Status of the Endangered Indian Knob Mountainbalm Eriodictyon altissimum (Namaceae) in Central Coastal California

Indian Knob Mountainbalm Eriodictyon altissimum (Namaceae) is a shrub endemic to western San Luis Obispo County in central coastal California, and little has been published regarding it. The species was listed as endangered under the California Endangered Species Act in 1979 and the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1995. At Federal listing in 1995, Indian Knob mountainbalm was known from six occurrences, two of which were in protected areas, with a total population estimate of 2018, Indian Knob mountainbalm is known from seven occurrences, six of which are in protected areas and one (the largest) mostly in a protected area, with a total population count of 6,489+ individuals in 2016. Two occurrences are likely extirpated. Indian Knob mountainbalm is considered a fire-adapted chaparral plant. Reproduction is reported to be primarily vegetative by underground rhizomes, and it is specialized for substrates with physical disturbances, including: steep rocky slopes, cliff faces, fallen rock debris, sand dunes (shifting sand), roadsides, old graded substrates such as dirt/rock roads, the talus of graded substrates, and trails. We report the species grows up to 5.5 m tall and at 98 to 263 m elevation. In consideration of the life history traits used by Anacker et al. (2013) for rare plants in California, Indian Knob mountainbalm would be considered highly vulnerable to climate change. Using the international standards of IUCN, Indian Knob mountainbalm meets the criteria for classification as critically endangered including the following: geographic range, severely fragmented; extent of occurrence, 34 km2 (km2); area of occupancy, 2 (km2); and quality of habitat, continuing to decline (dense vegetation, lack of recent fire). Coordinated conservation and research are needed to further understand the species, and to restore and maintain the five extant occurrences

Experimental Elucidation of the Life Cycle of Rhinebothrium urobatidium (Cestoda: Rhinebothriidea) From the Round Stingray (Urobatis halleri: Myliobatiformes) To First And Second Intermediate Hosts

Abstract - The life cycle of the cestode Rhinebothrium urobatidium, whose final host is the round stingray Urobatishalleri, includes a copepod as the first intermediate host and small benthic fishes as second intermediate hosts. Hexacanth embryos within nonoperculate, untanned eggs collected from U. hallerideveloped in the copepod Tigriopus californicusinto caudate procercoids with an apical organ/sucker and cercomer, and rarely, bothridia. The procercoids, which developed in the body cavity within a membrane, adhered to the copepod intestine, were infective to arrow gobies (Clevelandia ios) within 15 days of exposure at 21°C. When infected copepods were fed to arrow gobies, procercoids developed into nonlacunate plerocercoids each bearing individually retractable bothridia and an apical sucker. Within 10 days of exposure to the second intermediate host, the larvae had migrated up the bile/cystic duct into the gall bladder, where they developed bothridia similar to those of adult worms. Between 30 to 51 days post-infection in the goby, plerocercoids approached the size of larvae found in natural infections, and the scolex became morphologically similar to that of adult worms from round stingrays. Only presumptive filiform microtriches (filitriches) were present on procercoids while both filitrichs and spiniform microtriches (spinitrichs) were present on plerocercoids. Identification of plerocercoids from experimental infections as those of R. urobatidiumwas confirmed through morphology of the scolex and using cytochrome c oxidase I sequences. The experimental transmission of R. urobatidiumto first and second intermediate hosts provides improved understanding of the transmission and ontogeny of shark tapeworms. The biological characteristics of U. halleri,with its diverse parasite fauna, provide significant opportunities to examine the biology of an array of elasmobranch tapeworm taxa

Status of Endangered La Graciosa Thistle Cirsium scariosum var. loncholepis (Asteraceae) in Coastal Southern California

La Graciosa thistle Cirsium scariosum var. loncholepis (Asteraceae) is a biennial or short-lived perennial plant (usually 10 to 100 cm tall) that is endemic to southwestern San Luis Obispo County and western Santa Barbara County in coastal southern California, and little has been published regarding it. The taxon was listed as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act in 1990 and endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 2000. At Federal listing in 2000, La Graciosa thistle was known from 17 occurrences, 8 of which were likely extirpated. As of 2019, it is known from 21 occurrences of which five are extant, 15 are likely extirpated and 1 has unknown status. La Graciosa thistle exists as groups of individuals in wetland habitats in an arid and semi-arid landscape, and the five extant occurrences are associated with the Callender Dunes and Guadalupe Dunes in San Luis Obispo County. The plants flower once and then die, with a probable life span of 2 to 6 yr. Seed dispersal is by wind and also likely by water, and the taxon appears to have only a minimally persistent soil seed bank. The primary threat to La Graciosa thistle in 2019 is reduced water/lack of water, with groundwater decline as the likely major cause, along with hydrological alteration, drought and climate change. The groundwater decline appears to result primarily from extraction for urban, agricultural and industrial uses, and it is exacerbated by drought and climate change. In 2019, La Graciosa thistle meets the IUCN criteria for endangered

Additional Information on a Nonnative Whiptail Population (Aspidoscelis flagellicauda/sonorae complex) in Suburban Orange County, California

A nonnative population of all-female spotted whiptails from the Asidoscelis flagellicauda/sonorae complex was reported from suburban Irvine, Orange County in 2015 and 2016. We report additional suburban observations dating back to 2010 from Laguna Woods and extending the range south ~6 km southwest to Aliso Viejo. We hope that this and other exotic reptile species will remain restricted to highly altered urban environments and not threaten native species in natural habitats

Brutal Justifications: Media Narratives of Twentieth Century Lynchings and Twenty-first Century Police Executions

ABSTRACT: Dominant narratives treat lynching as a thing of the distant past and police violence as aberrant and isolated. Yet, many critical anti-racist observers have called today’s police executions of black bodies “modern-day lynchings,” suggesting there are numerous parallels. This article methodically examines the parallels, focusing on how the mainstream media has narrated and justified anti-black violence. I collected and reviewed media accounts of lynchings and police executions in two distinct years, 1917 and 2014, and coded them along salient themes. Across these two periods, the justifications for violence were nearly identical: Black victims were criminal, and they were characterized as less-than-human. This research builds on scholarship that argues that race is deeply connected to the constructs of criminality and abnormality, that merely “existing while black” can be a “crime” punishable by death. In illustrating the salience of these rationalizations across historical periods, I argue that the media is substantially culpable in the maintenance of white supremacy. This study thus disrupts the white innocence discourse that compartmentalizes history and deflects white responsibility for ongoing violence

The San Quintín Kangaroo Rat is Not Extinct

The San Quintín kangaroo rat (Dipodomys gravipes) is a medium-sized kangaroo rat restricted to a stretch of coastal habitat from San Telmo to El Rosario, Baja California, Mexico. Agriculture in the San Quintín area began in 1891 when British farmers converted parts of the landscape to agriculture. Now, much of the preferred habitat in the documented range of the species has been converted to agriculture. Dipodomys gravipes has a high affinity for flat terrain and is intolerant of cultivation. As a result of extensive and profound habitat alteration by agriculture, D. gravipes has been listed as endangered by the Mexican government. Since then, and given the lack of further captures, biologists and conservationists have feared the species could be extinct. However, Tremor and Vanderplank captured four specimens on 4 July 2017 on Mesa Agua Chiquita near San Quintín