text:
Journal of herpetology
Published by Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles
Print ISSN: 0022-1511,1808-9798
Incubation Environment Affects Immune System Development in a Turtle with Environmental Sex Determination
Steven Freedberg
Timothy J Greives
Michael A Ewert
Craig E Nelson
The developmental environment can have lasting effects on posthatching phenotype in oviparous animals. Innate immune response is one important component of fitness in vertebrates because it provides a generalized defense against infection. In addition, because male vertebrates are at a higher risk of infection than females, males may benefit more from increased innate immunity than females. We determined the effects of incubation temperature on the innate immune response of hatchling map turtles (Graptemys) by incubating eggs at a range of male and female producing-temperatures and assessing plasma complement activity in the resulting hatchlings. We found a significant effect of incubation environment on circulating complement in hatchling Graptemys ouachitensis, with male-producing temperatures yielding the highest innate immune response. Most important, these results demonstrate that immune response is affected by developmental environment in a species with environmental sex determination, potentially resulting in sex differences in the ability to fend off pathogens.
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Taxomic Status Atelophryniscus chrysophorus McCranie, Wilson and Williams, 1989, (Anura Bufonidae) Inferred from Phylogeny
Edgar Lehr
Jennifer B. Pramuk
The family Bufonidae is nearly cosmopolitan in distribution and contains 33 genera. The monotypic bufonid genus Atelophryniscus was described relatively recently from Honduras. This taxon was distinguished from Buto on the basis of its unusual gastromyzophorus tadpole. Stream-dwelling gastromyzophorus tadpoles are atypical within Bufonidae and when Atelophryniscus was described, this type of tadpole was unknown among members of the genus Buto. To investigate the phylogenetic placement of this taxon, we analyzed 83 previously published morphological characters for a sampling of Old and New World bufonids and included newly coded data. The data indicate that (1) there are no autapomorphies supporting the recognition of Atelophryniscus; (2) this taxon is embedded within the genus Buto; and (3) it is sister to Buto veraguensis of South America.
Tail Loss and Dominance in Captive Adult Male Anolis sagrei
Bernard W. Kaiser
We studied the effects of tail loss on dominance relationships of captive male Anolis sagrei. Densities of free ranging male and female anoles were measured and used to establish the number of individuals to be placed in experimental enclosures. We placed two male and three female brown anoles in each of four outdoor enclosures. We observed males establish dominance and quantified aggressive interactions between the paired individuals. Territory size of the dominant male was determined by the minimum convex polygon method. After the dominance relationship between males was established, a portion of the dominant male's tail was removed. To simulate natural conditions, males were returned to their enclosures immediately after tail removal. We also measured the level of aggressiveness, and territory size of the dominant male after tail removal. Males that were dominant before tail removal remained dominant and did not change in aggressiveness after removal. Territory size of dominant males before and after tail removal did not differ. Our findings suggest that tail loss may be of minor consequence to an individual Anolis sagrei once it has established a territory. If tail autotomy resulted in a loss of territory and thereby, loss of reproductive opportunities, then benefits accrued from tail autotomy (increased survivorship) would be discounted by the diminished reproductive output.
Intraspecific variation in the advertisement call of the Sunset Frog Spicospina flammocaerulea (Anura: Myobatrachidae): a frog with a limited geographic distribution
Michael J Smith
Dale Roberts
Thomas J Hammond
Robert Davis
Intraspecific variation in acoustic signals may reflect local variation in the intensity of natural and sexual selection and random drift. We examined intraspecific variation in the advertisement call of Spicospina flammocaerulea, a southwestern Australian frog species with a limited distribution, fragmented range, small population sizes, and specific breeding habitat requirements. Of the six populations examined, one in particular differed significantly in dominant frequency and body size. There was no relationship between among-population geographic distance and among-population divergence in call structure suggesting that the divergence is not caused by random drift. A correlation analysis detected a positive relationship between the size of males and females found in amplexus. However, there was no evidence of mated males differing in size from unmated males indicating that the differences in dominant frequency are unrelated sexual selection. Call structure variation may reflect differences in recruitment and resultant age structure of local populations.
Descriptions of the Tadpoles of Two Neotropical Microhylid Frogs, Melanophryne Carpish and Nelsonophryne Aequatorialis (Anura: Microhylidae)
Linda Trueb
Pablo J. Venegas
Ernesto Arbelaez
The tadpole of Melanophryne carpish is described based on two specimens found in an arboreal, water-filled bromeliad in humid montane forest at 2,870 m in the eastern Andes of northern Peru (Departamento de San Martı´n). It differs from all known New World microhylid tadpoles in having unpigmented, keratinized, jaw sheaths. The lower labium is expanded and platelike. The body is depressed with eyes located dorsally, and the spiracle is ventral. The presence of jaw sheaths suggests that the larvae might feed while undergoing development in aerial plants. The tadpole of Nelsonophryne aequatorialis is described based on a series of 17 specimens in Gosner Stages 37–42, which were found in a water canal in a pasture at 2,535 m in southern Ecuador (Departamento de Azuay). These tadpoles lack jaw sheaths and have a ventral spiracle with medial subdivision evident anterior to the gut. The tadpoles of M. carpish and N. aequatorialis are compared to one another, as well as other microhylid larvae. The nature of characters used to describe microhylid larvae, especially their mouthparts, is discussed and clarified.
Altitudinal variation in growth and development rates of tadpoles of Litoria chloris and Litoria pearsoniana in Southeast Queensland, Australia
Claire Morrison
Jean-Marc Hero
Altitudinal variation in larval growth and development rates in low- and high-altitude populations of two subtropical species of frog, Litoria chloris and Litoria pearsoniana was examined in the field using reciprocal transplant experiments. The larvae of both species raised at high altitudes (regardless of tadpole origin) had slower development rates than larvae raised at low altitudes. Slower growth rates were found in larvae from high altitudes in L. chloris, whereas a Similar (but not significant) trend was recorded in L. pearsoniana. Despite slower growth rates overall, tadpoles raised at high altitudes tended to be larger at each Gosner Development Stage than those raised at low altitudes independent of tadpole origin. These results suggest that most of the variation in growth and development rates in the two species was caused by environmental factors (water temperature) rather than genetic or maternal factors. Tadpole survival in either species did not appear to be significantly affected by environmental or genetic factors in this study.
A New Species of Scinax (Anura: Hylidae) from the Area of Iquitos, Amazonian Peru
Jirí Moravec
Illich Arista Tuanama
Pedro E Perez Peña
We describe a new species of the hylid frog genus Scinax from the Peruvian Upper Amazonian Lowlands (area of Iquitos, Region Loreto, Peru). The new species belongs to the Scinax ruber clade and differs from all its members by having the dorsal skin slightly to coarsely shagreen, by lacking conspicuous ulnar and tarsal tubercles, and in life by having a distinct light olive-green coloration on dorsum, bright yellow flanks with distinct black spots, black posterior surfaces of thighs, and gold to bronze iris.
New Species of Pristimantis (Anura: Strabomantidae) from the Amazonian Lowlands of Southern Peru
Rudolf von May
We describe a new species of Pristimantis from the Amazonian lowlands in southern Peru (Madre de Dios Region). The new species has a snout–vent length of 22.8–23.4 mm in two adult males (females are unknown), a tympanum barely visible, a W-shaped scapular ridge, the iris bearing a dark vertical bar forming a cross or a T, a cream venter with brown blotches, and groin and concealed surfaces of shanks with a contrasting pattern consisting of yellow and black. It is tentatively assigned to the unistrigatus species Group and is most similar to Pristimantis diadematus and Pristimantis eurydactylus.
Space Use of Amazonian Poison Frogs: Testing the Reproductive Resource Defense Hypothesis
Erik H Poelman
Marcel Dicke
In most Anuran species, space use includes a lek mating system with defense of a calling site for only a short time period during an individual's lifespan. In contrast, territoriality over a longer time period by one or both of the sexes has been reported in all studied dendrobatid frogs. In most dendrobatid species, territories are defended for reproductive purposes, and typically, males vocalize from these territories to attract mates and repel rivals. It has been hypothesized that reproductive resources such as oviposition sites or tadpole deposition sites are defended. For reproductive resource defense to occur, reproductive units (eggs or tadpoles) must be deposited at sites where the territorial individual displays agonistic interaction with intruding individuals. Here, we challenge this assumption in a field study on the poison frog Dendrobates ventrimaculatus in French Guiana. We show that home-range size is affected by spatial distribution of bromeliads. Clutches of eggs were found to be predominantly deposited in bromeliads located inside the 50% Kernel core areas of activity within male territories, although tadpoles were deposited more frequently outside these core areas. Vocalization of males only occurred in agonistic interactions with other males or while courting a female. Our data show that (1) males of D. ventrimaculatus defend small territories containing their reproductive resources, (2) these resources are not limited in number, and (3) territories are not defended for characteristics supporting advertisement vocalization. We conclude that males defend territories to increase the success of courting a female without interruption by other males.
The Tadpole of the Central American Toad Bufo luetkenii Boulenger
Gunther Köhler
James Mccranie
Drift Fence-Associated Sampling Bias of Amphibians at a Florida Sandhills Temporary Pond
C. Kenneth Dodd Jr.
Five years of field observations suggest that amphibians inhabiting a sandhills community are able to circumvent a drift fence-pitfall trap enclosure as they move toward and away from an ephemeral pond. Trespass rates varied depending on species and showed no tendency to increase or decrease as the study progressed. Laboratory trials confirmed that frogs easily crossed the fence by walking up the side or hopping over it. Frogs crossed the fence readily regardless of sex or whether the frog was an adult or juvenile. Although striped newts did not climb over the fence in the laboratory, they may use tunnels to go under fences under field conditions. Other species may burrow directly under the fence. A priori assumptions about a species' ability to climb a fence, or that trespass rates do not vary temporally or among sites, are unwarranted and may lead to misinterpretations of the results from studies using drift fences and pitfall traps.
Evolutionary Relationships of the Anolis Bimaculatus Group from the Northern Lesser Antilles
Christopher J Schneider
Jonathan B Losos
Kevin de Queiroz
