Telescope Shiner, Yet More! And Jail Might Help Studying.

Besides the February and March collections of telescopes being significantly different in length and mass, I've found that in the March collection the males are a lot smaller than the females; significantly so. We haven't looked at all of the fish yet, but looking at 20 suggests that there is sexual size dimorphism. My next task is to sit down with the ovaries we've removed and characterize their maturation. It's advanced, but not quite mature; small immature eggs <1 mm can be seen with the naked eye. I would say that they're showing signs of exogenous vitellogenesis, probably late stage.

It looks like I'm going on a hike through the Walls of Jericho tract this Saturday. I just heard that a geologist will be leading a hiking group to explain the geologic history and structure of the Walls. His name escapes me, but I'm game. It's been announced on the local NPR radio station as "a strenuous five hour hike requiring good shoes". Ha! I could've told them that! It should be fun, and I need a good workout like that.

As an odd observation, two students in my intro biology lecture section were in jail separately just before my last exam. One was in for five days, the other for three. Both of them did significantly better on this exam compared to the first exam; they both said they did nothing but study while being held. It sounds harsh, but maybe undergraduates should be held in the county jail for several days before an exam for their own good?