Japanese journal of herpetology
Online ISSN : 1883-4493
Print ISSN : 0285-3191
Volume 17, Issue 4
Displaying 1-7 of 7 articles from this issue
  • XIAO-MAO ZENG, YUE-ZHAO WANG, ZHI-JUN LIU, ZI-LI FANG, GUAN-FU WU, THE ...
    1998 Volume 17 Issue 4 Pages 139-144
    Published: December 30, 1998
    Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Karyotypes and silver-stained NORs of five populations belonging to two Teratoscincus species were investigated. All had 2n=36, with 24M(8ST+16A)+12m(4v+8a) in the Korgas population of T. scincus, 24M(2ST+22A)+12m(4v+8a) in the Turpan population of T. przewalskii, and with 24M(2ST+22A)+12m(4v+8a) in the Dunhuang, Yecheng-Yengisa, and Kuqa populations of T. przewalskii. The silver-stained NORs of Korgas were on No. 3, whereas those of Kuqa and Yecheng-Yengisa were on No. 1. All karyotypes could be divided into three groups: (1) that of the Korgas population, with more than one subtelocentric pair of macrochromosomes; (2) those of the Dunhuang, Yecheng-Yengisa, and Kuqa populations, with only the largest pair subtelocentric; (3) that of the Turpan population, with pair 5 being the only subtelocentric pair of macrochromosomes. These three karyological groups seem to represent three distinct species.
    Download PDF (1374K)
  • MASAFUMI MATSUI, TOMOKO TANAKA-UENO, NAM-KEUK PAIK, SUH-YUNG YANG, OSA ...
    1998 Volume 17 Issue 4 Pages 145-151
    Published: December 30, 1998
    Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Comparison of nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene among populations of the brown frog, Rana dybowskii, showed that the population from south Korea is very similar genetically to the Tsushima population and they are considered to be conspecific. The latter population is thought to have invaded Tsushima recently via the Korean Peninsula. These frogs, however, have sequences substantially different from those of the population from near the type locality, the Maritime Territory of Russia. Thus, the current taxonomic treatment to unify all populations into the single species (R. dybowskii) is genetically not supported.
    Download PDF (934K)
  • SAIKO YAMASHIRO, HIDETOSHI OTA
    1998 Volume 17 Issue 4 Pages 152-155
    Published: December 30, 1998
    Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    We found one male phenotype of the parthenogenetic Lepidodactylus lugubris on Ishigakijima Island, Japan. This “male” had well developed hemipenes, preanal-femoral pores, and externally apparently normal testes. However, histological examination showed that spermatogenesis was aberrant in both testes and that mature spermatozoa were rare, if any, in the ductus epididymides. These facts strongly suggest the sterile nature of this individual. Because there are no bisexual species of Lepidodactylus on Ishigakijima and adjacent islands, the emergence of this “male” can not be explained on the ground of hybridization between a female L. lugubris and a male of a bisexual congener, or of the misidentification of a congener, as in cases of male emergences in a number of southern Pacific populations.
    Download PDF (1734K)
  • HIRO-AKI TAKEUCHI, YOUKO OKADA, KAORI TANITSU, TSUKIE OHBA, TAKATOSHI ...
    1998 Volume 17 Issue 4 Pages 156-163
    Published: December 30, 1998
    Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The behavioral responses of axolotls to chemical stimuli representing the four basic taste qualities (sweetness, saltiness, sourness, and bitterness) were quantified by measuring the ratio of rejection and the number of bites of gel pellets that contained various concentrations of sucrose, NaCl, citric acid, or quinine hydrochloride. A simplified method to measure the hardness of gel (gel strength) was devised and the feeding responses towards various hardnesses of gel pellets were also quantified by measuring the rejection ratios. Rejection ratios towards chemical stimuli other than sweet gels tended to increase with concentration and the degree of rejection was different depending on the quality of taste. These results showed good correspondence to those of a previous study, suggesting that axolotls distinguish the salty, sour, and bitter tastes, but not sweet tastes. The number of bites was dependent on the concentrations as well as the taste qualities, and bites on sour and bitter gels showed a different type of biphasic concentration dependency. When the hardness of gel pellets was changed at a constant concentration of chemical stimuli, the rejection ratios tended to increase with gel strength. The potential of salty taste to induce swallowing (a preference for salty taste) was suggested by reductions in the rejection ratios when gel pellets included NaCl but not sucrose.
    Download PDF (1054K)
  • MASAYUKI SUMIDA, ALLEN ALLISON, MIDORI NISHIOKA
    1998 Volume 17 Issue 4 Pages 164-174
    Published: December 30, 1998
    Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    To elucidate the evolutionary relationships of Papua New Guinean hylid frogs, we conducted an allozyme analysis using a total of 70 individuals from nine species of Litoria and two species of Nyctimystes. Fourteen enzymes extracted from skeletal muscles and livers were analyzed by starch-gel electrophoresis. These enzymes were encoded by genes at 20 presumptive loci. There were 3-11 phenotypes produced by 3-9 alleles at these loci. The mean proportion of heterozygous loci per individual, mean proportion of polymorphic loci per population, and mean number of alleles per locus in 11 species were 4.5%, 12.5%, and 1.14 on average, respectively. Genetic distances were 0.036 between two populations of L. infrafrenata; 0.248-1.849 (x=1.135) between nine species of the genus Litoria; and 1.703 between two species from the genus Nyctimystes. The intergeneric genetic distances were 1.551-2.877 (x=1.944) between Litoria and Nyctimystes. The UPGMA dendrogram and NJ tree showed the primary dichotomy of the Papua New Guinean hylids Nyctimystes and Litoria. Our distance data confirmed the presence of several sibling species of Litoria, which are similar to each other in external morphology; i. e., L. arfakiana and L. wollastoni, and L. contrastens and L. bicolor group sp.
    Download PDF (2125K)
  • [in Japanese]
    1998 Volume 17 Issue 4 Pages 175
    Published: December 30, 1998
    Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Download PDF (618K)
  • 1998 Volume 17 Issue 4 Pages 176-197
    Published: December 30, 1998
    Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Download PDF (3466K)
feedback
Top