"Micromalthus debilis LeConte (1878), has
one of the most bizarre life cycles of any metazoan. Reproduction is
typically by thelytokous, viviparous, larviform females, but there is
also a rare arrhenotokous phase. The active first-instar (triungulin)
larva develops into a legless, feeding (cerambycoid) larva. This form
either pupates, leading to a diploid adult female, or develops into any
of three subsequent types of reproductive paedogenetic forms: (1) a
thelytokous female that produces triungulins via viviparity; (2) an
arrhenotokous female that produces a single egg that develops into the
short-legged (curculionoid) larva, eventually devouring its mother and
becoming a haploid adult male; or (3) an amphitokous female that can
follow either of the two above reproductive pathways."
From D.A. Pollock and B.B. Normark. 2002. J. Zool.
Syst. Evol. Res. 40(2): 105–112.
Walker Lake is a monomictic, nitrogen-limited,
terminal lake located in western Nevada. . . As a result of
anthropogenic desiccation, between 1882 and 1996 the lake's volume has
dropped from 11.1 to 2.7 km3 and salinity has increased from
2.6 to 12–13 g l-1. . . If desiccation continues unabated,
the lake will be too saline (>15–16 g l-1) to support
trout and chub fisheries in 20 years, and in 50–60 years the lake will
reach hydrologic equilibrium at a volume of 1.0 km3 and a
salinity of 34 g l-1.
From M.W. Beutel, A.J. Horne, J.C. Roth and N.J.
Barratt. 2001. Hydrobiologia 466(1–3): 91–105.
"It is not necessary to understand things in
order to argue about them." Caron de Beaumarchais
Terminological exactitude
"In some cases, the difficulty observed by experimentalists is a
kinetic problem. Water in a very narrow, viscous layer is hard to remove
even if the attraction to the hydrophilic surface is only modest. This
is particularly the case at low temperatures because of the strong
dependence of viscosity on temperature. Such water would fail to freeze
not because it is in equilibrium with ice, but rather because it can
remain in disequilibrium for a time exceeding the patience (or even the
lifetime) of the experimentalist. In such cases, ‘bound’ water may
be not so much tied up as unavoidably detained."
From J. Wolfe, G. Bryant and K.L. Koster. 2002. CryoLetters
23(3): 157–166.
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