Kenneth Carpenter1 and Michael J. Everhart2
Michelle K. Darnell1 and Joseph R. Thomasson2
The first equid remains are reported from sediments at the late Miocene Ogallala stratotype locality (Joseph R. Thomasson Site 9A-JRT Site 9A) of the Prolithospermum johnstonii-Nassella pohlii Assemblage Zone in Ellis County, Kansas. The two specimens were recovered from a diatomaceous marl unit approximately in the middle of the zone and consist of a right lower fourth premolar (Rp4) and a left third metatarsal of the grazing tridactyl equid Neohipparion eurystyle. The presence of Neohipparion eurystyle within this plant assemblage zone supports the suggestion of a savanna or savanna parkland grassland in the region during deposition of the fossils and is evidence for a Miocene Hemphillian Land Mammal Age assignment for the stratum from which the fossils were recovered. Other fossils collected from the same stratum as the horses, including diatoms, a partial frog ilium, ostracods, charophytes, sedge rhizomes, and mollusks, indicate the presence of a pond.
A new bee species of the genus Amegilla (Apinae: Anthophorini) is described and figured from western Malaysia and southern Thailand. Amegilla anekawarna Engel, new species, belongs to the zonata group of species and can be most readily confused with the widespread A. zonata (Linnaeus). The species is distinguished from A. zonata and other Southeast Asian, blue-banded Amegilla.
Roy J. Beckemeyer1, 2 and Joseph D. Hall3
Eight species of mecopteroid Panorpida are known from the Lower Permian Wellington Formation of Elmo (Dickinson County), Kansas; one of those species, Permopanorpa inaequalis Tillyard, 1926, is documented for the first time from the Wellington Formation fossil insect beds of Noble County, Oklahoma. The holometabolous species (insects with complete metamorphosis) of the Wellington Formation Lower Permian fauna, which comprise 7% of the total of nearly 200 species, are listed and briefly reviewed.
In this study, a non-lethal DNA isolation technique was developed for freshwater mussels. A total of 45 Quadrula quadrula, 21 Q. metanevra, and 19 Q. pustulosa were collected from the Neosho and Verdigris Rivers in eastern Kansas. DNA was successfully isolated from 82 mussels using the non-lethal technique developed in this study. Spectrophotometer analysis of the 82 DNA samples resulted in an average DNA concentration of 488 ng/µl. Agarose gel electrophoresis of polymerase chain reaction products obtained using the purified mussel DNA demonstrated high quality, reproducible amplification products. All mussels remained alive for several months after tissue biopsy in the laboratory. A mark and recapture study was also performed to confirm survivability, thereby ensuring our procedure was non-lethal. Recapture efforts resulted in a 56% live recovery of mussels from the Neosho River and a 78% live recovery from mussels in the Verdigris River approximately four and one-half months after their release.
Bone fragments, ganoid scales and the distinctive tooth crown of a pycnodont fish (FHSM VP-16583), were recovered from a coprolite (FHSM VP-16586) collected from the Smoky Hill Chalk Member (lower Santonian) of the Niobrara Chalk in northeastern Lane County, Kansas. Pycnodonts were small to medium-sized, deep-bodied bony fish with batteries of flattened, peg-like teeth on the vomer and prearticulars that are well adapted for feeding on hard-shelled prey. The tooth and a dermal bone fragment were identified as Micropycnodon kansasensis on the basis of comparison with the holotype and other specimens. Small inoceramid fragments inside the coprolite may represent gut contents of the pycnodont, or the larger, possibly durophagous, predator. The remains of pycnodonts are rare occurrences in the Smoky Hill Chalk and are generally limited to toothplates bearing their distinctive teeth. Previous specimens recovered from the Smoky Hill Chalk have been limited stratigraphically to the uppermost Coniacian. FHSM VP-16583 represents the first record of this species in the Santonian.
