First record of the servaline morph in a serval (Leptailurus serval Schreber, 1776) in Akagera National Park, Rwanda
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Drew Arthur Bantlin
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Emma Else Maria Evers
Abstract
The serval (Leptailurus serval) is a medium-sized felid that is widespread throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. We report on the first scientific record of the servaline morph in a serval in Akagera National Park, Rwanda. Though this morph has been documented in the forested ecosystems of West and Central Africa, the servaline morph has not been recorded in a predominantly savannah ecosystem. Further research into the prevalence of this morph outside of forest ecosystems and the adaptive advantage of the servaline coat pattern in servals is recommended. Our findings highlight the importance of conserving savannah ecosystems to preserve morphological diversity in a species.
Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge and thank Alexis Nyandwi for his help with the collection and processing of the camera trap data.
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Author contributions: Drew Bantlin was responsible for the set-up and collection of the camera traps, processing of the camera trap data, and contributed to the writing. Emma Evers made the figures and led the writing of the article. Both authors conceived the article and reviewed the final version.
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Research funding: None declared.
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Research ethics: No ethical approval was needed as there was no direct handling of the animals. Camera trap deployment was carried out in accordance with the management standard operating procedures as set out by Akagera National Park.
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Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
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© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Physiology
- Food or rut: contrasting seasonal patterns in fat deposition between males and females of northern and southern sika deer populations in Japan
- Ecology
- Genetic diversity and population structure of Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus) from Western Himalaya
- First record of the servaline morph in a serval (Leptailurus serval Schreber, 1776) in Akagera National Park, Rwanda
- Enchisthenes hartii (Thomas, 1892), in Jalisco, Mexico, 68 and 47 years after its first and last record
- A case of arboreal nest building in the small Japanese field mouse (Apodemus argenteus)
- Biogeography
- New data on the recently described Brazilian Cerrado hotspot endemic Cerradomys akroai Bonvicino, Casado et Weksler, 2014 (Rodentia: Cricetidae)
- Every flight is a surprise: first records of the southern maned three-toed sloth (Bradypus crinitus: Bradypodidae) through drones
- New bat records for altitudinal Atlantic Forest in Espírito Santo, southeastern Brazil
- Reducing bat mortality at wind farms using site-specific mitigation measures: a case study in the Mediterranean region, Croatia
- Continued survival of the elusive Seram orange melomys (Melomys fulgens)
- Conservation
- The name-bearing type is essential for the objective identification of a taxonomic name: the message from the lectotypification of Lemmus obensis bungei
- Eumops perotis (Schinz, 1821) (Chiroptera, Molossidae): a new genus and species for Chile revealed by acoustic surveys
- Taxonomy/Phylogeny
- New reports of morphological anomalies in leaf-nosed bats (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from Colombia
- Jaguar density in the most threatened ecoregion of the Amazon
- Mormoopid bats from Brazil: updates on the geographic distribution of three species and their echolocation calls
- Evolutionary Biology
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Physiology
- Food or rut: contrasting seasonal patterns in fat deposition between males and females of northern and southern sika deer populations in Japan
- Ecology
- Genetic diversity and population structure of Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus) from Western Himalaya
- First record of the servaline morph in a serval (Leptailurus serval Schreber, 1776) in Akagera National Park, Rwanda
- Enchisthenes hartii (Thomas, 1892), in Jalisco, Mexico, 68 and 47 years after its first and last record
- A case of arboreal nest building in the small Japanese field mouse (Apodemus argenteus)
- Biogeography
- New data on the recently described Brazilian Cerrado hotspot endemic Cerradomys akroai Bonvicino, Casado et Weksler, 2014 (Rodentia: Cricetidae)
- Every flight is a surprise: first records of the southern maned three-toed sloth (Bradypus crinitus: Bradypodidae) through drones
- New bat records for altitudinal Atlantic Forest in Espírito Santo, southeastern Brazil
- Reducing bat mortality at wind farms using site-specific mitigation measures: a case study in the Mediterranean region, Croatia
- Continued survival of the elusive Seram orange melomys (Melomys fulgens)
- Conservation
- The name-bearing type is essential for the objective identification of a taxonomic name: the message from the lectotypification of Lemmus obensis bungei
- Eumops perotis (Schinz, 1821) (Chiroptera, Molossidae): a new genus and species for Chile revealed by acoustic surveys
- Taxonomy/Phylogeny
- New reports of morphological anomalies in leaf-nosed bats (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from Colombia
- Jaguar density in the most threatened ecoregion of the Amazon
- Mormoopid bats from Brazil: updates on the geographic distribution of three species and their echolocation calls
- Evolutionary Biology
- The raccoon dog Nyctereutes procyonoides in Italy: a review of confirmed occurrences
