Minimising trapping effort without affecting population density estimations for small mammals
Publication date: Available online 13 October 2018Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Irene Castañeda, Benoît Pisanu, Mario Díaz, Célia Rézouki, Emmanuelle Baudry, Jean-Louis Chapuis, Elsa BonnaudAbstractImproving species community diversity studies needs population abundances to be calculated. Micromammal population densities are highly variable at small spatial scales. Mark-recapture methods based on grid trapping is the most reliable technique to study density in small rodents, albeit it is time-consuming because it necessitates increasing the number of spatial replicates. Here, we evaluated a live-trapping grid st...
Source: Mammalian Biology - October 14, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Seasonal intake responses could reflect digestive plasticity in the nectar-feeding bat Anoura geoffroyi
Publication date: Available online 12 October 2018Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Jorge Ayala-Berdon, Cesar García Corona, Margarita Martínez-GómezAbstractMany studies have used intake response as a tool for understanding digestive capacities of bats to process nectar. Nevertheless, most of them have been done so in one season, assuming that this response does not change over the year. One study performed with Glossophaga soricina, a bat inhabiting warm environments, found different intake response over seasons, but these changes are unknown for other bat species; especially those inhabiting cold climates. We measur...
Source: Mammalian Biology - October 13, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Distribution and activity pattern of stone marten Martes foina in relation to prey and predators
Publication date: Available online 4 October 2018Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Suhridam Roy, Abhishek Ghoshal, Ajay Bijoor, Kulbhushansingh SuryawanshiAbstractSmall carnivores are expected to optimize their activity to maximize prey capture and minimize their encounter with predators. We assessed the activity pattern of the stone marten Martes foina in relation to its potential prey, the Himalayan woolly hare Lepus oiostolus and the Royle’s pika Ochotona roylei, and its predators, the red fox Vulpes vulpes and the free-ranging dog Canis familiaris. Using three years of camera trapping data from the Indian Trans-Him...
Source: Mammalian Biology - October 5, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Genetic diversity of the genus Vulpes (Red fox and Fennec fox) in Tunisia based on mitochondrial DNA and noninvasive DNA sampling
Publication date: Available online 26 September 2018Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Yamna Karssene, Carsten Nowak, Mohsen Chammem, Berardino Cocchiararo, Said NouiraAbstractThe red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is a highly adaptable omnivorous mammal distributed across all continents on the northern hemisphere. The fennec fox (Vulpes zerda) is widespread in sandy deserts and semi-deserts of North Africa. Although, these two species occupy two different ecosystems in Tunisia, where they play an important ecological role, few studies have examined their mitochondrial DNA variability. Two mitochondrial markers (D-loop and cytochrom...
Source: Mammalian Biology - October 5, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Linking plasma sex steroid hormone levels to the condition of external genitalia in European badgers (Meles meles): A critical evaluation of traditional field methodology
Publication date: Available online 26 September 2018Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): N.A. Sugianto, C.D. Buesching, M. Heistermann, C. Newman, D.W. MacdonaldABSTRACTField biologists often rely on examination of external genitalia as a proxy for mammalian reproductive condition. In seasonally breeding European badgers, scrotal testes are used as an indicator of spermatogenesis, while a pink and swollen vulva with mucosal secretion is assumed to indicate oestrus. Systematic validation of these assumptions is lacking. Here we analysed sex steroid hormones from plasma samples collected from sexually mature adults during the...
Source: Mammalian Biology - October 5, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Marked reduction in body size of a wood mouse population in less than 30 years
Publication date: Available online 29 September 2018Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): María Docampo, Sacramento Moreno, Simone SantoroAbstractThermoregulation, metabolism and life history of species are affected by body size and shape. Based on specimens of the wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus that were collected at Doñana National Park in 1978-81 and 2006-07, we tested for changes between these periods in body mass, body size, and allometry. Furthermore, we used data from 1978-81, when more specimens were available, to evaluate the sexual dimorphism of adults. Between the two periods and regardless of age, the most stri...
Source: Mammalian Biology - October 5, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
The importance of forest conservation for the survival of the range-restricted Pipistrellus hanaki, an endemic bat from Crete and Cyrenaica
In this study, we examine the relation of Pipistrellus hanaki, a bat species limited to Cyrenaica, Libya and Crete, with the relict forests of Crete. Radiotracking of males (in autumn) and lactating females (in early summer) showed that P. hanaki uses a range of roost types, but Quercus forest stands and old tree cultivations are largely preferred for foraging, while open areas, young Cupressus stands and Mediterranean maquis are avoided.To unveil larger-scale patterns of habitat suitability by the species, we used Maxent to model its potential distribution on Crete using Chelsa Climatology. The resulted model showed high ...
Source: Mammalian Biology - October 5, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
No evidence for multimodal body mass distributions and body mass-related capture order in wild-caught Damaraland mole-rats
Publication date: Available online 1 October 2018Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Cornelia Voigt, Andries ter Maat, Nigel C. BennettAbstractDivision of labour among workers is a universal property of eusocial insect societies. For Damaraland mole-rats (Fukomys damarensis), a eusocial mammal, it was proposed that workers can be divided into morphologically distinct (in terms of body mass) subcastes of frequent and infrequent workers. Here we investigate, by using capture data from a large number of colonies of Damaraland mole-rats, if body mass is multimodally distributed, which may be indicative of worker subcastes and,...
