Introgressive hybridization in a trophically polymorphic cichlid

Trophically polymorphic species could represent lineages that are rapidly diverging along an ecological axis or could phenotypically mark the collapse of species through introgressive hybridization. We investigated patterns of introgression between the trophically polymorphic cichlid fish Herichthys minckleyi and its relative H. cyanoguttatus using a combination of population genetics and species tree analyses. We first examined the distribution of mitochondrial haplotypes within the alternative H. minckleyi pharyngeal jaw morphotypes that are endemic to the small desert valley of Cuatro Ciénegas. We recovered two clusters of mitochondrial haplotypes. The first contained a number of slightly differentiated cytochrome b (cytb) haplotypes that showed some phylogeographic signal and were present in both jaw morphotypes. The other haplotype was monomorphic, highly differentiated from the other cluster, present in equal frequencies in the morphotypes, and identical to H. cyanoguttatus haplotypes found outside Cuatro Ciénegas. Then, we investigated whether H. minckleyi individuals with the H. cyanoguttatus cytb were more evolutionarily similar to H. cyanoguttatus or other H. minckleyi using a species tree analysis of 84 nuclear loci. Both H. minckleyi pharyngeal morphotypes, regardless of their cytb haplotype, were quite distinct from H. cyanoguttatus. However, hybridization could be blurring subdivision within H. minckleyi as the alternative jaw morphotypes were not genetically distinct from one another. Accounting for introgression from H. cyanoguttatus will be essential to understand the evolution of the trophically polymorphic cichlid H. minckleyi. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.84

Monitoring and Fault Location Sensor Network for Underground Distribution Lines

One of the fundamental tasks of electric distribution utilities is guaranteeing a continuous supply of electricity to their customers. The primary distribution network is a critical part of these facilities because a fault in it could affect thousands of customers. However, the complexity of this network has been increased with the irruption of distributed generation, typical in a Smart Grid and which has significantly complicated some of the analyses, making it impossible to apply traditional techniques. This problem is intensified in underground lines where access is limited. As a possible solution, this paper proposes to make a deployment of a distributed sensor network along the power lines. This network proposes taking advantage of its distributed character to support new approaches of these analyses. In this sense, this paper describes the aquiculture of the proposed network (adapted to the power grid) based on nodes that use power line communication and energy harvesting techniques. In this sense, it also describes the implementation of a real prototype that has been used in some experiments to validate this technological adaptation. Additionally, beyond a simple use for monitoring, this paper also proposes the use of this approach to solve two typical distribution system operator problems, such as: fault location and failure forecasting in power cables.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Government of Spain project Sistema Inteligente Inalámbrico para Análisis y Monitorización de Líneas de Tensión Subterráneas en Smart Grids (SIIAM) TEC2013-40767-RMinisterio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, Government of Spain, for the funding of the scholarship Formación de Profesorado Universitario 2016 (FPU 2016

Analysis of a possible independent origin of triploid P. formosa outside of the Río Purificación river system

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Spatial mosaic evolution of snail defensive traits

BACKGROUND: Recent models suggest that escalating reciprocal selection among antagonistically interacting species is predicted to occur in areas of higher resource productivity. In a putatively coevolved interaction between a freshwater snail (Mexipyrgus churinceanus) and a molluscivorous cichlid (Herichthys minckleyi), we examined three components of this interaction: 1) spatial variation in two putative defensive traits, crushing resistance and shell pigmentation; 2) whether abiotic variables or frequency of molariform cichlids are associated with spatial patterns of crushing resistance and shell pigmentation and 3) whether variation in primary productivity accounted for small-scale variation in these defensive traits. RESULTS: Using spatial autocorrelation to account for genetic and geographic divergence among populations, we found no autocorrelation among populations at small geographic and genetic distances for the two defensive traits. There was also no correlation between abiotic variables (temperature and conductivity) and snail defensive traits. However, crushing resistance and frequency of pigmented shells were negatively correlated with molariform frequency. Crushing resistance and levels of pigmentation were significantly higher in habitats dominated by aquatic macrophytes, and both traits are phenotypically correlated. CONCLUSION: Crushing resistance and pigmentation of M. churinceanus exhibit striking variation at small spatial scales often associated with differences in primary productivity, substrate coloration and the frequency of molariform cichlids. These local geographic differences may result from among-habitat variation in how resource productivity interacts to promote escalation in prey defenses

Segundo proceso instruido por la Inquisición de Valladolid contra Fray Luis de León

Copia digital. Valladolid : Junta de Castilla y León. Consejería de Cultura y Turismo, 2009-201

Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in the Charal de Xochimilco Chirostoma humboldtianum

