Ana Rosa Gómez Cano

Dietary ecology of Murinae (Muridae, Rodentia): a geometric morphometric approach.

Murine rodents represent a highly diverse group, which displays great ecological versatility. In the present paper we analyse the relationship between dental morphology, on one hand, using geometric morphometrics based upon the outline of first upper molar and the dietary preference of extant murine genera, on the other. This ecomorphological study of extant murine rodents demonstrates that dietary groups can be distinguished with the use of a quantitative geometric morphometric approach based on first upper molar outline. A discriminant analysis of the geometric morphometric variables of the first upper molars enables us to infer the dietary preferences of extinct murine genera from the Iberian Peninsula. Most of the extinct genera were omnivore; only Stephanomys showed a pattern of dental morphology alike that of the herbivore genera.

Global climate changes drive ecological specialization of mammal faunas: trends in rodent assemblages from the Iberian Plio-Pleistocene

BackgroundSeveral macroevolutionary hypotheses propose a synchrony between climatic changes and variations in the structure of faunal communities. Some of them focus on the importance of the species ecological specialization because of its effects on evolutionary processes and the resultant patterns. Particularly, Vrba’s turnover pulse hypothesis and resource-use hypothesis revolve around the importance of biome inhabitation. In order to test these hypotheses, we used the Biomic Specialization Index, which is based on the number of biomes occupied by each species, and evaluated the changes in the relative importance of generalist and specialist rodents in more than forty fossil sites from the Iberian Plio-Pleistocene.ResultsOur results indicate that there was a decrease in the specialization degree of rodent faunas during the Pliocene due to the global cooling that triggered the onset of the glacial events of the Cenozoic (around 2.75 Ma). The subsequent faunal transition after this critical paleoenvironmental event was characterized by an increase of specialization related to the adaptation to the new environmental conditions, which was mainly associated with the Pleistocene radiation of Arvicolinae (voles).ConclusionsThe pattern of faunal turnover is correlated with the development of the modern glaciations in the Northern Hemisphere around 2.75 Ma, and represents a reorganization of the rodent communities, as suggested by the turnover pulse hypothesis. Our data also support the resource-use hypothesis, which presumes the role of the degree of specialization in resources specifically related to particular biomes as a driver of differential speciation and extinction rates. These results stress the intimate connection between ecological and evolutionary changes.

A macroecological glance at the structure of late Miocene rodent assemblages from Southwest Europe

Deep-time perspectives in macroecology are essential with regard to understanding the impact of climate forcing on faunal communities. Using late Miocene rodent faunas (12 to 5 Ma) from two different biogeographical provinces from southwestern Europe, we asked whether the waxing and waning of faunas with dissimilar ecological affinities tracked climate in different ways. The latest middle Miocene featured a fauna dominated by dormice with forest and mixed-habitat affinities. This group declined towards the Upper Miocene. Rodent taxa with the highest values of richness at the beginning of the Upper Miocene are generalists in the southern province and specialists of forested habitats in the northern province. Finally, we identified a third, increasingly significant group of rodents linked to open landscapes towards the end of the Miocene. These three broad ecological groups showed differential responses to a complex set of interconnected circumstances, including the biogeographic structure of the study area and climatic changes throughout time.

GLAID: Designing a Game Learning Analytics Model to Analyze the Learning Process in Users with Intellectual Disabilities

Educational Games are increasingly popular in teaching as they have proven to be effective learning tools. Educational videogames are beneficial for all kind of students but we think they are especially suited for users with intellectual disabilities due to the opportunity of tailoring the content to their in-game performance. Adapting the game experience to the cognitive and learning abilities to this type of students also make videogames a powerful source of learning data. In this paper we introduce the GLAID (Game Learning Analytics for Intellectual Disabilities) Model, a theoretical adaptation of a more general analytics framework. It describes how to collect, process and analyze videogame interaction data in order to provide an overview of the user learning experience, from an individualized assessment to a collective perspective. But to obtain these goals it is necessary to take into account the restrictions and special needs of users with intellectual disabilities both in the learning design and in translating them into game mechanics and the corresponding observables that will be collected for the subsequent data analysis. We conclude with a discussion and considerations about the model and future steps to follow in our investigation.

A Literature Review of Serious Games for Intellectual Disabilities

Our review examines the literature on Serious Games used as learning tools for people with intellectual disabilities. Although intellectual disabilities are a very broad field where each individual has very specific characteristics, it would be beneficial to have general evidence-based recommendations about how to design videogames adapted to their cognitive requirements. Thus, the first step of our investigation is to identify and review the available literature on Serious Games for intellectual disabilities classifying them according to the learning outcomes associated. Search terms identified 43 papers covering this topic and our review presents the initial results. A second aim is to understand the mechanics designed, the methods used in the investigation and the data obtained. The final goal is to identify what is working in this kind of games and how this can be generalized into a methodology to simplify the creation of more effective games for people with intellectual disabilities.

Differential responses of Miocene rodent metacommunities to global climatic changes were mediated by environmental context

The study of how long-term changes affect metacommunities is a relevant topic, that involves the evaluation of connections among biological assemblages across different spatio-temporal scales, in order to fully understand links between global changes and macroevolutionary patterns. We applied multivariate statistical analyses and diversity tests using a large data matrix of rodent fossil sites in order to analyse long-term faunal changes. Late Miocene rodent faunas from southwestern Europe were classified into metacommunities, presumably sharing ecological affinities, which followed temporal and environmental non-random assembly and disassembly patterns. Metacommunity dynamics of these faunas were driven by environmental changes associated with temperature variability, but there was also some influence from the aridity shifts described for this region during the late Miocene. Additionally, while variations in the structure of rodent assemblages were directly influenced by global climatic changes in the southern province, the northern sites showed a pattern of climatic influence mediated by diversity-dependent processes.

Downtown, a Subway Adventure: Using Learning Analytics to Improve the Development of a Learning Game for People with Intellectual Disabilities

In this paper we analyze the process of designing and developing a Serious Game intended to train people with intellectual disabilities in moving around a city using the public transportation system. The first step in our investigation is to understand the cognitive, psychological and motor abilities of our users and their specific needs. Secondly, we translated the characteristics of the players into user requirements, with adapted mechanics to improve the understanding and to increase the probability for the user to be able to carry out the tasks to perform in the video game. Finally, due to the specific characteristics of our final users a Learning Analytics module has been included in the game to collect relevant information about how users are actually playing and to infer how the learning process of every user is occurring. We also discuss the next steps in our research and the future work related with it: design a range of experimental tests to verify the adequacy of the video game as a learning tool for this type of users.

Highlights in the Literature Available in Serious Games for Intellectual Disabilities

This review examines the literature on Serious Games used as learning tools for people with intellectual disabilities. Although intellectual disabilities are a very broad field where each individual has very specific characteristics, it would be beneficial to have general evidence-based recommendations about how to design videogames adapted to their cognitive requirements. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to identify and review the available literature on Serious Games for intellectual disabilities classifying them according to the learning outcomes associated. Search terms identified 43 papers covering this topic and this review presents the initial results. The final goal is to identify what is working in this kind of games and how this can be generalized into a methodology to simplify the creation of more effective games for people with intellectual disabilities.