•Lizards in Ihe Anolis bimaculatus group from the northern Lesser Antilles have played an important role in theoretical and empirical developments in ecology, behavior, and evolution over the last four decades. Despite intense interest, the lack of a formal phylogenetic analysis for the bimaculatus group has limited comparative,and historical evolutionary analyses. Here we present a phylogenetic analysis of species relationships within the bimaculatus group based on separate and combined,analyses of mitochon- drial DNA and previously published allozyme,data. These analyses indicate that (1) the wattsi group of small anoles is a basal, well-supported monophyletic group; (2) the large anoles A. bimaculatus and A. leachi are not sister species•rather, there is a well-supported sister relationship between A. bimaculatus and A. gingivinus; (3) the A. marntoratus complex,from the Guadeloupean,archipelago is deeply differentiated and paraphyletic, with A. sabanus, A. lividus, and possibly A. oculatus nested within it; (4) the phylogenetic position of A. leachi is not well resolved, but a combined analysis of mtDNA and allozyme data favor placing A. leachi as the sister taxon to the {A. marmoratus, A. lividus, A. sabanus, A. oculatus) group; and (5) the phylogenetic position of A. nubilus remains uncertain pending additional data. The proposed phylogeny elucidates the evolutionary history and biogeography,of the bimaculatus group and allows a reassessment of the character displacement and taxon cycle/loop hypotheses. The Caribbean radiation of Anolis lizards is
Tadpole of Telmatobius mayoloi (Anura: Ceratophryidae)
César Aguilar Puntriano
The tadpole of Telmatobius mayoloi from central Peru (Departamento de Ancash) is described based on specimens ranging from Gosner Stage 28–41. The tadpole of T. mayoloi is similar to other Telmatobius larvae with pond type morphology. Geographically closest to T. mayoloi are Telmatobius carrillae and Telmatobius rimac. The tadpole of T. mayoloi differs from the latter in reaching a maximum total length of 102.1 mm at Stage 38 whereas T. carrillae (maximum total length = 99.20 mm at Stage 39) and T. rimac (maximum total length = 77. 70 mm at Stage 36) are smaller. Furthermore, the snout of the tadpole of T. mayoloi is slightly narrower between the nares, and its tip is pointed compared to the broader snouts of T. carrillae and T. rimac. The tadpole of T. mayoloi is the fourth largest in Telmatobiinae; data comparing tadpole total lengths and adult snout–vent lengths of Peruvian Telmatobiinae are presented.
A new species of Chaunus from Central Brazil : Anura; Bufonidae
Reuber Brandao
Natan Medeiros Maciel
Antonio Sebben
A new species of Chaunus, apparently related to Chaunus arenarum, Chaunus rubescens, and Chaunus achavali is described. The new species occupies Cerrado habitats in southwestern Piauı´ and Bahia states and in northwestern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The species is characterized by anterior interruption of the supraocular crest; weakly developed cranial crests; short and robust limbs; several pointed spiculae on dorsum, head, and limbs; male coloration; small to medium size; and by the short and narrow head.
Mark-Recapture Estimates of Survival in Populations of the Asp Viper, Vipera aspis aspis
Thomas Flatt
Stefan Dummermuth
Bradley Anholt
-^^? estimated the annual survivorship of two populations of the asp viper, Vipera aspis aspis, by recapturing known,adult individuals in the field over six and nine years respectively. The snakes at the two study sites in the Jura mountains,of northwestern,Switzerland were active between,mid-March and mid-October. Vipera a. aspis is easily captured by hand, has individually recognizable marks and is, there- fore, well suited for long-term mark-recapture studies. The maximum likelihood estimates of annual sur vivorship are about 0.75 in both populations. The probability that a snake will be recaptured in any given year is about 0.4 (habitat A) and about 0.33 (habitat B). Sampling effort within a year had little effect on the probability of recapture. Our best estimate of annual survival of 0.75 for the two habitats combined compares well with other previous estimates in viperids and in V aspis in particular. We found no detectable
Structural Aspects of Microhabitat Selection by the Skink Lampropholis delicata
Peter B. Mather
Ian Williamson
Lampropholis delicata is a small skink common in eastern Australia. The species is heliothermic and uses the ground litter layer. This study examined whether L. delicata showed preferences for particular structural features of the ground litter layer by observing their response to a number of pairwise choices of ground litter type. Lampropholis delicata showed a clear preference for a ground litter layer with an open structure. Difference in catch rates between pairwise comparisons was positively correlated with an index of habitat accessibility. It is suggested that this habitat preference is associated with the ability of the lizard to trade-off different activities. Selection of a habitat with some form of open structure may reduce the conflict between the need for foraging and basking, and the need to find shelter from predators. Habitat selection is an important component of animal ecology (Cody, 1985; Huey, 1991). Animals must ''trade-off'' costs and benefits associated with avoiding predators and competitors, and obtaining food and shelter. In spite of the significance of habitat selection, few experimental studies have determined the relative importance of key variables that might influence selection by terrestrial vertebrates (e.g., food,
Mucocutaneous Fungal Disease in Tadpoles of Bufo marinus in Australia
Lee Berger
Rick Speare
Annette Thomas
Alex D Hyatt
The occurrence of mucocutaneous fungal infection in tadpoles of B. marinus in 2 separate outbreaks in ponds in north Queensland, Australia is reported. The first outbreak occurred in 1989, while the second in September 1995. Hyphal fungi grew in tuffs attached to the nostrils, mouthparts, skin of the head, and also occasionally on the hind legs and tails. Several fungi were isolated, with Aphanomyces sp. a likely pathogen. Starvation was likely because the infection primarily attacked the mouth, and could have prevented the tadpoles from eating. Infected tadpoles were less mature than healthy ones, suggesting that this was a disease of young tadpoles or the disease may have slowed their development.
Mating and Male Combat in Australian Blacksnakes, Pseudechis porphyriacus
Richard Shine
Gordon C. Grigg
Terri G. Shine
Peter Harlow
We observed ritual combat and other agonistic behavior between male blacksnakes (Pseudechis porphyriacus) in a field population in central New South Wales. Combat bouts vary greatly in duration (2 to 30 minutes), and apparently function as male "strategies" to displace rival courting males. Direct attack and biting may serve to displace rival males in copulo. We briefly review published literature on male combat in snakes.
Egg Size, Clutch Size, and Reproductive Effort of the Australian Broad-Shelled River Turtle, Chelodina expansa
David T. Booth
Frequency of Foraging by Gravid Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas) at Raine Island, Great Barrier Reef
Anton D. Tucker
Mark A. Read
Frequency of Foraging by Gravid Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas) at Raine Island, Great Barrier Reef Author(s): Anton D. Tucker and Mark A. Read Source: Journal of Herpetology, Vol. 35, No. 3 (Sep., 2001), pp. 500-503 Published by: Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1565970 Accessed: 28/04/2009 13:34 Your
A Telemetric Study of the Movement Patterns and Habitat Use of Rana muscosa, the Mountain Yellow-Legged Frog, in a High-Elevation Basin in Kings Canyon National Park, California
K. Matthews
Karen L. Pope
In a high-elevation (3470 m) lake basin (upper Dusy Basin) in Kings Canyon National Park, California, we used radio transmitters on 24 mountain yellow-legged frogs (Rana muscosa) to gather basic information on their movement patterns. Rana muscosa have declined throughout their range in the Sierra Nevada and restoration plans require information on their movement ecology. Our study indicates that R. muscosa had different movement patterns and habitat associations during the 1997 summer period (August and September) compared to October when winter dormancy began. In August, visual surveys found frogs in 10 of the 11 lakes in upper Dusy Basin. During August most tagged frogs moved little (mean movement 77 to over five day periods) and all were found in the lake or adjacent stream where they were originally tagged. During September, movement increased compared to August Frogs moved from the original capture lake mean distances of 145 m,and moved cumulative distances of 315-466 m. By October, frogs were again sedentary (mean distance moved 43 mt and frogs were found in three of the 11 lakes in the basin. Moreover, mean home ranges (adaptive kernel 90% contours) also were different throughout the summer and were highest for frogs tracked during September (5336.2 m2) compared to August (385 m2, and October (52.8 m2. Before this study it was assumed that R. muscosa over-wintered in the deepest portion of the lake, However, most lakes were frozen when our study ended, and tagged frogs were found nearshore under ledges and in deep underwater crevices suggesting that at least some R. muscosa over-winter in these nearshore areas. In this study, we found R. muscosa in different aquatic habitats over the course of their activity period and that they readily moved between these habitats using both aquatic and overland pathways. The movements appear to be associated with seasonal migrations between summer and over-wintering sites.
Summer Movements of Boreal Toads (Bufo Boreas Boreas) in Two Western Montana Basins
David Schmetterling
Michael K Young
The Boreal Toad (Bufo boreas boreas) is widely distributed in the western United States but has declined in portions of its range. Research directed at conserving Boreal Toads has indicated that their movements are largely terrestrial and often limited after the breeding season. We used a combination of stream-based netting, PIT tagging, and radio telemetry to examine patterns in captures, movements, and habitat use of Boreal Toads associated with two stream valleys in western Montana. Netting produced 514 captures of 118 adult and 203 juvenile toads from 8 July to 19 August 2003. Juveniles dominated catches initially but declined throughout the summer, whereas adult catches showed less consistent temporal trends. Of the 122 PIT-tagged toads, nearly two-thirds were recaptured 1–7 times in hoop nets, and the median total distance moved was over 1 km downstream. The median distance moved by radio-tagged toads was 2.1 km (maximum, 12.0 km) or 2.9 km (maximum, 13.0 km) if movements before and after radios were affixed are included. Over 17% of relocations of radio-tagged toads were at upland sites, 56% were in riparian zones, and 26% were in or adjacent to water. We believe that Boreal Toads in this area are engaging in long-distance movements between overwintering, breeding, and summer growth sites. Downward redistribution via streams may be common in montane habitats and warrants examination in other regions.
Body Temperatures and Winter Feeding in Immature Green Turtles, Chelonia mydas, in Moreton Bay, Southeast Queensland
Colin J Limpus
Body temperatures of immature Clenonia mydas does not deviate significantly from water temperature in the range of 15-22.7 degrees C. Additionally, there was no correlation between Tb and body mass, indicating that larger turtles in the sampled range of sizes (9.2 - 39.5 kg) were not gaining a thermal advantage over smaller individuals.
Phylogenetic Constraints Do Not Block Food Chemical Discrimination in the Omnivorous Phrynosomatid Lizard Uma Exsul
William E. Cooper
William E
Gamaliel Castaneda
C. C. Garcia de la Peita
In lizards identification of food using chemical cues allows active foragers to locate hidden prey and omnivores and herbivores to identify palatable plant food, but ambush foragers identify food visually rather than chemically. Omnivores and herbivores derived from ambushing ancestors discriminate food chemicals from control substances. The only known exception is the omnivorous phrynosomatid lizard Sceloporus poinsettii, which lacks food chemical discrimination and which might have been constrained from evolving it by scarcity of chemoreceptors. We studied food chemical discrimination by the phrynosomatid Uma exsul, an omnivore whose diet is 25% plant by volume. In 60 s trials in which chemical cues from mealworms, romaine lettuce, cologne, and water were presented on cotton swabs, lizards responded more strongly to plant and animal chemicals than control stimuli. Food chemical discrimination by Uma exsul strengthens evidence that plant chemical discrimination evolves in tandem with plant diet and prey chemical discrimination also appears in omnivores or herbivores derived from ambush foragers. Confirmation of food chemical discrimination in U. exsul vitiates the evolutionary constraint hypothesis for S. poinsettii. That lizards tongue-flicked and bit infrequently, yet discriminated, is unusual, suggesting that lingually mediated plant chemical discrimination may have evolved recently, few tongue-flicks are needed to evaluate nutritive properties of plant foods, or plant chemical discrimination is an adaptively unimportant epiphenomenon of plant consumption. Because they do not search actively for prey or tongue-flick before attacking, phrynosomatids presumably evolve prey chemical discrimination by genetic correlation with plant chemical discrimination.
