Habitat selection of Cape porcupines in a farmland-suburban context in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Publication date: Available online 29 August 2019Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Samukelisiwe P. Ngcobo, Amy-Leigh Wilson, Colleen T. DownsAbstractCape porcupines (Hystrix africaeaustralis) have a wide geographic distribution throughout southern Africa and have a wide ecological tolerance of many terrestrial habitats, including those within human-altered landscapes. Due to their adaptability within anthropogenic landscapes, knowledge of their spatial behaviour will provide fundamental information about this species. With the aid of telemetry data (July 2016- January 2017) from 11 Cape porcupines, we investigated their ...
Source: Mammalian Biology - August 30, 2019 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Context-specific tool use by Sus cebifrons
Publication date: Available online 21 August 2019Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Meredith Root-Bernstein, Trupthi Narayan, Lucile Cornier, Aude BourgeoisAbstractTool use has been reported in a wide range of vertebrates, but so far not in Suidae (the pigs). Suidae are widely considered to be “intelligent” and have many traits associated with tool use, so this is surprising. Here, we report the first structured observations of umprompted instrumental object manipulation in a pig, the Visayan warty pig Sus cebrifrons, which we argue qualifies as tool use. Three individuals were observed using bark or sticks to dig wit...
Source: Mammalian Biology - August 22, 2019 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Climate change and its potential impact on the conservation of the Hoary Fox, Lycalopex vetulus (Mammalia: Canidae)
Publication date: Available online 20 August 2019Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Eliécer E. Gutiérrez, Neander M. Heming, Gabriel Penido, Julio C. Dalponte, Ana Cristyna Reis Lacerda, Ricardo Moratelli, Jamile de Moura Bubadué, Leonardo Henrique da Silva, Mariana M. Wolf, Jader Marinho-FilhoAbstractWe aimed to assess the potential impact of climate change on the geographic distribution of areas holding suitable climatic conditions for the presence of Lycalopex vetulus, and to discuss the implications of such distribution for the conservation of the species. We employed correlative modeling analyses to infer the geog...
Source: Mammalian Biology - August 21, 2019 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Dietary habits of wild Javan lutungs (Trachypithecus auratus) in a secondary-plantation mixed forest: Effects of vegetation composition and phenology
This study investigated the seasonal dietary habits of wild Javan lutungs (Trachypithecus auratus) inhabiting the secondary-plantation mixed forest of Pangandaran Nature Reserve, West Java, Indonesia, in relation to vegetation composition and phenology. We conducted behavioral observations of a habituated group for 16 non-consecutive months. The lutungs fed on 164 items (leaf, fruit, flower, etc.) from 85 different plant species. Number of main plant species (>1% usage) was 20, and accumulated percentage of feeding (all plant parts combined) for the top five, 10, and 20 plant species was 43.4%, 63.8%, and 81.2%, respective...
Source: Mammalian Biology - August 10, 2019 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Whole Genome Comparative Analysis of CpG Islands in Camelid and other Mammalian Genomes
Publication date: Available online 2 August 2019Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Arsalan Barazandeh, Mohammadreza Mohammadabadi, Mostafa Ghaderi-Zefrehei, Farjad Rafeie, Ikhide G. ImumorinAbstractCamels bear unique genotypes and phenotypes for adaptation in their environment, and as such could be very useful in the weather extremes accelerated by global climate change. Published sequences of Camelidae genomes provide an opportunity to elucidate the genomic architecture of these animals. CpG islands (CGIs) sequence patterns in complex genomes play important roles in gene regulation via epigenetic change. Comparative larg...
Source: Mammalian Biology - August 3, 2019 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Plasticity and specialisation in the isotopic niche of African clawless otters foraging in marine and freshwater habitats
Publication date: Available online 25 July 2019Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Rowan K. Jordaan, Michael J. Somers, Grant Hall, Trevor McIntyreAbstractIndividual-level behavioural plasticity resulting from differences in environmental conditions is prevalent in many organisms and may result in phenomena such as dietary- or habitat specialisation. The isotopic niche of African clawless otters, Aonyx capensis, occupying different habitats was investigated with the use of stable isotope techniques. Stable isotope analyses revealed that African clawless otter isotopic niche varied between, as well as within, individuals an...
Source: Mammalian Biology - July 26, 2019 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Editorial Board
Publication date: July 2019Source: Mammalian Biology, Volume 97Author(s): (Source: Mammalian Biology)
Source: Mammalian Biology - July 18, 2019 Category: Biology Source Type: research
The use of Spatially Explicit Capture-Recapture models for estimating Iberian lynx abundance in a newly reintroduced population
Publication date: Available online 15 July 2019Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Pedro Sarmento, Carlos CarrapatoAbstractFrom 2015 till 2018, 33 lynxes were released in southeast Portugal (Guadiana valley) as a result of an Iberian reintroduction project. Since then, at least 45 lynxes were born in the wild during 3 breeding seasons. In 2018, a combination of sign search and camera trapping was applied to estimate lynx abundance in the Guadiana reintroduction area, using spatially explicit capture-recapture (SECR) models with the incorporation of sex-specific parameters. A total effort of 7210 trap-days led to 218 indepe...
