A little bit backwards … and what’s to come ahead?

Okay, so now you know all about my students. How about a little more about myself?

Since the start of 2016 and the present time, I have published 6 papers, and I have one currently under review:

Fig. 1. African striped mouse Rhabdomys dilectus chakae. Photo: P. Stanley; http://bit.ly/2oasJGo

•  Two are taxonomic papers. One describes a new species of Vasticardium from Queensland, while the other looks at commercial impetus of taxonomic inflation.
• Three are rodent papers. The first looks at how pre- and post-natal dietary protein influences cognition andbehaviour in African striped mice Rhabdomys dilectus chakae (Fig. 1), the second shows that inbred whistling rats Parotomys littledalei (Fig. 2) prefer to outbreed when they can, and the third shows that ice rat Otomys sloggetti robertsi (Fig. 3) colonies persist or fail as a unit, smaller colonies are likely to fail and that the persistence of colonies was positively predicted by foraging and negatively predicted by basking.

  

  Fig. 2. Littledale's whistling rat Parotomys littledalei. Photo: C. Paterson Jones; http://bit.ly/2niCWfy

  
  

• One is a review paper. Using a theoretical framework, we explore how we can estimate a species’ resilience and vulnerability to drought.
• One paper is currently under review. This paper has been submitted to the journal Mammalian Species, and includes a taxonomic description and life history characteristics of the fawn-footed mosaic-tailed rat Melomys cervinipes (Fig. 4). Watch this space!

Fig. 3. African ice rat Otomys sloggetti robertsi. Photo: P. Venter; http://bit.ly/2ojAqaI

I have developed more of an interest in animal personality and emotion over the last few years, particularly as fawn-footed mosaic-tailed rats come from extremely complex rainforest environments, which could have significant effects on their behaviour and cognition. I am also interested in exploring olfactory discrimination in more detail in this species, largely because we have little understanding of this. 

With the aid of my students, my work on fawn-footed mosaic-tailed rats has shown that at least one population has a behavioural syndrome that can be plotted along the bold-shy axis. We have also found some evidence of decoupling of personality traits along the calm-anxious and bold-shy axes. We’ve tested hormone concentrations, and correlated them with behaviours, but interestingly, physiological attributes only really become correlated in stressful situations. This was something that I predicted based on my honours student's, Emma Delarue, work.

Fig. 4. Fawn-footed mosaic-tailed rat. Photo: T. Rymer

Together with a colleague, Dr David Wilson from the Australian Institute for Tropical Health and Medicine, we are investigating fawn-footed mosaic-tailed rats response to odour cues from mygalomorph spiders. Preliminary results, which we presented at the Australasian Mammal Society conference in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, in 2016 suggest that they can discriminate cues, but not quite in the manner predicted. This is quite exciting for us, as this is the first study to test this in this species. We are currently gathering more data and a larger sample size to support our findings.

My masters student, Kelsey Paulling, is taking the next step with olfactory discrimination studies, using cues from reptiles. Hopefully, we can extend the data set to explore a range of possibilities, but, as the project is early stages at the moment, we are still ironing out methods. We have run a single test, using Pirate, one of the lab favourites, who is quite a charismatic and charming little mouse. Given Pirate’s bold personality, it was hardly surprising that he attempted to eat the sample. Hopefully, we’ll have some more definitive results in the next 6 months.

Because I'm a little rodent-minded, in my next blog, I'll introduce you to the first of the rodent species that captured my research interest (and my heart). You can read more about my research on rodents in my publications, listed on my blog. You can also find me on ResearchGate or the James Cook University website.

Following along on the road to research …

In my last blog, I ended with the activities of my 2015 students. I’ll pick up where I left off…

In August 2015, I re-entered the “marine snail” world as I took on the co-supervisory role of master’s student, Stephen Maxwell. Stephen’s work focuses on taxonomy, systematics, morphological aspects of the different snails, and genetics. He has produced two papers so far, one describing a new species of Vasticardium, called Vasticardium swanae (Fig. 1) and the other discussing commercially driven taxonomy. You can find these listed on my blog, and he has a few others under review and some in preparation. He’s currently preparing to present his final seminar, and then hopefully he will submit his thesis soon thereafter.

 

Fig. 1. A new species of Vasticardium, Vasticardium swanae (Maxwell et al. 2016)

Fig. 2. Misha Rowell's poster presented at ASSAB, Katoomba 2016

In February 2016, my new honours student, Misha Rowell, started her project investigating the impact of microenvironmental change on emotion and cognition in M. cervinipes. She set up two habitat categories and, after several days, she then trained animals in a modified Barnes maze to assess anxiety and spatial cognition. She then either returned them to their original habitat category, or she switched them into the opposite category. After an acclimation period, they were trained again in the Barnes maze. Like Ayla, Misha was also fortunate enough to have her project funded by both Skyrail Rainforest Foundation and the Wet Tropics Management Authority (WTMA). Misha also presented her preliminary findings in poster format (Fig. 2) at the Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour conference in Katoomba, New South Wales in 2016. We are in the process of preparing her data for publication. A short blurb is available on the Skyrail website.

Fig. 3. Greater glider Petauroides volans. Photo: D. Cook; https://www.flickr.com/photos/kookr/8688066201

Also at the start of 2016, I took on a masters by coursework student, Zachary Julson, who did a minor project on resource availability and tree use of greater gliders Petauroides volans (Fig. 3). He spent some time using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy to determine formylated phloroglucinols in Eucalyptus leaves and he also measured water content. He has subsequently returned to his home in the United States.