The Rise and Fall of a Population of Hyla boans: Reproduction in a Neotropical Gladiator Frog
William E. Magnusson
Albertina P. Lima
M.C. Aroujo
A population of Hyla boans was studied in central Amazonian rainforest during 15 years. The species differs from other intensively-studied gladiator frogs, Hyla rosenbergi and Hyla faber, in that males reach larger sizes than females, most reproduction is in the dry season, males call mainly from trees and rarely from nest basins, and most nest basins have aquatic connections to streams. Many adults (15% of females, 21% of males) were captured over more than one breeding season, and some were captured over five breeding seasons. Sizes of juveniles, and growth of one individual indicate that males require at least two years between hatching and entering the breeding population. Daily calling was bimodal, with peaks after dusk and before dawn. Rainfall reduced calling activity during the peak of the breeding season. The population at the site declined to zero density after nine years of study and the site still had not been recolonized six years later. The exponential rate of decline of the population (-0.58) was more than three times the exponential rate of increase (0.15) at the beginning of the study.
The Breaking of Diapause in Embryonic Broad-Shell River Turtles (Chelodina expansa)
Effects of Slope on Voluntary Locomotor Performance in the Turtle, Terrapene carolina carolina
Linda A. Muegel
Box turtles commonly encounter graded terrain during their daily and seasonal movements. We videotaped and analyzed the voluntary locomotion of T. carolina on slopes of varying steepness. The mean (±SD) locomotor velocity for all slopes combined was 0.04 (±0.026) m/sec. The success (percentage of turtles completing tests) decreased at inclinations above 40°. At 60° no turtles were successful, and the laterally-sequenced gait was no longer maintained. The first nontraversable inclination was estimated with regression analysis to be 60°. Mean velocity decreased on extreme inclinations, and extrapolated to zero at a very similar angle of 57°. The percentage of turtles completing tests also decreased as the angle of declination increased, and the minimum downslope not traversable with a normal laterally-sequenced gait was calculated to be -51°. Turning and sliding replaced walking at the steepest declinations. The mean coefficient of friction, us, was calculated as 0.48 (±0.05). These box turtles surmounted steep inclines, but their ability to descend steep slopes was more limited. Definable limits, such as those reported here, document the potential effects of slope on turtle distribution.
Overwintering Site Selection by Short-Horned Lizards (Phrynosoma Hernandesi) in Northeastern Colorado
Tom Mathies
Radio telemetry was used to track 16 adult Short-Horned Lizards (Phrynosoma hernandesi) to their individual overwintering sites on the Central Plains Experimental Range (CPER) in Weld County, Colorado. Above-ground habitat characteristics of overwintering sites and randomly selected points within the study area were assessed. All individuals entered overwintering between 29 August and 19 September with a mean estimated entrance date of 7 September. Arrival of the first subzero nighttime air temperatures occurred shortly thereafter on 16 September. No lizard left its normal area of use to overwinter, and there was no tendency to aggregate. Lizards did not necessarily overwinter on warmer south-facing slopes; the proportion of overwintering sites oriented southward (0.62) was not different from random. Most lizards (75%) selected overwintering sites in the banks of washes that had relatively steep slopes and at specific locations where substrate was relatively bare and penetrable. Overwintering sites also tended to have a greater coverage of Yucca glauca (0.02%) than the general study area (0.01%). Analyses of historical soil temperature data from the CPER revealed that lizards would have to overwinter at a subsoil depth of about 1 m to avoid freezing temperatures. Banks that contain suitable hibernation sites that are located within an individual's normal area of use may be the habitat feature most important to successful overwintering.
New species of Venezuelan Colostethus (Dendrobatidae) / Jaime E. Péfaur
Jaime E. Péfaur
Two new species of frogs of the genus Colostethus from the Venezuelan highlands are described. Colostethus duranti, from the páramo and subpáramo La Culata, Estado Mérida, is distinguished from all other Venezuelan Colostethus by the presence of a transversal sacral flap above the vent and by its white and light blue dotted belly. Colostethus serranus from the cloud-forest area of El Morro, Estado Mérida, is distinguished by the lemon-yellow color of the belly and the pink to copper color of the ventral parts of the thighs. /// Dos nuevas especies de sapos del género Colostethus son descritas. Ambas especies provienen de ambientes altoandinos venezolanos. Colostethus duranti, de la región paramera y subparamera de La Culata, Estado Mérida, se distingue de los demás Colostethus venezolanos por la presencia de un pliegue sacral supraanal y por su particular coloración ventral que lleva gruesos puntos blancos y azules. Colostethus serranus, de la zona de Selva nublada de la región de El Morro, Estado Mérida, se distingue por su coloración ventral amarillo limón y por el color rosado o cobrizo de la parte ventral de los muslos.
The Effect of Hypoxia on Oxygen Consumption of Embryonic Estuarine Crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus)
Methods of Obtaining Stomach Contents from Live Crocodilians (Reptilia, Crocodilidae)
Janet A. Taylor
Grahame Webb
Growth of Juvenile Crocodylus porosus as Effected by Season of Hatching
Initial growth of crocodiles studied in N Australia in the wet season were 0.98mm/day snout-vent length and 1.7g/day body weight, almost double that of crocodiles during the dry season (0.56mm/day SVL and 0.53g/day). Such differences may be related to differences in salinity or temperature, or an interaction between them. Whatever the cause, they may accout for the preponderance of nesting in the early part of the wet season when the probability of flooding is greatest. -P.J.Jarvis
Differential Morphology and Jumping Performance of Newly Metamorphosed Frogs of the Hybridogenetic Rana esculenta Complex
Miguel Tejedo
Raymond D. Semlitsch
Hansjurg Hotz
Closely related clonal and sexual populations may coexist in spite of the theorized lower potential for the evolution of clonal genotypes. Water frogs of the Rana esculenta complex have hemiclonal inheritance but most populations coexist with one of the recombinant parental species. We examine whether hemiclonal lineages may counterbalance their limitations of genetic variability by the adoption of one or more non-exclusive mechanisms: the general-purpose genotype or the frozen niche-variation model. Three coexisting hemiclones of the hybrid R. esculenta (GUT1, GUT2, GUT3) and both parental species (syntopic R. lessonae and allopatric R. ridibunda) were raised at two larval densities to examine morphological traits affecting jumping performance at the time of metamorphosis and size-independent jumping ability tested at three temperatures. Hind leg length and body mass at metamorphosis, traits that explain most of the variance in jumping performance, differed across hemiclones of R. esculenta. Metamorphs of hemiclone GUT1 had the longest hindlimbs and were bigger than metamorphs of the other hemiclones at low larval density but not at high density. Size adjusted jumping performance exhibited a significant genotype by larval density interaction. Metamorphs of GUT1 showed maximal jumping performance when raised at low larval density but at high density metamorphs of GUT2 were the best jumpers. In addition, within particular traits, differences were found between hemiclones across densities. These results appear to be consistent with both frozen niche-variation model and the general-purpose genotype model. Comparison with parental species revealed syntopic R. lessonae was smaller than hemiclones at metamorphosis but conversely exhibited better size-adjusted jumping performance when raised at low larval density. Temperature affected size-adjusted jumping performance only for frogs raised at low larval density but not for those raised at high larval densities. There was no significant temperature by hemiclone interaction.
Effect of Water Temperature and Oxygen Levels on the Diving Behavior of Two Freshwater Turtles: Rheodytes leukops and Emydura macquarii
Toni E. Priest
Craig E Franklin
Rheodytes leukops is a bimodally respiring turtle that extracts oxygen from the water chiefly via two enlarged cloacal bursae that are lined with multi-branching papillae. The diving performance of R. leukops was compared to that of Emydura macquarii, a turtle with a limited ability to acquire aquatic oxygen. The diving performance of the turtles was compared under aquatic anoxia (0 mmHg), hypoxia (80 mmHg) and normoxia (155 mmHg) at 15, 23, and 30degreesC. When averaged across all temperatures the dive duration of R. leukops more than doubled from 22.4 +/- 7.65 min under anoxia to 49.8 +/- 19.29 min under normoxic conditions. In contrast, aquatic oxygen level had no effect on the dive duration of E. macquarii. Dive times for both species were significantly longer at the cooler temperature, and the longest dive recorded for each species was 538 min and 166 min for R. leukops and E. macquarii, respectively. Both species displayed a pattern of many short dives punctuated by occasional long dives irrespective of temperature or oxygen regime. Rheodytes leukops, on average, spent significantly less time (42 +/- 2 sec) at the surface per surfacing event than did E. macquarii (106 +/- 20 sec); however, surface times for both species were not related to either water temperature or oxygen level.
Tadpoles of Taudactylus Eungellensis and T. Liemi and a Key to the Stream-Dwelling Tadpoles of the Eungella Rainforest in East-Central Queensland
Richard W R Retallick
Geographical distribution and osteological variation in fossil and recent specimens of two species of Kinosternon /
Lynn Fichter
Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1967.
Jemison, S.C., Bishop, L.A., P.G. May and T.M. Farrell. 1995. The impact of PIT-tags on growth and movement of the rattlesnake, Sistrurus miliarius. Journal of Herpetology 29: 129- 132.
Susannah C. Jemison
Lianne A. Bishop
Terence M Farrell
Conserved Primary and Secondary Structural Motifs of Amphibian 12S rRNA, Domain III
Karl M Kjer
Stability of Detectability over 17 Years at a Single Site and other Lizard Detection Comparisons from Guam
Gordon Rodda
Kathy Dean Bradley
Earl W. Campbell
Robert N. Reed
To obtain quantitative information about population dynamics from counts of animals, the per capita detectabilities of each species must remain constant over the course of monitoring. We characterized lizard detection constancy for four species over 17 yr from a single site in northern Guam, a relatively benign situation because detection was relatively easy and we were able to hold constant the site, habitat type, species, season, and sampling method. We monitored two species of diurnal terrestrial skinks (Carlia ailanpalai [Curious Skink], Emoia caeruleocauda [Pacific Bluetailed Skink]) using glueboards placed on the ground in the shade for 3 h on rainless mornings, yielding 10,286 skink captures. We additionally monitored two species of nocturnal arboreal geckos (Hemidactylus frenatus [Common House Gecko]; Lepidodactylus lugubris [Mourning Gecko]) on the basis of 15,212 sightings. We compared these count samples to a series of complete censuses we conducted from four or more total removal plots (everything removed to mineral soil) totaling 400 m (about 1% of study site) in each of the years 1995, 1999, and 2012, providing time-stamped quantification of detectability for each species. Unfortunately, the actual population trajectories taken by the four species were masked by unexplained variation in detectability. This observation of debilitating latent variability in lizard detectability under nearly ideal conditions undercuts our trust in population estimation techniques that fail to quantify venue-specific detectability, rely on pooled detection probability estimates, or assume that modulation in predefined environmental covariates suffices for estimating detectability.
