Student papers after the second-year practice - 2009

Student works after II year practice - 2008 Student works after II year practice - 2010 Student works after II year practice - 2011 Student works after II year practice - 2012 (Part I) Student works after II year practice - 2012 (Part II) Student works after II year practice - 2013 Student works after II year practice - 2014 Student works after II year practice - 2015 Student works after II year practice - 2016 Student works after II year practice - 2017 FEATURES OF THE MATING VOCALIZATION OF MALES OF PELOPHYLAX ESCULENTUS COMPLEX FROM THE VICINITY OF THE HNU BIOSTATION Bibyik Yu. S.1, Yakovenko L. V.1, Yatsiuk E. A.2 1 Kharkiv National University named after V.N. Karazin, pl. Svobody, 4, Kharkiv, Ukraine 2 National Natural Park “Homolshansky Forests”; ul. Kurortna, 156, Zadonetske village, Zmiiv River basin, Kharkiv region, Ukraine In the basin of the Seversky Donets River in Kharkiv region there is the Seversky‑Donets Center of Green Frog Diversity, Pelophylax esculentus complex (Borkin et al., 2004; Shabanov et al., 2006). Here both representatives of one parental species, Pelophylax ridibundus (Pallas, 1771), and diploid and triploid hybrids with P. lessonae (Camerano, 1882), named P. esculentus (Linnaeus, 1758), coexist. The present work is devoted to describing the features of the mating vocalization of male frogs of these species. From 28 June to 4 July 2009 we made nine individual recordings of mating calls of male green frogs vocalizing in the channel of the Seversky Donets and adjacent ponds near the HNU biostation (Zaidonetske village, Zmiiv River basin, Kharkiv region). Using a directional microphone and an acoustic digital recorder we recorded the song of a single individual and then captured it. Air temperature during recording was about +23 °C, water temperature +20 °C. During frog capture we performed a preliminary taxonomic assessment based on a set of external characters (Shabanov et al., 2006). Ploidy was estimated by measuring the mean erythrocyte size. The genotype of four frogs was reliably determined by flow cytometric DNA analysis at the Central Institute of Nature (CIN) of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg). Sonograms of the calls were analyzed with Audacity and Statistica. Our work registered calls of both P. ridibundus and diploid and triploid representatives of P. esculentus. The trills we recorded are divided into “laughing” (typical of P. ridibundus) and “creaking” (characteristic of P. esculentus). No clear differences between the calls of diploid and triploid P. esculentus suitable for field identification were found. A high diversity of calls was recorded in terms of structure, number and frequency of individual elements.

FEATURES OF THE MATING VOCALIZATION OF MALES OF PELOPHYLAX ESCULENTUS COMPLEX FROM THE VICINITY OF THE HNU BIOSTATION Bibyik Yu. S.1, Yakovenko L. V.1, Yatsiuk E. A.2 1 Kharkiv National University named after V.N. Karazin, pl. Svobody, 4, Kharkiv, Ukraine 2 National Natural Park “Homolshansky Forests”; ul. Kurortna, 156, Zadonetske village, Zmiiv River basin, Kharkiv region, Ukraine In the basin of the Seversky Donets River in Kharkiv region there is the Seversky‑Donets Center of Green Frog Diversity, Pelophylax esculentus complex (Borkin et al., 2004; Shabanov et al., 2006). Here both representatives of one parental species, Pelophylax ridibundus (Pallas, 1771), and diploid and triploid hybrids with P. lessonae (Camerano, 1882), named P. esculentus (Linnaeus, 1758), coexist. The present work is devoted to describing the features of the mating vocalization of male frogs of these species. From 28 June to 4 July 2009 we made nine individual recordings of mating calls of male green frogs vocalizing in the channel of the Seversky Donets and adjacent ponds near the HNU biostation (Zaidonetske village, Zmiiv River basin, Kharkiv region). Using a directional microphone and an acoustic digital recorder we recorded the song of a single individual and then captured it. Air temperature during recording was about +23 °C, water temperature +20 °C. During frog capture we performed a preliminary taxonomic assessment based on a set of external characters (Shabanov et al., 2006). Ploidy was estimated by measuring the mean erythrocyte size. The genotype of four frogs was reliably determined by flow cytometric DNA analysis at the Central Institute of Nature (CIN) of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg). Sonograms of the calls were analyzed with Audacity and Statistica. Our work registered calls of both P. ridibundus and diploid and triploid representatives of P. esculentus. The trills we recorded are divided into “laughing” (typical of P. ridibundus) and “creaking” (characteristic of P. esculentus). No clear differences between the calls of diploid and triploid P. esculentus suitable for field identification were found. A high diversity of calls was recorded in terms of structure, number and frequency of individual elements.

