Analysis of craniometric structure based on four skull measurements has been performed in 37 Martes martes populations to assess their size distribution within the species range. The results show that groups of martens with the smallest skull size live in the northeastern part of European Russia (the Sukhona, Vyatka, Kama, Sylva, and Chusovaya river basins; 48°–58°N, 55°–62° E). The condylobasal length (CL) in males reaches a maximum in southern Sweden and on Menorca Island, with its sample mean value ranging from 80.42 to 88.00 mm; in females, in northern Sweden and Belgium (73.58–80.10 mm). Skull size shows a strong, statistically significant negative correlation with longitude. The correlation of CL with latitude is weaker but also negative and statistically significant, which is not consistent with Bergmann’s rule. An inverse trend is observed in the eastern part of the range, where the size of martens is relatively large. In general, variation in size has a polyclinal pattern. The recent size distribution of М. martes over the range probably reflects the course of initial expansion over Europe of the ancestral species, Miocene Martes laevidens, which had a small body size. These results agree with the hypothesis that the ancestors of M. martes had originated in Eastern Europe and then expanded to the west, northwest, and east.

The long-term vitality and vibrancy of the American Society of Mammalogists depend upon the philanthropy of our members and others interested in supporting our programs of research, education, and outreach. Consequently, we gratefully acknowledge the generosity of those who have made monetary contributions to the Society over the past year. Such financial contributions have been particularly critical in supporting the careers of the next generation of mammalogists–our students. Funds to which donations can be directed include: a) African Student Fund; b) Century Fund; c) Future Mammalogists Fund (including donations from the annual auction); d) General Reserve Fund; e) Latin American Student Field Mammalogy Research Fund; f) Oliver Pearson Fund; g) J. A. Allen Fund; h) ASM Fellowship Fund; and i) Sponsored Membership Program. Asterisk (*) indicates donations made specifically for student travel awards and to be spent immediately. Details about these funds can be found at http://www.mammalogy.org/ whatsnew/announcements.html. Journal of Mammalogy, 96(2):466, 2015 DOI:10.1093/jmammal/gyv051

Herein, vve report karyotypes for 10 species of rodents. Among these are karyotypes that to our knowl¬ edge have not been described for six subspecies. In addition, we make noteworthy comments on the karyo¬ types of four other species. These specimens were ob¬ tained from localities in central and southeastern Durango, Mexico, including the Mexican Plateau and the Sierra Madre Occidental and its foothills.

The endangered Ozark big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii ingens) is restricted to eastern Oklahoma and western and north-central Arkansas, where populations may be susceptible to losses of genetic variation due to patchy distribution of colonies and potentially small effective population sizes. We used mitochondrial D-loop DNA sequences and 15 nuclear microsatellite loci to determine population connectivity among Ozark big-eared bat caves. Assessment of 7 caves revealed a haplotype not detected in a previous study (2002-2003) and gene flow among colonies in eastern Oklahoma. Our data suggest genetic mixing of individuals, which may be occurring at nearby swarming sites in the autumn. Further evidence of limited gene flow between caves in Oklahoma with a cave in Arkansas highlights the importance of including samples from geographically widespread caves to fully understand gene flow in this subspecies. It appears autumn swarming sites and winter hibernacula play an important role in providing opportunities for mating; therefore, we suggest protection of these sites, maternity caves, and surrounding habitat to facilitate gene flow among populations of Ozark big-eared bats.

© Baker et al. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited. Scientific progress is accomplished by a process of elucidation through validated methods and repeated verification. Retraction of a scientific paper may, in some instances, be the most appropriate action if authors determine that their conclusions were incorrect and no alternative avenue of communication is available.