Two New Highland Species of Amphisbaena Linnaeus, 1758 (Amphisbaenia, Amphisbaenidae) from Bahia State, Brazil
Mauro Teixeira Junior
Francisco Dal Vechio
Renato Recoder
Miguel Trefaut Rodrigues
6 Reads
Nomenclatural Availability of Testudo coriacea Vandelli, 1761: A Case against a Rigid Application of the Rules to Old, Well-Known Zoological Works
Roger Bour
Alain Dubois
Evidence is presented that the description of Testudo coriacea by Vandelli (1761) is nomenclaturally valid. Attention is drawn to the danger which would result, for the stability of zoological nomenclature, in applying the Rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature in a too rigid and formal way to old, well-known, "classic" works. The works of Schlosser (1768), Boddaert (1770-1772) and De La Cepède (1788-1790) are given as examples of this danger.
New supple skink, genus Lygosoma (Reptilia: Squamata: Scincidae), from Indochina and redescription of Lygosoma quadrupes (Linnaeus, 1766)
Cameron D Siler
Brendan Heitz
Drew R. Davis
Larry Lee Grismer
Based on molecular and morphological data sets, we describe a new species of scincid lizard of the genus Lygosoma from Indochina, and redescribe true Lygosoma quadrupes (Linnaeus, 1766). The new species is small and slender, and represents the third member of the L. quadrupes complex, increasing the diversity of Lygosoma species recognized in Southeast Asia to 24. Based on the reevaluation of vouchered specimens from the type locality of L. quadrupes sensu Linnaeus (1766), the recognized geographic distribution of true L. quadrupes is restricted to the island of Java in Indonesia. With 10 species of Lygosoma recognized in Thailand, the country possesses considerable species-level diversity of these enigmatic, semifossorial skinks. In addition to being one of the smallest species in the genus, the new species can be distinguished from all congeners by features of its external morphology, including having small relative limb lengths, longer trunk length, and greater numbers of axilla-groin and paravertebral scale rows. Phylogenetic analyses support three divergent lineages corresponding to recognized and newly described members of the L. quadrupes complex. The descriptions underscore the need for continued and comprehensive biodiversity survey work throughout much of Southeast Asia, particularly in Indochina, where scincid diversity remains poorly understood.
The Type Locality of Phymaturus palluma (Molina, 1782) (Reptilia: Iguania: Liolaemidae) and the Status of Phymaturus adrianae Pereyra, 1992 and Other Unnamed Populations
Richard E Etheridge
With the recent designation of the holotype of Centrura flagellifer Bell as theneotype of Phymaturus palluma Molina by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, the type locality of P. palluma became problematic. It is likely that Charles Darwin collected the holotype of C. flagellifer during his round trip journey between Santiago, Chile and Mendoza, Argentina. A detailed account of his journey is presented, as well as the conclusion that the type locality is Cordón del Portillo, Mendoza province, Argentina, where Darwin collected and briefly characterized a viviparous lizard. Here we provide a re-description of Darwin's specimen and two morphological characters that distinguish it from other populations in Chile and Argentina previously assigned to this species. In November 2009, specimens from the locality where Darwin collected his "viviparous lizard" were collected, confirming the identity of the type. This study also reveals that P. gynechlomus should be considered a junior synonym of P. palluma. Populations of Phymaturus of the palluma group farther to the north, from the Sierra de Uspallata and southern San Juan province, are determined to be different lineages and should be described formally. The name P. adrianae has been applied to the species that occurs in the Sierra de Uspallata, but we show here that it has not been formally named and is therefore a nomen nudum. Chilean populations previously considered to be P. palluma should be described formally.
Identifying Gecko Species from Lesser Antillean Paleontological Assemblages: Intraspecific Osteological Variation within and Interspecific Osteological Differences between Thecadactylus rapicauda (Houttuyn, 1782) (Phyllodactylidae) and Hemidactylus mabouia (Moreau de Jonnès, 1818) (Gekkonidae)
Corentin Bochaton
Juan Diego Daza
Lenoble Arnaud
Squamate remains from fossil-bearing deposits are difficult to identify on the basis of their morphology, because their modern relatives lack osteological description. In addition, intraspecific morphological variability of modern taxa is mostly understudied, making taxonomic identification of subfossil bones even more difficult. The aim of this study was to investigate osteological differences between two sympatric gecko species, Thecadactylus rapicauda and Hemidactylus mabouia, both currently occurring in the Lesser Antilles and in the subfossil assemblages of the region. Comparison of several modern museum specimens reveals the intraspecific osteological variability of these lizards and how difficult it is to distinguish between their bones, even though they are from two distant families. This study presents nine osteological characters, allowing for a fully reliable distinction of these two gecko species. These characters are applied to the specific identification of gecko species subfossil remains unearthed from the Pointe Gros Rempart 6 Hole (La Désirade Island, Guadeloupe). Our results confirm the past occurrence of T. rapicauda as well as the historical introduction of H. mabouia on La Désirade Island.
Diurnal Surface Activity in the Amphisbaenian, Blanus cinereus (Vandelli) 1797 (Reptilia, Lacertilia, Amphisbaenidae)
Stephen Busack
Evidence for Control of Cutaneous Oxygen Uptake in the Yellow-Lipped Sea Krait Laticauda colubrina (Schneider, 1799)
Theresa Dabruzzi
Melanie A. Sutton
Nann A Fangue
Wayne A. Bennett
Some sea snakes and sea kraits (family Elapidae) can dive for upward of two hours while foraging or feeding, largely because they are able to absorb a significant percentage of their oxygen demand across their skin surfaces. Although cutaneous oxygen uptake is a common adaptation in marine elapids, whether its uptake can be manipulated in response to conditions that might alter metabolic rate is unclear. Our data strongly suggest that Yellow-Lipped Sea Kraits, Laticauda colubrina (Schneider, 1799), can modify cutaneous uptake in response to changing pulmonary oxygen saturation levels. When exposed to stepwise 20% decreases in aerial oxygen saturation from 100% to 40%, Yellow-Lipped Sea Kraits spent more time emerged but breathed less frequently. A significant graded increase in cutaneous uptake was seen between 100% and 60% saturation, likely attributable to subcutaneous capillary recruitment. The additional increase in oxygen uptake between 60% and 40% was not significant, indicating capillary recruitment is likely complete at pulmonary saturations of 60%. During a pilot trial, a single Yellow-Lipped Sea Krait exposed to an aerial saturation of 25% became severely stressed after 20 min, suggesting a lower saturation tolerance level between 40% and 25% for the species. Reducing subcutaneous perfusion could optimize swimming performance during foraging, whereas redirecting blood to skin surfaces would maximize dive times when subduing prey or avoiding aerial predators.
Effect of Ovariectomy and Ovariectomy Followed by Estradiol-17b Treatment on the Adrenal Gland of the Garden Lizard, Calotes versicolor
Sunita B. Vankudre
Bhagyashri Shanbhag
An 18-Year Mark–Recapture Study of Wood Turtles ( Glyptemys insculpta ) in Michigan
Alaini Schneider
Todd W. Arnold
Philip W. Huber
Timothy L. Lewis
Wood Turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) occupy forested streams at midlatitudes in eastern North America and are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but few populations have been rigorously studied. We studied a population of Wood Turtles in Michigan for 18 yr, individually marking 260 different turtles (146 females, 88 males, and 26 unsexed juveniles), including 118 turtles that we followed for one or more years using radiotelemetry. We analyzed our encounter data using a Cormack-Jolly-Seber model in Program MARK; and we estimated total population size using a Bayesian integrated population model that combined Horvitz-Thompson estimates of annual population size, mark-recapture estimates of annual survival, and derived estimates of annual recruitment. Annual adult survival was 0.970 ± 0.016 SD and annual recruitment to age 15 (mean age of first capture) was 0.058 ± 0.019 SD. Over the 18-yr study, estimated population size grew from 770 (95% CI 631-928) to 1,196 (95% CI 977-1,444) individuals.
Status of Siamese Crocodile ( Crocodylus siamensis ) Schneider, 1801 (Reptilia: Crocodylia) in Laos
Mark R. Bezuijen
Jack H. Cox
John B. Thorbjarnarson
Akchousanh Rasphone
The Siamese Crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis) is critically endangered and, until a decade ago, few remaining wild populations were known to exist. Described here are the first in-depth surveys for C. siamensis in Laos with new field data on ecology and conservation. Small breeding populations of C. siamensis are confirmed to persist in Laos. During surveys between 2003 and 2008, C. siamensis was recorded in 13 sites of six river systems, where at least 36 individuals (1-11 per site) were documented. In all sites, crocodile densities and recruitment rates were extremely low. Eight nests were recorded among the first wild nests of C. siamensis to be reported. Perennial, thickly vegetated floodplain lakes are critical dry-season refugia and breeding habitats for C. siamensis in Laos. Opportunistic collection of crocodiles by local communities was observed, and at all sites there is increasing degradation of floodplain lakes for agriculture or economic development. National crocodile records were compiled and indicate that, historically, C. siamensis was widespread in lowland riverine and palustrine habitats of Laos, with most records from Central and South Laos in the Mekong Plain. These records also suggest that a severe range decline has occurred over the past century, although most wetlands remain unsurveyed for crocodiles. Crocodylus siamensis is probably now extirpated from the Lao Mekong and many other wetlands. Remnant C. siamensis populations in Laos are of global importance. All documented breeding sites, and most confirmed national records, are in rural lands outside the national protected area system, and conservation efforts will require community-based approaches.
On the Jaw Mechanism of the Snail-Crushing Lizards, Dracaena Daudin 1802 (Reptilia, Lacertilia, Teiidae)
George H. Dalrymple
Modifications of the jaw mechanism of the lizard, Dracaena guianensis (family Teiidae), for durophagy (feeding upon hard-shelled foods) are described on the basis of comparisons with its close relative Tupinambis. There is an enlargement of sites for jaw muscle attachments and strengthening of palatal architecture for the crushing mode of feeding. The distinctively flared quadrate allows for enlargement of the Add. mand. externus muscle, resulting in improvement of the mechanical advantage of the muscle as well as reinforcement of the jaw articulation. Study of the dentition in relation to size reveals that enlarged and flattened teeth are present even in smaller lizards and are not the result of ontogenetic alteration. The state of the constrictor dorsalis muscles and the intracranial joints indicate that cranial kinetic motions may occur during feeding. These findings indicate the need for re-evaluation of theories of the adaptive significance of cranial kinesis in lizards.
Top-cited authors
Paulo Christiano de Anchieta Garcia
Federal University of Santa Catarina
Gabriel Correa Costa
Auburn University in Montgomery
Hussam Zaher
University of São Paulo
Daniel Mesquita
Universidade Federal da Paraíba
Guarino R Colli
University of Brasília


