Browsing by Author "Anderson, Sydney, 1927-"
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Item Areography of North American fishes, amphibians, and reptiles. American Museum novitates ; no. 2802(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1984) Anderson, Sydney, 1927-"Sizes of geographic ranges of species of freshwater fishes (635), amphibians (141), and reptiles (199) occurring north of Mexico in North America were measured and compared with each other and with ranges of birds and mammals. All groups have 'hollow curve' frequency distributions in which most species have small ranges; and all groups have latitudinal gradients in which more species occur at lower latitudes. For fishes and amphibians the greatest density is in the southeastern United States and not the southwest. The frequency distributions of range sizes for amphibians and reptiles are approximately lognormal. The geometric means (in 10[superscript 5] km[superscript 2] units) for ranges of species in these groups are: fishes 0.82, salamanders (Caudata) 0.86, lizards (Lacertilia) 2.8, turtles (Chelonia) 4.1, frogs and toads (Anura) 4.6, snakes (Serpentes) 6.2, and the alligator (Crocodilia) 8. Comparable means for mammals and birds are 5.8 and 16, respectively. At most local areas in North America, the percentage of the continental fauna present for each of these groups is correlated with the mean size of the geographic ranges in the groups. Exceptions for certain localities or subgroups are of interest. Species of amphibians and reptiles occurring in places of higher diversity have smaller geographic ranges. Available space (probably chiefly related to climatic conditions) and analytical artifacts provide a better explanation than competition for this correlation. Fishes were not examined in this regard; adequate data have not been assembled. Amphibians and reptiles have a higher percentage of species that are North American endemics than do mammals and birds, which are groups with generally larger species ranges. On the average, fishes have smaller ranges than amphibians and reptiles but have a higher percentage of intercontinental cosmopolitan species (or a smaller percentage of North American endemics) than do amphibians and reptiles. This is because fishes have Arctic and coastal proclivities not present in the other groups"--P. [1].Item Bats of Bolivia : an annotated checklist. American Museum novitates ; no. 2750(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1982) Anderson, Sydney, 1927-; Koopman, Karl F.; Creighton, G. Ken."A list of 79 species of bats known by Bolivian specimens is annotated with references to the literature (for species previously reported) or with specimens forming the basis for listing (in the case of 18 species reported for the first time here). A gazetteer of localities, lists of specimens and tables of measurements for a number of species that were previously unknown or poorly known from Bolivia are included"--P. [1].Item Bodily proportions of Uruguayan myomorph rodents. American Museum novitates ; no. 2615(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1977) Miller, Lynne M.; Anderson, Sydney, 1927-"Sixteen external and skeletal measurements in 10 species of cricetine rodents from Uruguay have been compared. Differences in measurements and proportions are sufficient to distinguish the species that are most alike, Oryzomys delticola from O. flavescens, Akodon azarae from A. kempi, Holochilus brasiliensis from H. magnus, and Scapteromys from H. brasiliensis. Proportional differences reveal possible functional adaptations. Oryzomys delticola and O. flavescens are climbers: their tails and front and hind feet are long and both front and hind claws are short. A. azarae, A. kempi, and Oxymycterus are fossorial: their tails are short, their hind claws are long, and their scapula is long proportional to both humerus and ulna lengths. Calomys and Reithrodon are saltatorial: their hind feet are relatively long. Scapteromys is a good swimmer and climber: its hind feet are long, its front feet are small, and its front claws are long. Proportional differences among the segments of the hind limb are less variable among the 10 cricetines than are other proportions"--P. [1].Item A classification of the white-sided jack rabbits of Mexico. American Museum novitates ; no. 2088(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1962) Anderson, Sydney, 1927-; Gaunt, Abbot S.Item Does interspecific competition limit the sizes of ranges of species?. American Museum novitates ; no. 2716(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1981) Anderson, Sydney, 1927-; Koopman, Karl F."A 'competition hypothesis' states that the species in faunas with more species (more diversity) have greater competition, narrower niches, and therefore smaller geographic ranges (less distribution). An alternative 'available space hypothesis' states that species occupy suitable available space without regard to the presence or absence of other species. We use American bats and North American rodents as groups to discriminate between the two hypotheses and see that available space is a better predictor of distribution than is diversity. Thus, the competition hypothesis is weakened and the available space hypothesis is strengthened"--p. [1].Item Geographic ranges of North American birds. American Museum novitates ; no. 2785(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1984) Anderson, Sydney, 1927-"The sizes of geographic ranges of North American birds form a 'hollow curve' frequency distribution with most species having relatively small ranges. In this they agree with mammals, but the average range-size (geometric mean of 2 x 10[superscript 6] km[superscript 