Beginning with Emlen (1966) and MacArthur and Pianka (1966) and extending through the last ten years, several authors have sought to predict the foraging behavior of animals by means of mathematical models. These models are very similar,in that they all assume that the fitness of a foraging animal is a function of the efficiency of foraging measured in terms of some "currency" (Schoener, 1971) -usually energy- and that natural selection has resulted in animals that forage so as to maximize this fitness. As a result of these similarities, the models have become known as "optimal foraging models"; and the theory that embodies them, "optimal foraging theory." The situations to which optimal foraging theory has been applied, with the exception of a few recent studies, can be divided into the following four categories: (1) choice by an animal of which food types to eat (i.e., optimal diet); (2) choice of which patch type to feed in (i.e., optimal patch choice); (3) optimal allocation of time to different patches; and (4) optimal patterns and speed of movements. In this review we discuss each of these categories separately, dealing with both the theoretical developments and the data that permit tests of the predictions. The review is selective in the sense that we emphasize studies that either develop testable predictions or that attempt to test predictions in a precise quantitative manner. We also discuss what we see to be some of the future developments in the area of optimal foraging theory and how this theory can be related to other areas of biology. Our general conclusion is that the simple models so far formulated are supported are supported reasonably well by available data and that we are optimistic about the value both now and in the future of optimal foraging theory. We argue, however, that these simple models will requre much modification, espicially to deal with situations that either cannot easily be put into one or another of the above four categories or entail currencies more complicated that just energy.

Citation classic - optimal foraging - a selective review of theory and tests

Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is the protocol backing the core routing decisions on the Internet. It maintains a table of IP networks or 'prefixes' which designate network reachability among autonomous systems (AS). Point of concern in BGP is its lack of effective security measures which makes Internet vulnerable to different forms of attacks. Many solutions have been proposed till date to combat BGP security issues but not a single one is deployable in practical scenario. Any security proposal with optimal solution should offer adequate security functions, performance overhead and deployment cost. This paper critically analyzes the deployment issues of best three proposals considering trade-off between security functions and performance overhead.

Comparative analysis of

The principles of classification and a classification of mammals. Bulletin of the AMNH ; v. 85

A timescale is necessary for estimating rates of molecular and morphological change in organisms and for interpreting patterns of macroevolution and biogeography. Traditionally, these times have been obtained from the fossil record, where the earliest representatives of two lineages establish a minimum time of divergence of these lineages. The clock-like accumulation of sequence differences in some genes provides an alternative method by which the mean divergence time can be estimated. Estimates from single genes may have large statistical errors, but multiple genes can be studied to obtain a more reliable estimate of divergence time. However, until recently, the number of genes available for estimation of divergence time has been limited. Here we present divergence-time estimates for mammalian orders and major lineages of vertebrates, from an analysis of 658 nuclear genes. The molecular times agree with most early (Palaeozoic) and late (Cenozoic) fossil-based times, but indicate major gaps in the Mesozoic fossil record. At least five lineages of placental mammals arose more than 100 million years ago, and most of the modern orders seem to have diversified before the Cretaceous/Tertiary extinction of the dinosaurs.

A molecular timescale for vertebrate evolution

The Brush Foundation studies on human growth and development, begun in 1931 and terminated in 1942, have been intensively reviewed and studied by Dr Greulich and Miss Pyle in the formulation of this Radiographic Atlas of Skeletal Development of the Hand and Wrist Serial radiographs of from 2 to 20 hand-films made at successive examinations of each of 1000 boys and girls made up the radiographic material Standards were selected that were judged to be the most representative of the central tendency or anatomic mode of each chronologic age group from birth through 18 years

Radiographic Atlas of Skeletal Development of the Hand and Wrist

Some of the most long-standing questions in paleoanthropology concern how and why human bipedalism evolved. Over the last century, many hypotheses have been offered on the mode of locomotion from which bipedalism originated. Candidate ancestral adaptations include monkey-like arboreal or terrestrial quadrupedalism, gibbon- or orangutan-like (or other forms of) climbing and suspension, and knuckle-walking. This paper reviews the history of these hypotheses, outlines their predictions, and assesses them in light of current phylogenetic, comparative anatomical, and fossil evidence. The functional significance of characteristics of the shoulder and arm, elbow, wrist, and hand shared by African apes and humans, including their fossil relatives, most strongly supports the knuckle-walking hypothesis, which reconstructs the ancestor as being adapted to knuckle-walking and arboreal climbing. Future fossil discoveries, and a clear understanding of anthropoid locomotor anatomy, are required to ultimately test these hypotheses. If knuckle-walking was an important component of the behavioral repertoire of the prebipedal human ancestor, then we can reject scenarios on the origin of bipedalism that rely on a strictly arboreal ancestor. Moreover, paleoenvironmental data associated with the earliest hominins, and their close relatives, contradict hypotheses that place the agents of selection for bipedality in open savanna habitats. Existing hypotheses must explain why bipedalism would evolve from an ancestor that was already partly terrestrial. Many food acquisition and carrying hypotheses remain tenable in light of current evidence.

