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43-476: Sirena maculosa Rafinesque , 1818 The common mudpuppy ( Necturus maculosus ) is a species of salamander in the family Proteidae . It lives an entirely aquatic lifestyle in parts of North America in lakes, rivers, and ponds. It goes through paedomorphosis and retains its external gills . Because skin and lung respiration alone is not sufficient for gas exchange, the common mudpuppy must rely on external gills as its primary means of gas exchange. It

86-468: A Cyclopædic Journal and Review , of which only eight issues were printed (1832–1833). He also gave public lectures and continued publishing, mostly at his own expense. Rafinesque died of stomach and liver cancer in Philadelphia on 18 September 1840. The cancer may have been induced by Rafinesque's self-medication years before with a mixture containing maidenhair fern . He was buried in a plot in what

129-590: A few of his descriptions were published, with his friend John D. Clifford's series "Indian Antiquities", eight long letters in Lexington's short-lived Western Review and Miscellaneous Magazine (1819–1820). Clifford died suddenly in 1820, ending his contributions. Rafinesque's work was used by others. For instance, he identified 148 ancient earthworks sites in Kentucky. All sites in Kentucky that were included by E. G. Squier and Davis in their notable Ancient Monuments of

172-669: A mudpuppy also plays a significant role in its diet. The mudpuppy jaw is considered metaautostyly , like most amphibians, meaning the jaw is more stable and that the salamander has a dentary . This affects their diet by limiting the flexibility of the jaw to take in larger prey. The mudpuppy has few predators which may include fish, crayfish , turtles , and water snakes . Fishermen also frequently catch and discard them. Mudpuppies take six years to reach sexual maturity. Mating typically takes place in autumn, though eggs are not laid till much later. When males are ready to breed, their cloacae become swollen. Males deposit their spermatophores in

215-592: A notable contribution to North American prehistory with his studies of ancient earthworks of the Adena and Hopewell cultures , especially in the Ohio Valley . He was the first to identify these as the "Ancient Monuments of America". He listed more than 500 such archaeological sites in Ohio and Kentucky. Rafinesque never excavated; rather, he recorded the sites visited by careful measurements, sketches, and written descriptions. Only

258-660: Is an introduced population in Maine . Mudpuppies use rows of teeth to eat their prey. Salamanders have three different sets of teeth: dentary, premaxillary, and vomerine teeth, which are named due to their location in the mouth. All the teeth, despite their different locations, are very similar. They are small and conical, meaning mudpuppies are homodonts due to their similar shape. The common mudpuppy never leaves its aquatic environment and therefore does not undergo morphogenesis; however, many salamanders do and develop differentiated teeth. Aquatic salamander teeth are used to hinder escape of

301-491: Is now Ronaldson's Cemetery. In March 1924, what were thought to be his remains were transported to Transylvania University and reinterred in a tomb under a stone inscribed, "Honor to whom honor is overdue." Rafinesque published 6,700 binomial names of plants, many of which have priority over more familiar names. The quantity of new taxa he produced, both plants and animals, has made Rafinesque memorable or even notorious among biologists. Rafinesque applied to join one of

344-426: Is primarily done by the pituitary gland instead. In common mudpuppies, the purpose of the absence of a parathyroid gland is poorly understood. One reason for the absence might be the lack of variability in the climate of mudpuppies, as the parathyroid glands of salamanders vary greatly depending on seasonal changes, or whether the organism hibernates. Necturus maculosus specimens live in streams, lakes, and ponds in

387-481: Is usually a rusty brown color and can grow to an average total length (including tail) of 13 in (330 mm). It is a nocturnal creature, and is active during the day only if the water in which it lives is murky. Its diet consists of almost anything it can get into its mouth, including insects , mollusks , and earthworms (as well as other annelids ). Once a female common mudpuppy reaches sexual maturity at six years of age, she can lay an average of 60 eggs. In

430-409: The mule deer ( Odocoileus hemionus ). Rafinesque was one of the first to use the term " evolution " in the context of biological speciation. Rafinesque proposed a theory of evolution before Charles Darwin . In a letter in 1832, Rafinesque wrote: The truth is that Species and perhaps Genera also, are forming in organized beings by gradual deviations of shapes, forms and organs, taking place in

