Mammalogy Techniques Lab Manual

James M. Ryan is a professor of biology at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. He is the coauthor of Mammalogy and the author of Adirondack Wildlife: A Field Guide.

The content makes for a book of such a range of mammal study methods it is difficult to think all that can be in just 179 pages.—Pat Sang MRSB, The Biologist

• Acknowledgments Chapter 1. Introduction Background How to Use This Manual R Statistical Environment Chapter 2. Mammal Skulls Background Bones and Features of the Skull Variation in Mammalian Skulls Zygomatic Morphology in Rodents Telescoping in Cetaceans Skull Measurements Exercise 1: The Nuts and Bolts Exercise 2: Dichotomous Keys of Skulls Exercise 3: Mystery Mammal Skull Appendix Chapter 3. Mammalian Teeth Background Internal Structure Kinds of Teeth Occlusal Patterns and Cusps Types of Teeth and Diet Tooth Replacement Dental Formulas Exercise 1: Dental Terminology Exercise 2: Dental Key to North American Mammals Chapter 4. Phylogeny Reconstruction Background How Do We Construct Phylogenetic Trees? Exercise 1: Manual Sequence Alignment Exercise 2: Sequence Alignment Using Computers Exercise 3: Exploring the Open Tree of Life Chapter 5. Keeping a Field Notebook Background Why Keep a Field Notebook? Elements of a Field Journal Two-Part Field Notes Grinnell Method Exercise 1: Locality Information Using Topo Maps Exercise 2: Taking Field Notes Chapter 6. Livetrapping Small Mammals Background Live Traps Exercise 1: Setting up a Livetrapping Grid Exercise 2: Checking Traps and Collecting Capture Data Handling Captured Mammals Marking Mammals Sexing and Aging Small Mammals Measuring Small Mammals Exercise 3: Data Collection and Analysis Appendix Chapter 7. Specimen Preparation Why Collect Specimens? Documenting Specimens Exercise 1: Taking Standard Measurements Recording Reproductive Data Preparing Museum Specimens Exercise 2: Preparing a Museum Study Skin Exercise 3: Preparing Skulls Exercise 4: Preparing Skeletons Chapter 8. Field Collecting and Preserving Mammalian Parasites Background Exercise 1: Making a Blood Smear Exercise 2: Collecting Ectoparasites Exercise 3: Collecting Endoparasites Exercise 4: Preliminary Ectoparasite Identification Exercise 5: Ectoparasite Population Ecology Chapter 9. Mark-Recapture Studies Background Lincoln-Petersen Method Schnabel Model Jolly-Seber Model Exercise 1: Single Mark-Recapture (Lincoln-Petersen Method) Exercise 2: The Schnabel Method Exercise 3: The Jolly-Seber Model Using Excel Appendix Chapter 10. Using Software for Mark-Recapture Data Background Capture Probability and Encounter Histories Capture Models Exercise 1: Using the Program CAPTURE Exercise 2: Tigers in India Exercise 3: Mark-Recapture Sampling Using Rcapture Appendix A Appendix B Chapter 11. Transects: Using Distance Sampling Background Indirect Data Field Procedures Indirect Transect Surveys Exercise 1: Conducting Deer Pellet Transect Surveys Exercise 2: Dung Counts Using PELLET Exercise 3: Data Analysis Using Rdistance in RStudio Chapter 12. Camera Trapping Background Camera Selection Survey Design Exercise 1: A Camera-Trap Field Study Data Analysis Exercise 2: Data Analysis from Camera-Trap Studies Exercise 3: Using camtrapR to Analyze Camera-Trap Data Chapter 13. Radio Tracking Background Types of Radio-Telemetry Studies Radio-Telemetry Equipment Locating Animals Exercise 1: Locating Animals by Homing Exercise 2: Locating Animals via Triangulation Exercise 3: Data Analysis: The Minimum Convex Polygon Exercise 4: Data Analysis Using sigloc in RStudio Exercise 5: Using adehabitatHR in RStudio Chapter 14. GPS Tracking Using GPSVisualizer and MoveBank Background Exercise 1: Tracking Grizzly Bears with GPSVisualizer Exercise 2: Exploring MoveBank Data Chapter 15. Recording and Analyzing Mammal Sounds Background Equipment for Recording Sounds Software for Analyzing Sounds Interpreting a Sonogram Exercise 1: Field Recording Exercise 2: Sound Analysis Using Audacity Exercise 3: Playback Experiments Using Alarm Calls Chapter 16. Quantifying Mammalian Behavior Background Avoiding Common Problems Exercise 1: Building an Ethogram Exercise 2: Sampling Behaviors Exercise 3: Creating a Time Budget Exercise 4: Creating a Transition Diagram Exercise 5: Creating a Dominance Hierarchy Exercise 6: Dominance Hierarchy Analysis Exercise 7: Social Network Analysis Using igraph Chapter 17. Optimal Foraging Behavior Background Foraging in Patches Exercise 1: Profitability and Prey Choice Exercise 2: Foraging in Patches Exercise 3: Foraging with Risk Appendix Chapter 18. Field Karyotyping Background What Is a Karyotype? How Are Karyotypes Produced? Exercise 1: Field Karyotyping Exercise 2: G-banding Chromosomes with Trypsin Exercise 3: Analyzing the Karyotype Manually Exercise 4: Measuring Chromosomes with ImageJ Software Appendix A Appendix B Chapter 19. Non-invasive Hair Sampling Background Hair Morphology Exercise 1: Field Methods for Collecting Hairs Exercise 2: Creating a Hair Reference Collection Exercise 3: Quantifying Hair Structure Using ImageJ Software Exercise 4: Extracting DNA from Hair Samples Instructor Resources General Field Equipment Sources Mammalian Skulls and Skeletons Biotelemetry Resources Camera Traps Sound Recording Ultrasound Recording Equipment (Bat Detectors) Glossary Bibliography Index