2) is larger for birds; also the distribution is lognormal for birds but not for mammals. There are more species of birds than of mammals; 1370 species of North American birds and 842 of mammals conformed to the requirements of the analysis. Birds and mammals have similar patterns of general distribution such as roughly parallel latitudinal gradients in diversity and the hollow curve frequency distribution noted above. Because of these similarities and because birds have larger ranges, a larger percentage of the continent's avian species than of its mammalian species may be found in any one local area. Birds differ from mammals in greater prevalence of seasonal migration. However, more birds migrate short distances or not at all than longer distances. A larger percentage (50%) of North American avian species than of mammalian species (13%) occur also outside of North America. Present hypotheses relating sizes of geographic ranges to competition, diversity, age of taxa, eurytopy, niche width, vagility, latitude, abundance, sizes of individuals, and trophic levels are briefly noted. No hypothesis is very satisfactory. However, little attention has been devoted to studies describing or explaining patterns of frequency distributions of areas of different sizes in any group of organisms. The present paper describes the pattern for North American birds, compares them with mammals, and suggests some hypotheses for further testing"--P. [1].Item Geographic ranges of North American terrestrial mammals. American Museum novitates ; no. 2629(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1977) Anderson, Sydney, 1927-"Existing theory on the geographic ranges occupied by species focuses on individual species, the density of species at different places, and not on the question as to what the size-distribution of the ranges of species in a larger fauna is or how this distribution may be explained. The ranges of North American terrestrial mammals are examined and a regular decline in the number of species having ranges in successively larger size-classes of ranges is found. The frequency distribution does not fit the lognormal or any of several other familiar distributions and further work is needed to develop a model that does fit. Other taxa and faunas should be examined also"--P. [1].Item Mammals of Bolivia : taxonomy and distribution. Bulletin of the AMNH ; no. 231([New York] : American Museum of Natural History, 1997) Anderson, Sydney, 1927-"Studies of published records and of about 36,900 specimens of native mammals from Bolivia reveal that at least 327 species occur there. Probably more than 20 other species, either new to science or new to Bolivia, remain to be discovered. In addition to these species names, some 44 additional subspecies names are used. Most of the subspecies names reflect taxonomic history more than detailed knowledge of geographic variation. In this report, the taxonomic status of each taxon within Bolivia is noted. Scientific names that have been used for Bolivian specimens are given for each species and subspecies, and all known publications that have specifically referred to Bolivian specimens are cited, along with a few other works selected for special reasons. Specimens are listed, and localities are mapped, including the prediction of the probable distribution of each species within Bolivia. Illustrated keys are based primarily on external, cranial, and dental characters and include 10 domestic and introduced species in addition to native species. The number of species present in most local areas ranges from about 50 to 180. Analysis indicates four major faunal areas: lowland tropics, lowland temperate zone (including the chacoan area), forested yungas, and highlands (altiplano). The highland and lowland faunas are almost mutually exclusive; the break between temperate and tropical is indistinct"--P. 3.Item Mammals of Chihuahua : taxonomy and distribution. Bulletin of the AMNH ; v. 148, article 2(New York : [American Museum of Natural History], 1972) Anderson, Sydney, 1927-"Study of published records and about 6500 specimens of native mammals of the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, revealed 122 species; at least 17 other species probably occur in the state. The number of species in any one area, however, is only about 35 to 55. Illustrated keys are based on external and cranial characters and also include 10 domestic and introduced species. The taxonomic status within Chihuahua of each species and subspecies is considered, including intrasubspecific variation when observed. A synonymy of names used for Chihuahuan specimens of each taxon is given. Specimens examined are listed and localities are mapped. Analysis indicates three major faunas in the tropical coastal plain, the wooded sierra, and the grassy to desert plateau. These faunas are correlated with geography, topography, climate, and vegetation"--P. 153.Item Notes on Bolivian mammals. 1, Additional records of bats. American Museum novitates ; no. 2766(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1983) Anderson, Sydney, 1927-; Webster, William David."Twenty-three species of bats are reported from the Bolivian department of pando for the first time. Two species, Thyroptera tricolor and Vampyressa bidens, are reported from Bolivia for the first time. Some additional records and notes are included"--P [1].Item Notes on Bolivian mammals. 