Shawn A. Hamm1 and Kenshu Shimada2,3
Tim D. Harrell,1 Joseph A. Arruda,2 and James R. Triplett2
Eight isolated teeth of the Late Cretaceous anacoracid shark, Pseudocorax laevis (Leriche), from the Smoky Hill Chalk Member of the Niobrara Chalk in western Kansas are formally identified and described. These teeth were recovered from the bottom half of the Smoky Hill Chalk, which chronostratigraphically ranges from the Late Coniacian (ca. 87 Ma) to the late Early Santonian (ca. 85 Ma). Pseudocorax laevis was likely a small shark, measuring only about 1 m in total length. Like other anacoracids, P. laevis possibly practiced scavenging.
At low flows, ambient toxicity (measured as a reduction in Ceriodaphnia survival) was observed in two tributaries and in the main channel of Turkey Creek. Toxicity during periods of no observable stream flow was absent in Turkey Creek upstream of these sources and reduced downstream of them and a wastewater treatment plant. During stormwater runoff, ambient toxicity increased throughout Turkey Creek, but especially at the downstream sites. Toxicity was not markedly altered at the two tributary sites where there was significant toxicity under runoff and non-runoff conditions. The toxicity from the tributaries was attributed to the presence of zinc, nickel, or cadmium as implied by a follow-up analysis of a toxicity identification evaluation (TIE), known land use, and ambient water quality data. Overall, the aquatic toxicity observed in Turkey Creek is likely due to sources in the streambed, unconsolidated urban runoff, mine tailings, or synergistic effects.
Prior to 1992 all streams and Federal reservoirs in Kansas were open to mussel harvest with an approved permit. In 1992, the harvest of freshwater mussels in Kansas was limited to five species, and the streams open to harvest were limited to four rivers; all Federal reservoirs remained open. The weight of mussels harvested from Kansas streams peaked in 1996 and the harvest in reservoirs peaked in 1997. From 1997 to 2002 harvest declined steadily each year. To preserve mussel populations, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks established a 10-year moratorium on harvest of freshwater mussels in Kansas in 2003.
Virgil Brack, Jr.,1 Lynn W. Robbins,2 and Clay R. Davis3,4
Although nine species of bats are considered resident in northeastern Kansas, we caught only six (198 individuals). Big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) comprised 77% of the catch, and three species - hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus), northern myotis (Myotis septentrionalis), and eastern pipistrelle (Pipistrellus subflavus) - were each represented by one individual. Five captures of three species were county records: red bats in Linn and Miami counties, northern myotis in Leavenworth County, and evening bats in Linn and Miami counties. The mean rate of capture was 9.4 bats/net site (Species Diversity Index: SDI = 15.0) and 2.9 bats/net night (SDI = 4.9). We captured no bats at 6 of 21 net sites, whereas the greatest catch at a single location was 56 bats. The rate of catch was similar to studies in Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia, but the species diverity, utilizing MacArthur's diversity index, was lower (1.6 vs. 2.9-4.4). We obtained evidence of reproduction for the big brown bat, red bat (Lasiurus borealis), evening bat (Nycticeius humeralis), and northern myotis. There was no difference (P > 0.05) in catch of adult male and reproductive female big brown and red bats, or for all species combined (numbers of other species were too small to test). The rate of capture over 5 hours of sampling was different than random for the big brown bat (X2 = 38.800; P < 0.001), and for all species combined (X2 = 43.228; P < 0.001), but was similar for all species combined excluding the big brown bat (X2 = 8.353; P < 0.079). Captures decreased over the sampling period. The rate of capture of red and evening bats was similar in all habitats sampled (P = > 0.05), whereas big brown bats were caught disproportionally often over stream versus bottomland and upland corridors (X2 = 12.486; P < 0.002). At 10 sites sampled ultrasonically, we detected echolocation calls for seven species. Although we detected calls of eastern pipistrelle and little brown myotis, these species were not captured at these 10 sites.
Skeletochronology is a method used to determine the age of an individual from bone histology. The method is based on growth lines found in cortical bone, an area until now seldom examined in mosasaurs. For the first time, diaphysial thin sections of Tylosaurus, Platecarpus and Clidastes limb bones are studied using skeletochronological techniques. Results indicate that sexual maturity in mosasaurs was reached between ages five and seven, and that the mosasaurs studied exhibit a typical sauropsid growth pattern, although their growth rates are interpreted as faster than those of extant taxa because of fully aquatic adaptations.
