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American Zoologist 1973 13(1):115-137; doi:10.1093/icb/13.1.115
© 1973 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
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Information Control in the Amphibian Facility: The Use of R. pipiens Disruptive Patterning for Individual Identification and Genetic Studies

GEORGE W. NACE, CHRISTINA M. RICHARDS and GRETCHEN M. HAZEN
Department of Zoology, Center for Human Growth and Development, The University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104

A computer based information control system known as Taxir, based on graph, set and information theories and utilizing a language resembling English with the syntax of boolean algebra for its retrieval portion, was adopted to control information in the Amphibian Facility. This includes routine data collections on demography, genetics and pathology as well as special collections on morphometrics, female reproduction and other specialized data. Data structuring, retrieval and analysis by this generalized information control system interacting with the Michigan Terminal System (MTS) and the Michigan Interactive Data Analysis System (MIDAS) on an IBM 360/67 computer is demonstrated by use of the demographic data bank.

As further illustration, the disruptive patterning and toe clipping systems developed to identify individual R. pipiens are described and their use shown. Further demonstration of the interaction between Taxir and MIDAS serves to reveal the potential significance of analyses of disruptive patterning in the study of frog genetics.

The description and demonstration of Taxir is sufficiently detailed for biologists unfamiliar with computer technology to make preliminary evaluation of its applicability to and ease of operation in their information control systems.


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