Assessing fine-scale pondscape connectivity with amphibian eyes: An integrative approach using genomic and capture-mark-recapture data.

In the face of habitat loss, preserving functional connectivity is essential to maintain genetic diversity and the demographic dynamics required for the viability of biotic communities. This requires knowledge of the dispersal behaviour of target species, which can be modelled as kernels, or probability density functions of dispersal distances at increasing geographic distances. We present an integrative approach to investigate the relationships between genetic connectivity and demographic parameters in organisms with low vagility focusing on five syntopic pond-breeding amphibians.

Integrating dispersal, breeding and abundance data with graph theory for the characterization and management of functional connectivity in amphibian pondscapes.

Context: Robust assessment of functional connectivity in amphibian population networks is essential to address their global decline. The potential of graph theory to characterize connectivity among amphibian populations has already been confirmed, but the movement data on which modelled graphs rely are often scarce and inaccurate. While probabilistic methods that account for intraspecific variability in dispersal better reflect the biological reality of functional connectivity, they must be informed by systematically recorded individual movement data, which are difficult to obtain for secretive taxa like amphibians.

The anatomical components of the cardiac outflow tract of the gray bichir, Polypterus senegalus: their evolutionary significance.

It has been reported that in chondrichthyans the cardiac outflow tract is composed of the myocardial conus arteriosus, while in most teleosteans it consists of the nonmyocardial bulbus arteriosus. Classical studies already indicated that a conus and a bulbus coexist in several ancient actinopterygian and teleost groups. Recent work has shown that a cardiac outflow tract consisting of a conus and a bulbus is common to both cartilaginous and bony fishes.