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- All Subjects: Clarinet and piano music
Description
Despite the critical role that the vertebral column plays in postural and locomotor behaviors, the functional morphology of the cervical region (i.e., the bony neck) remains poorly understood, particularly in comparison to that of the thoracic and lumbar sections. This dissertation tests the hypothesis that morphological variation in cervical vertebrae reflects differences in positional behavior (i.e., suspensory vs. nonsuspensory and orthograde vs. pronograde locomotion and postures). Specifically, this project addresses two broad research questions: (1) how does the morphology of cervical vertebrae vary with positional behavior and cranial morphology among primates and (2) where does fossil hominoid morphology fall within the context of the extant primates. Three biomechanical models were developed for the primate cervical spine and their predictions were tested by conducting a comparative analysis using a taxonomically and behaviorally diverse sample of primates. The results of these analyses were used to evaluate fossil hominoid morphology. The two biomechanical models relating vertebral shape to positional behaviors are not supported. However, a number of features distinguish behavioral groups. For example, the angle of the transverse process in relation to the cranial surface of the vertebral body--a trait hypothesized to reflect the deep spinal muscles' ability to extend and stabilize the neck--tends to be greater in pronograde species; this difference is in the opposite of the direction predicted by the biomechanical models. Other traits distinguish behavioral groups (e.g., spinous process length and cross-sectional area), but only in certain parts of the cervical column. The correlation of several vertebral features, especially transverse process length and pedicle cross-sectional area, with anterior cranial length supports the predictions made by the third model that links cervical morphology with head stabilization (i.e., head balancing). Fossil hominoid cervical remains indicate that the morphological pattern that characterizes modern humans was not present in Homo erectus or earlier hominins. These hominins are generally similar to apes in having larger neural arch cross-sectional areas and longer spinous processes than modern humans, likely indicating the presence of comparatively large nuchal muscles. The functional significance of this morphology remains unclear.
ContributorsNalley, Thierra Kénnec (Author) / Kimbel, William H. (Thesis advisor) / Reed, Kaye (Committee member) / Shapiro, Liza (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Despite the wealth of folk music traditions in Portugal and the importance of the clarinet in the music of bandas filarmonicas, it is uncommon to find works featuring the clarinet using Portuguese folk music elements. In the interest of expanding this type of repertoire, three new works were commissioned from three different composers. The resulting works are Seres Imaginarios 3 by Luis Cardoso; Delirio Barroco by Tiago Derrica; and Memória by Pedro Faria Gomes. In an effort to submit these new works for inclusion into mainstream performance literature, the author has recorded these works on compact disc. This document includes interview transcripts with each composer, providing first-person discussion of each composition, as well as detailed biographical information on each composer. To provide context, the author has included a brief discussion on Portuguese folk music, and in particular, the role that the clarinet plays in Portuguese folk music culture.
ContributorsFerreira, Wesley (Contributor) / Spring, Robert S (Thesis advisor) / Bailey, Wayne (Committee member) / Gardner, Joshua (Committee member) / Hill, Gary (Committee member) / Schuring, Martin (Committee member) / Solis, Theodore (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Identifying the ecological role, or niche, that a species occupies within their larger community elucidates environmental adaptability and evolutionary success. This dissertation investigates the occupied niche of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) living in an open, dry savanna-woodland environment by examining patterns of resource use and interspecific interactions. Data were collected October 2010--November 2011 at Issa, in the Ugalla region of western Tanzania, which is one of the driest, most open, and seasonal habitats inhabited by chimpanzees. Unlike most primatological studies which employ methods that include focal follows, this study focused instead on observing 'resource patches' for chimpanzees. Patch focals allow for the observation of all animals within a study area; capture resources that are not used by the study species; and are particularly well suited for unhabituated communities. In order to better understand relationships between environment and behavior, data collected at Issa are compared with published data from other chimpanzee populations. Issa chimpanzees were expected to have broader resource use than forest chimpanzees, as well as increased competition with other fauna, due to fewer available resources. However, in contrast to the assumption of food scarcity in dry habitats, dietary resources were available throughout the year. Like other populations, the diet of Issa chimpanzees consisted of mostly fruit, but unlike at other sites, the majority of plants consumed were woodland species. Additionally, although chimpanzees and other fauna shared spatial and dietary resources, there was only nominal overlap. These results point to extremely low levels of indirect competition between chimpanzees and other fauna. Despite extensive study of forest chimpanzees, little is known about their role within their faunal community in open, dry habitats, nor about how greater seasonality affects resource use. This project addresses both of these important issues and fosters novel approaches in anthropological studies, especially in reference to chimpanzee ecology and evolution. Understanding current chimpanzee behavioral relationships with their environments shapes hypotheses about their pasts, and also informs predictions about behaviors of similar taxa in paleo-environments. Lastly, examining the ecological role of chimpanzees within their larger communities will influence the formation of, as well as evaluate, conservation strategies.
