Diurnal and seasonal patterns of activity and habitat associations of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were assessed in a mosaic of grassland and woodland habitats on the Konza Prairie Biological Station, Kansas. We recorded deer seen during daylight hours in summer, autumn and winter periods from June 1997 through February 1998. Overall, diurnal activity increased from summer to winter and was largely crepuscular (i.e., early morning and late evening). Deer were observed primarily in lower uplands during summer and winter, and in lowlands during autumn. At a coarse scale (6.25 ha), white-tailed deer selected areas that had woody vegetation and avoided those that were dominated by grassy vegetation. In contrast, at a fine scale, groups of deer most often were observed foraging in the immediate vicinity of grassland vegetation, rather than in or by woody vegetation.

Data on the prevalence of bone cancer in dinosaurs is available from past radiological examination of preserved bones. We statistically test this data for consistency with rates extrapolated from information on bone cancer in modern vertebrates, and find that there is no evidence of a different rate. Thus, this test provides no support for a possible role of ionizing radiation in the K-T extinction event.

Three new species of the parasitoid wasp superfamily Mymarommatoidea (Proctotrupomorpha: Bipetiolarida) are described and figured in Cretaceous amber from New Jersey (Turonian) and Myanmar (Albian-Cenomanian boundary). The new taxa are Archaeromma carnifex Engel and Grimaldi, new species, in New Jersey amber, A. gibsoni Engel and Grimaldi, new species, in New Jersey amber (both Mymarommatidae), and Galloromma kachinensis Engel and Grimaldi, new species, in Burmese amber (Gallorommatidae).

Tardigrades are microscopic invertebrates living among mosses and lichens throughout the world. Their occurrence in the states of Kansas and Missouri has only briefly been documented. We report 23 species; 16 species from Missouri and 16 from Kansas. This is the second report of tardigrades from Kansas and only the third from Missouri. This report begins to look at the diversity and distribution of the animals within the two states. Some aspects of the ecology are examined, including the possible relationship between tardigrade species and microhabitats, observations on feeding, and cycles of egg production.

The basal Cretaceous conglomerate, consisting of material derived from the east and northeast, was deposited by westward flowing streams on an eroded surface of Paleozoic rocks. The unnamed stratigraphic unit, composed of pebble- and cobble-size material, is exposed locally along the outcrop belt from Clay County southwestward to Kiowa County.

Black-tailed prairie dog (BTPD) (Cynomys ludovicianus) populations in Kansas have declined significantly due to both natural and human-induced threats. To minimize the risk of future population declines, it is necessary to identify existing BTPD habitats in the state as well as areas suitable for BTPD habitat. This paper presents a method for modeling BTPD habitats in Kansas using geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, and ecological niche modeling with the Genetic Algorithm for Rule-Set Prediction (GARP). Environmental variables incorporated into the ecological niche modeling process include composite biweekly Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) layers derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite imagery, slope, soil depth, and soil texture. Species occurrence training and validation data were selected from an aerial survey of BTPD colonies by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP). Accuracy assessment methods, including Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis, omission calculation, and validation with an independent BTPD colony dataset collected for the Cimarron National Grassland in Morton County, indicate a high degree of accuracy for the GARP models. A map of BTPD habitat suitability produced by the ecological niche modeling has the potential to aid state agencies and organizations in their efforts to prevent further population declines in the species.

Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area (CBWA) is an internationally recognized wetland surrounded by mixed-grass prairie. Because habitat management historically has been focused on the marsh, this study was initiated to determine the effects of spring burning on abundance and species richness of grassland-nesting birds. The effects of years since last burn and location on abundance and species richness were inconsistent among years. Unless additional bird surveys show consistent patterns in bird response to burning, frequency of burns will be determined based on vegetation characteristics rather than abundance of nesting birds.

We describe a unique reptilian tooth from the Smoky Hill Chalk Member of the Niobrara Chalk in Trego County, Kansas. Its taxonomic placement cannot be ascertained due to its isolated occurrence, and it is possible that the tooth could have come from a mosasauroid in which the juvenile dentition is not known. However, except for its large size, the specimen closely resembles a right maxillary tooth of a dolichosaurid lizard, Coniasaurus crassidens, and is here referred to as cf. Coniasaurus sp. If it indeed belongs to Coniasaurus, it represents 1) the second Coniasaurus specimen from the Smoky Hill Chalk, 2) the first Coniacian record for the genus, and 3) the largest Coniasaurus tooth known to date, one that could have come from a 1.6 m individual.