3, A revised diagnosis of Andalgalomys (Rodentia, Muridae) and the description of a new subspecies. American Museum novitates ; no. 2890(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1987) Olds, Nancy.; Anderson, Sydney, 1927-; Yates, Terry L."Reported characters of the phyllotine genus Andalgalomys are reviewed and a revised diagnosis is presented. Andalgalomys is phenetically more similar to Graomys than to Calomys or Eligmodontia. A new subspecies of Andalgalomys pearsoni is described from Bolivia. This, the first Bolivian record for the genus, extends the known range northward approximately 300 km. Karyotypes for both subspecies of A. pearsoni are: A. p. pearsoni has 78 chromosomes and A. p. n. ssp. 76. These are the highest reported diploid numbers for phyllotine rodents. The first specimens from Bolivia of Thrichomys apereoides and Ctenomys minutus are documented"--P. [1].Item Notes on Bolivian mammals. 4, The genus Ctenomys (Rodentia, Ctenomyidae) in the eastern lowlands. American Museum novitates ; no. 2891(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1987) Anderson, Sydney, 1927-; Yates, Terry L.; Cook, Joseph A."Tuco tucos (genus Ctenomys) of lowland eastern Bolivia are reviewed. Synonymies, references, lists of all known specimens and localities, and new data on morphology and karyology are given for the four species (C. steinbachi, C. minutus, C. conoveri, and C. boliviensis) present. Ctenomys boliviensis displays some morphological variation and considerable karyological variation between localities. Diploid chromosome numbers of Ctenomys in lowland Bolivia range from 10 to 48"--P.[1].Item Notes on Bolivian mammals. 5, Taxonomy and distribution of Bolomys (Muridae, Rodentia). American Museum novitates ; no. 2935(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1989) Anderson, Sydney, 1927-; Olds, Nancy.Item Notes on Bolivian mammals. 6, The genus Ctenomys (Rodentia, Ctenomyidae) in the highlands. American Museum novitates ; ; no. 2980.(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1990) Cook, Joseph A.; Anderson, Sydney, 1927-; Yates, Terry L.Item Notes on Bolivian mammals. 7, A new species of Abrocoma (Rodentia) and relationships of the Abrocomidae. American Museum novitates ; no. 2991(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1990) Glanz, William E.; Anderson, Sydney, 1927-Item Notes on geographic variation of Microtus pennsylvanicus (Mammalia, Rodentia) in New Mexico and Chihuahua. American Museum novitates ; no. 2460(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1971) Anderson, Sydney, 1927-; Hubbard, John Patrick, 1935-Item On the number of categories in biological classifications. American Museum novitates ; no. 2584(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1975) Anderson, Sydney, 1927-"The theoretical maximum and minimum numbers, and the most probable numbers, of categories to be recognized in classifications designed to express all cladistic information in groups of different sizes are derived by Monte Carlo models based on a theoretical distribution that fits real taxonomic data. The number of categories required is much nearer the minimum possible number than the maximum possible; usually 11 to 16 categories will be needed for a group of 100, 21 to 26 for a group of 1000, and 26 to 36 for a group of 10,000. The number of categories required for a group of a certain size increases as the percentage of the members of that group that are extinct increases"--P. [1].Item Origin of the Weberian apparatus and the relationships of the ostariophysan and gonorynchiform fishes. American Museum novitates ; no. 2428(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1970) Rosen, Donn Eric, 1929-; Greenwood, Peter Humphry.; Anderson, Sydney, 1927-; Weitzman, Stanley H.; American Museum-Bolivian Expeditions (1963-1965)Item Persistent fontanelles in rodent skulls. American Museum novitates ; no. 3327(New York, NY : American Museum of Natural History, 2001) Gardner, Scott Lyell, 1956-; Anderson, Sydney, 1927-Persistent fenestrae occur between frontal or parietal bones in skulls of various rodents, especially species of Andinomys and Ctenomys. The frequency of occurrence and the shape and position of the fenestrae may vary with age or among individuals, populations, and species. Different families and species from both high and low elevations exhibit fenestrae. They have arisen in several different evolutionary lineages. Genetic factors contribute, but no clear functional significance of the fenestrae has been established.Item The raccoon (Procyon lotor) on St. Catherines Island, Georgia. 6, Time and place of activity of radio-tagged individuals. American Museum novitates ; no. 2700(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1980) Anderson, Sydney, 1927-; Hudson, Edwin M."Each of seven raccoons was located by radiotelemetry at about 15 minute intervals over five to 18 days on St. Catherines Island, Georgia, in 1977 and 1978. About 3000 locations provide data on habitat use, rates of movement, routes of travel, and home range estimates. Raccoons favor areas with more oak trees when active at night and inland areas with more pine trees when inactive by day. In summer, resting sites are more often in trees. In winter, palmetto thickets on the ground are often used. Greatest activity is in the early hours of darkness but activity continues all night and infrequently during the day. Males cover more ground than females. Average minimum rates of travel (5 to 10 m./min.) from telemetry data are less than actual rates at a slow walk (25 m./min.), so the animals do not travel continuously for more than a few minutes at a time. They do not usually follow the same routes repeatedly. They cover a large part of the home range each few days. Our 'hypothesis of familiarization' is that an animal frequently visits all parts of its home range and a related 'plateau of familiarity hypothesis' is that the animal may have nearly the same operational familiarity with all parts of its home range"--P. [1].