Invasive Rattus are arguably the most costly and destructive invasive species on the planet, but little is known concerning their invasion history and population structure in the U.S. We utilized both nuclear microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA sequences (mtDNA) to compare the colonization history, patterns of gene flow, and levels of genetic diversity of Rattus rattus and R. norvegicus in the U.S. Analyses of mtDNA suggest R. rattus is characterized by a single rapid expansion into the U.S. from one or two very closely related mtDNA lineages or geographic sources. For R. norvegicus, mtDNA analyses suggest at least four invasions distinct in space and/or time have occurred to establish its distribution in the U.S. Microsatellite analyses suggest for R. rattus that dispersal is characterized by an isolation-by-distance pattern, suggesting a relatively low frequency of long distance dispersal, and low levels of establishment for novel propagules. In contrast, microsatellite analyses of R. norvegicus suggest high frequencies of long distance dispersal and essentially panmixia among nearly all sampled populations, as well as a high frequency of novel propagules entering at the east and west coasts and assimilating into established populations. We discuss these results in the context of invasive Rattus management in the U.S. and their implications for invasive species in general, as well as the implications for managing the spread of rat-borne pathogens.

Biological invasions result in novel species interactions, which can have significant evolutionary impacts on both native and invading taxa. One evolutionary concern with invasions is hybridization among lineages that were previously isolated, but make secondary contact in their invaded range(s). Black rats, consisting of several morphologically very similar but genetically distinct taxa that collectively have invaded six continents, are arguably the most successful mammalian invaders on the planet. We used mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences, two nuclear gene sequences (Atp5a1 and DHFR) and nine microsatellite loci to examine the distribution of three invasive black rat lineages (Rattus tanezumi, Rattus rattus I and R. rattus IV) in the United States and Asia and to determine the extent of hybridization among these taxa. Our analyses revealed two mitochondrial lineages that have spread to multiple continents, including a previously undiscovered population of R. tanezumi in the south-eastern United States, whereas the third lineage (R. rattus IV) appears to be confined to Southeast Asia. Analyses of nuclear DNA (both sequences and microsatellites) suggested significant hybridization is occurring among R. tanezumi and R. rattus I in the United States and also suggest hybridization between R. tanezumi and R. rattus IV in Asia, although further sampling of the latter species pair in Asia is required. Furthermore, microsatellite analyses suggest unidirectional introgression from both R. rattus I and R. rattus IV into R. tanezumi. Within the United States, introgression appears to be occurring to such a pronounced extent that we were unable to detect any nuclear genetic signal for R. tanezumi, and a similar pattern was detected in Asia.

Program Committee: Janet Braun (Chair), Brad Blood, Brandi Coyner, Liz Flaherty, Meredith Hamilton, Eileen Lacey, Susan Loeb, Karen Mabry, Daniel Odell, Diane Post, Marcia Revelez, Margaret Schadler, Barbara Shaw, Cody Thompson, Patrick A. Zollner, Hadley Jerman, (2012 logo design), Tony Ballard (KSU Conference Planning), Heide Burke (KSU Conference Planning), and Charissa Bowditch (KSU Conference Planning). Members were notified by e-mail of online access to the program before the meeting and abstracts for papers presented were provided to members attending the meeting. Full program and abstracts are available at http://www.mammalsociety.org/ meetings. Abridged minutes of the directors’ and members’ meetings follow.

Subspecific affinites, determination of population boundaries, and levels of population connectedness are of critical importance for the development of management and conservation planning. We used variation at a mitochondrial locus and 5 biparentally inherited nuclear loci to determine partitioning of genetic variation of western big-cared bats (Corynorhinus townsendii) within and among caves occurring in a fragmented landscape of gypsum deposits in western Oklahoma. To accomplish this objective, we first performed a phylogenetic analysis based on the mitochondrial locus of western big-eared bats from a large portion of their range. This analysis indicated that western big-eared bats at the periphery of the distribution in western Oklahoma share phylogenetic affinites with the most geographically restricted subspecies, C. t. pallescens. Because C, townsendii is rare in Oklahoma and is listed as a species of special in Oklahoma. Within western Oklahoma, we failed to detect significant differentiation among any caves for the biparentally inherited microsatellite data. However, the mitochondrial locus exhibited significant levels of genetic differentiation among caves, with the highest level of differentiation occurring between caves within the disjunct distributions of gypsum (Phi(ST) = 38.76%). Although a significant amount of genetic differentiation was detected between populations on the 2 disjunct distributions of gypsum deposits, Analysis with the program Migrate suggested high levels of asymmetric gene flow among some populations. Our results provide a greater understanding of the population dynamics of western big-cared bats on the periphery of their range and highlight the importance of continued monitoring and study of this taxon.