Beth E. Ross,1 Aaron W. Reed,2 Ryan L. Rehmeier,3 Glennis A. Kaufman and Donald W. Kaufman4
Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506
Kenshu Shimada1,2 and David C. Parris3
Disturbances by large mammals influence plant populations and ecosystem processes. In contrast, impacts on ecosystem processes at local scales by small herbivorous rodents are relatively unknown. To examine effects of the runways of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) on soil nitrogen, we collected soil cores from under runways, along the runway edges and at 0.25 and 2 m away from runways. Plant samples (both current and previous year’s growth) were clipped from microsites at edges of runways and at 0.25 and 2 m away from runways. Concentrations of soil nitrate were highest along runway edges and lowest 2 m away, whereas those of ammonium were highest 0.25 m away from runways and lowest under runways and along runway edges. Biomass of plants from previous growth (litter) was higher along edges of runways than at 0.25 and 2 m from runway edges. In contrast to differences in soil nitrate and ammonium concentrations and in litter biomass among microsites, carbon:nitrogen (C:N) ratios of big bluestem and live plant biomass were similar among the three microsites. Our data suggest that prairie voles do affect nutrient dynamics and plant litter at a local scale in tallgrass prairie.
We describe the first record of Terminonaris cf. T. browni Osborn, 1904 (Reptilia: Crocodyliformes) from the Fairport Chalk Member of the Carlile Shale (Upper Cretaceous: lower Middle Turonian) in Russell County, Kansas. The specimen is a partial rostrum consisting of fused nasals with parts of co-ossified maxillae. This new fossil record is significant because it is the geologically youngest Terminonaris specimen, and it is the first Terminonaris specimen from Kansas, the sixth known specimen of the genus, and the southernmost occurrence in North America. Because Terminonaris is thought to have been a nearshore inhabitant, its occurrence in the Fairport Chalk, which is an offshore deposit, suggests that the specimen was transported for a long distance before its deposition.
Pholcus manueli and not P. opilionoides is the smaller of the two synanthropic Pholcus of the northeastern and midwestern United States. Figures are provided for distinguishing P. manueli from P. opilionoides, a Eurasian species sometimes confused with P. manueli.
In 1931, an oilfield geologist working in Ellsworth County discovered large bones eroding from a limestone exposure along a creek bank about two miles west of the town of Holyrood, Kansas. He notified George F. Sternberg of the remains and later that year, Sternberg and his assistant, M. V. Walker, collected the remains of a large, headless elasmosaur from the “Lincoln Marble (Benton).” The specimen (UNSM 50136) was sold to the University of Nebraska State Museum in 1935, where it was prepared from the remaining matrix. One of the front paddles has been on display in the UNSM since that time. Sternberg was also an accomplished photographer and took several black and white photographs of the locality. The photos were used by Harold Ehler, the grandson of the person who had leased the land at the time of the discovery, and the author to confirm the locality and stratigraphic occurrence of this relatively unknown but important specimen.
Melissa D. Volk,1 Donald W. Kaufman and Glennis A. Kaufman.2 Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506
L.C. Natarajan,1 A.L. Melott,1 B.M. Rothschild,2 and L.D. Martin2
Michael S. Engel1,2 and David A. Grimaldi2
Lehmann, R.E.,1 Shively, S.D.2 and Miller, W.R.2
Daniel F. Merriam. Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66047 (dmerriam@kgs.ku.edu)
The basal Cretaceous conglomerate, consisting of material derived from the east and northeast, was deposited by westward flowing streams on an eroded surface of Paleozoic rocks. The unnamed stratigraphic unit, composed of pebble- and cobble-size material, is exposed locally along the outcrop belt from Clay County southwestward to Kiowa County.
John C. Kostelnick,1 Dana L. Peterson,2 Stephen L. Egbert,2,3 Kristina M. McNyset,4 Jack F. Cully5
Helen M. Hands. Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area, 56 NE 40 Rd., Great Bend, KS 67530 (helenh@wp.state.ks.us)
Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area (CBWA) is an internationally recognized wetland surrounded by mixed-grass prairie. Because habitat management historically has been focused on the marsh, this study was initiated to determine the effects of spring burning on abundance and species richness of grassland-nesting birds. The effects of years since last burn and location on abundance and species richness were inconsistent among years. Unless additional bird surveys show consistent patterns in bird response to burning, frequency of burns will be determined based on vegetation characteristics rather than abundance of nesting birds.
