Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2003. / Advisor: Dr. Zuoxin Wang, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Psychology. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Oct. 1, 2003). Includes bibliographical references.

The ecology of small mammal communities found in set-aside and adjacent farm land was investigated to determine the ecological consequences of set-aside land to small mammals. Field work was carried out for two years at three study sites in NE Scotland. First Aldroughty farm, a mosaic of set-aside, crop and semi-natural land. The two remaining study sites; Ythan Lodge at Newburgh, and Fraser's farm near Aldroughty, were whole fields of set-aside. Wood mice <i>Apodemus sylvaticus</i>, bank voles <i>Clethrionomys glareolus</i> and field voles <i>Microtus agrestis</i> were trapped in the habitat mosaic at Aldroughty, and wood mice and field voles in the set-aside at Newburgh. Wood mice had higher densities, greater survival, heavier weights, longer breeding seasons and more juveniles at Aldroughty than Newburgh. These differences were thought to be due to a difference in habitat productivity between the two sites. Field voles showed less of a difference in population dynamics between Aldroughty and Newburgh, and both species of vole maintained populations at low density. The home range size of 33 wood mice was measured using radiotelemetry. At both study sites home range size was smaller than in other habitats revealed by other studies. The apparently anomalous results obtained, of low population densities and small home range sizes of wood mice in the set-aside at Newburgh, may have been due to predation from cats <i>Felis catus</i>. Wood mice showed no clear habitat preference, nesting and foraging in all habitat types, while both vole species showed almost exclusive preference for rough grassland. An assessment of the habitat characteristics of the study sites showed that there was heterogeneity in the vegetation communities found in set-aside.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Zuoxin Wang, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Psychology. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Jan. 12, 2005). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Zoology, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 34-38).

The distinct ecological requirements of Microtus xanthognathus (yellow-cheeked vole or taiga vole) and M. pennsylvanicus (meadow vole) warrant accurate discrimination of their remains in studies of paleoecology and past biogeographical shifts. An occlusal length of the lower 1st molars (ml) that is >3.2 mm for M. xanthognathus is the method most frequently used to separate these 2 taxa in archaeological and paleontological samples. However, these measurements alone are unreliable because some specimens of M. pennsylvanicus overlap smaller individuals of M. xanthognathus in size. Therefore, I created and tested a morphometric technique that discriminates Recent lower 1st molars (mis) of M. pennsylvanicus from those of M. xanthognathus, and is applicable to other taxa (both modern and fossil). Despite overlapping occlusal length, my discriminant function based on landmark data correctly classified 100% (n = 53) of Recent m1s from the 2 taxa and 97.7% (43 of 44) of (assumed) m1s of M. pennsylvanicus from an archaeological site from about AD 1200 in central Nebraska. This landmark scheme is applicable to fossil and modern Microtus worldwide. © 2006 American Society of Mammalogists.

In the present work we evaluated the degree of sexual dimorphism in two cell groups of the medial preoptic-anterior hypothalamus (MPOA-AH) in monogamous and polygamous voles. Quantitative determinations were made of volume, cell number, and cell density for the anteroventral-periventriular nucleus (AVPV) and the sexually dimorphic nucleus of the preoptic area (SDN-POA). Polygamous montane voles (Microtus montanus) had a greater degree of sexual dimorphism in both cell groups than did monogamous prairie voles (M. ochrogaster). Most notable was the complete absence of the AVPV in male montane voles; male montane voles also had a significantly larger SDN-POA volume than did females. The only sexual dimorphism in prairie voles was a greater cell density in the female AVPV. In addition, prairie voles had larger relative brain size than did montane voles. Comparative behavioral studies have revealed a correlation between the degree of sexual dimorphism in external morphology and mating system, i.e., polygamous species display greater levels of dimorphism than do monogamous species. The present results indicate that the effects of sexual selection can also be seen in those brain regions, like the hypothalamus, that underlie social and reproductive behavior. Moreover, these results support the hypothesis that neuroanatomic dimorphisms in the MPOA-AH may be related to sex differences in behavior.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1979 R617 / Master of Science

Magnetoreception in rodents was studied in this Ph.D. thesis. Behavioural evidence for compass magnetic orientation was found in two subterranean African rodents: the social giant mole-rat (Fukomys mechowii) and solitary silvery mole-rat (Heliophobius argenteocinereus) and epigeic rodent bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus). The study is also focused on the role of magnetic orientation in solving the orientation task in Morris water maze in bank vole.

The magnetic orientation was established in several species of rodents, but the mechanism of its perception has not been determined. Aim of this work was to verify magnetic sense in the bank vole (Myodes glareolus) and try to solve the nature of its magnetoreception in tests carried out in total darkness and when the horizontal component was reversed and the vertical component was inverted. A spontaneous directional preference in the magnetic field was tested in circular arena.

No description available.