scholarly journals Detection of secretive mammal species by methods of lepidopterological field research

2021 ◽  
Vol 2020 (20) ◽  
pp. 132-138
Author(s):  
Yurii Geryak ◽  
◽  
Evgen Khalaim ◽  

Information is given on observations of a number of mammalian species with secretive lifestyle and nocturnal activity, including dormice, made during field lepidopterological research. The use of artificial light and aromatic scents in entomological research is one of the most effective methods for obtaining rich and diverse ecological and faunal information. In addition to scale insects, many other invertebrates, primarily insects, are attracted to light and bait. At the same time, large clusters of invertebrates that flock in masse and converge on light and bait, as readily available food attract a number of mammals with nocturnal activity, mostly insectivores (Soriciformes), bats (Vespertilioniformes), and rodents (Muriformes). A number of species that are rare and lead a hidden way of life are attracted to artificial light and aromatic scents, including species of the dormice family (Gliridae) such as the edible, forest, and hazel dormice. The latter are obviously attracted to the light by the insects. Instead, in case of the use of baits, for edible dormice and yellow-necked wood mice, probably the aroma and taste of the bait is what attracts them, because they were repeatedly seem feeding on the bait. At the same time, bright sources of artificial light are obviously of interest to other mammals. In particular, in this way were noted: hare, fox, European roe deer, and wild boar, as well as such rare mammals as lynx, wild cat, great jerboa, and thick-tailed three-toed jerboa. Based on such observations, as an example, a small overview of new findings of the forest dormouse is given, in particular in areas where this rodent species has not been recorded before or it was observed very infrequently. The authors noted this species on traps for scale insects in the highlands of the Ukrainian Carpathians (Chornohora ridge) and in the Northern Black Sea coast, within Odesa Oblast. Thus, standard methods of collecting field material often used in lepidopterological research, such as attracting by artificial light and aromatic scents, can be quite effective for detecting a number of mammal species of different taxonomic groups, including nocturnal mammals.

2021 ◽  
Vol 265 ◽  
pp. 01004
Author(s):  
Roman Kashkarov ◽  
Yuliya Mitropolskaya

This paper describes the first experience for Uzbekistan in mammals' fauna inventory in the context of large administrative districts. Tashkent region was chosen as a model territory for researching – as an integral natural area with natural geographical boundaries. A revision of the composition and assessment of the fauna current conditions of economically significant mammals of this region was carried out. The primary limiting factors and threats to the existence of these species were analyzed. The permissible standards for the removal of economically significant mammalian species from the natural environment were determined, based on the data of the abundance and their habitats conditions. Standard approaches and methods for inventory have been developed: data collection and storage; working with sources of existing information; field research as the gaps closing basic method. Based on the results of the research, standard species profiles were prepared for 17 economically significant mammalian species, including data on distribution, landscape location, abundance, and permissible operational loads. A proposal to change the current conservation status of the Long-tailed Marmot, Corsac Fox and Steppe Polecat was justified. These species were previously considered as hunting objects, but now they have become rare. The impact of introduced and invasive species – Coypu, Muskrat, American Mink and Norway Rat on the native fauna was determined. The analysis of negative impacts on the species allowed to recommend a number of applied measures for the sustainable use of biological resources.


1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (12) ◽  
pp. 2457-2464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan M. Glenn

An unresolved question in conservation biology is whether a single large reserve will support more or fewer species than several smaller reserves adding up to the same total area, and how this affects species composition. Within 'mammal provinces' of Canada, several parks supported the same number of mammalian species, or more, than a single large park with the same area. The proportion of species that require undisturbed habitats increased with total area conserved. Human disturbances should be reduced in parks because these undisturbed-site species are unable to survive in disturbed environments not protected by a park system. An analysis of species distributions across parks indicated that not all small parks had the same composition. I therefore recommend establishing many parks in a biologically defined region and incorporating as much total area as possible. To aid in developing a strategy for placing parks across Canada, areas with high total mammalian richness and high richness of mammal species intolerant of disturbances are highlighted. Maps showing these areas are particularly useful because it is unlikely that several large parks will be established in every region and it is therefore important to identify the most diverse sites.