473-786: The Bering Sea from Asia to North America, and that the Americas were populated by black indigenous peoples at the time of European contact. Rafinesque was born on 22 October 1783, in Galata , a suburb of Constantinople. His father, F. G. Rafinesque, was a French merchant from Marseilles ; his mother, M. Schmaltz, was of German descent and born in Constantinople. His father died in Philadelphia about 1793. Rafinesque spent his youth in Marseilles, and

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516-605: The Delaware Indians). It told of their migration to the lands around the Delaware River . Rafinesque claimed he had obtained wooden tablets engraved and painted with indigenous pictographs , together with a transcription in the Lenape language . Based on this, he produced an English translation of the tablets' contents. Rafinesque claimed the original tablets and transcription were later lost, leaving his notes and transcribed copy as

559-601: The Mississippi Valley (1848), completed for the Smithsonian Institution , were first identified by Rafinesque in his manuscripts. Rafinesque also made contributions to Mesoamerican studies. The latter were based on linguistic data, which he extracted from printed sources, mostly those of travelers. He designated as Taino , the ancient language of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola . Others later also used

602-426: The ability to be regulated by TH over time. This selective insensitivity to THs suggests a normal level of activity in the hypothalamo-pituitary-thyroid axis in developing mudpuppies, unlike other salamander species. The common mudpuppy also does not have a parathyroid gland . The majority of salamanders with parathyroid glands rely on them to help with hypercalcemic regulation; hypercalcemic regulation in mudpuppies

645-566: The acquaintance of fellow naturalist John James Audubon , and stayed in Audubon's home for some three weeks. Audubon, although enjoying Rafinesque's company, took advantage of him by practical jokes involving fantastic, made-up species. In 1819, Rafinesque became professor of botany at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky , where he also gave private lessons in French, Italian, and Spanish. He

688-646: The acquaintance of most of the young nation's few botanists. In 1805, Rafinesque returned to Europe with his collection of botanical specimens, and settled in Palermo , Sicily, where he learned Italian. He became so successful in trade that he retired by age 25 and devoted his time entirely to natural history. For a time Rafinesque also worked as secretary to the American consul. During his stay in Sicily, he studied plants and fishes, naming many newly discovered species of each. He

731-434: The body during short swimming spurts. They have mucous glands which provide a slimy protective coating Mudpuppies are one of many species of salamanders that fail to undergo metamorphosis . Most hypotheses surrounding the origin of Necturus 's lack of metamorphosis concern the effectiveness of the thyroid gland . The thyroid gland in some salamanders, like the axolotl , produce normal thyroid hormones (THs), but cells in

774-614: The document might be fraudulent. In the 1950s, the Indiana Historical Society published a "retranslation" of the Walam Olum , as "a worthy subject for students of aboriginal culture". Since the late 20th century, studies especially in linguistic, ethnohistorical, archaeological, and textual analyses suggest that the Walam Olum account was largely or entirely a fabrication. Scholars have described its record of "authentic Lenape traditional migration stories" as spurious. After

817-468: The eastern part of North America. They appear in the southern section of Canada, as far south as Georgia, and from the Midwest United States to North Carolina. Behaviorally, they hide under cover such as rocks and logs during the day and become more active at night. However, in muddy waters, the mudpuppy may become active during the day. Mudpuppies can even live under the ice when lakes freeze. There

860-401: The eggs in a safe location, usually on the underside of a rock or log. They can lay from 20 to 200 eggs, usually an average of 60. The eggs are not pigmented and are about 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) mm in diameter. The female stays with her eggs during the incubation period (around 40 days). Hatchlings are about 2.5 cm (0.98 in) long and grow to 3.6 cm (1.4 in) before

903-474: The lapse of time. There is a tendency to deviations and mutations through plants and animals by gradual steps at remote irregular periods. This is a part of the great universal law of perpetual mutability in everything. Thus it is needless to dispute and differ about new genera, species and varieties. Every variety is a deviation which becomes a species as soon as it is permanent by reproduction. Deviations in essential organs may thus gradually become new genera. In

