Mating Ethogram of a Video-aided Study of Mating and Parturition in Captive Chinese Crocodile Lizards (Shinisaurus crocodilurus)

Mating behavior and parturition are important components in the life history of any species. The endangered Chinese crocodile lizard(Shinisaurus crocodilurus) is suffering dramatic population decreases in the wild. Successful captive breeding can provide individuals to be reintroduced into their natural habitat and help to restore the wild populations. Studying the mating behavior and parturition of these lizards in captivity will enable us understand how is this ancient species reproduction and optimize artificial reproduction protocol. We studied the mating behavior and parturition of Chinese crocodile lizards in captivity using video recordings at the Daguishan National Nature Reserve, China, from 2015 to 2017. We analyzed pre-copulation and copulation, which occurred in mid-March to late May from all studied years. Pre-copulation and copulation lasted on average 7.51(n=11) and 27.45(n=11) minutes, respectively. We found that large-bodied male lizards have longer copulation periods, a pattern seen in other lizard species. In the mating event, males always initiated sex, while the females were passive. The duration of parturition lasted 153.8 ± 26.8(n=46) minutes, and larger females had heavier clutches. In addition, even though Chinese crocodile lizards represent an ancient lizard clade with primitive characteristics, they still abide by the reproduction patterns seen in most other lizard species.

Habitat use and locomotion of the François’langur(Trachypithecus francoisi)in limestone habitats of Nonggang,China

We collected data on habitat use and locomotion of the François’langur(Trachypithecus francoisi)between August 2003 and July 2004 at Nonggang Nature Reserve,China.A total of 739 h of behavioral data were collected during this study.We tested 2 predictions:(1)that the langurs may have special patterns of habitat use and locomotion adaptive to the limestone habitat,and(2)the langurs may exhibit different patterns of habitat use and locomotion among different zones of limestone hill.Our results indicated that François’langurs spent more time in the low-risk,relatively food-poor cliff-hilltop areas.When young leaves and fruit were scarce in the dry season,the langurs increased their time in the high-risk,food-rich valley basin.François’langurs were semi-terrestrial,and leaping and climbing were their main locomotor modes.These behavioral patterns are considered to be related to characteristics of topography and vegetation in limestone habitat,such as large areas of cliff and discontinuous canopy.Our results also supported Prediction 2.The langurs confined locomotion to the main canopy and frequently adopted leaping while traveling in the hillside and valley basin.While traveling in cliff-hilltop areas,they tended to stay in the lower stratus(≤5 m)or move on the ground,and walking and climbing were their dominant traveling modes.

Ranging behavior of the François’langur(Trachypithecus francoisi)in limestone habitats of Nonggang,China

Ranging behavior is an important aspect of animal behavior that researchers use to investigate ecological influences on individual behavior.We collected data on the ranging behavior of one group of François’langurs(Trachypithecus francoisi)between August 2003 and July 2004 in a limestone habitat within Nonggang Nature Reserve,China.We evaluated the influences of food availability,water resources and sleeping sites on ranging behavior.During the study period,the total home range size for the study group was 64.5 or(69.3 ha if the lacunae within the borders in which langurs were not observed were included),and the mean daily path length was 541 m.These are well within the range of variation reported in Trachypithecus species.The monthly range size was between 9.8 and 23.3 ha,and monthly range size correlated negatively with young leaf availability.The langurs tended to use a larger range size during young leaf-lean periods.The langurs did not use their home range uniformly,and 74%of their activities occurred within 35%of their home range.The most heavily used quadrats in the home range were located near the most frequently used sleeping sites,suggesting that sleeping sites have a significant influence on the ranging behavior of François’langurs in limestone habitats.

非线性空间分数阶Ginzburg-Landau方程的隐显型差分格式

本文对带Riesz分数阶导数的非线性空间分数阶Ginzburg-Landau方程引入一类二阶带权隐显型差分格式.该类格式在时间上对方程中的线性项采用隐式离散并对非线性项采用显式离散,同时在空间上采用四阶拟紧差分格式逼近Riesz分数阶导数.通过引入并调节权因子θ∈[1/2,1],可获得不同的隐显型格式,该类格式在每一时间步仅需求解一个系数矩阵与时间层无关的线性方程组.本文利用离散能量方法和G稳定性思想证明格式在lh2范数、Hhα/2半范数和lh∞范数意义下的无条件收敛性,且该证明对所有θ∈[1/2,1]一致成立.最后在数值测试中验证格式的数值精度,并比较当θ取不同值时所得格式在有限时间和长时间数值仿真中的有效性.