AbstractMicrosatellite loci were isolated and characterized for the endemic fish Chirostoma humboldtianum using an enrichment procedure. Eight polymorphic microsatellites were genotyped for 32 - 48 individuals from Tepuxtepec Dam, Michoacán. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 3 to 11 and the average observed and expected heterozygosities were 0.61 and 0.63, respectively. All loci deviated significantly from Hardy-Weinberg expectations, which might be related to small population sizes associated to human disturbances and habitat loss. These are the first loci described for the species and the genus and could be useful in studies of population genetics, conservation and management of the species

Switch between morphospecies of pocillopora corals

© 2015 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. Pocillopora corals are the main reef builders in the eastern tropical Pacific. The validity of Pocillopora morphospecies remains under debate because of disagreements between morphological and genetic data. To evaluate the temporal stability of morphospecies in situ, we monitored the shapes of individual colonies in three communities in the southern Gulf of California for 44 months. Twenty-three percent of tagged colonies of Pocillopora damicornis changed to Pocillopora inflata morphology during this time. This switch in identity coincided with a shift to a higher frequency of storms and lower water turbidity (i.e., lower chlorophyll a levels). Seven months after the switch, P. inflata colonies were recovering their original P. damicornis morphology. All colonies of both morphospecies shared a common mitochondrial identity, but most P. damicornis colonies undergoing change were at a site with low-flow conditions. This is the first in situ study to document switching between described morphospecies, and it elucidates the influence of temporal shifts in environmental conditions on morphologically plastic responses

Morphological dimorphism varies across the endemic Xantus’ hummingbird (Hylocharis xantusii) genetic populations in the Baja California Peninsula

Morphological dimorphism traits play an important role in our understanding of species evolution. In birds, sexual dimorphism occurs in a number of characteristics, such as body and shape size, wing and bill morphology. Hylocharis xantusii is the only hummingbird species endemic to the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico that has adapted to xeric conditions, associated to oases regions, and displays a sexual dimorphism on color pattern. We quantified morphological variation between males and females to determine whether morphological traits have a significant contribution to sexual dimorphism, and we analyzed if differences in morphological patterns among genetic populations of Xantus’ hummingbird existed. A morphological dimorphism was found in four of six traits analyzed, males were bigger in size (total length) with larger wings (wing chord and tail length) and wider bills (bill width). Differences in morphological traits of genetic populations were found. Individuals of southern population were in average smaller than central and northern populations while individuals from central populations had larger bills and wing chords. Northern populations had longer tails and wider bills. The results indicated that populations and sex are independent to morphological differences in Xantus’ hummingbird. The best fitted GLM shows that the altitude and oasis location related to the genetic population correctly explains the differences in tail, wing chord and bill width traits of hummingbirds along the Baja California Peninsula. We suggest that local conditions related to environmental heterogeneity and oases distribution are promoting levels of morphological differentiation. Genetic populations were already known to be result of their evolutionary history, of the phylogeographic pattern. Sexual dimorphism on morphological traits observed in H. xantusii is related in first place to ecological differences among oases, and second, related to mating and social behavior.El dimorfismo morfológico juega un importante papel en el entendimiento de la evolución de las especies. En aves, el dimorfismo sexual ocurre en un número de características, como el tamaño y forma del cuerpo, y la morfología de las alas y pico. Hylocharis xantusii es la única especie de colibrí endémica de la Península de Baja California, México, que se ha adaptado a condiciones xéricas y que además exhibe un marcado dimorfismo sexual en su patrón de coloración. En este estudio se cuantificó la variación morfológica entre machos y hembras para analizar si los rasgos morfológicos tienen una contribución significativa al dimorfismo sexual; además se determinó si existen diferencias en el patrón morfológico entre las poblaciones de la especie. Se observó dimorfismo sexual en cuatro de los seis rasgos analizados en este trabajo; los machos fueron más grandes en tamaño (largo total), con alas más largas (cuerda alar y largo de cola) y pico más ancho. Se observaron diferencias morfológicas entre las poblaciones genéticas de H. xantusii; los colibríes de la población sur fueron en promedio más pequeños que los de las poblaciones centrales y norteñas, mientras que los individuos de la población central tuvieron picos más largos, así como cuerdas alares más largas. Las poblaciones del norte tuvieron colas más largas y picos más anchos. Los resultados obtenidos indicaron que las poblaciones y el sexo influyen independientemente en las diferencias morfológicas del colibrí de Xantus. El mejor modelo GLM obtenido muestra que la altitud y la localidad de los oasis relacionada a la población genética, explican significativamente las diferencias en la longitud de la cola y cuerda alar así como del ancho del pico de los colibrís a lo largo de la península de Baja California. Se sugiere que las condiciones locales  relacionadas con la heterogeneidad ambiental y la distribución de los oasis están promoviendo niveles de diferenciación morfológica. Las poblaciones genéticas por otro lado, se sabía previamente eran resultado de su historia evolutiva, de su patrón filogeográfico. El dimorfismo sexual en los rasgos morfológicos de H. xantusii podría estar relacionado en primer lugar, a las diferencias ecológicas entre los oasis, y segundo, relacionado con el apareamiento y comportamiento social

