Dr. Don Keith retires

Please join us in honoring Dr. Don Keith upon his retirement. Dr. Keith will be retiring at the end of the Spring semester, 2012, after 37 years of dedicated service to Tarleton. Thanks Don for your dedication to teaching, research, and service!

New faculty member, Dr. Kristin Herrmann

We would like to announce our newest faculty member in the Department of Biological Sciences, Dr. Kristin Herrmann. Dr. Herrmann is an invertebrate ecologist with a specialty in parasitology.

Six students receive Master's degree

Six students received their Master's degree Saturday, May 12th, 2012. Congratulations Paige, Steve, Allison, Jeremy, Lee, and Brian!

• Paige Cowley (Thesis title: A two year flora and survey for rare species at Tarleton State University's Hunewell Ranch, Erath County, Texas) Advised by Dr. Allan Nelson
• Steve Henderson
• Allison Love (Thesis title: Hybridization between Blacktail Shiner (Cyprinella venusta) and Red Shiner (Cyprinella lutrensis): A comparative study between an undisturbed and disturbed river system) Advised by Drs. Chris Higgins and Russell Pfau
• Jeremy Munz (Thesis title: Temporal variation in life-history characteristics of five species from a single fish assemblage in the Paluxy River, Texas) Advised by Dr. Chris Higgins
• Lee Richardson (Thesis title: Distribution and hybridization of eastern and western lineages of the cotton rat, Sigmodon hispidus, in Arkansas) Advised by Dr. Russell Pfau
• Brian Scoggins

Paper published updating distribution of shrews

Article about Dr. Pfau's (and colleagues) discovery of the Northern Short-Tailed Shrew in Arkansas

Occurrence of Blarina brevicauda in Arkansas and Notes on the Distribution of Blarina carolinensis and Cryptotis parva

R.S. Pfau, D.B. Sasse, M.B. Connior, and I.F. Guenther
Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 65, 2011

Abstract:
We provide an update on the species and distribution of shrews occurring in Arkansas. Shrews were collected within Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Wildlife Management Areas and along the Buffalo National River. We also searched mammal collections at several institutional museums to provide additional locality records for Cryptotis parva. Specimens of Blarina were identified to species by DNA sequencing of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Previously, Blarina hylophaga was believed to occur in the northwest corner of Arkansas and B. carolinensis throughout the rest of the state. However, our genetic analysis revealed that it is B. brevicauda that occupies the northwestern portion of the state. We also document several new county records for B. carolinensis and C. parva in Arkansas.

Kelly Reyna, Biological Sciences alumnus, studies declining quail populations

http://www.ntdaily.com/?p=60308

http://www.biology.unt.edu/Reyna

Stephanie Painter successfully defends thesis

Stephanie Painter, Master's degree candidate, successfully defended her thesis November 2nd.  Her project was entitled "Using quantitative PCR (qPCR)to investigate a potential correlation between populations of the pathogenic amoeba Naegleria fowleri and the bacterium Escherichia coli within Lake Granbury, Texas".  Congratulations Stephanie!

Blacktail shiner X red shiner?

Allison shows off her blacktail shiner (Cyprinella venusta).  Her thesis project is to use genetic markers to determine if the red shiner is hybridizing with the blacktail shiner in the Bosque and Paluxy rivers.  If they are, the effects of environmental conditions on patterns of hybridization will be examined.  If they're not?  Well, then we'll know they're not!  That in itself will be interesting because they've been reported to hybridize elsewhere.

Spotted bass

Dr. Higgins shows us a spotted bass (Micropterus punctulatus) from the Paluxy river.

Students collect specimens for thesis projects

Dr. Higgins (center) helps grad students Allison Love and Jeremy Munz collect specimens for their thesis project.  

Paper published in Canadian Journal of Zoology

Thompson CW, Pfau RS, Choate JR, Genoways HH, Finck EJ.  2011.  Identification and characterization of the contact zone between two species of Short-Tailed Shrew (Blarina) in Iowa and Missouri. Canadian Journal of Zoology.