Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 163-170). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 163-170). Also available on the Internet.

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Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2007. Graduate Programme in Biology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-63). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR31999

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on November 13, 2009). Thesis advisor: Dr. Craig T. Palmer. Includes bibliographical references.

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By definition "adaptability" is the ability of living systems to cope with change. Genetic adaptability requires the production of genetic variation. The view that variation production is undirected or random, i.e. unconnected with selection, implies that selection does not tailor genetic adaptability. But many genetic elements are known to modify processes of variation production, and secondary selection can act on them, so that view is not justified. Over the longer term, natural selection 'favors' properties important, in maintaining immediate fitness, as well as properties important for persistence in the short term. Genetic adaptability is less important in the short term, and is ignored in models based on short term definitions of fitness (e.g. relative effective rate of increase). If "fitness" is to be "the properties favored by natural selection", then its definition should be time scale dependent. Currently prevalent short term definitions of the action of natural selection should not be allowed to hamper consideration of the role of slow processes in determining long term evolutionary patterns. A review of patterns in genome size, and the existing explanations for them, reveals that most explanations are based on notions of adaptedness to the state of the environment. An explanation of genome size patterns based on the rate of change of environments is proposed. It is hypothesized that part of the genome is involved in regulating variation production, and that more DNA means slower production of additive genetic variation. This new hypothesis is simple, general, and testable, but requires more evidence. The question is raised of whether genomes might be organized to facilitate the adjustment of genetic variation production by natural selection. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

In most eukaryotes, aerobic respiration requires interactions between autosomally- encoded genes (Ninteract genes) and mitochondrial DNA, RNA, and protein. In species where females are philopatric, contrasting distributions of genetic variation in mito- chondrial and nuclear genomes creates variation in mitonuclear interactions that may be subject to natural selection. To test this expectation, we turned to a group with extreme female philopatry: the macaque monkeys. We examined four genomic datasets from (i) wild caught and (ii) captive populations of rhesus macaque, which is the most widely distributed non-human primate, and (iii) the stump-tailed macaque and (iv) a subspecies of longtail macaque, both of whose mitochondrial DNA is introgressed from a highly di- verged ancestor. We identified atypically long runs of homozygosity, low polymorphism, high differentiation and/or rapid protein evolution associated with Ninteract genes com- pared to non-Ninteract genes. These metrics suggest a subset of Ninteract genes were independently subject to natural selection in multiple species. Selection on mitonuclear interactions is thus a factor in macaque genome evolution that could have influenced as- pects of macaque societies including species diversity, ecological breadth, female-biased adult sex ratio and demography, sexual dimorphism, and mitonuclear phylogenomics. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

The evolution of sedentariness in east-central Mississippi seems to follow specific patterns when both time and space are accounted for. Prehistoric pottery counts and frequencies from sites located throughout east-central Mississippi were examined in order to better understand settlement patterns. This study combines data from both newly recorded and previously recorded sites. These data are analyzed using frequency seriation and correspondence analysis, thus allowing the investigation of settlement patterns through both space and time. The results are used to address competing hypotheses concerning a gradual spread of sedentary settlement versus a very rapid adoption of sedentariness. The main factors organizing assemblages from sedentary settlements in this area seem to be distance from a major river and population growth. The data indicate that sedentariness was adopted gradually.

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