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Genus Apodemus (Mammalia: Rodentia) in the Quaternary fossil record of Central Europe.
Knitlová, Markéta ; Horáček, Ivan (advisor) ; Macholán, Miloš (referee) ; Čermák, Stanislav (referee)
Wood mice of the genus Apodemus rank among the most common extant mammals throughout Europe. A history of its species and their distributional ranges is to be looked upon as a serious topic relevant also for general concepts on current setting of European biotic diversity. Nevertheless, despite several phylogeographic studies on that subject and a rich fossil record of the genus, many details of that issue remains only very poorly comprehended. This state is essentially caused by enormous complications with phenotype discrimination of individual species, their extensive variation and broad between-species overlaps in all phenotype traits. The present project was intended to establish the techniques enabling reliable species identification applicable to fragmentary fossil materials and to use them for retrieving information on range dynamics and phylogenetic history of individual species during the Quaternary past. It begun with detailed morphometric analyses of extant populations, using the characters available in fossils, and with establishing a concept of alternative parataxonomic classification covering the complete phenotype span of the genus. The respective techniques were applied onto an extensive set of well-dated records from the Late Pleistocene-Holocene sedimentary series from diverse...
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Metaphors of Madness: Silenced Myth-Makers and Disordered Brains.
Müller, Matyáš ; Komárek, Stanislav (advisor) ; Horáček, Ivan (referee) ; Fulka, Josef (referee)
The work has basically three aims: 1st to map the wide range of various approaches in the current debate about madness, 2nd to formulate a specific theory of madness, 3rd to identify general philosophical problems the topic brings about, (a 4th aim is also outlined: to understand the presented theory in terms of therapeutic potential). The central thesis of this work is that insanity is an inherently ambiguous and elusive phenomenon and that trying to understand it we are using various metaphors borrowed from other areas, and consequently forget their metaphorical nature. The work is generally motivated by an effort to reconcile conflicting approaches, to understand them as complementary. It also wants to avoid creating an all-embracing synthesis on the one hand, and purely relativistic and pragmatic viewpoint on the other hand. The first part identifies four levels on which particular approaches understand madness as a problem: the level of the individual, the level of the collective, the transpersonal level and the existential level. At the end of the part, I discuss the possibilities and risks of creating a theoretical framework that would enable to understand various contradictory approaches on a common basis. In the second part, I develop my own analysis of madness. It is based on a...
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Social relationships in feral populations of ungulates (with accent on environmental conditions)
Boušková, Adéla ; Komárková, Martina (advisor) ; Horáček, Ivan (referee)
The adaptation of feral ungulates to the environmental conditions is important topic nowadays, not only because they often feralise out of their original home-range, but also from the behavioural point of view. The aim of my work is to answer several hypotheses, covering the differences in social relationship of ungulates in the wild and domestic conditions and their connnections to the environment.The thesis describes the frequency and intensity of interindividual interactions (hierarchy, aggression and friendly behaviour) and compares this behaviour between feral and domestic animals. As a main result may be mentioned the fact that social structure of feral individuals is modified as a consequence of restrictions of social behaviour in the domestic conditions (creches in feral goats). The enhanced fertility, which resulted from the long lasting artifical selection process in the breeds, brought also increased fertility in the feral conditions. The sex ratio at birth was found not related to the feral state or captivity. I suggest that aggressive and friendly interactions are more common in the domestic, not in feral environment. Future research should be focused more throughly on the behavioural adaptations of feral animals.
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Role of individual chemical compounds of repellent secretion of Graphosoma lineatum towards different predator species
Gregorovičová, Martina ; Horáček, Ivan (advisor) ; Veselý, Petr (referee) ; Zápotocký, Martin (referee)
The chemical defence of Heteroptera is based on the repellent secretion that is very complex and consists of dozens chemical compounds. Heteroptera have good ability to produce/store large amounts of chemical components. The repellent secretion of Graphosoma lineatum is composed of many chemicals, such as short-chained aldehydes, which may signal the unpalatability of the bug to its potential predators or be directly toxic for them. The thesis is aimed at the major components of defensive secretion of Graphosoma lineatum - aldehydes - as well as the whole metathoracic scent-glands secretion of Graphosoma lineatum. The aversive reactions of four selected predators were evaluated: (1) leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius); (2) green lizard (Lacerta viridis); (3) great tit (Parus major) and (4) blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus). The following major compounds of the repellent secretion were tested: (1) the mixture of three aldehydes: (E)-hex-2-enal, (E)-oct-2-enal, (E)-dec-2-enal; (2) the mixture of three aldehydes and tridecane; (3) oxoaldehyde: (E)-4-oxohex-2-enal; (4) extracted metathoracic scent-glands secretion of Graphosoma lineatum adults; (5) hexane as a non-polar solvent and (6) pyrazine: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine in experiments with leopard geckos as a positive control for excluding the...