ContributorsRussak, Samantha M (Author) / Reed, Kaye E (Thesis advisor) / Nash, Leanne T. (Committee member) / Schwartz, Gary T (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The earliest Eocene marked the appearance of the first North American euprimates (adapids, omomyids). Despite the fact that leading hypotheses assert that traits involved in food acquisition underlie euprimate origination and early diversification, the precise role that dietary competition played in establishing euprimates as successful members of mammalian communities is unclear. This is because the degree of niche overlap between euprimates and all likely mammalian dietary competitors ("the euprimate competitive guild") is unknown. This research determined which of three major competition hypotheses - non-competition, strong competition, and weak competition - characterized the late Paleocene-early Eocene euprimate competitive guild. Each of these hypotheses is defined by a unique temporal pattern of niche overlap between euprimates and their non-euprimate competitors, allowing an evaluation of the nature of dietary competitive interactions surrounding the earliest euprimates in North America. Dietary niches were reconstructed for taxa within the fossil euprimate competitive guild using molar morphological measures determined to discriminate dietary regimes in two extant mammalian guilds. The degree of dietary niche separation among taxa was then evaluated across a series of fossil samples from the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming just prior to, during, and after euprimate origination. Statistical overlap between each pair of euprimate and non-euprimate dietary niches was determined using modified multivariate pairwise comparisons using distances in a multidimensional principal component "niche" space. Results indicate that euprimate origination and diversification in North America was generally characterized by the absence of dietary competition. This lack of competition with non-euprimates is consistent with an increase in the abundance and diversity of euprimates during the early Eocene, signifying that the "success" of euprimates may not be the result of direct biotic interactions between euprimates and other mammals. An examination of the euprimate dietary niche itself determined that adapids and omomyids occupied distinct niches and did not engage in dietary competition during the early Eocene. Furthermore, changes in euprimate dietary niche size over time parallel major climatic shifts. Reconstructing how both biotic and abiotic mechanisms affected Eocene euprimates has the potential to enhance our understanding of these influences on modern primate communities.
ContributorsStroik, Laura (Author) / Schwart, Gary T (Thesis advisor) / Reed, Kaye E (Committee member) / Campisano, Christopher J (Committee member) / Gunnell, Gregg F. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
In the United States, there is a national agenda to increase the number of qualified science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) professionals and a movement to promote science literacy among the general public. This project explores the association between formal human evolutionary biology education (HEB) and high school science class enrollment, academic achievement, interest in a STEM degree program, motivation to pursue a STEM career, and socioscientific decision–making for a sample of students enrolled full–time at Arizona State University. Given a lack of a priori knowledge of these relationships, the Grounded Theory Method was used and was the foundation for a mixed–methods analysis involving qualitative and quantitative data from one–on–one interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, and an online survey. Theory development and hypothesis generation were based on data from 44 students. The survey instrument, developed to test the hypotheses, was completed by 486 undergraduates, age 18–22, who graduated from U.S. public high schools. The results showed that higher exposure to HEB was correlated with greater high school science class enrollment, particularly for advanced biological science classes, and that, for some students, HEB exposure may have influenced their enrollment, because the students found the content interesting and relevant. The results also suggested that students with higher K–12 HEB exposure felt more prepared for undergraduate science coursework. There was a positive correlation between HEB exposure and interest in a STEM degree and an indirect relationship between higher HEB exposure and motivation to pursue a STEM career. Regarding a number of socioscientific issues, including but not limited to climate change, homosexuality, and stem cell research, students' behaviors and decision–making more closely reflected a scientific viewpoint—or less–closely aligned to a religion–based perspective—when students had greater HEB exposure, but this was sometimes contingent on students' lifetime exposure to religious doctrine and acceptance of general evolution or human evolution. This study has implications for K–12 and higher education and justifies a paradigm shift in evolution education research, such that more emphasis is placed on students' interests, perceived preparation for continued learning, professional goals and potential contributions to society rather than just their knowledge and acceptance.
ContributorsSchrein, Caitlin M (Author) / Toon, Richard (Thesis advisor) / Johanson, Donald (Thesis advisor) / Hackett, Edward (Committee member) / Molina-Walters, Debra (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Arguments of human uniqueness emphasize our complex sociality, unusual cognitive capacities, and language skills, but the timing of the origin of these abilities and their evolutionary causes remain unsolved. Though not unique to primates, kin-biased sociality was key to the success of the primate order. In contrast to ancestral solitary mammals, the earliest primates are thought to have maintained dispersed (non-group living) social networks, communicating over distances via vocalizations and scent marks. If such ancestral primates recognized kin, those networks may have facilitated the evolution of kin-biased sociality in the primate order and created selection for increased cognitive and communicative abilities. I used the gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus) to model whether vocalizations could have facilitated matrilineal and patrilineal kin recognition in ancestral primates. Much like mouse lemurs today, ancestral primates are thought to have been small-bodied, nocturnal creatures that captured insects and foraged for fruit in the thin, terminal ends of tree branches. Thus, the mouse lemur is an excellent model species because its ecological niche is likely to be similar to that of ancestral primates 55-90 million years ago. I conducted playback experiments in Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar testing whether mouse lemur agonistic calls contain matrilineal kin signatures and whether the lemurs recognize matrilineal kin. In contrast to large-brained, socially complex monkeys with frequent coalitionary behavior, mouse lemurs did not react differently to the agonistic calls of matrilineal kin and nonkin, though moderate signatures were present in the calls. I tested for patrilineal signatures and patrilineal kin recognition via mating and alarm calls in a colony with known pedigree relationships. The results are the first to demonstrate that a nocturnal, solitary foraging mammal gives mating calls with patrilineal signatures and recognizes patrilineal kin. Interestingly, alarm calls did not have signatures and did not facilitate kin recognition, suggesting that selection for kin recognition is stronger in some call types than others. As this dissertation is the first investigation of vocal kin recognition in a dispersed-living, nocturnal strepsirrhine primate, it greatly advances our knowledge of the role of vocal communication in the evolution of primate social complexity.