Kenshu Shimada,1,2 Michael J. Everhart,2 and Keith Ewell3
Daniel F. Merriam. Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66047 (dmerriam@kgs.ku.edu)
The recent recognition of redbeds on Mars similar to the Permian redbeds in Kansas has given speculation that (1) the beds probably were deposited by water; (2) they could contain evaporites; and (3) the evaporites might contain fluid inclusions with organic matter. If these conjectures are correct, then samples of these sediments collected on future missions might substantiate previous life on the red planet.
Michael J. Everhart. Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS (meverhar@fhsu.edu)
Guitarfish (Rhinobatidae) are a conservative group of extant rays with worldwide distribution and a fossil record that extends as far back as the Jurassic (Toarcian). Modern representatives of the family inhabit shallow tropical and sub-tropical waters, at depths less than 200 m, as well as some fresh water environments. Although complete specimens are known, the most abundant fossil remains are small, isolated teeth (less than 2 mm, measured mesiodistally). In North America, the earliest record of Rhinobatos sp. is from Lower Cretaceous (Lower Albian) of Texas. Rhinobatos sp. has been reported from Cretaceous rocks in other areas of the U.S. Western Interior including the Albian-Campanian of Texas, the Turonian and Santonian of Kansas, Cenomanian of Nebraska, Cenomanian and Turonian of New Mexico and South Dakota, and Coniacian of Saskatchewan, Canada. Recent discoveries of Rhinobatos incertus teeth from the Upper Albian to the Lower Campanian in the Cretaceous of Kansas document a reasonably continuous presence of the species in a variety of marine environments within the Western Interior Sea. New Kansas records of R. incertus teeth are from: McPherson County, Kiowa Shale (Upper Albian); Russell County, Dakota - Graneros Shale contact (Middle Cenomanian); Jewell County, Codell Sandstone (Middle Turonian), and; Trego County, Smoky Hill Chalk (Upper Coniacian) and Logan County, Smoky Hill Chalk (Lower Campanian).
Kenshu Shimada1,2,3 and Tracy K. Ystesund2
Jane P. Davidson. University of Nevada, Reno
The United States Geological Survey of the Territories published several landmark works of paleontology that dealt with fossils found in Kansas during the decade after the Civil War. Such works appeared as volumes of the Hayden and King Surveys. There were also lesser known USGS publications on Kansas paleontology that preceded these important works. Cope’s Vertebrata of the Cretaceous Formations of the West (1875) and Marsh’s Odontornithes (1880). This study concerns the contents of USGS publications concerning paleontology in Kansas to 1875, as well also the role that the USGS publications play today in the study of the history of paleontology in the state as that support is recorded in the publications.
Michele R. Warmund,1 Christopher Starbuck2 and Sorkel Kadir3
Diurnal and seasonal patterns of activity and habitat associations of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were assessed in a mosaic of grassland and woodland habitats on the Konza Prairie Biological Station, Kansas. We recorded deer seen during daylight hours in summer, autumn and winter periods from June 1997 through February 1998. Overall, diurnal activity increased from summer to winter and was largely crepuscular (i.e., early morning and late evening). Deer were observed primarily in lower uplands during summer and winter, and in lowlands during autumn. At a coarse scale (6.25 ha), white-tailed deer selected areas that had woody vegetation and avoided those that were dominated by grassy vegetation. In contrast, at a fine scale, groups of deer most often were observed foraging in the immediate vicinity of grassland vegetation, rather than in or by woody vegetation.
Data on the prevalence of bone cancer in dinosaurs is available from past radiological examination of preserved bones. We statistically test this data for consistency with rates extrapolated from information on bone cancer in modern vertebrates, and find that there is no evidence of a different rate. Thus, this test provides no support for a possible role of ionizing radiation in the K-T extinction event.