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946-496: The new species of plants and animals he encountered in travels throughout the state. He was considered an erratic student of higher plants. In the spring of 1826, he left the university after quarreling with its president. He traveled and lectured in various places, and endeavored to establish a magazine and a botanic garden, but without success. He moved to Philadelphia, a center of publishing and research, without employment. He published The Atlantic Journal and Friend of Knowledge,

989-557: The newly established Lyceum of Natural History . In 1817, his book Florula Ludoviciana  [ es ] or A Flora of the State of Louisiana was strongly criticized by fellow botanists, which caused his writings to be ignored. By 1818, he had collected and named more than 250 new species of plants and animals. Slowly, he was rebuilding his collection of objects from nature. In the summer of 1818, in Henderson, Kentucky , Rafinesque made

1032-458: The only record of evidence. For over a century after Rafinesque's publication, the Walam Olum was widely accepted by ethnohistorians as authentically Native American in origin, but as early as 1849, when the document was republished by Ephraim G. Squier , Henry Rowe Schoolcraft , an ethnologist who had worked extensively in Michigan and related territories, wrote to Squier saying that he believed

1075-421: The organism express thyroid hormone receptors (TR) that are mutated, and do not bond correctly with thyroid hormones, leading to some salamanders in a state of perpetual juvenile-hood. In contrast to axolotls, in mudpuppies, these THs are normally expressed. However, it is believed that instead of having TH-insensitive tissues that block the effects of THs, some mudpuppy tissues, such as the external gills, have lost

1118-406: The oxygen levels present in the water. In stagnant water, mudpuppies have larger gills, whereas in running streams where oxygen is more prevalent, they have smaller gills. The distal portions of the gills are very filamentous and contain many capillaries. Mudpuppies also have small, flattened limbs which can be used for slowly walking on the bottoms of streams or ponds, or they can be flattened against

1161-643: The prey from the salamander; they do not have a crushing function. This aids the salamander when feeding. When the salamander performs the "suck and gape" feeding style, the prey is pulled into the mouth, and the teeth function to hold the prey inside the mouth and prevent the prey from escaping. At both sides of their mouths their lips interlock, which allows them to use suction feeding. They are carnivorous creatures and will eat almost anything they can get into their mouths. Typically they prey upon animals such as insects and their larvae, mollusks, annelids, crayfish, small fish, amphibians, earthworms, and spiders . The jaw of

1204-509: The publication in 1995 of David Oestreicher 's thesis, The Anatomy of the Walam Olum: A 19th Century Anthropological Hoax , many scholars concurred with his analysis. They concluded that Rafinesque had been either the perpetrator, or perhaps the victim, of a hoax. Other scholars, writers, and some among the Lenape continue to find the account plausible and support its authenticity. Rafinesque made

1247-399: The substratum of the environment. The female will then pick them up with her cloaca and store them in a small specialized gland, a spermatheca , until the eggs are fertilized. Females store the sperm until ovulation and internal fertilization take place, usually just prior to deposition in the spring. Before the eggs are deposited, male mudpuppies leave the nest. Once ready, the female deposits

1290-436: The term " mutations ". He believed that evolution had occurred "by gradual steps at remote irregular periods." This has been compared to the concept of punctuated equilibrium . He also held that the same processes apply to humans. In 1836, Rafinesque published his first volume of The American Nations . This included Walam Olum , a purported migration and creation narrative of the Lenape (also known by English speakers as

1333-493: The term to identify the ethnicity of indigenous Caribbean peoples. Although mistaken in his presumption that the ancient Maya script was alphabetical in nature, Rafinesque was probably first to insist that studying modern Mayan languages could lead to deciphering the ancient script. In 1832, he was the first to partly decipher ancient Maya. He explained that its bar-and-dot symbols represent fives and ones, respectively. According to historian George Daniels, Rafinesque

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1376-526: The third edition of On the Origin of Species published in 1861, Charles Darwin added a Historical Sketch that acknowledged the ideas of Rafinesque. Rafinesque's evolutionary theory appears in a two-page article in the 1833 spring issue of the Atlantic Journal and Friend of Knowledge (a journal founded by himself). Rafinesque held that species are not fixed; they gradually change through time. He used

