New Paradigms in the Study of "Microtus Ochrogaster"
The prairie vole is a small vole found in central North America.
The vole has long, coarse grayish-brown fur on the upper portion of the body and yellowish fur on the lower portion of the body. It has short ears and a short tail, which is somewhat darker on top.
Taxonomy and distribution
The prairie vole's scientific name, Microtus ochrogaster, is derived from Greek; the genus name translates to "small ear" and the specific epithet translates to "yellow belly". They are found in grasslands in the central United States and Canada; ranging from the eastern Rocky Mountains in the west to West Virginia in the east and into the Canadian Prairies to the north.
Habitat
Prairie voles make shallow underground burrows and runways through surface vegetation. In winter, they tunnel underneath the snow. Their runways are
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Unlike other voles, prairie voles are generally monogamous. The prairie vole is a notable animal model for studying monogamous behavior and social bonding because male and female partners form lifelong pair bonds, huddle and groom each other, share nesting and pup-raising responsibilities, and generally show a high level of affiliative behavior. However, they are not sexually faithful, and though pair-bonded females usually show aggression toward unfamiliar males, both sexes will occasionally mate with other voles if the opportunity arises.
The female's gestation period is between 20 and 30 days. Female voles have two to four litters of two to seven young per year in a nest lined with vegetation in an underground burrow or in a depression on the ground. Litter size varies depending on food availability and the age of the female. Baby voles open their eyes at about eight days after birth, and become capable of feeding themselves at about two weeks.
Interaction with
Illinois Department of Natural Resources. (n.d.). Mink – Scientific name Mustela vison. Retrieved April 10, 2014, from http://www.dnr.state.il.us/orc/wildlife/furbearers/mink.htm
Isle Royal is located fifty-six miles north of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. It is the largest wilderness area in Michigan (USNPS, 2014). The island is surrounded by Lake Superior, which creates a cooler temperature. This results in arctic plant species growth on the island. There are only eighteen mammal species present on the island because most mammals cannot make the trip across the frozen great lake (USNPS, 2014). The need for an ice bridge is not the only environmental factor that is stopping the migration of animals; there is also the severe cold, and also wind and fog (Vucetich, 2012). Some species such as caribou and coyote have found the island to be too intense and have gone extinct (Vucetich, 2012). Due to the harsh weather and isolation of the island, humans have never regularly lived on the island (Vucetich, 2012). Some of species that are present such as the red squirrel are becoming their own subspecies due to its separation from the mainland (USNPS, 2014). The isolation of Isle Royal is what makes it a great place to conduct research, it has very low human interaction and the species that are on the island will have been and continue to be isolated from the mainland.
Venus flytrap is a carnivorous plant native in bogs and swamp lands in North and South Carolina. It was discovered in the 1700s and named after the Greek goddess Dione which gave it the scientific name Dionaea. The species name muscipula came from the Latin word “Mus” (mouse) and “Cipula” (trap). Venus flytrap is one of the only two known species of plants that use fast-closing, double-spaced trap mechanism to capture insects.
The Longnose Gar and Mudpuppy are both native species that can be found in Ohio. The Gar gets its name from the long nose that is very similar looking to a beak of a bird. The Gar in the lab is brownish grey with black spots, but in the wild they do have a range of colors. Their size is often a wide range as well. Some Longnose Gars can grow to be up to 6ft, but it is common for them to be between 3 and 4 feet long (Groves ). The gar in this lab is about a foot long, so smaller than those in the wild. The other animal in the tank is the mudpuppy. Mudpuppies are common all over the northeast United States. They are also called the waterdog which is because they are the only salamander that makes noise (National geographic: Mudpuppy). They mainly stay at the bottom of the lakes and body of water where they feed. Both the mudpuppy and the Longnose gar’s conservation status are common.
Habitat: Partially or completely open country, around mountains, hills, and cliffs. They use many different habitats ranging from arctic to desert, some include tundra, shrub lands, grasslands, coniferous forest, farmland and rivers or streams. They can be found in Mexico, North America, Alaska, and sometimes Asia, northern Africa, and Europe. They nest in high places such as cliffs, trees, or human structures. They build huge nests that they may return to for several breeding years.
If puffins are disturbed by humans they will leave their nests and will not come back. This has led to the extinction of puffin colonies in parts of the European coastline.
Tribolium Confusum originated in Africa and is now found all around the world, particularly in the tropical and semi-tropical regions (Canada grain commission 2013). These beetles are most abundant in the flourmills, warehouses, bakeries, and homes in the U.Kingdom, United States and Australia (Stuart M Bennett 2003). In United States it is more commonly found in northern sates where the climate is warm (Smith and Whitman 2001). Tribolium Confusum is most commonly found in warmer climate and humidity and it survive...