/pdf/origin-of-human-bipedalism-the-knuckle-walking-hypothesis-4wdkx76su3.pdf

Origin of human bipedalism: The knuckle-walking hypothesis revisited.

Function and Phylogeny in Miocene Hominoids C.V. Ward, et al. Comments on the Last Decades of Research on Miocene Hominoids and Hominid Origins D. Pilbeam. Inter-Relationships Between Functional Morphology and Paleoenvironments in Miocene Hominoids P. Andrews, et al. The Early Evolution of the Hominoid Face T.C. Rae. Functional and Phylogenetic Features of the Forelimb in Miocene M.D. Rose. Functional Anatomy and Phyletic Implications of the Hominoid Trunk and Hindlimb C.V. Ward. Dental Evidence for Diets in Some Miocene Catarrhines with Comments on the Effects of Phylogeny on the Interpretation of Adaptation R.F. Kay, P.S. Ungar. Miocene Hominoid Mandibles: Functional and Phylogenetic Perspectives B. Brown. Paleobiological and Phylogenetic Significance of Life History in Miocene Hominoids J. Kelley. Proconsul - Function and Phylogeny A. Walker. Afrophitecus - Function and Phylogeny M. Leakey, A. Walker. On the Relationships and Africa M.L. McCrossi, B.R. Benefit. The Taxonomy and Phylogeny of Sivapithecus Revisited S. Ward. Phyletic Affinities and Functional Convergence in Dryopithecus and Other Miocene and Living Hominids D. Begun, L. Kordo. 4 Additional Articles. Index.

Function, phylogeny, and fossils : miocene hominoid evolution and adaptations

Miocene hominoids from Europe are among the earliest members of the great ape and human clade (the Hominidae). One of these forms, represented by well-preserved cranial remains from Rudabanya, Hungary, sheds new light on the question of the evolutionary relations among living hominids. This new evidence supports the view that humans have a specific evolutionary relation with chimpanzees, to the exclusion of all other apes.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/257/5078/1929.full.pdf

Miocene fossil hominids and the chimp-human clade.

List of contributors Preface 1. Evolutionary reconstructions of great ape intelligence Anne E. Russon 2. Enhanced cognitive capacity as a contingent fact of hominid phylogeny David R. Begun Part I. Cognition in Living Great Apes: Introduction Anne E. Russon: 3. The manual skills and cognition that lie behind hominid tool use Richard W. Byrne 4. The cognitive complexity of social organisation and socialisation in wild baboons and chimpanzees: guided participation, socialising interactions and event representation Sue Taylor Parker 5. Gestural communication in the great apes Joanna Blake 6. Great ape cognitive systems Anne E. Russon Part II. Modern Great Ape Adaptation: Introduction Anne E. Russon: 7. What's in a brain? The question of a distinctive brain anatomy in great apes Carol E. MacLeod 8. Life histories and the evolution of large brain size in great apes Caroline Ross 9. Evolution of complex feeding techniques in primates: is this the origin of great ape intelligence? Gen Yamakoshi 10. The special demands of great ape locomotion and posture Kevin D. Hunt 11. Great ape social systems Carel P. van Schaik, Signe Preuschoft and David P. Watts 12. Diet and foraging of the great apes: ecological constraints on their social organisations and implications for their divergence Juichi Yamagiwa Part III. Fossil Great Ape Adaptations: Introduction David R. Begun: 13. Paleoenvironments and the evolution of adaptability in great apes Richard Potts 14. Cranial evidence and the evolution of intelligence in fossil apes David R. Begun and Laszlo Kordos 15. Life history and cognitive evolution in the apes Jay Kelley 16. Fossil hominoid diets, extractive foraging and the origins of great ape intelligence Michelle Singleton 17. Paleontology, terrestriality and the intelligence of great apes Daniel L. Gebo 18. Body size and intelligence in hominoid evolution Carol V. Ward, Mark Flinn and David R. Begun Part IV. Integration: 19. Evolutionary origins of great ape intelligence: an integrated view Anne E. Russon and David R. Begun Author index Species index Subject index.

/pdf/the-evolution-of-thought-evolutionary-origins-of-great-ape-l7alwuoo6l.pdf

The evolution of thought : evolutionary origins of great ape intelligence

The preceding chapters of this volume have described a number of different approaches and solutions to the interpretation of hominoid evolutionary history. Given the breadth of approaches, it is difficult to compare results among researchers. Despite this diversity, however, there seems to be broad agreement on many issues in the complex evolutionary history of the Hominoidea.

David R. Begun

Papers

Origin of human bipedalism: The knuckle-walking hypothesis revisited.

Function, phylogeny, and fossils : miocene hominoid evolution and adaptations

Miocene fossil hominids and the chimp-human clade.

The evolution of thought : evolutionary origins of great ape intelligence

Events in Hominoid Evolution