Three new species of the parasitoid wasp superfamily Mymarommatoidea (Proctotrupomorpha: Bipetiolarida) are described and figured in Cretaceous amber from New Jersey (Turonian) and Myanmar (Albian-Cenomanian boundary). The new taxa are Archaeromma carnifex Engel and Grimaldi, new species, in New Jersey amber, A. gibsoni Engel and Grimaldi, new species, in New Jersey amber (both Mymarommatidae), and Galloromma kachinensis Engel and Grimaldi, new species, in Burmese amber (Gallorommatidae).
Tardigrades are microscopic invertebrates living among mosses and lichens throughout the world. Their occurrence in the states of Kansas and Missouri has only briefly been documented. We report 23 species; 16 species from Missouri and 16 from Kansas. This is the second report of tardigrades from Kansas and only the third from Missouri. This report begins to look at the diversity and distribution of the animals within the two states. Some aspects of the ecology are examined, including the possible relationship between tardigrade species and microhabitats, observations on feeding, and cycles of egg production.
Black-tailed prairie dog (BTPD) (Cynomys ludovicianus) populations in Kansas have declined significantly due to both natural and human-induced threats. To minimize the risk of future population declines, it is necessary to identify existing BTPD habitats in the state as well as areas suitable for BTPD habitat. This paper presents a method for modeling BTPD habitats in Kansas using geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, and ecological niche modeling with the Genetic Algorithm for Rule-Set Prediction (GARP). Environmental variables incorporated into the ecological niche modeling process include composite biweekly Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) layers derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite imagery, slope, soil depth, and soil texture. Species occurrence training and validation data were selected from an aerial survey of BTPD colonies by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP). Accuracy assessment methods, including Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis, omission calculation, and validation with an independent BTPD colony dataset collected for the Cimarron National Grassland in Morton County, indicate a high degree of accuracy for the GARP models. A map of BTPD habitat suitability produced by the ecological niche modeling has the potential to aid state agencies and organizations in their efforts to prevent further population declines in the species.
We describe a unique reptilian tooth from the Smoky Hill Chalk Member of the Niobrara Chalk in Trego County, Kansas. Its taxonomic placement cannot be ascertained due to its isolated find, and it is possible that the tooth could have come from a mosasauroid in which the juvenile dentition is not known. However, except for its large size, the specimen closely resembles a right maxillary tooth of a dolichosaurid lizard, Coniasaurus crassidens, and is here referred to as cf. Coniasaurus sp. If it indeed belongs to Coniasaurus, it represents 1) the second Coniasaurus specimen from the Smoky Hill Chalk, 2) the first Coniacian record for the genus, and 3) the largest Coniasaurus tooth known to date that could have come from a 1.6 m individual.
Coniasaurus Owen is a small Late Cretaceous marine lizard. Here, we describe two isolated vertebrae of C. cf. C. crassidens Owen from the Fairport Chalk Member of the Carlile Shale (Upper Cretaceous) in west-central Russell County, Kansas. This report constitutes the first detailed description of Coniasaurus from the stratigraphic unit. Whereas Coniasaurus has been reported from the Late Cenomanian and Middle Santonian deposits in Kansas, the two vertebrae described here substantiate the presence of the taxon during the early Middle Turonian (ca. 92.1–91.2 Ma), adding a new insight into the paleoecology of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Sea of North America.
Attached apples on trees of ‘Jonathan Rasa’ and ‘Delicious Flanagan’ (Malus x domestica Borkh.) were enclosed in polyethylene bags or left unbagged for 5 d in 2002 and 2004 to determine the effect of elevated temperatures just before harvest on fruit quality parameters measured immediately thereafter. Mean maximum daily air temperatures within the bags were 5 to 9°C warmer than those of the air, recorded in full sun. Mean maximum daily fruit surface and flesh temperatures of bagged apples were 5 to 12°C warmer than those of unbagged fruit. Maximum daily fruit surface and flesh temperatures of bagged apples were similar. Peel color (L*, chroma, hue) of both cultivars was altered by the bagging treatment, but not flesh firmness. Bagged fruit generally had a lower soluble solids concentration (SSC) and starch index rating than those of unbagged apples. Titratable acidity of bagged apples was generally lower than that of unbagged fruit. Respiration rate of bagged apples more than doubled with a 3 to 4°C increase in air temperature. Thus, several fruit quality parameters were adversely affected by elevated temperatures over a 5 day period.
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