Most of my feelings I have towards microcultures are all based of personal experiences. I think everyone always has some sort of feelings that come to mind when they see or interact with a certain microculture and I am no exception. When it comes to rich people, I feel annoyed, envy, and optimistic. I sometimes wish I had a lot of money and that feeling makes me optimistic about my future. I think rich people are greedy because even though they have a lot of money already, all they want is more. I also think rich people often believe they are superior to others because of their money. They think because they are rich that they are above everyone else. These feelings and opinions come from personal experiences I have dealt with before. I once had a rich friend who drove to school with a Mercedes, wore $500 shoes, and gold watches but when I asked him for 50 cents for lunch he always said no. Like I always felt from then on that rich people are so stingy when it comes to their money. Also I had a student who sat next to me who was also rich and when I asked for help, he just ignored me. I did not understand why and the only reason I could think of was because he thought I was not worth talking to or helping.
"Living with Wildlife in Illinois." Directory of Illinois Wildlife: Mammals Living with Wildlife University of Illinois Extension. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2014.
The Hudson Plains ecozone, in northern Ontario and parts of Manitoba and Quebec, is an area of wetlands. The climate is generally cool. The northern part of the ecozone is full of shrubs, but no trees, and areas farther south contain forests. Wet have vegetation such as moss and lichen and also some trees like willow, tamarack and black spruce. More northern, drier locations have vegetation consisting of many shrubs such as crowberry and blueberry. In the summer, the wetlands of the Hudson Plains attract millions of migratory birds, such as snow geese, Canada geese and king eider ducks. Mammals which can be found here include moose and black bear, but small mammals such as muskrats and weasels are more common.
Minnesota DNR. "Is That an Invasive Species?" Brainerd, Minnesota. Brainerd Dispatch, Mar.-Apr. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.
The arctic fox or the Vulpes Lagopus is a very beautiful and majestic animal with many interesting features. This animal can survive extremely frigid arctic temperatures that can drop as low as -50°F. The arctic fox is a very resilient animal. It has furry soles, short ears, and a short muzzle, which are the essentials of what is needed for the animals to adapt to the chilly climate. These foxes usually live in burrows and in emergencies like snowstorms, strong winds or animal conflict, they may tunnel into the snow and create a shelter for them. They have a beautiful white coat that protects them from the hardy weather. Amusingly, when the season changes, the fox changes its coat color making it a unique animal. In winter, their coat is white where as in summer its turns into an orange-red color. This is mostly because it helps them camouflage in the surrounding. These colorings help foxes to effectively hunt rodents, birds, fish and even baby polar bear cubs. But in winter prey can be scarce on the ground. At such times, these animals eat the left over kill of the polar bear. These foxes will also eat berries when they are available. Its coat has been known for its strange adapting qualities, it is a rarity in science today and therefore is highly researched. Not only does it have a thick coat that helps them camouflage and protects them from the cold, but also has the ability to run extremely fast. It is known to be one of the fastest animals in the arctic region.
Polar bears don’t hibernate, expect if it is a pregnant female that hibernates over-winter in dens. Unlike other bears like brown, black, grizzle, polar bears don’t hibernate. Others may just dig a hole and spend several days in the hole, at a time. When the pregnant female’s activity level decreases, she gives birth and nurses her cubs. When the weather conditions are rough, they might stay in longer. Polar bears are evolved to live in cold climates unlike brown bears
Microvilli and cilia play a major role in many important biological processes in mammalian cells. They are very small, intricate structures found lining the cells in the body and can only be viewed under a microscope. Microvilli has been derived from the Greek word mikros, meaning “small” and the Latin word villus, meaning “hair”. Cilia means “eyelashes” in Latin(1). They are both types of projections in the plasma membrane, however, only cilia can move(2).
Microalgal biotechnology has emerged due to the great diversity of products that can be developed from biomass. Microalgal are photosynthetic prokaryotic or eukaryotic microorganisms that grow rapidly and have the ability to live in different environment due to their unicellular or simple multicellular structure.Microalgal have a simple cellular division cycle which allows them to complete their development cycle in a few hours. Microalgal when subjected to physical and chemical stress can produce high concentration of certain compounds for example proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, polymers and pigments.To produce these products, microalgae are grown using carbon dioxide,sunlight and industrial wastes in open pond systems and photobioreactors . Usage of industrial wastes reduces cost of culture medium nutrients and also reduces environmental problems.The fuel that we obtain now are mostly from fossil fuels and they are not a renewable source of fuel. Thus it is important that we find another alternative source of fuel. The growth of Algae Oil is a recognised process due to its final products and the production of oil is a function of the selection and feeding of a specific strain of algae. The production of Algae Oil is primarily used in the process of producing biodiesel fuel. All Biofuels are made from biomass. These biofuels can all be produced from algae. Microalgae contains oil within its cell. This oil can be used to make biodiesel. There are many kinds of microalgae which contains oil. Once they are grown, the oil is removed from the microalgae using chemicals or by squeezing oil out of the cells using scientific equipment.The oil is used as an ingredient in biodiesel. This oil is changed chemically from plant o...