scholarly journals Scaling at different ontogenetic stages: Gastrointestinal tract contents of a marsupial foregut fermenter, the western grey kangaroo Macropus fuliginosus melanops

Author(s):  
Adam J. Munn ◽  
Edward P. Snelling ◽  
David A. Taggart ◽  
Marcus Clauss
2009 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip Matson ◽  
Christopher Mayberry ◽  
Nicole Willers ◽  
Margaret A. Blackberry ◽  
Graeme B. Martin

An enzyme immunoassay with an anti-bovine-LH antibody (518B7) was applied to female western grey kanagaroos (Macropus fuliginosus ocydromus) and black-flanked rock wallabies (Petrogale lateralis lateralis). Validation showed parallelism to the assay standard curve, and significant increases in plasma LH concentrations after challenging animals with intramuscular GnRH.


2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
P. Matson ◽  
C. Mayberry ◽  
N. Willers ◽  
M. A. Blackberry ◽  
G. B. Martin

Methods for the measurement of marsupial LH invariably rely upon the similarity of the LH molecule between different species and usually use anti-ovine or anti-bovine LH antibody and an ovine or bovine labelled LH preparation. Initial attempts to measure plasma LH in the Western Grey Kangaroo with assays using antibodies to 4 different isoforms of ovine LH raised in 7 different rabbits were unsuccessful. An enzymeimmunoassay (EIA) developed for the Asian elephant (Zoo Biology 23:45–63) was then applied to the Western Grey Kangaroo and the Black-flanked Rock Wallaby. This EIA has an anti-bovine-LH monoclonal antibody (518B7 provided by Dr Jan Roser, University of California, Davis, USA), biotinylated ovine LH label and bovine LH standard (NIADDK-oLH-26 and NIH-bLH-B10, both provided by Dr Janine Brown and Nicole Abbondanza, Smithsonian Institute, Front Royal, Virginia USA). Technical validation showed that serial dilution down to 1:8 of plasma from 7 individuals of each species showed parallelism to the assay standard curve, and control samples (1.24–5.30 ng/mL) had between-assay coefficients of variation <9%. Biological validation was achieved by challenging animals with intramuscular GnRH (Fertagyl®, 2.5 µg/kg) and measuring LH before and 25 min after the injection. Significant increases in plasma concentrations of LH (mean ± sem; all P > 0.0005) were seen after GnRH for both the Western Grey Kangaroo (from 5.0 ± 0.8 ng/mL to 9.4 ± 1.2 ng/mL; n = 19) and the Black-flanked Rock Wallaby (from 6.0 ± 0.7 ng/mL to 10.6 ± 0.6 ng/mL; n = 28). In conclusion, this assay can be successfully used to measure LH in these two species.


1979 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 363 ◽  
Author(s):  
AJ Oliver ◽  
DR King ◽  
RJ Mead

The toxin fluoroacetate occurs naturally in many southwestern Australian species of the legume genera Gastrolobium and Oxylobium. No fluoroacetate-bearing species are known from southeastern Australia. Herbivores have evolved a high level of genetic tolerance to this toxin; this has persisted in some mammalian herbivores whose range now extends beyond the range of the toxic plants. Other species of mammals have acquired tolerance since extending their range into south-western Australia. This tolerance can be used as a genetic marker to identify the geographic origin and trace the subsequent spread of herbivorous mammals in southern Australia. In this paper, this marker has been used to clarify the recent evolutionary history of the western grey kangaroo, the tammar wallaby and the bush rat.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher W. M. Lease ◽  
Richard H. Bentham ◽  
Sharyn E. Gaskin ◽  
Albert L. Juhasz

Mycobacteriumisolates obtained from PAH-contaminated and uncontaminated matrices were evaluated for their ability to degrade three-, four- and five-ring PAHs. PAH enrichment studies were prepared using pyrene and inocula obtained from manufacturing gas plant (MGP) soil, uncontaminated agricultural soil, and faeces fromMacropus fuliginosus(Western Grey Kangaroo). Three pyrene-degrading microorganisms isolated from the corresponding enrichment cultures had broad substrate ranges, however, isolates could be differentiated based on surfactant, phenol, hydrocarbon and PAH utilisation. 16S rRNA analysis identified all three isolates asMycobacteriumsp. TheMycobacteriumspp. could rapidly degrade phenanthrene and pyrene, however, no strain had the capacity to utilise fluorene or benzo[a]pyrene. When pyrene mineralisation experiments were performed, 70–79% of added14C was evolved as14CO2after 10 days. The present study demonstrates that PAH degrading microorganisms may be isolated from a diverse range of environmental matrices. The present study demonstrates that prior exposure to PAHs was not a prerequisite for PAH catabolic activity for two of theseMycobacteriumisolates.