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Phylogeography of the Alpine shrew, Sorex alpinus (Soricidae, Mammalia)
Starcová, Magda ; Horáček, Ivan (referee)
The Alpine shrew (Sorex alpinus Schinz, 1837) is a small member of family Soricidae, which is found in mountain forests of central and south Europe. Its patchy range includes the Alps, the NW Balkans, the Carpathians, and some isolated mountain areas in Germany, Czech Republic and Poland. The disjunct range of Alpine shrew presumably results from range dynamics of the species connected with Pleistocene climate oscillation. The aim of this study was to investigate phylogeographical structure of the Alpine shrew in the central and SE European mountain systems. To examine genetic structure of Alpine shrew populations the hypervariable domain of the mitochondrial control region was used. We processed 51 samples from 18 localities, covering the majority of the distributional area of the species. Final sequence dataset was analyzed using population and landscape genetic approaches. Results revealed shallow mitochondrial genealogy with differentiation among haplogroups. This pattern, together with demographic analyses suggest population expansion, corroborated with the hypothesis that during glacial periods the Alpine shrew expanded. End of the last ice period was followed by fragmentation of the species range and its retreat to higher elevations and formation of relict populations. Key words: shrews,...
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Lachrymal secretion in tenrecs: physiological, behavioral and phylogenetic contexts (Tenrecinae, Afrosoricida)
Bálek, Jiří ; Horáček, Ivan (advisor) ; Sedláček, František (referee)
The secretion of white liquid around the eyes and nose with a spiny tenrecs Echinops telfairi and Setifer setosus mentions for the first time Poduschka in 1974, but until now this phenomenon in these species no one paid any detail. Similar secretion was described in Mountain beaver or by shrews. The impetus for shedding the excitement caused by the presence of an individual female or another male or its odor. Males secretions also used for marking territory. A total of 70 samples of eye secretions from ten male Echinops telfairi during the entire active season (from March to October) have been collected within this study. For protein detection method was used two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D PAGE) and subsequent identification by mass spectrometry. An autopsy of the eye area was performed for representatives of all four genera of the subfamily Tenrecinae (Tenrec, Setifer, Echinops, Hemicentetes), died in Pilsen Zoo. It was found that a) species of pinholes that produce ocular secretions are significantly higher tear and Harder's gland, b) secretions contain lipocalins - proteins with the ability to transmit pheromones and other hydrophobic molecules, c) secretions of the orbital region having a different composition than the secretions from the nasal area (significantly lower protein...
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Carnivores in habitats of current landscape: a comparison based on phototrap recordings
Pyšková, Klára ; Horáček, Ivan (advisor) ; Červený, Jaroslav (referee)
Common carnivore species in the Czech Republic, such as fox, badger, marten, or weasel have not been recently paid much attention. This mammalian group is not easy to monitor but with modern technologies animals can be observed almost undisturbed. I collected data using camera traps in the Polabí region in Central Bohemia, about 30 km from Prague. I placed 73 camera traps in four different habitats (wetland; alluvial forest; mixed forest; and scrub grassland). Each habitat was represented by 3-4 localities in a fragmented landscape, made up of seminatural habitats and human-used areas. Over 366 days of monitoring I recorded 8 carnivore species, one of them non-native (golden jackal). None of the allegedly common invasive species in the Czech Republic (raccoon dog, american mink, raccoon) were found. The habitats did not differ in number of observed species, which is probably due to a low number of species found and the small size of the study area. Habitat preferences and seasonal and circadian activity in my study area generally correspond to the findings of previous ecological studies, but the novel aspect of my research is the robust, statistically analysed results based on long-term quantitative data. One conclusion I consider important from the conservation point of view is that most of our carnivore...
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Changes in mid-European bat fauna along the Plio/Pleistocene boundary: denus Myotis
Trávníčková, Eva ; Horáček, Ivan (advisor) ; Wagner, Jan (referee)
This diploma thesis summarizes results of the detailed morphometric analysis of extensive fossil materials of the genus Myotis from the upper Pliocene deposits of Javoříčské caves (Czech Republic) and Urwista cave (Poland). Patterns of phenotype variation of particular fossil populations were analyzed with aid of uni- and multivariation techniques, compared with type series of fossil taxa described from MN15 site Gundersheim and a comparative series of extant European species. Nine fossil and 10 extant species were identified and further reexamined in terms of their phenotype variation and possible phylogenetic relations. The phenotype structure of fossil assemblages were compared to that of Gundersheim and extant European fauna: samples from Urwista cave show clear resemblances to the former one, those from Javoříčské cave exhibit certain similarities to the extant European fauna despite clear differences in variation patterns of particular species. Technical preparation, documentation by photographic material, measurement and statistical analysis is included in this work. Key words: bats, Pliocene, phenotype dynamics, community structure
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