Pocket gophers of the genus Geomys are common inhabitants of many habitats throughout most of the state of Nebraska. Because the taxonomic history of Geomys has undergone numerous changes through the years, these pocket gophers have been the subjects of ongoing taxonomic and distributional studies and in more recent years genetic studies to understand relationships among populations. In order to gain deeper insight into the relationships among these taxa of Geomys, we intensively collected specimes from areas where chromosomal races were thought to form contact zones. Results from examination of genetic (chromosomes, mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene sequences, and nuclear interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein gene sequences), morphometric, and pelage coloration data revealed 2 areas of hybridization between taxa of Geomys in Nebraska. The 1st of these corresponded to Lincoln County in southwestern Nebraska. The taxonomic implications of our study support the recommendations from earlier studies performed in other areas of the geographic range of Geomys. Specifically, in Nebraska we recognize 3 species: G. bursarius majusculus in eastern Nebraska, G. lutescens in the Sand Hills and adjacent areas of central and western Nebraska, and G. jugossicularis halli in southwestern Nebraska. The exact geographic distributions and relationships of these species within Nebraska and the surrounding states remain to be determined in detail.

As a past editor of the Journal ofMammalogy and current editor of Mammalian Species, both published by the American Society of Mammalogists, we are chagrined by the time we spend correcting reference sections for our serials’ particular formats. Expanding on our earlier “Correspondence” inNature, we undertook a hypothetical, albeit simplified, exercise to evaluate the possible impact of such loss of time on science in a broader context. We argued in Nature that if scientists used a standardized format—perhaps engrained early in secondary-school and undergraduate years and common to all scientific presentation—our time as volunteer editors and scientists would be better spent focusing on science and syntax rather than frivolity that robs scientific pursuit and discovery. Peter Kareiva et al. presented a compelling argument that “slow-moving journals [in organismal biology] hinder conservation efforts” because of the long time it took to accomplish peer reviews. Curious that those lengthy reviews also were related to lengthy reference sections, we counted the number of citations in 30–50 percent of the articles published during 2000 in the fourteen serials assessed by Kareiva et al. Median time from submission to publicationwas related to the average number of citations per article (Spearman’s rank correlation: rs =0.554, P=0.04). Furthermore, the fourteen serials generally clustered into the four disciplines of Kareiva et al., suggesting that timeliness of publishing

The Ozark big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii ingens) is federally listed as endangered and is found in only a small number of caves in eastern Oklahoma and northwestern Arkansas. Previous studies suggested site fidelity of females to maternity caves; however, males are solitary most of the year, and thus specific information on their behavior and roosting patterns is lacking. Population genetic variation often provides the necessary data to make inferences about gene flow or mating behavior within that population. We used 2 types of molecular data: DNA sequences from the mitochondrial D loop and alleles at 5 microsatellite loci. Approximately 5% of the population, 24 males and 39 females (63 individuals), were sampled. No significant differentiation between 5 sites was present in nuclear microsatellite variation, but distribution of variation in maternally inherited markers differed among sites. This suggests limited dispersal of female Ozark big-eared bats and natal philopatry. Areas that experience local extinctions are unlikely to be recolonized by species that show strong site fidelity. These results provide a greater understanding of the population dynamics of Ozark big-eared bats and highlight the importance of cave protection relative to maintaining genetic integrity during recovery activities for this listed species.

Historically, specimens representing the Peromyscus boylii species group from west-central Mexico have been referred to as Peromyscus boylii; however, a distinct but polymorphic karyotype (fundamental number 54-56) precludes an assignment of these specimens to currently recognized taxa. Phylogenetic analyses (parsimony, likelihood, and Bayesian) of DNA sequences indicated that samples from Durango, Mexico, formed a monophyletic clade that either was sister to P. levipes (parsimony) or to a clade containing P. beatae and P. levipes (likelihood and Bayesian). To refer these samples to P. boylii results in paraphyly and a significantly worse topology. Together, these results indicate that the samples from the Sierra Madre Occidental region of Durango and southeastern Sinaloa represent an undescribed species of Peromyscus. This taxon is described herein as a new species.