Most literature sources (e.g., Plotner, 2005 et al.) distinguish two structural elements of the green frog mating call: an introduction (or prelude) and a trill. We propose to distinguish four structural elements: prelude, warm‑up, trill and a fading ending. The prelude transitions into the warm‑up, and in a typical case the warm‑up is followed by the trill, although in some cases a short fading ending follows the warm‑up. The described structure is characteristic of a complete call; sometimes the prelude may be absent, or the call may be interrupted before reaching the trill or the fading ending. Analysis of sonograms shows that the prelude, warm‑up and trill have a four‑level structure. Each of these parts consists of groups of pulses formed by sound oscillations. Each group, in turn, is subdivided into sub‑groups of pulses. The fading ending is characterized by three structural levels (without a sub‑group level). Comparison of quantitative characteristics of individual call elements may allow identification of form‑specific features of male mating vocalization. This requires an increase in the number of individual recordings. The results presented here were obtained during the student research work performed in the II‑year vertebrate zoology practice. Summary. In this work we consider writing songs wedding vocalizations of male green frogs. As a result of their analysis in the songs were selected such parts as presentor, warming, warble and sagging part. All these elements have a four-level structure (a group of pulses, pulses, sub-pulses and sound waves), and the sagging part of a three-level structure (no sub-pulses). Differences between the songs of diploid and triploid forms were not detected. The authors thank I. Zatsepa, O. Novikova, Yu. Rudneva and A. Khandozhenko for assistance, senior scientists of CIN RAS S.N. Lytvynchuk and Yu.M. Rozanov for frog genotype determination, and Associate Professor D.A. Shabanov for scientific supervision. Bibyik Yu. S., Yakovenko L. V., Yatsiuk E. A. (scientific supervisor – Shabanov D. A.). Features of the mating vocalization of male Pelophylax esculentus complex from the vicinity of the HNU biostation // “Biology: from molecule to biosphere”. Materials of the IV International Conference of Young Scientists. – Kharkiv: PPV “New Word”, 2009. – pp. 264‑265. STUDY OF ERYTHROCYTE SIZES OF GREEN FROGS FROM THE VICINITY OF THE HNU BIOSTATION Novikova O. Yu., Rudneva Yu. V., Khandozhenko A. S. Kharkiv National University named after V.N. Karazin, Faculty of Biology, pl. Svobody, 4, Kharkiv, 61077, Ukraine e‑mail: julia‑genl989@mail.ru, asya.kr@bk.ru The HNU biostation is located within the Seversky‑Donets Center of Green Frog Diversity (Pelophylax esculentus complex). Here one of the parental species capable of interspecific hybridization, Pelophylax ridibundus, and hemiclonal diploid, triploid and, in exceptional cases, tetraploid hybrids called P. esculentus occur. The second parental species, P. lessonae, is absent (Shabanov et al., 2006). Determining diploid and polyploid frog individuals in the field faces significant difficulties due to overlapping ranges of morphological variability. For Western Europe it has been shown that diploid and triploid frogs differ in erythrocyte size (Plotner, 2005). Our task was to estimate the presumed ploidy of frogs caught near the HNU biostation and to verify these results using reliable methods. In the field P. ridibundus and P. esculentus are distinguished by several external characters: size and shape of the heel tubercle, color of the resonators, ratio of thigh to shank length, overall coloration. We selected 33 individuals that resembled P. ridibundus by some characters and P. esculentus by others. Frogs had digits amputated, a drop of blood was placed on a slide, spread and air‑dried. Length and width of 20 randomly chosen erythrocytes were measured with a microscope (objective ×20, eyepiece micrometer ×15). Measurements were entered into a database using Statistica 6. The studied individuals were divided into two groups: mean erythrocyte length < 28 µm (presumably diploids, 23 specimens) and > 28 µm (presumably triploids, 10 specimens). The threshold was chosen based on the distribution of the studied frogs and literature data (Plotner, 2005). In presumed diploids erythrocyte size was not correlated with body length, whereas in probable triploids a positive (non‑significant) correlation was observed (r = 0.39; p = 0.27). Mean erythrocyte length was 24.0 µm for diploids and 30.3 µm for triploids. To verify ploidy determination by erythrocyte size, nine frogs were examined by flow cytometric DNA analysis at CIN RAS (St. Petersburg). Four were identified as diploids (confirmed for all four), five as triploids (confirmed for four). A frog with mean erythrocyte length 28.52 µm, identified as diploid P. ridibundus by CIN RAS, was mistakenly classified as a presumed triploid. One triploid had a practically identical mean erythrocyte size, 28.96 µm. Thus, for individuals with erythrocyte sizes close to the critical value, reliable ploidy determination is difficult. Nevertheless, erythrocyte size can be used as a rapid method for preliminary ploidy assessment of green frogs. This work was performed as a student research project within the vertebrate zoology field practice. The authors thank all students who participated in frog capture, senior scientists of CIN RAS S.N. Lytvynchuk and Yu.M. Rozanov for ploidy determination by flow cytometry, and Associate Professor D.A. Shabanov of the Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology, HNU, for scientific supervision. Novikova O. Yu., Rudneva Yu. V., Khandozhenko A. S. (scientific supervisor – Shabanov D. A.). Study of erythrocyte sizes of green frogs from the vicinity of the HNU biostation // “Biology: from molecule to biosphere”. Materials of the IV International Conference of Young Scientists. – Kharkiv: PPV “New Word”, 2009. – pp. 279‑280. ESTIMATION OF THE POPULATION SIZE OF GREEN FROG GROUPS IN THE VICINITY OF THE KHARKIV UNIVERSITY BIOSTATION Khudyakova E. I., Vodopyanova O. A., Vodyanytska O. S. Kharkiv National University named after V.N. Karazin, Faculty of Biology, pl. Svobody, 4, Kharkiv, 61077, Ukraine e‑mail: hudyakova.l@ya.ru The green frog complex (Ranidae, Anura, Amphibia), Pelophylax esculentus complex, includes the pond species Pelophylax lessonae (Camerano, 1882), the lake species Pelophylax ridibundus (Pallas, 1771), and their hybrid – the edible frog Pelophylax esculentus (Linnaeus, 1758). Because of the parental species’ ability to hybridize and hemiclonal inheritance, all three forms can inhabit the same habitats and reproduce together, forming mixed hemiclonal population systems (HPS). In the Seversky‑Donets Center of Green Frog Diversity, HPS consist of diploid P. ridibundus and diploid and triploid representatives of P. esculentus. We estimated the abundance of local frog groups located at two sites on the Seversky Donets floodplain: “Big Starytsia” (49.6232° N, 36.3356° E) and “Starytsia Ladi” (49.6291° N, 36.3366° E). From 24 June to 7 September 2009 frogs were captured at night from a boat using a lantern. All sexually mature individuals within sight were collected. A total of 444 individuals were captured. Approximate assignment to P. ridibundus or P. esculentus was made based on heel tubercle size and shape, relative shank length, presence of yellow coloration on the dorsal thigh; some individuals could not be identified morphologically. Captured frogs received a group mark (indicating time and place of capture) by cutting finger phalanges. The majority were released at the capture site, some were released at a different location (the Seversky Donets channel), and some specimens were retained for further study. In subsequent recaptures the number of previously marked individuals was counted. Assuming equal proportions of marked individuals in the sample and in the whole group, group size was estimated by: Group size = (Sample size × Total marked) / Marked in sample. In “Big Starytsia” on 25 June 20 marked individuals were released. Among 55 individuals captured on 1 July, 3 were marked; the group size estimate was (55 × 20)/73 = 367 frogs. For 12 July the estimate was (42 × 67)/78 = 352 frogs, and for 7 September (25 × 104)/8 = 325 frogs. Similar estimates for “Starytsia Ladi” were (49 × 18)/4 = 221 frogs on 1 July and (74 × 31)/8 = 287 frogs on 13 July. The consistency of these estimates indicates the applicability of the method. During the study a change in group composition was recorded. In “Big Starytsia” the P. ridibundus/P. esculentus/undefined ratio on 24 June (spawning period) was 9/13/7, on 30 June (end of spawning) 36/10/8, on 15 July (post‑spawning) 36/4/0, and on 7 September (autumnal preparation for overwintering) 24/1/0. Considering the unidentified individuals, differences between