Geometric morphometric study of the skull shape diversification in Sciuridae(Mammalia,Rodentia)

It is generally accepted that the high phenotypic diversity of mammals is a combined result of developmental constraint and ecological adaptation, although the influence of these endogenous and exogenous factors varies in different mammal groups. The rodent family Sciuridae represents an ideal candidate for examining phenotyp­ic diversity in relation to phylogeny and ecological adaptations. In the present study, we investigate the effects of phylogeny and lifestyle on the skull shape in different species of Sciuridae by applying geometric morpho­metric methods. In addition, we investigate the importance of allometry on sciurid skull shape, because results from geometric morphometrics sometimes dispute those of traditional morphometry. Here, we identify signif­icant associations between patristic distances obtained from molecular phylogeny and shape distances in all 3 views of the cranium and the lateral view of the mandible. Multivariate regression demonstrates that shape dif­ferences among lifestyle categories are substantial, especially in the dorsal and ventral structures after the in­fluence of phylogeny is taken into account. Allometry plays an important role in the shape variation, although its importance on different skull structures varies. Our results indicate that complex structures of this highly di­verse mammal group, which occupies different niches, are affected by ecological factors and developmental constraint.

Genetic analysis of group composition and relatedness in white-headed langurs

We collected fecal samples of white-headed langurs from 3 of the 4 remaining habitat fragments(Fa,Fb and CZ)located in southwestern Guangxi,China in Nov 2005,and used 5 microsatellite loci and the SRY gene to assess the relatedness between 46 langurs within and between groups.We observed 2 forms of group structure:one-male/multi-female groups(OMGs)and all-male groups(AMGs).One AMG in Fa was composed of 2 generations,included a father,2 sons and 1 unrelated male,and all OMGs in all 3 habitats included 1 resident male,several adult females and offspring.Of the 21 identified father-offspring cases,the resident male fathered 20(95%)and the non-resident male sired 1(5%),suggesting that adult males had overwhelming priority of access to females as the resident male in an OMG,while the non-resident male may also have the opportunity to adopt surreptitious mating strategies.

A Meshless and Parallelizable Method for Differential Equations with Time-Delay

Numerical computation plays an important role in the study of differential equations with time-delay,because a simple and explicit analytic solution is usually un available.Time-stepping methods based on discretizing the temporal derivative with some step-size∆t are the main tools for this task.To get accurate numerical solutions,in many cases it is necessary to require∆t<τand this will be a rather unwelcome restriction whenτ,the quantity of time-delay,is small.In this paper,we propose a method for a class of time-delay problems,which is completely meshless.The idea lies in representing the solution by its Laplace inverse transform along a carefully de-signed contour in the complex plane and then approximating the contour integral by the Filon-Clenshaw-Curtis(FCC)quadrature in a few fast growing subintervals.The computations of the solution for all time points of interest are naturally parallelizable and for each time point the implementations of the FCC quadrature in all subintervals are also parallelizable.For each time point and each subinterval,the FCC quadrature can be implemented by fast Fourier transform.Numerical results are given to check the efficiency of the proposed method.

ADI Galerkin FEMs for the 2D nonlinear time-space fractional diffusion-wave equation

In this paper,we study a new numerical technique for a class of 2D nonlinear fractional diffusion-wave equations with the Caputo-type temporal derivative and Riesz-type spatial derivative.Galerkin finite element scheme is used for the discretization in the spatial direction,and the temporal component is discretized by a new alternating direction implicit(ADI)method.Next,we strictly prove that the numerical method is stable and convergent.Finally,to confirm our theoretical analysis,some numerical examples in 2D space are presented.

Parareal-Richardson Algorithm for Solving Nonlinear ODEs and PDEs

The parareal algorithm,proposed firstly by Lions et al.[J.L.Lions,Y.Maday,and G.Turinici,A”parareal”in time discretization of PDE’s,C.R.Acad.Sci.Paris Ser.I Math.,332(2001),pp.661-668],is an effective algorithm to solve the timedependent problems parallel in time.This algorithm has received much interest from many researchers in the past years.We present in this paper a new variant of the parareal algorithm,which is derived by combining the original parareal algorithm and the Richardson extrapolation,for the numerical solution of the nonlinear ODEs and PDEs.Several nonlinear problems are tested to show the advantage of the new algorithm.The accuracy of the obtained numerical solution is compared with that of its original version(i.e.,the parareal algorithm based on the same numerical method).