Three thousand years of wild capuchin stone tool use

The human archaeological record changes over time. Finding such change in other animals requires similar evidence, namely, a long-term sequence of material culture. Here, we apply archaeological excavation, dating and analytical techniques to a wild capuchin monkey (Sapajus libidinosus) site in Serra da Capivara National Park, Brazil. We identify monkey stone tools between 2,400 and 3,000 years old and, on the basis of metric and damage patterns, demonstrate that capuchin food processing changed between ~2,400 and 300 years ago, and between ~100 years ago and the present day. We present the first example of long-term tool-use variation outside of the human lineage, and discuss possible mechanisms of extended behavioural change

Convergent synthesis of a steroidal antiestrogen-mitomycin C hybrid using “click” chemistry

A convergent synthesis of a novel estrogen receptor-targeted drug hybrid was developed based on structures of the potent anti-proliferative mitomycin C and the steroidal anti-estrogen RU 39411. The steroidal antiestrogen was prepared with an azido-triethylene glycoloxy linker while the mitomycin C derivative (porfirimycin) incorporated a complementary 7-N-terminal alkyne. The two components were ligated using the Huisgen [3 + 2] cycloaddition (“click”) reaction. Preliminary biological assays demonstrated that the final hybrid compound retained both potent anti-estrogenic and anti-proliferative activities.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant PHS 5R01 CA 086061-09

Migration of northern Yellowstone elk: implications of spatial structuring

Migration can enhance survival and recruitment of mammals by increasing access to higher-quality forage or reducing predation risk, or both. We used telemetry locations collected from 140 adult female elk during 2000– 2003 and 2007–2008 to identify factors influencing the migration of northern Yellowstone elk. Elk wintered in 2 semidistinct herd segments and migrated 10–140 km to at least 12 summer areas in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) and nearby areas of Montana. Spring migrations were delayed after winters with increased snow pack, with earlier migration in years with earlier vegetation green-up. Elk wintering at lower elevations outside YNP migrated an average of 13 days earlier than elk at higher elevations. The timing of autumn migrations varied annually, but elk left their summer ranges at about the same time regardless of elevation, wolf numbers, or distance to their wintering areas. Elk monitored for multiple years typically returned to the same summer (96% fidelity, n 5 52) and winter (61% fidelity, n 5 41) ranges. Elk that wintered at lower elevations in or near the northwestern portion of the park tended to summer in the western part of YNP (56%), and elk that wintered at higher elevations spent summer primarily in the eastern and northern parts of the park (82%). Elk did not grossly modify their migration timing, routes, or use areas after wolf restoration. Elk mortality was low during summer and migration (8 of 225 elk-summers). However, spatial segregation and differential mortality and recruitment between herd segments on the northern winter range apparently contributed to a higher proportion of the elk population wintering outside the northwestern portion of YNP and summering in the western portion of the park. This change could shift wolf spatial dynamics more outside YNP and increase the risk of transmission of brucellosis from elk to cattle north of the park

Migration of northern Yellowstone elk: implications of spatial structuring

Migration can enhance survival and recruitment of mammals by increasing access to higher-quality forage or reducing predation risk, or both. We used telemetry locations collected from 140 adult female elk during 2000– 2003 and 2007–2008 to identify factors influencing the migration of northern Yellowstone elk. Elk wintered in 2 semidistinct herd segments and migrated 10–140 km to at least 12 summer areas in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) and nearby areas of Montana. Spring migrations were delayed after winters with increased snow pack, with earlier migration in years with earlier vegetation green-up. Elk wintering at lower elevations outside YNP migrated an average of 13 days earlier than elk at higher elevations. The timing of autumn migrations varied annually, but elk left their summer ranges at about the same time regardless of elevation, wolf numbers, or distance to their wintering areas. Elk monitored for multiple years typically returned to the same summer (96% fidelity, n 5 52) and winter (61% fidelity, n 5 41) ranges. Elk that wintered at lower elevations in or near the northwestern portion of the park tended to summer in the western part of YNP (56%), and elk that wintered at higher elevations spent summer primarily in the eastern and northern parts of the park (82%). Elk did not grossly modify their migration timing, routes, or use areas after wolf restoration. Elk mortality was low during summer and migration (8 of 225 elk-summers). However, spatial segregation and differential mortality and recruitment between herd segments on the northern winter range apparently contributed to a higher proportion of the elk population wintering outside the northwestern portion of YNP and summering in the western portion of the park. This change could shift wolf spatial dynamics more outside YNP and increase the risk of transmission of brucellosis from elk to cattle north of the park

Solar opacity, neutrino signals and helioseismology

In connection with the recent suggestion by Tsytovich et al. that opacity in the solar core could be overestimated, we consider the following questions: i) What would a 10\% opacity reduction imply for the solar neutrino puzzle? ii) Is there any hope of solving the solar neutrino puzzle by changing opacity? iii) Is a 10\% opacity reduction testable with helioseismological data?Comment: revtex file of 3 pages + 2 postscipt figures, in a uuencoded compressed tarred file, send any offprint request to [email protected]