the distributions recorded during spawning and long after its end are highly significant (χ², p = 0.0002). This may indicate the departure of P. esculentus from ponds and channels to terrestrial habitats after spawning. The authors thank Associate Professor D.A. Shabanov for supervision of this work within the II‑year practice, as well as graduate student G.A. Mazepa, researcher A.V. Korshunov, and third‑year biology students of HNU for assistance. Khudyakova E. I., Vodopyanova O. A., Vodyanytska O. S. (scientific supervisor – Shabanov D. A.). Estimation of the population size of green frog groups in the vicinity of the Kharkiv University biostation // “Biology: from molecule to biosphere”. Materials of the IV International Conference of Young Scientists. – Kharkiv: PPV “New Word”, 2009. – pp. 286‑287. CAN STUDENT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE BE RELATED TO THEIR FINGER PRINTS? Mikhailova O.V., Dyachenko E.V., Kechedzhi A.E., Makhnij T.I. Kharkiv National University named after V.N. Karazin, Faculty of Biology, pl. Svobody, 4, Kharkiv, 61077, Ukraine e‑mail: bloodraven3245@rambler.ru Dermatoglyphics is the science that studies skin patterns formed by lines on the distal phalanges of fingers, palms and soles, and correlates these patterns with physical and psychological traits of individuals. Such correlation is possible because a set of genes influences both the development of finger patterns (formed in the third–fourth month of embryonic development) and brain formation. Our work examined the distal phalange patterns of 166 people: students of II–IV years, as well as teachers and staff of the HNU Faculty of Biology. For describing skin drawings we used Francis Galton’s classification, which includes three main pattern types: whorls, loops (ulnar and radial, depending on opening direction), and arches. Fingerprints were taken with stamp ink on paper, and patterns on clean hands were examined under adequate lighting. Results were entered into a database created with Statistica 6. The main pattern types were ordered by complexity: arch – ulnar loop – radial loop – whorl. For each subject we calculated overall fingerprint characteristics: asymmetry level, complexity and typicality. Pattern complexity on each finger and overall fingerprint characteristics were compared with sex, handedness, and the average score obtained by students in vertebrate zoology and ecology tests (lecturer – Associate Professor D.A. Shabanov). A non‑parametric Spearman correlation coefficient was used to detect significant relationships. A reliable negative correlation was found between the average zoology test score and the pattern type on the thumbs (rSp = ‑0.24, p < 0.05 for the right hand and rSp = ‑0.20, p < 0.05 for the left). No such correlation was found for ecology test results. This may be due to zoology test success relying more on factual recall (memory processes), whereas ecology performance depends more on material comprehension. Moreover, zoology test scores significantly correlated with pattern typicality on all ten fingers (rSp = 0.21, p < 0.05) and with pattern complexity (rSp = ‑0.23, p < 0.05). An interesting correlation was also observed between the pattern type on the third finger of the right hand and sex (rSp = 0.16, p < 0.05); for example, whorls are much more common on this finger in men than in women. Overall, patterns on all ten fingers are more typical in men than in women, which somewhat contradicts the common view of higher variability among males. We suggest that these correlations confirm a subtle link between fingerprint patterns and the organization of the human nervous system, and indicate the role of innate factors in determining academic success. Summary. Finger patterns of biology faculty students have been investigated using Galton classification. Their correlation with sex and results according to the zoological tests has been illustrated. We express sincere gratitude for the idea of the work and scientific supervision to Associate Professor of the Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology, Dr. Shabanov D. A. Mikhailova O.V., Dyachenko E.V., Kechedzhi A.E., Makhnij T.I. (scientific supervisor – Shabanov D. A.). Can student academic performance be related to their fingerprints? // “Biology: from molecule to biosphere”. Materials of the IV International Conference of Young Scientists. – Kharkiv: PPV “New Word”, 2009. – pp. 115‑116.