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text:
Q: How to import model in p5.js? I'm currently working on a project with using p5.js. Until now, I could display 3D primitives shapes like boxes, spheres or cylinders. I searched on the Internet and found that p5.js only accepts .obj files as models. So I tried with following The Coding Train's tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUI7HEEz9B0), but the result isn't the same.
I still have tried to put the code from the tutorial which seemed logical to me, but I have an error on the console.
For information, I run my project on http-server and no more with simply run the index.html file.
Here is the code:
let bottle;

function preload() {
    bottle = loadModel('glass_bottle.obj');
}

function setup() {
    pixelDensity(10.0);
    createCanvas(800, 600, WEBGL);
}

function draw() {
    background(0);
    noStroke();
    model(bottle);
}

If you want to test with .obj files, you have free models here: https://www.turbosquid.com/fr/3d-model/free/bottle/obj
If you know if we can put other model format on p5.js, please let me know how.
The error message I had is:

Uncaught (in promise) RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded at p5.js:63060

A: Firstly, your code looks fine.
What version of p5 are you using? There was a known issue with importing complex models. Essentially, the way they did it was recursive which explains the:

Maximum call stack size exceeded

In a later patch they altered their approach and took the iterative route.
What you can do:

*

*Check to see if you can import a simpler/smaller model, if you can, you're likely experiencing the same bug

*Go to a newer version where this fix has been merged in.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Britsoc Photo Lesson #10 – Use whatever light is available to you at the time.
Technical details; Nikon D700. AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8. Shot at f/3.5, ISO 1000 and 1/100s.
This shot was taken at a recent client event in Barcelona. Brand Loyalty are an incredible Dutch company based down in Den Bosch and are always looking for interesting ways of making their events come to life to give them that WOW! factor. They had sponsored this Olympic rings gymnast and persuaded him to come and give an after-dinner show for guests at their 20th birthday party. Incredible! He was hanging 100 feet from the ceiling of the Museum of Catalan Art and lit by only one light on either side of him.
The lesson from this shot is simply this; if I'm given a choice between natural and artificial light I'd ALWAYS choose natural first. But in so much of my work low light conditions prevail. So then, rather than reaching for the flash, why not just use the ambient light available? Turn OFF the flash and magic like this can happen.


And before the Oakland Athletics' season goes completely into the trash bin, the team should be congratulated for being the first in the big leagues to sell beer in compostable, corn-starch cups.
The BioTRED technology means that GT3 tyres contain an ingredient derived from corn-starch.
The corn-starch derivative used in the tyre is extracted from corn through a process similar to that used in the food industry.
Ciuffogato of Italy launched Rosicchio -- shaped and flavoured corn-starch snacks for pet rodents and squirrels.