Detailed Analysis of Nearby Bulgelike Dwarf Stars II. Lithium Abundances

Li abundances are derived for a sample of bulgelike stars with isochronal ages of 10-11 Gyr. These stars have orbits with pericentric distances, Rp, as small as 2-3 kpc and Zmax < 1 kpc. The sample comprises G and K dwarf stars in the metallicity range -0.80<[Fe/H]< +0.40. Few data of Li abundances in old turn-off stars (> 4.5 Gyr) within the present metallicity range are available. M67 (4.7 Gyr) and NGC 188 (6 Gyr) are the oldest studied metal-rich open clusters with late-type stars. Li abundances have also been studied for few samples of old metal-rich field stars. In the present work a high dispersion in Li abundances is found for bulgelike stars for all the metallicity range, comparable with values in M67. The role of metallicity and age on a Li depletion pattern is discussed. The possible connection between Li depletion and oxygen abundance due to atmospheric opacity effects is investigated.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

Integrating resource selection into spatial capture-recapture models for large carnivores

Wildlife managers need reliable methods to estimate large carnivore densities and population trends; yet large carnivores are elusive, difficult to detect, and occur at low densities making traditional approaches intractable. Recent advances in spatial capture-recapture (SCR) models have provided new approaches for monitoring trends in wildlife abundance and these methods are particularly applicable to large carnivores. We applied SCR models in a Bayesian framework to estimate mountain lion densities in the Bitterroot Mountains of west central Montana. We incorporate an existing resource selection function (RSF) as a density co-variate to account for heterogeneity in habitat use across the study area and include data collected from harvested lions. We identify individuals through DNA samples collected by (1) biopsy darting mountain lions detected in systematic surveys of a study area, (2) opportunistically collecting hair and scat samples, and (3) sampling all harvested mountain lions. We included 80 DNA samples collected from 62 individuals in the analysis. Including information on predicted habitat use as a co-variate on the distribution of activity centers reduced the median estimated density by 44% the standard deviation by 7% and the width of 95% credible intervals by 10% as compared to standard SCR models. Within the two management units of interest, we estimated a median mountain lion density of 4.5 mountain lions/100 km2 (95% CI=2.9, 7.7) and 5.2 mountain lions/100 km2 (95% CI=3.4, 9.1). Including harvested individuals (dead recovery) did not create a significant bias in the detection process by introducing individuals that could not be detected after removal. However, the dead recovery component of the model did have a substantial effect on results by increasing sample size. The ability to account for heterogeneity in habitat use provides a useful extension to SCR models, and will enhance the ability of wildlife managers to reliably and economically estimate density of wildlife populations, particularly large carnivores

Bed-load Transport of Mixed-size Sediment: Fractional Transport Rates, Bed Forms, and the Development of a Coarse Bed-surface Layer

Fractional transport rates, bed surface texture, and bed configuration were measured after a mixed size sediment had reached an equilibrium transport state for seven different flow strengths in a recirculating laboratory flume. Fractional transport rates were also measured at the beginning of each run when the bed was well mixed and planar. The start-up observations allow us to describe the variation of fractional transport rates with bed shear stress for a constant bed surface texture and bed configuration. The start-up and equilibrium observations together allow, for the first time, an unambiguous description of the mutual adjustment among the transport, the bed configuration, and the bed surface, as the transport system moves toward equilibrium. We find that a substantial interaction exists among the transport, bed surface, and bed configuration. Bed forms and a coarse surface layer coexist over a range of bed shear stress. Under some flow conditions the size and shape of the bed forms are controlled by the presence of the coarse surface layer. At higher flows the coarse surface layer is eliminated by scour in the lee of the bed forms. If the bed surface is defined as that over which the bed forms move, a coherent relation between the bed surface texture and the transport grain size distribution may be defined. At equilibrium the transport rates of all fractions were not equally mobile, defined as identical transport and bed grain size distributions, although equal mobility was approached for runs in which the bed shear stress was more than twice that for initial motion of the mixture. Under some flow conditions the transport was observed to adjust away from equal mobility as the bed adjusted from a well-mixed start-up condition to an equilibrium state. Development of a partial static armor, wherein some individual grains become essentially immobile even though other grains in the same fraction remain in transport, is suggested to explain these adjustments between the transport and bed surface grain size distributions. Constraints on equilibrium mixed size sediment transport are defined. The special conditions for which equal mobility must hold and the relevance to natural conditions of flume results and the equal mobility concept are discussed

Weather in stellar atmosphere: the dynamics of mercury clouds in alpha Andromedae

The formation of long-lasting structures at the surfaces of stars is commonly ascribed to the action of strong magnetic fields. This paradigm is supported by observations of evolving cool spots in the Sun and active late-type stars, and stationary chemical spots in the early-type magnetic stars. However, results of our seven-year monitoring of mercury spots in non-magnetic early-type star alpha Andromedae show that the picture of magnetically-driven structure formation is fundamentally incomplete. Using an indirect stellar surface mapping technique, we construct a series of 2-D images of starspots and discover a secular evolution of the mercury cloud cover in this star. This remarkable structure formation process, observed for the first time in any star, is plausibly attributed to a non-equilibrium, dynamical evolution of the heavy-element clouds created by atomic diffusion and may have the same underlying physics as the weather patterns on terrestrial and giant planets.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures; to be published in Nature Physic