Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science articles from March 22 2007

Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science archives from March 22 2007

Skull of the ankylosaur Niobrarasaurus coleii (Ankylosauria: Nodosauridae) from the Smoky Hill Chalk (Coniacian) of western Kansas.
March 22, 2007... The skull of the nodosaurid Niobrarasaurus coleii (Mehl) is redescribed as the result of the discovery of additional material, including the partially crushed braincase. The bone surface shows moderate remodeling, but not to the point of...

First equid remains from the late Miocene Prolithospermum johnstonii-Nassella pohlii assemblage zone stratotype locality, Ellis County, Kansas.
March 22, 2007... The first equid remains are reported from sediments at the late Miocene Ogallala stratotype locality (Joseph R Thomasson Site 9a=JRT Site 9a) of the Prolithospermum johnstonii-Nassella pohlii Assemblage Zone in Ellis County, Kansas. The two...

A new Amegilla of the zonata group from Malaysia and Thailand (Hymenoptera: Apidae).
March 22, 2007... A new bee species of the genus Amegilla (Apinae: Anthophorini) is described and figured from western Malaysia and southern Thailand. Amegilla anekawarna Engel, new species, belongs to the zonata group of species and can be most readily confused...

Permopanorpa inaequalis Tillyard, 1926 (Insecta: Holometabola: Panorpida: Permopanorpidae): a fossil mecopteroid newly reported for the Lower Permian Wellington Formation of Noble County, Oklahoma.
March 22, 2007... Eight species of mecopteroid Panorpida are known from the Lower Permian Wellington Formation of Elmo (Dickinson County), Kansas; one of those species, Permopanorpa inaequalis Tillyard, 1926, is documented for the first time from the Wellington...

Testing a non-lethal DNA isolation technique for freshwater mussels that is compatible with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based studies.(deoxyribonucleic acid)
March 22, 2007... In this study, a non-lethal DNA isolation technique was developed for freshwater mussels. A total of 45 Quadrula quadrula, 21 Q. metanevra, and 19 Q. pustulosa were collected from the Neosho and Verdigris Rivers in eastern Kansas. DNA was...

Remains of a pycnodont fish (Actinopterygii: Pycnodontiformes) in a coprolite; an uppermost record of Micropycnodon kansasensis in the Smoky Hill Chalk, western Kansas.
March 22, 2007... Bone fragments, ganoid scales and the distinctive tooth crown of a pycnodont fish (FHSM VP-16583), were recovered from a coprolite (FHSM VP-16586) collected from the Smoky Hill Chalk Member (lower Santonian) of the Niobrara Chalk in...

The Late Cretaceous anacoracid shark, Pseudocorax laevis (Leriche), from the Niobrara Chalk of western Kansas.
March 22, 2007... Eight isolated teeth of the Late Cretaceous anacoracid shark, Pseudocorax laevis (Leriche), from the Smoky Hill Chalk Member of the Niobrara Chalk in western Kansas are formally identified and described. These teeth were recovered from the...

Aquatic toxicology of Turkey Creek, Missouri, USA.
March 22, 2007... At low flows, ambient toxicity (measured as a reduction in Ceriodaphnia survival) was observed in two tributaries and in the main channel of Turkey Creek. Toxicity during periods of no observable stream flow was absent in Turkey Creek upstream...

Meteorites and possible meteorite impact features in Kansas.
March 22, 2007... Recent meteorite discoveries in Kansas suggests that many more than the 142 recorded ones are present and yet to be located. Meteorites have been recorded in two-thirds of the Kansas 105 counties, with most of them from the western part of the...

Review of freshwater mussel harvest in Kansas 1992-2002.
March 22, 2007... Prior to 1992 all streams and Federal reservoirs in Kansas were open to mussel harvest with an approved permit. In 1992, the harvest of freshwater mussels in Kansas was limited to five species, and the streams open to harvest were limited to...

Bats of Fort Leavenworth military reservation and nearby areas of eastern Kansas and western Missouri.
March 22, 2007... Although nine species of bats are considered resident in northeastern Kansas, we caught only six (198 individuals). Big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) comprised 77% of the catch, and three species--hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus), northern myotis...

Skeletochronology of the limb elements of mosasaurs (Squamata; Mosasauridae).
March 22, 2007... Skeletochronology is a method used to determine the age of an individual from bone histology. The method is based on growth lines found in cortical bone, an area until now seldom examined in mosasaurs. For the first time, diaphysial thin...

Effects of prairie vole runways on tallgrass prairie.
March 22, 2007... Disturbances by large mammals influence plant populations and ecosystem processes. In contrast, impacts on ecosystem processes at local scales by small herbivorous rodents are relatively unknown. To examine effects of the runways of prairie...

A long-snouted Late Cretaceous crocodyliform, Terminonaris cf. T. browni, from the Carlile Shale (Turonian) of Kansas.
March 22, 2007... We describe the first record of Terminonaris cf. T. browni Osborn, 1904 (Reptilia: Crocodyliformes) from the Fairport Chalk Member of the Carlile Shale (Upper Cretaceous: lower Middle Turonian) in Russell County, Kansas. The specimen is a...

Production and use of biodegradable materials for incorporation in a non-toxic, eco-friendly battery.
March 22, 2007... Battery production and consumption has increased ten-fold in the industrialized world since 1963; however, most of these batteries utilize hazardous materials to generate a commercially viable voltage (1.5- 12 volts). Many of these materials...

Correct county and township for the Elmo, Kansas Lower Permian fossil insect locality.
March 22, 2007... The famous Elmo, Kansas Lower Permian Wellington Formation fossil insect locality is located in north-central Kansas, in Banner Township of Dickinson County. The Elmo site is known for the quality and quantity of fossils that have been found...

Recent collections of the slenderhead darter, Percina phoxocephala (Nelson), from the Kansas River Basin.
March 22, 2007... The slenderhead darter, Percina phoxocephala (Nelson), is a moderate-sized darter reaching 80-mm standard length (SL). This species has a moderately long and pointed snout exceeding the eye diameter, terminal mouth, a broad submarginal band in...

The identity of the small, widespread, synanthropic Pholcus (Araneae, Pholcidae) species in the northeastern United States.(spiders)
March 22, 2007... Pholcus manueli and not P. opilionoides is the smaller of the two synanthropic Pholcus of the northeastern and midwestern United States. Figures are provided for distinguishing P. manueli from P. opilionoides, a Eurasian species sometimes...

Field notes regarding the 1930 discovery of the type specimen of Niobrarasaurus coleii, Gove County, Kansas: Virgil B. Cole (1897-1984).(dinosaur)
March 22, 2007... HISTORICAL NOTE In 1930, Virgil B. Cole, an oil field geologist, collected the partial skeleton of a dinosaur (Ankylosauria; Nodosauridae) from the lower Smoky Hill Chalk in southeastern Gove County, Kansas. Cole described the discovery...

Use of archival photographs to rediscover the locality of the Holyrood elasmosaur (Ellsworth County, Kansas).
March 22, 2007... In 1931, an oilfield geologist working in Ellsworth County discovered large bones eroding from a limestone exposure along a creek bank about two miles west of the town of Holyrood, Kansas. He notified George F. Sternberg of the remains and...