Source: Mammalian Biology - October 5, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
A meta-analysis of the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on genetic diversity in mammals
Publication date: Available online 17 September 2018Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Ana Lino, Carlos Fonseca, Danny Rojas, Erich Fischer, Maria João Ramos PereiraAbstractHuman activities have led to global changes with direct consequences for biodiversity. For this reason, special concerns have arisen, particularly in respect to global threats such as habitat loss and fragmentation, because they decrease population size, promote the loss of species genetic diversity, contract species geographical distribution and facilitate species loss. Interest in the genetic consequences related to habitat changes has increased in ...
Source: Mammalian Biology - September 18, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Spatial genetics of brown hares (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778) from Turkey: different gene pool architecture on either side of the Bosphorus?
Publication date: Available online 17 September 2018Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Yasin Demirbaş, İrfan Albayrak, Ayça Özkan Koca, Milomir Stefanović, Felix Knauer, Franz SuchentrunkAbstractWe determined allelic variation at eleven microsatellite loci to study the effect of the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles on the population genetic architecture of brown hares, Lepus europaeus, from Anatolia and Turkish Thrace in the southeastern most Balkans. The latter region was connected with Anatolia during periods of the late Pleistocene and the early Holocene (until ca. 8000 y BP) enabling natural gen...
Source: Mammalian Biology - September 18, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Mitogenomics of the jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi, Felidae, Carnivora): disagreement between morphological subspecies and molecular data
Publication date: Available online 16 September 2018Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Manuel Ruiz-García, Myreya Pinedo-Castro, Joseph Mark ShostellAbstractWe analyzed 80 mitogenomes of the elusive jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi, Felidae, Carnivora), representing seven of the eight putative morphological subspecies traditionally described. The mitochondrial genetic diversity levels were very high in this cat species and therefore similar to other Neotropical cats. Nonetheless, the number of significantly different molecular clusters did not align well with putative morphological subspecies. We detected three possible mol...
Source: Mammalian Biology - September 17, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Taxonomy of the pygmy marmoset (Cebuella Gray, 1866): geographic variation, species delimitation, and nomenclatural notes
We examined a recent taxonomic appraisal of Cebuella by Boubli et al. With an increased sample spanning most of the geographic range of the genus, we investigated ventral pelage variation in Cebuella to test the proposition of Boubli et al. that there were three geographically-restricted phenotypes. Additionally, we conducted a model-based species delimitation test using published cytochrome b data and verified the the type localities of the available nomina. Contrary to Boubli et al., our analysis showed that ventral pelage of Cebuella varies consistently along geography, indicating the existence of two species-group taxa...
Source: Mammalian Biology - September 14, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Winter snow cover increases swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus) mortality at the northern extent of their range
Publication date: Available online 12 September 2018Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Elizabeth M. Hillard, Alison C. Edmund, Joanne C. Crawford, Clayton K. Nielsen, Eric M. Schauber, John W. GroningerAbstractIn North America, native lagomoprhs that are habitat specialist are of conservation concern due to loss of habitat and fragmentation, population declines, and their importance in food webs. Moreover, lagomorphs occupying range edges are especially vulnerable to environmental conditions given changes in climate. We evaluated the influence of snow cover on winter mortality for 136 swamp rabbits (Sylvilagus aquaticus) ...
Source: Mammalian Biology - September 13, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Roost selection and ecology of Stoliczka’s trident bat, Aselliscus stoliczkanus (Hipposideridae, Chiroptera) in China
Publication date: Available online 8 September 2018Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Yingying Liu, Yanmei Wang, Zongxiao Zhang, Yanzhen Bu, Hongxing NiuABSTRACTBats choose their habitats based on microclimate, structure, environment, human disturbance and availability. Selection of suitable roosts by bats can have fitness benefits by providing shelter and a place to rear young. To clarify the mechanism of habitat selection by Stoliczka’s trident bat (Aselliscus stoliczkanus), roost selection, ecology and diet of this species were studied from December 2013 to September 2017 in mainland China. Ninety-six potential roost...
Source: Mammalian Biology - September 9, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Differentiation underground: range-wide multilocus genetic structure of the silvery mole-rat does not support current taxonomy based on mitochondrial sequences
Publication date: Available online 27 August 2018Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Josef Bryja, Hana Konvičková, Anna Bryjová, Ondřej Mikula, Rhodes Makundi, Wilbert N. Chitaukali, Radim ŠumberaAbstractThe silvery mole-rat (Heliophobius argenteocinereus) is a solitary subterranean rodent with its distribution centred mainly in miombo woodlands of eastern Africa. This part of the continent was significantly influenced by the formation of the East African Rift System (EARS) during the last 25 Mya and by pronounced climatic changes in the Plio-Pleistocene that have caused genetic differentiation leading even to speciat...
Source: Mammalian Biology - August 28, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