Evolution and development of the elevation of a Main Street over the last century. Application to a section of Carmen Street in Cartagena

[EN] Carmen Street in the city of Cartagena has progressively developed since the 16th century, when it began to be urbanized; however, its greatest architectural boom began at the end of the 19thcentury. Cantonal war bombings (1873) and the great prosperity mainly promoted by the mining industry in 19th and 20th centuries made a great variety of new buildings proliferate in the city of Cartagena, in general, and in Carmen Street, in particular. It became a major street of the city at the beginning of the 20th century, due to its commercial strength and its architectural beauty.The evolution over time of this street, the aging of the poorest buildings and the Spanish civil war caused buildings from the late 19thcentury and the early 20th century to be demolished or ruined, and the street lost some of the aspect of the eclectic and modernist age.In order to recreate the elevation of a section of this street in the early 20th century and to compare it to its current state, we have carried out a graphic documentation, which details all the façades by means of digital photogrammetry of the demolished buildings, and a graphic survey by means of a laser scanner of the currently existing façades. This analysis and the graphical comparison show the evolution of the general elevation of a Carmen Street section.[ES] La calle del Carmen en la ciudad de Cartagena ha ido evolucionando desde el siglo xvi, siglo en el que se empezó a urbanizar, pero su mayor auge arquitectónico comenzó a finales del siglo xix. Tras los bombardeos de la guerra cantonal (1873) y la gran prosperidad promovida principalmente por la industria minera del siglo xix-xx hicieron que en la ciudad de Cartagena en general y la calle del Carmen en particular, proliferaran edificios de nueva construcción de diferente consideración. Se convirtió en una calle fundamental de la ciudad a principios del siglo xx, por su pujanza comercial y su belleza arquitectónica.La evolución en el tiempo en esta calle, el envejecimiento de las edificaciones de factura más pobre y la guerra civil española, provocaron que edificios de la época de finales del siglo xix y principios del siglo xx, fueran derribados o quedaran en estado ruinoso, perdiendo la calle parte del aspecto de la época ecléctica y modernista.Para poder recrear el alzado de un tramo de la calle a principios del siglo xx y compararlo con su estado actual, se ha realizado la documentación gráfica de detalle de todas las fachadas mediante fotogrametría digital de las edificaciones ya desaparecidas y mediante levantamiento por láser escáner de las fachadas en la actualidad. A partir de este análisis y comparación gráfica puede verse la evolución del alzado general de la calle del Carmen en un tramo de la misma.García León, J.; Ros Torres, J.; Vázquez Arenas, G.; Montes Tubío, FDP. (2017). La evolución y cambio del alzado de una vía principal durante el último siglo. Aplicación a un tramo de la Calle del Carmen de Cartagena. EGA. Revista de Expresión Gráfica Arquitectónica. 22(31):204-213. doi:10.4995/ega.2017.8898SWORD2042132231Buill, F., Núñez Andrés, M. A., & Regot Marimón, J. (2013). Técnicas de captura masiva de datos para el levantamiento y modelado de monumentos medievales. EGA. Revista de expresión gráfica arquitectónica, 18(21). doi:10.4995/ega.2013.1525Pérez Rojas, F. J., 1986. Cartagena 1874-1938. Transformación urbana y arquitectura. Cartagena: Regional de Murcia.Ros Torres, J., García León, J. & Vázquez Arenas, G., 2016. La calle del Carmen: Tradición y sostenibilidad. Revista P+C, Proyecto y Ciudad (in press).Yastikli, N. (2007). Documentation of cultural heritage using digital photogrammetry and laser scanning. Journal of Cultural Heritage, 8(4), 423-427. doi:10.1016/j.culher.2007.06.00

Survival in an extreme habitat: the roles of behaviour and energy limitation

Extreme habitats challenge animals with highly adverse conditions, like extreme temperatures or toxic substances. In this paper, we report of a fish (Poecilia mexicana) inhabiting a limestone cave in Mexico. Several springs inside the cave are rich in toxic H2S. We demonstrate that a behavioural adaptation, aquatic surface respiration (ASR), allows for the survival of P. mexicana in this extreme, sulphidic habitat. Without the possibility to perform ASR, the survival rate of P. mexicana was low even at comparatively low H2S concentrations. Furthermore, we show that food limitation affects the survival of P. mexicana pointing to energetically costly physiological adaptations to detoxify H2