The canicula is the reduction of rainfall during the rainy season, in July and August, which can mainly affect basic grains during the crop flowering and grain filling phases. This natural climatic event manifests from the south of Mexico to the Central American Dry Corridor and ends in the Dry Arc of Panama. It affects the Pacific zone of Nicaragua with higher frequency and intensity, followed by areas in Honduras, Panama (provinces of Los Santos and Herrera, and some areas of the Darien province) and part of the Dry Corridor of Guatemala (Chiquimula and Zacapa). The intensity and accentuation of the canicula in Central America is more correlated with the version of Modoki El Niño than with the version of Canonical El Niño. The Modoki El Niño version has increased its frequency of occurrence in the last decades, presenting favourable conditions for an increase in the frequency of occurrence of extended caniculas in the region. The objective of the index is to evaluate the reduction of rainfall during the rainy season which, in years of extreme canicula, causes considerable losses in annual crops.

In this fictionalized memoir of Laredo, Texas, canícula represents a time between childhood and a yet unknown adulthood.

Winner of the Premio Aztlán Literary Prize Canícula—the dog days—a particularly intense part of the summer when most cotton is harvested in South Texas. In Norma Cantú’s fictionalized memoir of Laredo in the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s, it also represents a time between childhood and a still-unknown adulthood. Snapshots and the author’s re-created memories allow readers to experience the pivotal events of this world—births, deaths, injuries, fiestas, and rites of passage. In celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the original publication, this updated edition includes newly written pieces as well as never-before-published images—culled from hundreds of the author’s family photos—adding further depth and insight into this unique contribution to Chicana literature.

Virtually every area of research associated with sharks and their relatives has been strongly impacted by the revolutionary growth in technology. The questions we can now ask are very different than those reported even two decades ago. Modern immunological and genetic techniques, satellite telemetry and archival tagging, modern phylogenetic analysis, GIS, and bomb dating, are just a few of the techniques and procedures that have become a part of our investigative lexicon. A modern synthesis of the biology of Chondrichthyans, Biology of Sharks and Their Relatives, Second Edition discusses significant advances in the development and application of new molecular techniques to the understanding of the phylogenetic relationships among and between these groups. The book considers the effect of global changes on the status of sharks and their relatives, and how advances in technology and analytical techniques have changed not only how we approach problem solving and scientific investigations, but how we formulate questions. The book also introduces applications of new and novel laboratory devices, techniques, and field instruments. This second edition of the award winning and groundbreaking original exploration of the fundamental elements of the taxonomy, systematics, physiology, and ecology of sharks, skates, rays, and chimera, presents cohesive and integrated coverage of key topics and discusses technological advances used in modern shark research. Offering a well-rounded picture for students and researchers, and far above competitors in scope and research, this new volume holds a wealth of data on the current status of Chondrichthyan research and provides the basis and springboard for original research. Cover photo by Justin Gilligan