text:
What Happened to the Civil Rights Movement After 1965? Don't Ask Your Textbook
Stokely Carmichael delivers his "Black Power" speech at a rally in Broad Street Park in Greenwood, Mississippi, 1966.
In 1966, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee chairperson Stokely Carmichael made the famous call for "Black Power." Carmichael's speech came in the midst of the "March Against Fear," a walk from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi, to encourage African Americans to use their newly won right to vote. But while almost every middle and high school student learns about the Civil Rights Movement, they rarely learn about this march—or the related struggles that continued long after the Voting Rights Act.
Most U.S. History textbooks teach a narrative that the Civil Rights Movement began with the Supreme Court Brown v. Board decision in 1954 and abruptly ended in 1965 with the passage of federal legislation. Not only does this narrative tell students that politicians and judges are more important than activists and organizers, it reinforces the myth that structural racism is a relic of the past and the United States is on an unstoppable path of progress. As Black Lives Matter activists once again take up the fight against racial inequity and police brutality, excavating the long, grassroots history for students is crucial if we hope to use the past to inform our struggles today.
What Was the Civil Rights Movement?
With my high school students, I begin teaching the Civil Rights Movement by asking them to name the people and organizations that were involved.
"Martin Luther King!"
"Rosa Parks!"
Students shout out names like Emmett Till, Malcolm X, the Little Rock Nine.
I divide the whiteboard in half: Any person or group famous for events or actions before the Voting Rights Act of 1965, I write on the right side of the board; those famous for events or actions after the Voting Rights Act, I write on the left side of the board. Without fail, the right side of the board is always full and the left side of the board nearly bare.
Fannie Lou Hamer singing during the 1966 "March Against Fear."
After explaining to students what I had done, I direct their attention to a Civil Rights Timeline poster. We read aloud the first and last entries: "May 17, 1954, Supreme Court outlaws school segregation in Brown v. Board of Education" and "July 9, 1965, Congress Passes the Voting Rights Act."
I ask: "Why don't we ever learn about the Civil Rights Movement after 1965?" I don't expect them to answer this right then, but I tell students that as we learn about the Civil Rights Movement—both before and after 1965—I want them to consider this question.
What the Textbooks Teach
It's no accident my students learn a narrative that stops in 1965. Most history textbooks end their chapter on the Civil Rights Movement with a short one- or two-page section on "Black Power" that covers Malcolm X and a few post-1965 events. One example is Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's United States History. The section titled "Urban Violence Erupts" reads:
. . . five days after President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law, one of the worst race riots in the nation's history raged through the streets of Watts, a predominantly African American neighborhood in Los Angeles. Thirty-four people were killed, and hundreds of millions of dollars worth of property was destroyed. The next year, 1966, saw even more racial disturbances, and in 1967 alone, riots and violent clashes took place in more than 100 cities.
Two months after the Watts uprising, activists and artists opened the Watts Happening Coffee House.
What is startling about this passage is the omission of the causes of these urban rebellions—from police violence to the assassination of MLK. The violence in Watts, and the riots that followed, didn't materialize out of thin air. Watts was a neighborhood where residents had long protested poor housing and sanitation, underfunded and segregated schools, and a heavy police presence. Although sparked by an incident of police brutality, the conditions that led to the Watts uprising—like the conditions that have led to today's Black Lives Matter protests—started long before protestors hit the streets. As Joshua Bloom and Waldo E. Martin Jr. explain in Blacks Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party:
Between January 1962 and July 1965, Los Angeles law enforcement officers killed at least 65 people. . . . These included 27 cases in which the victim was shot in the back by law-officers, 25 in which the victim was unarmed, 23 in which the victim was suspected of a nonviolent crime and four in which the victim was not suspected of any crime at the time of the shooting.
Much of the violence during the riot targeted police cars. And in the aftermath, activists in Watts organized Community Alert Patrols to observe how police treated residents. Yet the textbooks ignore this context to deliver a message: the urban rebellions were the end of the Civil Rights Movement worth studying.
Textbooks reinforce the Voting Rights Act-as-the-end-of-the-movement narrative when they draw a line between the Civil Rights Movement and the call for Black Power. One example is Teachers Curriculum Institute's widely used History Alive! The United States. One page after extolling the virtues of the Voting Rights Act, the authors write in their "Black Power" section:
By the time King died, many African Americans had lost faith in his vision of a society in which the color of a person's skin didn't matter. Angry young African Americans looked instead to new leaders who talked about black pride and black power.
Missing from this passage is the angry young King, who reminded us after 1965 that his dream had "turned into a nightmare," who attacked segregation in the North, who opposed the Vietnam War, who advocated for a massive redistribution of wealth, who called for Black pride, and who worked closely with Black Power proponents.
Candidates from the Lowndes County Freedom Organization nominated for the 1966 ballot.
Also missing is the roots of Black Power in the Civil Rights Movement. In 1965, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) began organizing the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO)—which became known by its symbol, the Black Panther—as an attempt to build an independent political party to challenge Alabama's ruling Democratic Party. Though LCFO candidates did not win, SNCC registered 2,000 Black voters during the campaign. Lowndes County field organizer Stokely Carmichael was soon elected chairperson of SNCC and became the leading proponent of Black Power.
The passage from History Alive! continues: "Black Power groups formed that embraced militant strategies and the use of violence. Organizations such as the Black Panthers rejected all things white and talked of building a separate black nation." This is the only mention of the Black Panthers in a 500-plus-page textbook. This passage is a gross mischaracterization of the Panthers' ideology and it erases their efforts to build multiracial coalitions. The broader curricular crime is that History Alive! teaches students to accept the turn to Black Power as the end of the successful Civil Rights Movement, and therefore not worth spending class time exploring. This narrative prevents us not only from learning the lessons of the organizations and activists that continued the struggle against racism after the Voting Rights Act, but also from drawing out the relevance of the pre-1965 freedom struggle that dealt with much more than the fight for voting rights.
Teaching "The Long Civil Rights Movement"
Far from being the end of the Civil Rights Movement, 1965 marked a legislative milestone and provided activists with another tool. But the new legislation was not a solution to the problems people had been organizing against for many years. In the North and the South, activists continued to confront poverty, unemployment, lack of health care, poor housing, inadequate education, and police and sheriff brutality.
The National Welfare Rights Organization marching at the 1968 Poor People's Campaign.
U.S. history textbooks fail to look deeply at the urban rebellions, Martin Luther King's campaigns against war and poverty, the Lowndes County Freedom Organization, and the rise of the Black Panther Party. And there are countless other post-1965 events that should be brought into the classroom: the Memphis Sanitation workers' strike and the subsequent workers' struggles of the 1970s, the Orangeburg Massacre, the fight for Ethnic Studies programs, the national campaign for welfare rights, the Attica Prison Uprising, the battle over segregated schools in Boston and community control in New York, the fight in the South to ensure the Voting Rights Act was put into practice, and many more.
The shallow understanding of the Civil Rights Movement that my students brought to class goes beyond not knowing post-1965 events. As historian Jeanne Theoharis has noted, before the Watts Rebellion there was more than two decades of nonviolent activism against legalized segregation in Los Angeles. And in 1963, after what is widely taught as a successful nonviolent struggle to desegregate downtown Birmingham, Alabama, 2,000 African Americans, fed up after segregationists bombed hotels that housed movement leaders, turned to violence. They threw rocks and bricks, looted stores, and set fire to a nearby grocery. Despite the fact that this precipitated Kennedy's endorsement of the Civil Rights Act, this violence is often left out of the story of Birmingham, just as nonviolent activism is left out of the story of Watts.
What this example reveals and what a growing work of scholarship argues, is that we have been sold a narrative of the movement that ignores enormous parts of Civil Rights history. By mythologizing a successful, exclusively nonviolent struggle against racial segregation in the South that becomes a polarizing call for Black Power as it moves North after 1965, we leave out struggles across the country that don't fit this stereotype.
We should replace this limited narrative, these scholars argue, with one of "The Long Civil Rights Movement," a national Black freedom struggle rooted in struggles of the 1930s and extended through the 1970s, that used self-defense and nonviolent direct action, that dealt with issues of race and class, that developed international solidarity, and participated in countless local struggles in the North and South.
In classrooms across the country, guided by the official textbooks and curricula, students learn a version of the Civil Rights Movement that leaves its lessons in the past. School districts across the country should provide time for teachers to produce a people's curriculum of the movement in order to teach the local histories that are left out of the official narrative. This way our students who we hope will join and shape today's social movements can do so with knowledge and insight about what came before.
Posted on: Common Dreams | Huffington Post | History News Network.
Stokely Carmichael: Bob Fitch, Stanford University Libraries
Fannie Lou Hamer: Jim Peppler, Alabama Dept. of Archives and History with permission
Lowndes County Freedom Organization flyer: The Student Voice, 1966, Wisconsin Historical Society Archives
National Welfare Rights Organization marchers: Jack Rottier Collection/George Mason University
Watts Happening Coffee House: KCET/Watts Happening Coffee House
"They Fought Then, We Fight Now": twbuckner/Flickr
Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. 29 pages. Rethinking Schools.
Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez. 24 pages. Rethinking Schools.
A series of role plays that explore the history and evolution of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, including freedom rides and voter registration.
Spanish/Bilingual, Teaching Activities (Free)
'What We Want, What We Believe': Teaching with the Black Panthers' Ten Point Program
Teaching Activity. By Wayne Au. 7 pages. Rethinking Schools.
How students can use the Black Panther Party's Ten Point Program to assess issues in their own communities and to develop Ten Point Programs of their own. Available in Spanish.
Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez and Jesse Hagopian. 33 pages. Rethinking Schools.
A mixer role play that introduces students to the pivotal and largely untold history of the Black Panthers.
Guns and the Southern Freedom Struggle: What's Missing When We Teach About Nonviolence
Article. By Charles E. Cobb Jr. 2014. If We Knew Our History Series.
The Civil Rights Movement is generally portrayed as a "nonviolent" movement. As Cobb reveals, the history is more complex, and included armed self-defense.
Lowndes County and the Voting Rights Act
Article. By Hasan Kwame Jeffries.
History and significance of the Lowndes County Freedom Organization.
A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History
Book – Non-fiction. By Jeanne Theoharis. 2018. 282 pages.
A non-academic, popular historiography that challenges educators to revamp curriculum to include a fuller, more critical history of the Civil Rights era.
Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1985
Film. Produced by Henry Hampton. Blackside. 1987. 360 min.
Comprehensive documentary history of the Civil Rights Movement.
Scarred Justice: The Orangeburg Massacre 1968
Film. Produced by Judy Richardson and Bestor Cram. 2009. 57 minutes.
A documentary film that brings to light the story of the attack by state police on a demonstration in Orangeburg, South Carolina — leaving three students killed and 28 injured.
Jan. 10, 1966: Voting Rights Activist Vernon Dahmer Murdered
Vernon Dahmer was killed when the Ku Klux Klan fired bombed his home. This was one day after Dahmer offered to pay the election poll tax for anyone who could not afford it.
Oct. 15, 1966: The Black Panther Party Founded
The Black Panther Party sought justice for African Americans and other oppressed communities through a combination of revolutionary theory, education, and community programs.
May 12, 1968: The Poor People's Campaign Began
The Poor People's Campaign was a multiracial effort to gain economic justice for poor people.
Dec. 4, 1969: Black Panther Party Members Assassinated
Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were assassinated by police.
May 15, 1970: Jackson State Killings
College student Phillip Lafayette Gibbs (21) and high school student James Earl Green (17) were killed by the police during an anti-war protest at Jackson State College.
March 8, 1971: FBI's COINTELPRO Exposed
A cab driver, a day care provider, and two professors broke into an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, and stole more than 1,000 classified documents.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Der Champaquí ist mit 2790 Metern der höchste Berg der Sierra de los Comechingones und gleichzeitig die höchste Erhebung der gesamten Sierras de Córdoba in der argentinischen Provinz Córdoba.
Die Täler, die an den Berg angrenzen, sind auf westlicher Seite das Valle de Traslasierra, auf östlicher Seite das Valle de Calamuchita.

