Unagreement is an illusion

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11049-015-9311-yThis paper proposes an analysis of unagreement, a phenomenon involving an apparent mismatch between a definite third person plural subject and first or second person plural subject agreement observed in various null subject languages (e.g. Spanish, Modern Greek and Bulgarian), but notoriously absent in others (e.g. Italian, European Portuguese). A cross-linguistic correlation between unagreement and the structure of adnominal pronoun constructions suggests that the availability of unagreement depends on whether person and definiteness are hosted by separate heads (in languages like Greek) or bundled on a single head (i.e. pronominal determiners in languages like Italian). Null spell-out of the head hosting person features high in the extended nominal projection of the subject leads to unagreement. The lack of unagreement in languages with pronominal determiners results from the interaction of their syntactic structure with the properties of the vocabulary items realising the head encoding both person and definiteness. The analysis provides a principled explanation for the cross-linguistic distribution of unagreement and suggests a unified framework for deriving unagreement, adnominal pronoun constructions, personal pronouns and pro

Causes of mortality in a population of black-footed cats in central South Africa

No abstract available.BIOS2 NSERC CREATE program; Cincinnati Zoo; Kölner Zoo; McGregor Museum; Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium; Rufford Fund for Nature Conservation; San Diego ZooWildlife Alliance; SOS Félins & Co.; The International Society of Endangered Cats (ISEC), Canada; The Living Desert; Zoological Association of America (ZAA); Zoo-Verein Wuppertal e. V.http://www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/aje2023-06-06hj2022Centre for Veterinary Wildlife StudiesParaclinical Science

Sourcing high tissue quality brains from deceased wild primates with known socio‐ecology

The selection pressures that drove dramatic encephalisation processes through the mammal lineage remain elusive, as does knowledge of brain structure reorganisation through this process. In particular, considerable structural brain changes are present across the primate lineage, culminating in the complex human brain that allows for unique behaviours such as language and sophisticated tool use. To understand this evolution, a diverse sample set of humans' closest relatives with varying socio-ecologies is needed. However, current brain banks predominantly curate brains from primates that died in zoological gardens. We try to address this gap by establishing a field pipeline mitigating the challenges associated with brain extractions of wild primates in their natural habitat. The success of our approach is demonstrated by our ability to acquire a novel brain sample of deceased primates with highly variable socio-ecological exposure and a particular focus on wild chimpanzees. Methods in acquiring brain tissue from wild settings are comprehensively explained, highlighting the feasibility of conducting brain extraction procedures under strict biosafety measures by trained veterinarians in field sites. Brains are assessed at a fine-structural level via high-resolution MRI and state-of-the-art histology. Analyses confirm that excellent tissue quality of primate brains sourced in the field can be achieved with a comparable tissue quality of brains acquired from zoo-living primates. Our field methods are noninvasive, here defined as not harming living animals, and may be applied to other mammal systems than primates. In sum, the field protocol and methodological pipeline validated here pose a major advance for assessing the influence of socio-ecology on medium to large mammal brains, at both macro- and microstructural levels as well as aiding with the functional annotation of brain regions and neuronal pathways via specific behaviour assessments