Fig. 4. Pale yellow robin Tregellasia capito. Photo: J.J. Harrison; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tregellasia_capito_-_Julatten.jpg

In June 2016, I took on another co-supervisory role, this time for honours student Renee Cassels, who is looking at fragmentation and pale-yellow robins Tregellasia capito (Fig. 4). She has been conducting field work up on the Atherton tablelands, working in numerous different fragments up there. She is due to submit her thesis mid-year, so watch this space!

 

Also in June 2016, I took on a student who is studying a Graduate Certificate in Research Methods. Jess Watt is also a marine snail person, focusing on Strombus gibberulus (Fig. 5). She started mid-year 2016 with me, and completed her literature review, so is now focusing on collecting the data needed for her project. She will be working at Green Island (Fig. 6), studying the communities of marine gastropods and the different habitat characteristics of the island. More updates on her project will follow once she’s collected the data she needs.

Fig. 5. Marine gastropods Strombus gibberulus sp. Photo: R. Parker; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Strombus_gibberulus_gibbosus.shell001.jpg

Finally, starting soon in 2017, I have a new masters by coursework student, Kelsey Paulling, who is going to be investigating melomys olfactory cues. Hopefully, we’ll find some interesting stuff there, so keep watching this space!

Fig. 6. Green Island, Australia

In my next blog, I’ll take you through my own personal research over the last few years. You can also read more in my publications, listed on my blog. You can also find me on ResearchGate or the James Cook University website.

A return to rodents … with some slight deviations

While teaching, service and engagement are integral components of my job at JCU, so too is research. With that, comes supervision of students, who bring with them stimulating ideas for new projects.


My initial foray into trying to find a suitable study species was somewhat thwarted by teaching, distance to study site and an inability to find the little critters in the short time I had in the field. I was (and still am!) really curious about the mound-building behaviour shown by pebble mice Pseudomys sp., specifically the eastern pebble mouse P. patrius (Fig. 1), and would love to do a project on these guys. However, I had to put that on the backburner, and perhaps one day I’ll get a student super keen on finding out more about these animals.

Fig. 1. Eastern pebble mouse Pseudomys patrius (Photo: L. Hogan; https://wetlandinfo.ehp.qld.gov.au/wetlands/ecology/components/species/?pseudomys-patrius

In 2013, I did some behavioural work on captive spectacled flying foxes Pteropus conspicillatus (Fig. 2) that were held at Tolga Bat Hospital. I ran some food preference experiments and also looked at their response to novel food. I also looked at drinking behaviour, and presented a poster at the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) conference held in Cairns in 2014 (Fig. 3). As is always the way, I still have videos that have to be watched, data that need to be analysed and papers that need to be written! 

Fig. 2. Spectacled flying fox Pteropus conspicillatus (Photo: T. Rymer)

Fig. 3. Poster presented at ATBC Cairns 2014

Fig. 4. Fawn-footed mosaic-tailed rat Melomys cervinipes (Photo: D. Wilson)

In 2014, I started working with the fawn-footed mosaic-tailed rat Melomys cervinipes (Fig. 4). My honours student, Emma Delarue, started looking at whether there was a relationship between habitat complexity and structure on anxiety and exploratory behaviour of these animals. She ran the animals through some behavioural mazes and did some vegetation surveys to characterise the habitats she sampled from. Her study was funded by the North Queensland Wildlife Trust and we published a paper from her literature review in Behavioural Processes entitled “Habitat complexity, environmental change and personality: A tropical perspective”. We are still planning on getting her data published. Emma presented her findings in poster format at the ATBC conference in Cairns in 2014 (Fig. 5) and her review paper received some good press. During 2014, an undergraduate student, Emma Tinkelman also conducted a small project, looking at the effects of temperature on the red-lipped stromb Strombus luhuanus (Fig. 6).

Fig. 5. Emma Delarue's poster presented at ATBC Cairns 2014

Fig. 6. Red-lipped stromb Strombus luhuanus

 

In 2015, my new honours student, Ayla Turner, started exploring personality in M. cervinipes. She was lucky enough to receive funding from both the Skyrail Rainforest Foundation and the Wet Tropics Management Authority (WTMA). Ayla ran the mice through several behavioural mazes and conducted hormone analyses to determine personality types. We are currently in the process of preparing a paper for publication from her results. An undergraduate student, Stuart Biggs, also started a mini project looking at mate choice in M. cervinipes, which I hope to continue in the future. Both Ayla and Stuart presented posters of their preliminary findings at The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB) Behaviour2015 conference in Cairns (Fig. 7) and Stuart’s poster and speed talk provoked some interesting media attention. In addition, I presented some different aspect of Ayla’s work at the Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour conference in Katoomba, New South Wales, and the Australian Mammal Society conference in Alice Springs, Northern Territory in 2016. In 2015, I also co-supervised a Masters by coursework student, Anton Bordon, who looked at colour polymorphism of rock-dwelling skinks (Fig. 8) in Undara National Park.

Fig. 7. Ayla Turner (left) and Stuart Biggs (right) posters presented at Behaviour2015 Cairns 2015

Fig. 8. Outcrop rock-skin Libunascincus mundivensis (Photo: E. Vanderduys; http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+1211+1323)

There’s more to come so be sure to check out my next blog for more about my research activities. You can also read more in my publications, listed on my blog. You can also find me on ResearchGate or the James Cook University website.