Der Berg steigt an der Westflanke mäßig stark an, während die Ausläufer auf der Ostseite sehr sanft sind. In der Nähe des Gipfels befindet sich ein kleiner See, der von Ende April bis Anfang August gefroren ist. Es wird angenommen, dass der See der Namensgeber für den Berg ist, da dieser in der Sprache der Comechingones "Wasser im Kopf" oder auch "Wasser an der Spitze des Hügels" bedeutet.

Weblinks

Besteigung des Champaquí (spanisch)

Berg in Argentinien
Berg in Südamerika
Provinz Córdoba (Argentinien)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Sh. Madhu Param Hans ji Maharaj, the head of Sahib Bandgi panth, while scattering the rays of spiciritualism on the devotees at Sant Ashram Ranjri, said that the physical body we are residing in, is just like a dream. The world we are living in is not the real abode of the soul. All of us are living in a Mayaic world where everything is nothing but an illusion. Sometimes, man tries to know his real identity. This is a very complex question & it is not easy to find some suitable answer. Man finds it difficult to know his real identity. But the question arises as to what are the hurdles that prevent man from doing so. Normally, the people say that the hurdles created by Munn Maya are responsible for it. Can we understand clearly the hurdles created by Munn Maya?
If everything here is dream like, why do we take these as true? In Yog Vashishath Maha Ramayan, we find that when Sh. Ram told his guru Vashishathat the world appeared very trouble &pain giving, the latter asked him which world he was talking about.
Neither there was any existence of the world, nor has been & nor will it every be. At this Ramji said, "O Gurudev! What to the parents, friends, the suns, the moons, I & you & the like stand for?" Vashishath ji an answered, "O Ram! it is only the act of your remembrance. When you control it, the very existence of the world will disappear from your mind." There is need to think whether the universe is really an illusion or we should take it so.
It is the nose that tells us about the fragrance of some flower or other thing & it is the tongue that tells us about the taste of some eatable. How are we experiencing the universe? It is our Karam Geyan Indries that tells us about our relations like mother, father, brother & the like. We se the worldly objects with our eyes. The eyes make a picture of some fellow, the remembrance enables us to do with our soul. Our Chitt (brain) has the power to remember 2 Kharab things. So to say, the whole creation is the play of Indriyas alone.
O Hansa! This bodily cage doesn't belong to you. Listen carefully & ponder over the fact that whole of the universe is the creation of our Munn.


How Far is Prime Lavender Apartment?
Prime Lavender Apartment is a residential project that is located in Kadubeesanahalli, Bangalore. It offers 2BHK and 3BHK apartments with all the necessary amenities like play area, 24 hours backup, jogging track, community hall, intercom and security to facilitate the life of residents.
Builders and Engineers have a well known name in the arena of construction to meet the challenges in the construction industry. It has attained a landmark in its achievements within a short period. To start with, we have undertaken and successfully completed many prestigious projects, few of which are mentioned here under namely "Prime Landmark" situated at J.P.Nagar with sixteen, 2 BHK deluxe apartments, "Prime Classic" situated at Chinnappa Garden, Benson Town, Jayamahal with Sixty, 2 BHK deluxe apartments, "Prime Blue Forest" situated at Rajupalya, Whitefield Road near ITPB with Ninety Six, 2 & 3 BHK luxury apartments with all civic amenities and other required facilities and which have been already occupied by our esteemed customers. There are lots of such successful achievement, which were done within a short span.
Every venture of Prime Estate reflects our very intention to provide a good and healthy environment for the customers and careful selection of the sites up to the final possession of the apartments. In every project undertaken by us, the main concern is to provide good living atmosphere, with spacious space, proper lighting and ventilation which are coupled with excellent comfort and elegance.
Good aesthetics and use of high expert guidance from a qualified team of managerial experts ensures high standards of living in the locality, to be the proud owner of Prime Property, which excels in value. Should we also talk about the hearts won in plenty? Frankly The latter are more precious to us.


Population Served: Individuals with severe and persistent mental illness that also have extensive contacts with the criminal justice system.
Services are designed using the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) model to enhance the lives of individuals living with mental illness. Our staff offers advocacy for individuals who have extensive contacts with the criminal justice system, provide outreach and engagement, benefits and housing assistance, independent living skills training, and supportive counseling sessions.
At FACT, we provide or assist you with linkage to a full range of services, including medical and psychiatric services, safe and affordable housing, assistance with entitlements, support and education with family and significant others, and connection with community resources.
Services are provided when and where the member needs them: days, evenings and weekends.
Referrals to FACT are coordinated through San Bernardino County of Behavioral Health Adult Forensic Services Division.
Residents of San Bernardino County, ages 18+, that may have a history of frequent psychiatric hospitalizations and a history of homelessness.
Must be diagnoses with a severe and persistent mental illness.
FACT: Must be on probation and participate in Mental Health Court. Any violent offenders and parolees are excluded from program admission.
Community FACT: Diagnosed with Severe and Persistent Mental Illness (SPMI), or co-occurring disorder and are high users of the criminal justice system and psychiatric hospitals. Not currently under the supervision of Mental Health Court, parole, or probation.
Enrolled members may use a phone in the San Bernardino FACT Member Room to make local calls to family members and significant supports. Family members and significant supports may contact the program to speak with treatment staff. Treatment staff will only discuss treatment issues with a member's family and/or significant supports if an enrolled member has signed an authorization to release information. San Bernardino FACT highly encourages the participation of family members and other significant supports in each member's treatment as they are considered as part of the treatment team.
San Bernardino Forensic Assertive Community Treatment (FACT) provides services, based on the Assertive Community Treatment model, to individuals referred through the San Bernardino County Superior Mental Health Courts due to having both severe and persistent mental illnesses and extensive histories with the criminal justice system. The program bridges a gap throughout the continuum of care within the San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) in regards to serving the needs of a special group of high utilizers of both the mental health and criminal justice systems, who have difficulties linking with and remaining engaged in the traditional outpatient clinic model. Typically, these members have been discharged from other DBH clinics due to their lack of engagement, their difficult, and sometimes disruptive, behaviors, and the complexity of their needs that would be better met by intensive, field-capable treatment services. A San Bernardino County Probation Officer II is assigned to work full-time with the treatment team in order to improve coordination between the mental health and criminal justice systems.
Our program offers advocacy to individuals on probation with the five Mental Health Courts in San Bernardino County to prevent incarceration. The five Mental Health Courts are located in the California cities of Barstow, Joshua Tree, Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino, and Victorville. The mental health court treatment team includes the Judge, District Attorney, Conflict Panel Attorney, Public Defender, DBH STAR (Supervised Treatment After Release) program, West Valley Detention Center Jail Liaison, San Bernardino County Probation Department, Telecare's San Bernardino FACT program, and Cedar House Rehabilitation.
San Bernardino FACT has an Annual Member Recognition Event to recognize those members who have demonstrated successful achievement and effort towards fulfilling both treatment and life goals. We celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas every year with a catered luncheon for members and their families/significant supports. As well, we celebrate member birthdays monthly and attend outings and activities in the community, such as picnics, sporting events, cultural and art expositions, etc.