2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1771) ◽  
pp. 20131945 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joana Segura ◽  
Luca Ferretti ◽  
Sebastián Ramos-Onsins ◽  
Laia Capilla ◽  
Marta Farré ◽  
...  

Recombination allows faithful chromosomal segregation during meiosis and contributes to the production of new heritable allelic variants that are essential for the maintenance of genetic diversity. Therefore, an appreciation of how this variation is created and maintained is of critical importance to our understanding of biodiversity and evolutionary change. Here, we analysed the recombination features from species representing the major eutherian taxonomic groups Afrotheria, Rodentia, Primates and Carnivora to better understand the dynamics of mammalian recombination. Our results suggest a phylogenetic component in recombination rates (RRs), which appears to be directional, strongly punctuated and subject to selection. Species that diversified earlier in the evolutionary tree have lower RRs than those from more derived phylogenetic branches. Furthermore, chromosome-specific recombination maps in distantly related taxa show that crossover interference is especially weak in the species with highest RRs detected thus far, the tiger. This is the first example of a mammalian species exhibiting such low levels of crossover interference, highlighting the uniqueness of this species and its relevance for the study of the mechanisms controlling crossover formation, distribution and resolution.


Paleobiology ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Foote ◽  
David M. Raup

The incompleteness of the fossil record hinders the inference of evolutionary rates and patterns. Here, we derive relationships among true taxonomic durations, preservation probability, and observed taxonomic ranges. We use these relationships to estimate original distributions of taxonomic durations, preservation probability, and completeness (proportion of taxa preserved), given only the observed ranges. No data on occurrences within the ranges of taxa are required. When preservation is random and the original distribution of durations is exponential, the inference of durations, preservability, and completeness is exact. However, reasonable approximations are possible given non-exponential duration distributions and temporal and taxonomic variation in preservability. Thus, the approaches we describe have great potential in studies of taphonomy, evolutionary rates and patterns, and genealogy.Analyses of Upper Cambrian-Lower Ordovician trilobite species, Paleozoic crinoid genera, Jurassic bivalve species, and Cenozoic mammal species yield the following results: (1) The preservation probability inferred from stratigraphic ranges alone agrees with that inferred from the analysis of stratigraphic gaps when data on the latter are available. (2) Whereas median durations based on simple tabulations of observed ranges are biased by stratigraphic resolution, our estimates of median duration, extinction rate, and completeness are not biased. (3) The shorter geologic ranges of mammalian species relative to those of bivalves cannot be attributed to a difference in preservation potential. However, we cannot rule out the contribution of taxonomic practice to this difference. (4) In the groups studied, completeness (proportion of species [trilobites, bivalves, mammals] or genera [crinoids] preserved) ranges from 60% to 90%. The higher estimates of completeness at smaller geographic scales support previous suggestions that the incompleteness of the fossil record reflects loss of fossiliferous rock more than failure of species to enter the fossil record in the first place.


Author(s):  
T. S. Kemp

From the very start of the spread of humans, the world’s mammals have been irreversibly, and mostly detrimentally, affected through direct exploitation for food and for skins to make clothes and shelter. Our domestication of certain mammal species has also had a huge impact on the rest of the world’s mammalian fauna, and indeed on its whole biota. ‘Humans and mammals: the past and the future’ considers how human activity has caused the latest megafaunal extinction and looks at the future crisis facing many mammalian species. A quarter of mammalian species are, today, faced with severe population decreases that may result in extinction. What can be done to conserve them?


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (14) ◽  
pp. 4872
Author(s):  
Stefan Bauersachs ◽  
Carmen Almiñana

This Special Issue, “Embryo-Maternal Interactions Underlying Reproduction in Mammals”, gathers a collection of 23 articles, 16 original research articles and 7 up-to-date reviews, providing new findings or summarizing current knowledge on embryo–maternal interactions in seven different mammalian species including humans. Considering the different players involved in these embryo-maternal interactions, articles are mainly focused on one of these different players: the oviduct, the uterus, the embryo or the emergent extracellular vesicles. Additionally, a few articles bring up the impact of reproductive, but also non-reproductive, diseases, as well as stress factors, on the establishment of pregnancy. We hope the readers enjoy this collection of articles and that the knowledge assembled here will support and inspire current and future research investigations. We would like to thank all authors for their contributions to this Special Issue.