ContributorsKessler, Sharon E (Author) / Nash, Leanne (Thesis advisor) / Reed, Kaye (Thesis advisor) / Radespiel, Ute (Committee member) / Zimmermann, Elke (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
ContributorsBurton, Charlotte (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-04-08
Description
This study examined the ontogeny of body mass (i.e. "growth") of Otolemur garnettii and Galago senegalensis. Growth is a proximate causal mechanism for adult size variation and growth patterns themselves can be the target of selection with adult size being the end result. Therefore, growth patterns of species can be the result of adaptation to species-specific social system, ecology, and life-history. The goals of this study were to: (1) Assess whether interspecific body mass variation was due to differences in growth rate, growth duration, a combination of the two, or neither; (2) test the hypothesis that sexual size dimorphism is attained by differences in relative growth rate as predicted by sexual selection theory; and (3) test the hypothesis that frugivorous O. garnettii grow at a relatively lower rate than gummivorous Go. senegalensis as predicted by an ecological risk aversion hypothesis. Growth rates and durations of Otolemur garnettii and Galago senegalensis males and females were compared both interspecifically and intraspecifically. The hypotheses regarding the ontogeny of sexual size dimorphism and the risk aversion hypothesis were not supported. O. garnettii males and females grow at an absolutely higher rate and for a longer duration compared to Go. senegalensis males and females respectively. O. garnettii females grow at a relatively higher rate compared to Go. senegalensis females as well. This may relate to weaning habits. O. garnettii infants are weaned during the dry season when feeding competition would be presumably high making large mass at weaning advantageous. While the growth of females might be strongly influenced by natural selection and competition for resources following weaning, the growth of males may be more strongly influenced by sexual selection relating to contest competition for females. Sexual size dimorphism results from differences in growth duration in O. garnettii and from differences in both growth duration and growth rate in Go. senegalensis. The results of this study highlight the need for more data on the growth patterns, mating and social systems, feeding competition, and life history schedules for these and other galagids. Study of how and why growth patterns have diverged through evolution is important in discerning the evolutionary history of each species.
ContributorsSchaefer, Melissa K (Author) / Nash, Leanne T. (Thesis advisor) / Marzke, Mary W. (Committee member) / Schwartz, Gary T. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Extremely thick cranial vaults have been noted as a diagnostic characteristic of Homo erectus since the first fossil of the species was identified, but potential mechanisms underlying this seemingly unique trait have not been rigorously investigated. Cranial vault thickness (CVT) is not a monolithic trait, and the responsiveness of its layers to environmental stimuli is unknown. Identifying factors that affect CVT would be exceedingly valuable in teasing apart potential contributors to thick vaults in the Pleistocene. Four hypotheses were tested using CT scans of skulls of more than 1100 human and non-human primates. Data on total frontal, parietal, and occipital bone thickness and bone composition were collected to test the hypotheses: H1. CVT is an allometric consequence of brain or body size. H2. Thick cranial vaults are a response to long, low cranial vault shape. H3. High masticatory stress causes localized thickening of cranial vaults. H4. Activity-mediated systemic hormone levels affect CVT. Traditional comparative methods were used to identify features that covary with CVT across primates to establish behavior patterns that might correlate with thick cranial vaults. Secondly, novel experimental manipulation of a model organism, Mus musculus, was used to evaluate the relative plasticity of CVT. Finally, measures of CVT in fossil hominins were described and discussed in light of the extant comparative and experimental results. This dissertation reveals previously unknown variation among extant primates and humans and illustrates that Homo erectus is not entirely unique among primates in its CVT. The research suggests that it is very difficult to make a mouse grow a thick head, although it can be genetically programmed to have one. The project also identifies a possible hominin synapomorphy: high diploë ratios compared to non-human primates. It also found that extant humans differ from non-human primates in overall pattern of which cranial vault bones are thickest. What this project was unable to do was definitively provide an explanation for why and how Homo erectus grew thick skulls. Caution is required when using CVT as a diagnostic trait for Homo erectus, as the results presented here underscore the complexity inherent in its evolution and development.
ContributorsCopes, Lynn (Author) / Kimbel, William H. (Thesis advisor) / Schwartz, Gary T (Committee member) / Spencer, Mark A. (Committee member) / Ravosa, Matthew J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
ContributorsDruesedow, Elizabeth (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-04-07