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Home > Junko's Blog > Happiness Indexes - a Discussion
Happiness Indexes - a Discussion
from Japan for Sustainability (JFS) Newsletter No.109
http://www.japanfs.org/en/mailmagazine/newsletter/pages/031325.html
Concepts and initiatives on how to measure happiness -- the ultimate goal of society and the economy -- have been spreading worldwide as an attempt to offer an alternative to measuring the progress of society by the level of gross domestic product (GDP). One of the more well-known of these concepts is Gross National Happiness (GNH), which originated in Bhutan. Meanwhile, in France, an advisory board comprised mainly of Nobel laureates in the field of economics released a report in 2009, the Sarkozy Report, in response to a growing awareness of this issue. The report indicated that the actual state of the economic society cannot be sufficiently grasped with current economic indices represented by GDP.
[JFS Newsletter] Bhutan: Creating Index to Measure People's Happiness
Also in Japan, studies and initiatives on a happiness index are being pursued, as represented by a research group on happiness indexes set up by the Cabinet Office of the Japanese Government. (Please refer to the following website of the Institute for Studies in Happiness, Economy and Society, which describes the popularization of happiness indexes in Japan and around the world.)
In this way, governments around the world have begun to put together indicators to measure happiness. This allows us to see the potential for a shift away from politics aiming solely at economic growth and towards politics aiming to help increase true happiness by focusing not simply on economic performance (GDP) but also on genuine human values (happiness).
Meanwhile, there are also views critical of the politicization of happiness (or a happiness index). What problems can arise from politicizing happiness? A Japanese socialist, Hidekatsu Hojyo, has expressed his thoughts on the politicization of a happiness index in Japan in his work, "Happiness Index and Politics -- Shift from Politics Based on Public Opinion to Politics Focusing on the Feeling of Happiness," contained in a book entitled "What Does 'Social Security' Secure?" (Gakubunsha Co. 2011). Here we introduce some of the points for discussion raised by his work. While examining these critical perspectives as well, we also want to consider happiness indexes and politics that might help lead our society toward true happiness.
Here follows a summary of Hidekatsu Hojyo's critique.
The Japanese Constitution stipulates "the right of the people to pursue happiness" in Article 13, saying, "All of the people shall be respected as individuals. Their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness shall, to the extent that it does not interfere with the public welfare, be the supreme consideration in legislation and in other governmental affairs." The happiness that each person seeks is different; thus, the truth may be that the nation's role is not to secure the people's happiness itself but to respect the right of the people to pursue happiness.
Japanese politicians, however, are now trying to measure levels of individual happiness expressed through an index, with the aim of raising the level of happiness by means of policy. In other words, the national government is trying to interfere with the pursuit of happiness by each citizen and instead control their happiness.
The Naoto Kan administration of the Democratic Party that came into power in 2010 espoused a slogan of "realizing a society with minimal unhappiness." Meanwhile, the largest opposition party, the Liberal Democratic Party, stated that it would aim to "realize a society with maximum happiness." Furthermore, the former Democratic Party administration headed by Yukio Hatoyama stated that it would establish an index to measure the level of citizens' happiness and work to improve that level. Thus, the levels of citizens' happiness and unhappiness has become a subject of direct political interest in present society.
It is said that behind this movement, there has been an shift in awareness that the goal of social development should be changed from economic growth to the enhancement of happiness because economic growth alone cannot make humans happy. However, we need to ask whether this is the real reason behind the movement to develop a happiness index or if there are other reasons.
Developed countries have reached a state in which they can no longer achieve the levels of economic growth they experienced in the past in the current context of expanding disparities in labor conditions and income standards concurrent with globalization and other changes. In political societies experiencing low economic growth together with expanding disparities, the movement is increasingly at risk of being taken advantage of by political maneuvering aimed at silencing people's complaints by shifting interest and attention away from economics to happiness.
In Japan, the Cabinet Office started conduction the National Survey on Lifestyle Preferences in 1995 with the aim of obtaining fundamental reference data for policy management by surveying the opinions of people in their daily lives in the changing social and economic environment. As a first step towards developing a new index to indicate happiness levels, the survey in FY2009 was conducted with the purpose of grasping the current status of people's actual happiness and satisfaction. The average happiness level at that time was calculated as 6.47 points out of 10 points.
As typically suggested in a survey question that asked "which measures would be effective to increase your happiness," happiness is approached as if it can be manipulated by policies.
When we review public opinion surveys on happiness from a sociological perspective, it becomes apparent that they are based on various hidden assumptions and preconditions. In that sense, we need to consider if these assumptions are consistent with reality. Here are some examples.
(1) A question asking about a person's level of happiness assumes that everyone feels happiness or unhappiness on a daily basis and that anyone can easily answer how happy or unhappy he or she is at the moment.
(2) Public opinion surveys assume that people share some kind of consensus on the meaning of happiness and unhappiness, although the concepts of happiness and unhappiness are abstract and their meaning varies among individuals.
(3) Measuring happiness and unhappiness by rating them on a scale assumes that happiness and unhappiness are symmetrical concepts and that their relationship is linear (Can happiness and unhappiness be considered as simple dichotomous concepts?).
(4) It is assumed that all respondents can accurately rate their happiness and unhappiness using the rating scale developed by survey designers.
(5) The surveys are based on the assumption that the value of happiness is the same for different individuals and that an average value for happiness can be calculated. In reality, there are various standards that respondents use as reference in rating their own happiness level. Some people assume happiness means being in an ideal state while others rate their happiness based on past experiences or expectations and/or uncertainty regarding the future. Others may assess their happiness by comparing themselves with people around them. Regardless of these qualitative differences, happiness is treated as if it has identical value for all people.
The incorporation of such assumptions and premises in public opinion surveys on happiness clearly has its basis in two specific ideas - happiness and quantification. Furthermore, simply adding up the rated levels of happiness subjective to each individual and calculating average values is like trying to understand society as a simple aggregation of individuals on the basis of an examination of [the subjective opinions of] individuals. But, is this an accurate way to portray reality?
Respondent selection is also a problem. The National Survey on Lifestyle Preferences was conducted by the Cabinet Office of Japan by surveying a sample of 4,000 people of both sexes living in Japan and aged from 15 to 79. To start with, the survey excluded those under 15 and over 79 years of age, as well as those with no fixed address, such as street people and people with no officially registered residence.
It can be argued that the numbers of such people are very small, and so their impact is small. However, it is true that people excluded from such surveys are ignored in the process of creating national policy that aims to realize a society with maximum happiness, or minimal unhappiness.
The survey did not consider categories of people whose answers could not be collected due to their relocation or absence, thus overlooking their levels of happiness. In principle, it is also difficult to collect data from people in categories such as business people who transfer alone without their families, single-parent families, nighttime workers, the working poor, hospitalized people and elderly people in nursing homes.
Many of the people whose data could not be collected or who were otherwise excluded can be regarded as socially vulnerable people. If the level of happiness is measured for people other than the socially vulnerable, the average level of happiness will be higher than the actual level. That is, the sense of happiness and living conditions of the vulnerable have not been considered, and so how to bring happiness to the vulnerable will not be reflected in national policy.
The results of such a survey, which are merely a digitized sum of the respondents' happiness levels, in fact hide the diversity of the qualities of happiness and unhappiness, and lead to the view that "On average, the public feels happy." When the national lifestyle preference survey results were released, most newspapers overrated the averages, while paying almost no attention to unevenness of the information used
in the evaluation. The more uneven the data, the less its average can be regarded as typical.
Our current political leaders attempted an investigation of the subjective sense of human happiness and used the results to manipulate policy. This is not politics based on public opinion, but politics based on a sense of the public mood, or an aggregation of a subjective sense felt by the public. Democratic government should be based on discussions or exchanges of opinion on political issues. Recently, however, importance seems to be increasingly placed on subjective feelings rather than on discussions or exchanges of opinion on political issues.
In such a process, happiness/unhappiness will not be considered in terms of its actual qualities but in terms of mere digitized values. While people have used digital GDP values to indicate economic affluence, now they may try to measure happiness/unhappiness using the digital values of the happiness index.
The above points summarize the critical views of the sociologist, Hidekatsu Hojyo, regarding the measurement of well-being using the happiness index as it has been carried out in Japan, and on Japanese politics. These are thought-provoking opinions for me, and I hope you will also find them food for thought.


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Park for free, ride for free, plus free wifi: Abu Dhabi's new bus service.
Bus shuttle service will run from Zayed Sports City.
Emirates 24/7 News, Published Saturday, January 18, 2014
After assessing a six month trial period of free public transport a few years ago, Abu Dhabi's free bus service starts with the first phase available from 6am to 8.30pm, Sunday to Thursday. (Editor)
As part of its commitment to providing world-class, integrated and sustainable transport services in line with the Surface Transport Master Plan (STMP), the Department of Transport (DoT) in Abu Dhabi, announced today the rollout of 'Park and Ride' at Abu Dhabi City.
The service aims to relieve the pressure of vehicles on main roads, whilst allowing commuters an easy access to all areas inside Abu Dhabi Island.
According to the DoT, 'Park and Ride' has been designed with motorists coming from Abu Dhabi's suburbs and other emirates in mind, as they can park their vehicle for free in the available 600 parking bays at Zayed Sports City and commute free of charge for unlimited times on the same day to various areas in Abu Dhabi.
A bus shuttle service will run from Zayed Sports City every 15 minutes at peak times and every 30 minutes at normal hours of the day.
The initially free service (for car parking at Zayed Sports City and commuting to and from the City) is available from 6am until 8pm Sunday-Thursday.
Specially marked 'Park and Ride' tickets are available for pickup at the booth, on site, at Zayed Sports City.
The ticket, which will be free to commuters (driver and a maximum of three passengers) is valid for one full day (day of issue) and can be used for unlimited bus journeys inside Abu Dhabi Island.
The aim of Park and Ride is to enable drivers to park their vehicles for free in a safe and secure environment whilst moving on the public transport network to continue their journey.
It has many advantages such as reducing parking demands in downtown; reducing road congestion and the need to build more road capacity; minimising environmental impacts through less private cars, reducing costs for motorists fuel and parking at destinations.
In addition, 'Park & Ride' will contribute to lowering operational costs for infrastructure and road maintenance, whilst encouraging motorists to move from private cars to walking, cycling and public transport.
Badr Al Qamzi, Director of Integrated Transport Planning (ITP) in the Department of Transport in Abu Dhabi, said: "Park and Ride is one of the key strategic initiatives undertaken by the DoT in 2012 at the Corniche area as a pilot project to enable a larger number of motorist to park their vehicle and continue their journey to other parts of the city for free with no need to worry about finding a parking space for their vehicle or arriving at a certain time, which sometimes consume a lot of time and efforts especially in congested areas downtown.
"The availability of wi-fi (free internet) on board 'Park & Ride' public transport buses ensures commuters an added values."
"The DoT will study and survey public feedback following 'Park and Ride' rollout at Zayed Sports City to engage motorists whilst considering all suggestions and ideas the public might offer.
"I would like to commend on the public's role in promoting the benefits of public transport and invite them to learn more about this new service," he added.
Free transit 'benefits us all'
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Wireless charging for electric vehicles hits the road
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Park for free, ride for free, plus free wifi: Abu ...


There are moments in life when we're taking our time, creating things, and something from our past rears its ugly head.
This happened the other day.
I've written since middle school. It's only been in the last five years I decided to take my writing seriously. The main reason I decided to pursue my writing full-time is that of my wife's encouragement.
Before that time I'd only done it on the side and never considered my writing worthy of publication.
Then, something happened. Someone told me I'd never be a writer. That I'd never do what I love doing. It was a hard blow. Afterward, I contemplated a lot of things, suicide one of them.
Then, I realized something. That person didn't know who I was and had no interest in discovering the person I was.
It wasn't that they said those words, it was more that I took it to heart. I believed them. I felt like they were right about me.
Today, life is different. I understand that person didn't know me and never cared to.
Without my wife's encouragement, I'm not sure I would have continued to write.
I'm at a crossroads with my writing. Do I keep going, take a chance, and struggle a little more or do I quit?
After all, I've done in my life I only have a couple of things I'm proud of: My wife, my kids, and my writing.
I've written seven novels, over a hundred short stories but I haven't published any of them. Maybe that person's words influenced my thinking for a few years afterward. Now, I don't feel that way.
The road used to be cluttered with doubt and fear. Today, I that same road is full of possibilities.
I've found the way through. I found it on my own and now it's time to crush it.
Next Post How I learned to embrace the narrator voice.