2014 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebekah Dawson ◽  
Nick Milne ◽  
Natalie M. Warburton

The western grey kangaroo, Macropus fuliginosus, is a large-bodied kangaroo that engages in pentapedal locomotion at low speeds and bipedal hopping at high speeds. The tail is thought to have functional roles in both of these modes of locomotion. In pentapedal locomotion the tail acts as a ‘fifth limb’ to support the body weight together with the forelimbs while the hind limbs are drawn forward. The tail has also been suggested to have a role as a counterbalance during bipedal hopping. On the basis of these functional roles for the tail in locomotion, the caudal musculature of the western grey kangaroo was dissected and described in this study. The arrangement of the caudal musculature showed particular adaptations for the role of the tail in both pentapedal locomotion and bipedal hopping.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Ranjard ◽  
Thomas K. F. Wong ◽  
Allen G. Rodrigo

ABSTRACTIn short-read DNA sequencing experiments, the read coverage is a key parameter to successfully assemble the reads and reconstruct the sequence of the input DNA. When coverage is very low, the original sequence reconstruction from the reads can be difficult because of the occurrence of uncovered gaps. Reference guided assembly can then improve these assemblies. However, when the available reference is phylogenetically distant from the sequencing reads, the mapping rate of the reads can be extremely low. Some recent improvements in read mapping approaches aim at modifying the reference according to the reads dynamically. Such approaches can significantly improve the alignment rate of the reads onto distant references but the processing of insertions and deletions remains challenging. Here, we introduce a dynamic programming algorithm to update the reference sequence according to previously aligned reads. Substitutions, insertions and deletions are performed in the reference sequence dynamically. We evaluate this approach to assemble a western-grey kangaroo mitochondrial amplicon. Our results show that more reads can be aligned and that this method produces assemblies of length comparable to the truth while limiting error rate when classic approaches fail to recover the correct length. Our method allows us to assemble the first full mitochondrial genome for the western-grey kangaroo. Finally, we discuss how the core algorithm of this method could be improved and combined with other approaches to analyse larger genomic sequences.


2012 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie M. Warburton ◽  
Maud Yakovleff ◽  
Auréline Malric

Tree-kangaroos (Dendrolagini) are Australasian marsupials that inhabit tropical forests of far north-eastern Queensland and New Guinea. The secondary adaptation of tree-kangaroos to an arboreal lifestyle from a terrestrial heritage offers an excellent opportunity to study the adaptation of the musculoskeletal system for arboreal locomotion, particularly from a template well adapted to terrestrial bipedal saltation. We present a detailed descriptive study of the hind limb musculature of Lumholtz’s tree-kangaroo (D. lumholtzi) in comparison to other macropodines to test whether the hind limb musculature of tree-kangaroos is functionally adapted to the different mechanical demands of locomotion in the uneven three-dimensional arboreal environment. The hind limb musculature of Lumholtz’s tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus lumholtzi), the western brush wallaby (Macropus irma), the western grey kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus) and the quokka (Setonix brachyurus) are described. The hind limb anatomy of D. lumholtzi differed from that of the terrestrial macropodines in that the muscles had a greater degree of internal differentiation, relatively longer fleshy bellies and very short, stout tendons of insertion. There was also a modified arrangement of muscle origins and insertions that enhance mechanical advantage. Differences in the relative proportions of the hind limb muscle mass between tree-kangaroos and terrestrial macropodines reflect adaptation of the limb musculature of tree-kangaroos for arboreal locomotion. The hind limb musculature of Setonix was different to that of both Dendrolagus and Macropus, possibly reflecting its more basal phylogenetic position within the Macropodinae.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document