The recent recognition of redbeds on Mars similar to the Permian redbeds in Kansas has given speculation that (1) the beds probably were deposited by water; (2) they could contain evaporites; and (3) the evaporites might contain fluid inclusions with organic matter. If these conjectures are correct, then samples of these sediments collected on future missions might substantiate previous life on the red planet.

Guitarfish (Rhinobatidae) are a conservative group of extant rays with worldwide distribution and a fossil record that extends as far back as the Jurassic (Toarcian). Modern representatives of the family inhabit shallow tropical and sub-tropical waters, at depths less than 200 m, as well as some fresh water environments. Although complete specimens are known, the most abundant fossil remains are small, isolated teeth (less than 2 mm, measured mesiodistally). In North America, the earliest record of Rhinobatos sp. is from Lower Cretaceous (Lower Albian) of Texas. Rhinobatos sp. has been reported from Cretaceous rocks in other areas of the U.S. Western Interior including the Albian-Campanian of Texas, the Turonian and Santonian of Kansas, Cenomanian of Nebraska, Cenomanian and Turonian of New Mexico and South Dakota, and Coniacian of Saskatchewan, Canada. Recent discoveries of Rhinobatos incertus teeth from the Upper Albian to the Lower Campanian in the Cretaceous of Kansas document a reasonably continuous presence of the species in a variety of marine environments within the Western Interior Sea. New Kansas records of R. incertus teeth are from: McPherson County, Kiowa Shale (Upper Albian); Russell County, Dakota - Graneros Shale contact (Middle Cenomanian); Jewell County, Codell Sandstone (Middle Turonian), and; Trego County, Smoky Hill Chalk (Upper Coniacian) and Logan County, Smoky Hill Chalk (Lower Campanian).

Coniasaurus Owen is a small Late Cretaceous marine lizard. Here, we describe two isolated vertebrae of C. cf. C crassidens Owen from the Fairport Chalk Member of the Carlile Shale (Upper Cretaceous) in west-central Russell County, Kansas. This report constitutes the first detailed description of Coniasaurus from the stratigraphic unit. Whereas Coniasaurus has been reported from the Late Cenomanian and Middle Santonian deposits in Kansas, the two vertebrae described here substantiate the presence of the taxon during the early Middle Turonian (ca. 92.1–91.2 Ma), adding a new insight into the paleoecology of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Sea of North America.

The United States Geological Survey of the Territories published several landmark works of paleontology that dealt with fossils found in Kansas during the decade after the Civil War. Such works appeared as volumes of the Hayden and King Surveys. There were also lesser known USGS publications on Kansas paleontology that preceded these important works. Cope's Vertebrata of the Cretaceous Formations of the West (1875) and Marsh's Odontornithes (1880). This study concerns the contents of USGS publications concerning paleontology in Kansas to 1875, as well also the role that the USGS publications play today in the study of the history of paleontology in the state as that support is recorded in the publications.

Attached apples on trees of ‘Jonathan Rasa’ and ‘Delicious Flanagan’ (Malus x domestica Borkh.) were enclosed in polyethylene bags or left unbagged for 5 d in 2002 and 2004 to determine the effect of elevated temperatures just before harvest on fruit quality parameters measured immediately thereafter. Mean maximum daily air temperatures within the bags were 5 to 9°C warmer than those of the air, recorded in full sun. Mean maximum daily fruit surface and flesh temperatures of bagged apples were 5 to 12°C warmer than those of unbagged fruit. Maximum daily fruit surface and flesh temperatures of bagged apples were similar. Peel color (L*, chroma, hue) of both cultivars was altered by the bagging treatment, but not flesh firmness. Bagged fruit generally had a lower soluble solids concentration (SSC) and starch index rating than those of unbagged apples. Titratable acidity of bagged apples was generally lower than that of unbagged fruit. Respiration rate of bagged apples more than doubled with a 3 to 4°C increase in air temperature. Thus, several fruit quality parameters were adversely affected by elevated temperatures over a 5 day period.