2019 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. e20195942 ◽  
Author(s):  
Átilla Colombo Ferreguetti ◽  
Isadora Cristina Motta Lessa ◽  
Emerson Monteiro Vieira ◽  
André Almeida Cunha ◽  
Helena Godoy Bergallo

The Cerrado is the second largest Brazilian biome and only 2.8% is represented by protected areas. Considering the relevance of the Cerrado and Conservation Units in preserving the mammalian diversity, we provided the first assessment of the diversity of medium- and large-sized mammal species in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park (CVNP) and surroundings. We tested the effectiveness of the CVNP by assessing the difference in species composition within the park and its surroundings. We sampled CVNP in the rainy (October-December 2013) and dry seasons (March-June 2014) in order to characterize the seasonality within the community. We selected 36 sampling sites to evaluate the composition of the medium and large mammals in the CVNP and its surroundings, 18 in the CVNP and 18 in the park surroundings. We ordered mammalian composition and frequency of individuals data by using a Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling analysis (NMDS). We assessed the effect of season (dry and rainy seasons) and locality (within the CVNP and surroundings) on mammalian species richness with a two-way analysis of variance (Two-way ANOVA). We recorded 23 species, 13 within the CVNP and 17 species in its surroundings. Composition and frequency of records differed between dry and rainy seasons, with higher richness in the rainy season. Species’ composition and the frequency of records were also different between within the CVNP and its surroundings, with higher richness in the surroundings. These results provide information for the increase of the knowledge of mammalian ecology but also is useful as a tool for future strategies to the conservation of these species. More attention should be given to the monitoring of these species in the long term because this area still harbor some viable populations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-196
Author(s):  
Jeanelle L. K. Brisbane ◽  
Matthijs P. van den Burg

2011 ◽  
Vol 92 (8) ◽  
pp. 1888-1898 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herman Tse ◽  
Wan-Mui Chan ◽  
Hoi-Wah Tsoi ◽  
Rachel Y. Y. Fan ◽  
Candy C. Y. Lau ◽  
...  

The genus Mamastrovirus belongs to the family Astroviridae and consists of at least six members infecting different mammalian hosts, including humans, cattle and pigs. In recent years, novel astroviruses have been identified in other mammalian species like roe deer, bats and sea lions. While the bovine astrovirus was one of the earliest astroviruses to have been studied, no further research has been performed recently and its genome sequence remains uncharacterized. In this report, we describe the detection and genomic characterization of astroviruses in bovine faecal specimens obtained in Hong Kong. Five of 209 specimens were found to be positive for astrovirus by RT-PCR. Two of the positive specimens were found to contain sequences from two different astrovirus strains. Complete genome sequences of approximately 6.3 kb in length were obtained for four strains, which showed similar organization of the genome compared to other astroviruses. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed their identities as members of the genus Mamastrovirus, and showed them to be most closely related to the Capreolus capreolus astrovirus. Based on the pairwise genetic distances among their full-length ORF2 sequences, these bovine astroviruses may be assigned into at least three different genotype species. Sequence analysis revealed evidence of potential recombination in ORF2. In summary, we report the first genome sequences of bovine astroviruses and clearly establish the species status of the virus. Additionally, our study is among the first to report co-infection by different astrovirus genotypes in the same host, which is an essential step for recombination to occur.


1995 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hirosi Nakagawa

This paper aims at describing the click accompaniments of |Gui, a little known Central Khoisan language, and presenting some new findings which may contribute to general phonetics as well as Khoisan linguistics. The phonetic features described here are based upon linguistic field research by the author into the |Gui language in the Xade area, Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Botswana, from August to December in 1992, from August to October in 1993 and from August to December in 1994.


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