Source: Mammalian Biology - July 16, 2019 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Baiting improves wild boar population size estimates by camera trapping
Publication date: Available online 15 July 2019Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Albert Peris, Francesc Closa-Sebastià, Ignasi Marco, Emmanuel Serrano, Encarna Casas-DíazABSTRACTIn the last decade, camera trapping has become a widespread technique for wildlife monitoring. Although baits or attractants are commonly used to increase the likelihood of encounter, this practice has been criticised because of the potential biases in the population estimations based on these records obtained by mark-recapture or mark-resight methods, and especially in relative abundance indices (RAI). For two consecutive years, we evaluated t...
Source: Mammalian Biology - July 16, 2019 Category: Biology Source Type: research
The effects of aridity on land use, biodiversity and dietary breadth in leopards
Publication date: Available online 15 July 2019Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Gareth Mann (Source: Mammalian Biology)
Source: Mammalian Biology - July 16, 2019 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Schultz’s rule in domesticated mammals
Publication date: Available online 6 July 2019Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Madeleine Geiger, Robert J. AsherAbstractSchultz’s rule predicts early eruption of replacement teeth (incisors, canines, and premolars) relative to molars as growth slows and life history events take place over a greater span of time. Here, we investigate if the opposite trend might occur during the domestication process as a consequence of an accelerated life-history and driven by increased energetic needs. We provide new data on tooth eruption in four mammalian species and their domesticated forms: wolf and dog, polecat and ferret, bezoar...
Source: Mammalian Biology - July 7, 2019 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Genetic structure of populations of the Pampean grassland mouse, Akodon azarae, in an agroecosystem under intensive management
Publication date: Available online 2 July 2019Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): N.S. Vera, M.B. Chiappero, J.W. Priotto, L.V Sommaro, A.R. Steinmann, C.N. GardenalAbstractAgroecosystems in central Argentina are a good example of landscape modification by human activities. We used the Pampean grassland mouse (Akodon azarae) as a biological model to assess the effects of landscape fragmentation on the genetic structure of natural populations present in the region. The species is a habitat specialist that is numerically dominant in relatively stable environments, such as remnant areas of native vegetation, stream borders, r...
Source: Mammalian Biology - July 3, 2019 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Biodiversity lost: The phylogenetic relationships of a complete mitochondrial DNA genome sequenced from the extinct wolf population of Sicily
Publication date: Available online 18 June 2019Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Stefano Reale, Ettore Randi, Valentina Cumbo, Ignazio Sammarco, Floriana Bonanno, Antonio Spinnato, Salvatore SeminaraAbstractUsing next-generation sequencing, we obtained for the first time a complete mitochondrial DNA genome from a museum specimen of the extinct wolf (Canis lupus) population of the island of Sicily (Italy). Phylogenetic analyses indicated that this genome, which was aligned with a number of historical and extant wolf and dog mitogenomes sampled worldwide, was closely related to an Italian wolf mtDNA genome (the observed pr...
Source: Mammalian Biology - June 19, 2019 Category: Biology Source Type: research
The rumen washes off abrasives before heavy-duty chewing in ruminants
Publication date: Available online 12 June 2019Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Jean-Michel Hatt, Daryl Codron, Dennis W.H. Müller, Nicole L. Ackermans, Louise F. Martin, Patrick R. Kircher, Jürgen Hummel, Marcus ClaussAbstractBased on comparative mandibular anatomy, observations of chewing behaviour, chewing forces and dental microwear, it has been suggested that an additional effect of the ruminant digestive strategy could be a reduction of both the required chewing load and tooth wear ruminants are exposed to. This effect is hypothesized to be the result of digestion, mixing, and digesta sorting prior to regurgitat...
Source: Mammalian Biology - June 12, 2019 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Diet of a semiaquatic invasive mammal in northern Italy: Could it be an alarming threat to the endemic water vole?
Publication date: July 2019Source: Mammalian Biology, Volume 97Author(s): Emiliano Mori, Giuseppe MazzaAbstractThe American mink Neovison vison has been introduced to Italy for fur farms in the 1950s. Since the 1970s, free-ranging individuals are present in north-eastern Italy, where an expanding population still occurs. In our work, we aimed at assessing the seasonal diet of invasive American mink introduced to north-eastern Italy. Thus, a total of 195 mink scats (N = 73, June 2007; N = 57, September 2007; N = 65, February 2008) were collected. Scats were washed and food remains isolated and classified throu...
Source: Mammalian Biology - June 4, 2019 Category: Biology Source Type: research
