Maternal factors have the potential to influence the morphometrics of offspring; however, the magnitude and persistence of those influences are not well known. I investigated the extent to which maternal factors influenced offspring phenotype at the individual and population level for captive white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) originating from three distinct physiographic regions of Mississippi, USA. First, I tested whether male white-tailed deer displayed improvements in weaponry and body size after two generations of being released from nutritional restrictions. I found that improved nutrition positively influenced all morphometrics; however, we observed variation in magnitude of improvement. Antler size was most responsive to improved nutrition while body mass and skeletal structures were less responsive; potentially indicating an adaptive strategy allowing males to increase yearly reproductive success without jeopardizing lifetime reproductive success. Second, we assessed whether maternal characteristics, early life characteristics or a combination of both persistently influenced morphometrics throughout maturity. I found that late birth date positively influenced offspring body mass through three-years of age; indicating that late-born fawns over-compensated for a late start to life. I also identified an indirect silver-spoon effect as early-, heavy-born fawns were heavy juveniles. In turn, heavy juveniles were also heavy adults. Therefore, male white-tailed deer may gain reproductive opportunities by displaying one of two strategies to increase body mass. Lastly, I estimated heritability for six antler characteristics and quantified the influence of maternal factors such as parturition date and litter size on the predictability of antler size. All antler characteristics were highly heritable. Yearling antler size was a moderate predictor of antler size later in life, but accounting for maternal factors greatly improved predictability. The influence of maternal factors decreased with increasing male age suggesting that compensation for the negative influence of maternal factors may occur after an individual’s first year of life. My results suggest that although antler characteristics are highly heritable, the large influence of maternal factors on predictability indicates that use of yearling antler size as selective harvest criteria may not achieve all management goals.

Ten painted Cajamarca-style ceramic spoons form the foundation for an investigation of the way that these seemingly utilitarian objects were bestowed with economic and symbolic value both within and outside of the borders of the Cajamarca region, located in the north highlands of present-day Peru. Since the ceramic spoons have been recovered from sites associated with large and powerful societies and states, such as the Moche of the north coast and the Wari of the central highlands, an analysis of the form, style and imagery present on these spoons reveals how these objects transcended cultural boundaries. To assess and evaluate the cultural traits shared by the Cajamarca and neighboring polities, George Kubler’s concept of form-classes, which groups together objects with similar primary traits regardless of chronology, is utilized. The application of the concept of form-classes is significant because of the lack of written language in the region and the dearth of archaeological investigations in the Cajamarca area. Consequently, the form and style of the object is considered as the primary point of analysis and can be compared and contrasted with the form and style of spoons from other pre-Hispanic cultures, including the Wari, Huarpa and Chimu. Perceived as small, utilitarian items, ceramic spoons were actually elite goods traded or carried across thousands of miles for the purpose of establishing new, and reaffirming existing, ideological connections in a period of intense exchange and economic growth.

In migratory vertebrates, the optimal timing of successive life history stages is relatively inflexible. As a result, life history trade-offs that occur during breeding may influence individual success in subsequent stages because there is little time to mitigate negative costs that are incurred, or because the onset of subsequent stages is delayed. In migratory songbirds, understanding how breeding events carry over to influence individual success has been challenging because individuals are difficult to track once breeding is complete. I studied an island breeding population of migratory Savannah sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis) and tracked individuals from breeding up until the onset of autumn migration. In Chapter 1, I investigated the effects of early life events on body condition during the pre-migratory period and first year apparent survival. I found that juveniles fledging from larger broods were in poorer condition at fledging, had lower fat stores prior to migration, and had lower first year apparent survival. In Chapter 2, I examined the effects of life history trade-offs made by adults during breeding on pre-migratory body condition and annual apparent survival. I did not find evidence for a trade-off between reproductive effort or date of breeding completion with annual apparent survival or body condition during the pre-migratory period, but instead found that adults with the highest reproductive effort and later dates of breeding completion were more likely to survive until the following year. In Chapter 3, I examined the effect of timing of breeding completion and fledging on the date of fall migration. I found that both variables had strong positive effects on date of departure. Together, my results suggest that successful migration in juveniles is influenced by early life events, but that any potential costs incurred by adults during the breeding season likely has little influence on survival during migration.

This thesis investigates whether the shape of eating utensils can be optimized using computational methods. This is done by creating a system to do so for a specific case, spoons, and see if any insurmountable problems are encountered. As this system is meant to optimize spoons rather than eating utensils in general, there are a few simplifications that can be done when modelling the eating process. The spoons are represented by a set of parameters that are further divided into groups. The first group representing the bowl, followed by a variable number of handle segments. The parameter sets are evaluated by calculating the volume between the lowest point on the rim and the bottom of the bowl, giving both the volume remaining at the end as well as the volume spilt over the course of the motion. This, together with the final direction and tilt of the bowl as well as a measure of spoon complexity, is processed into a score value. The chosen optimization method is gradient descent, with a variable step length. The results show that the optimization process does work, and the resulting spoons look plausible. The conclusion is that the approach is viable, but there are a number of changes and improvements needed to make things work for practical purposes. / Det här examensarbetet undersöker om formen på bestick kan anpassas kan anpassas för speciella behov med hjälp av optimeringslära. Målet är att utveckla ett system som optimerar formen på ett specialfall, skedar, till specifika ätrörelser för att se om det är möjligt. Specialfallet skedar används eftersom det förenklar de beräkningar som behöver göras vid modelleringen av ätandet. Skedarna representeras av en parametriserad modell som delar upp skeden i segment bestående av parametergrupper. Det första segmentet representerar skedskålen, de följande skedskaftet. Skaftets längd kan ändras genom att variera antalet skaft-segment. Skedarna utvärderas genom att beräkna volymen mellan skedskålskanten och den lägsta punkten på skedskålen under hela ätrörelsen. Detta ger både hur mycket av innehållet som når munnen (lägsta volymen som hittats) samt hur mycket som spillts (skillnaden mellan den initiala och den lägsta volymen). Detta, tillsammans med hur skeden är positionerad relativt munnen i slutet av rörelsen samt hur komplext skedskaftet är, agerar som grund till hur skeden poängsätts. Själva optimeringen sker genom 'gradient descent' med en variabel steglängd. Det system som implementerats visar på att det är möjligt att använda optimeringslära för detta syfte, och de skedar som skapas ser rent intuitivt ut att fungera som poängsättningen lovar. Slutsatsen blir att metoden i sig fungerar, men att flera förbättringar krävs innan den kan användas i praktiken. / <p>The CSC-institution was re-organized into EECS towards the end of the project.</p>

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