes in Brazil selected estuaries while moulting yet coastal built-up areas could also be used. The South American Black Skimmers also selected more dunes and less mudflats than the Amazonian ones. There were differences in timing or duration of moult between sub-species or sexes with males taking more time and starting to moult earlier than females. I found Black Skimmers changed resource and had a higher diet input from estuarine habitats during the El Niño. Not only the foraging use during moult changed but also the abundance. The number of individuals overstaging (staying longer at the non-breeding site during the breeding season) at the study site was higher during the El Niño and lower during the La Niña than in regular years. Abundance was higher during eastern and northern winds but negatively affected by an interaction of temperature and ENSO. This study provided affordable non-invasive methods to studies in ornithology, fulfilled gaps in Black Skimmer’s life-history annual cycle, and was one of the first studies addressing how ENSO affects aquatic species in the South American Atlantic coast. Lessons learned from this study might underpin more effective conservation plans.

Despite that the life histories of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) are very well studied, there are still gaps in our knowledge which have consequences for management and conservation of these species. This is of particular importance now that wild populations of Atlantic salmon and anadromous brown trout are decreasing throughout their distribution range. This thesis aims to address some of these gaps in knowledge in life stage specific habitat use and mortality of these two species by bringing together five separate studies. Regular assessment of stock size is one of the most important aspects of fisheries management. Electrofishing techniques are widely used for the estimation of the size of stream dwelling fish populations for both fishery management and scientific study. In contrast to multiple pass, population depletion methods, single pass catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) methods are less time consuming and labour intensive. A possible issue with the commonly used, fixed total time CPUE protocol is that it does not differentiate between the time spent actively fishing and the time incurred while not actively fishing, leading to handling error which is likely related to fish density. This was tested in a comparative field study. I showed that this commonly used technique is systematically underestimating juvenile salmonid numbers at higher densities. In addition this technique is failing to adequately determine fish community structure at low population densities. This work indicates a simple modification to the methodology that will reduce systematic error. Knowledge of the species’ biology and habitat requirements can be linked with habitat data to create a model that predicts the distribution of that species. As salmonids, such as Atlantic salmon, have fairly strict habitat requirements, knowledge of habitat use by salmon can then be used to estimate the potential salmonid production in a given area of certain quality. The accuracy of a habitat grading system currently used by the Loughs Agency was tested. The results suggest that in its current format, the habitat grading system does not accurately describe the abundance of juvenile salmonids. When data was analysed to see which habitat variables best described salmonid density, for 0+ salmon important variables were flow and substrate and for older juveniles the important variables were flow, substrate, depth and percentage of undercut banks. All populations are controlled by density-dependent and density –independent factors. For a species such as Atlantic salmon that has life stages differing in habitat requirements, the relative contributions of these two factors for population regulation on each life stage are likely to vary. Using a long-term data-set on Atlantic salmon migrants returning to the Foyle catchment, Ireland, the role of density-dependent and life-stage specific environmental factors regulating population size was determined. A Ricker density-dependent model showed that the spawning adult population size significantly predicted variation in the resultant filial generation, however a large amount of variation remained unexplained. It was shown that environmental factors were significant in explaining some of the remaining variance and that these influences were linked to specific life stages. Three life stages – spawning and incubation, fry emergence, and marine survival – were shown to be sensitive to environmental effects resulting in changes to the returning cohort strength. It is concluded that these life stage specific environmental effects are likely to contribute to the stochastic variation in population size resulting from the application of traditional stock-recruitment models. Atlantic salmon undertake extensive migrations between freshwater and marine habitats. Smolt migration is associated with high mortality and is thus considered a critical life stage in the Atlantic salmon life history. Smolt migration through standing waters is still mostly an unknown process and it is not known what guides migration during lake migration. Using acoustic telemetry, three hypotheses derived from known principles of migration in rivers were tested: i.) smolts will take the shortest possible route, ii.) smolts will display unidirectional movement and iii.) smolts will be continuously moving. None of these three expectations were supported by the results of this study. Instead evidence was found of smolts moving in a seemingly random fashion, displaying counter intuitive migration patterns and spending relatively long periods effectively static during their lake migration. Brown trout display a great range of life history variation ranging from river residency to anadromy. Unlike Atlantic salmon that migrate hundreds of kilometres to the open ocean to feed, anadromous brown trout often stay within 80-100 km from their natal river in coastal areas. Despite this, very little is still known about their behaviour during this coastal feeding part of the life cycle. It was found that brown trout in the Clyde estuary use a fairly small part of the estuary and seem to move fairly actively. Fish size did not explain any of the movement or residency patterns. The five separate studies presented in this thesis combine field empirical studies from rivers, lakes and the coastal marine environments and historical data analysis studies on two salmonid species. The results presented in this thesis provide tools for managers of anadromous salmonids.

Studying different types of dental pathology, wear, and developmental defects can allow inferences into diet and behaviour in a variety of ways. In this project data on these different variables were collected for South African hominins and compared with extant primates. The species studied include Paranthropus robustus, Australopithecus africanus, A. sediba, early Homo, Homo naledi, baboons, chimpanzees and gorillas. Macroscopic examination of each specimen was performed, with a 10X hand lens used to verify certain pathologies. Variables recorded include antemortem chipping, enamel hypoplasia, caries, occlusal wear, tertiary dentine, abscesses, and periodontal disease. Clear differences in frequencies were found in the different South African hominin species. Homo naledi displays high rates of chipping, especially small fractures above molar wear facets, likely reflecting a diet containing high levels of contaminants. Other noteworthy results include the high levels of pitting enamel hypoplasia in P. robustus molars compared to other species, likely due to a species-specific enamel formation property or developmental disturbance. The low rates of chipping in P. robustus does not fit with this species being a hard food specialist. Instead, the wear best supports a diet of low-quality tough vegetation. Australopithecus africanus likely had a broad diet, with angled molar wear, lack of caries, and high chipping frequencies supporting this conclusion. Seven new carious lesions are described, two from H. naledi and five P. robustus. Other, rarer, pathologies are also highlighted, including abscesses in an early Homo individual, root grooves caused by erosive wear in A. africanus and a case of amelogenesis imperfecta in a female chimpanzee. The main conclusion from this thesis as a whole is the substantial difference in frequencies of the different variables among hominin species, supporting the proposition that their diets differed substantially.

In this thesis I analyze the Dutch frontispiece to Francois Valentijn?s 1726 book Oud en Nieuw Oost Indien and demonstrate that it is a significant artistic statement, original in its rich and imaginative iconography and emblematic program. I describe and explain the image and its iconographic program and emblematic structure. I compare the frontispiece to many other Dutch frontispieces and artworks that likewise feature the four continent allegories and other iconographic elements. I demonstrate the ways in which the frontispiece superbly and comprehensively summarizes and visualizes the text, which is the primary purpose of frontispieces. I also show how the image emulates early eighteenth-century Dutch culture by reflecting the period?s nostalgia for Golden Age styles and subjects. In conclusion I clarify the way in which the image functions emblematically and explain the twofold meaning of the emblem and proving that the image is exceptional and unique within the context of the historiography of Dutch frontispieces.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2000. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 251-271). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.