1419-501: The western scientific expeditions organized by President Thomas Jefferson , but received notice of appointment to the Dunbar and Hunter Expedition only after his arrival in Sicily. After studying the specimens collected by the Lewis and Clark expedition, he assigned scientific names to the black-tailed prairie dog ( Cynomys ludovicianus ), the white-footed mouse ( Peromyscus leucopus ), and

1462-661: The wild, the average lifespan of a common mudpuppy is 11 years. The common mudpuppy can be a rusty brown color with gray and black and usually has blackish-blue spots, but some albino adults have been reported in Arkansas. In clear, light water, their skin gets darker, likewise in darker water, their skin gets lighter in color. At sexual maturity, mudpuppies can be 20 cm (8 in) long and continue to grow to an average length of 33 cm (13 in), though specimens up to 43.5 cm (17.1 in) have been reported. Their external gills resemble ostrich plumes and their size depends on

1505-579: The yolk is completely consumed. Three subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies . Nota bene : A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Necturus . [REDACTED] Media related to Necturus maculosus at Wikimedia Commons Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz ( French pronunciation: [kɔ̃stɑ̃tin samɥɛl ʁafinɛsk(ə)ʃmalts] ; 22 October 1783 – 18 September 1840)

1548-731: Was a French early 19th-century polymath born near Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire and self-educated in France. He traveled as a young man in the United States, ultimately settling in Ohio in 1815, where he made notable contributions to botany, zoology, and the study of prehistoric earthworks in North America . He also contributed to the study of ancient Mesoamerican linguistics , in addition to work he had already completed in Europe. Rafinesque

1591-547: Was a brilliant but erratic naturalist who roamed the American wilderness. His style was offputting to the emerging professionalization of science and achievements were controversial at the time and by historians ever since. By 1820, he was virtually an outcast in the scientific community as all the important publications rejected his submissions. The two leading American scientists of the day, Benjamin Silliman and Asa Gray , were harshly critical. Modern historians agree that Rafinesque

1634-576: Was also a brilliant teacher at Transylvania University. John Jeremiah Sullivan 's essay La-Hwi-Ne-Ski: Career of an Eccentric Naturalist , which appears in his 2011 collection, Pulphead , chronicles the life and times of Rafinesque. Homodont In vertebrates, heterodont pertains to animals where teeth are differentiated into different forms. For example, members of the Synapsida generally possess incisors , canines ("dogteeth"), premolars , and molars . The presence of heterodont dentition

1677-520: Was an eccentric and erratic genius. He was an autodidact , who excelled in various fields of knowledge, as a zoologist, botanist, writer and polyglot . He wrote prolifically on such diverse topics as anthropology, biology, geology, and linguistics, but was honored in none of these fields during his lifetime. Indeed, he was an outcast in the American scientific community and his submissions were automatically rejected by leading journals. Among his theories were that ancestors of Native Americans had migrated by

1720-520: Was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1808. Rafinesque had a common-law wife . After their son died in 1815, he left her and returned to the United States. When his ship Union foundered near the coast of Connecticut, he lost all his books (50 boxes) and all his specimens (including more than 60,000 shells ). Settling in New York, Rafinesque became a founding member of

1763-550: Was loosely associated with John D. Clifford, a merchant who was also interested in the ancient earthworks that remained throughout the Ohio Valley. Clifford conducted archival research, seeking the origins of these mounds, and Rafinesque measured and mapped them. Some had already been lost to American development. He was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1820. Rafinesque started recording all

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1806-455: Was mostly self-educated; he never attended university. By the age of 12, he had begun collecting plants for an herbarium . By 14, he had taught himself Greek and Latin because he needed to follow footnotes in the books he was reading in his paternal grandmother's libraries. In 1802, at the age of 19, Rafinesque sailed to Philadelphia in the United States with his younger brother. They traveled through Pennsylvania and Delaware , where he made

1849-435: Was often hasty, and tried to claim credit properly due to other researchers. Scientists were troubled that his theory of evolution – long before Darwin – seemed to be based more on his speculation and exaggerations than on solid research. Despite all his faults, says Daniels, "he made enormous contributions to the natural history phase of American science...with the establishment of 34 genera and 24 species of American fishes." He

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