Osteological Variation within the Baldwin County, Georgia, Population of Didelphis virginiana

Patterson, David B.; Mead, Alfred J.

doi:10.1656/1528-7092(2008)7[125:ovwtbc]2.0.co;2

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Sixty-one opossums (47 males, 12 females, two sex undetermined) were collected during 2002 and 2004 as roadkill in Baldwin County, Georgia, located along the southern edge of the Piedmont Physiographic Province (Patterson and Mead, 2008). The sex of each individual was recorded at the time of collection.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the present study, skeletal lesions were analyzed within a population of Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana Kerr 1792) from Baldwin County, Georgia (33u5.279N, 83u14.009W). This species is common throughout Georgia (Golley, 1962) and, despite its abundance and relative ease of capture or collection, has been the focus of few ecologic or morphologic studies in the state (McKeever, 1958;Allen et al, 1985;Patterson and Mead, 2008). The opossum is an omnivorous small mammal (approximately 1-4 kg adult weight) found throughout the eastern half, and along the western coast, of the United States (McManus, 1974;Gardner, 1982).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Skeletal Lesions in a Population of Virginia Opossums (Didelphis Virginiana) From Baldwin County, Georgia

Mead

Patterson

2009

Journal of Wildlife Diseases

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Antemortem skeletal lesions were analyzed in 61 Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana) collected as roadkill from Baldwin County, Georgia, USA. As evidenced by bridging fracture calluses, misalignments, bone-surface depressions, perforations, localized superficial calluses, periosteal proliferations, and bony bridges across intervertebral disk spaces, 64% of the individuals had signs of one or more healed injuries. Within the subset of skeletons with bone lesions, 54% had healed rib fractures and 23% had scapular, 21% pelvic, 18% fibular, 18% vertebral, 13% dentary, 10% tibial, and 10% podial lesions. Bone lesions occurred most frequently in the cranial portion of the skeletons and averaged approximately four per individual. The majority of the skeletal injuries appeared to be inconsistent with those caused by falls or automobile collisions. The nature and position of the bone lesions suggested that nonfatal predator attacks, possibly from domestic dogs, may be a significant contributor to bodily injury in this species.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Skeletal Lesions in a Population of Virginia Opossums (Didelphis Virginiana) From Baldwin County, Georgia

Mead

Patterson

2009

Journal of Wildlife Diseases

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Intrasexually selected weapons

2018

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We propose a practical concept that distinguishes the particular kind of weaponry that has evolved to be used in combat between individuals of the same species and sex, which we term intrasexually selected weapons (ISWs). We present a treatise of ISWs in nature, aiming to understand their distinction and evolution from other secondary sex traits, including from 'sexually selected weapons', and from sexually dimorphic and monomorphic weaponry. We focus on the subset of secondary sex traits that are the result of same-sex combat, defined here as ISWs, provide not previously reported evolutionary patterns, and offer hypotheses to answer questions such as: why have only some species evolved weapons to fight for the opposite sex or breeding resources? We examined traits that seem to have evolved as ISWs in the entire animal phylogeny, restricting the classification of ISW to traits that are only present or enlarged in adults of one of the sexes, and are used as weapons during intrasexual fights. Because of the absence of behavioural data and, in many cases, lack of sexually discriminated series from juveniles to adults, we exclude the fossil record from this review. We merge morphological, ontogenetic, and behavioural information, and for the first time thoroughly review the tree of life to identify separate evolution of ISWs. We found that ISWs are only found in bilateral animals, appearing independently in nematodes, various groups of arthropods, and vertebrates. Our review sets a reference point to explore other taxa that we identify with potential ISWs for which behavioural or morphological studies are warranted. We establish that most ISWs come in pairs, are located in or near the head, are endo- or exoskeletal modifications, are overdeveloped structures compared with those found in females, are modified feeding structures and/or locomotor appendages, are most common in terrestrial taxa, are frequently used to guard females, territories, or both, and are also used in signalling displays to deter rivals and/or attract females. We also found that most taxa lack ISWs, that females of only a few species possess better-developed weapons than males, that the cases of independent evolution of ISWs are not evenly distributed across the phylogeny, and that animals possessing the most developed ISWs have non-hunting habits (e.g. herbivores) or are faunivores that prey on very small prey relative to their body size (e.g. insectivores). Bringing together perspectives from studies on a variety of taxa, we conceptualize that there are five ways in which a sexually dimorphic trait, apart from the primary sex traits, can be fixed: sexual selection, fecundity selection, parental role division, differential niche occupation between the sexes, and interference competition. We discuss these trends and the factors involved in the evolution of intrasexually selected weaponry in nature.

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Application of GIS to a Baseline Survey of Vertebrate Roadkills in Baldwin County, Georgia

Boitet

Mead

2014

Southeastern Naturalist

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Osteological Variation within the Baldwin County, Georgia, Population of Didelphis virginiana

Cited by 3 publications

References 18 publications

Skeletal Lesions in a Population of Virginia Opossums (Didelphis Virginiana) From Baldwin County, Georgia

Skeletal Lesions in a Population of Virginia Opossums (Didelphis Virginiana) From Baldwin County, Georgia

Intrasexually selected weapons

Application of GIS to a Baseline Survey of Vertebrate Roadkills in Baldwin County, Georgia

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