Volume 73, Issue 1

The four horned antelope is endemic to the Indian subcontinent. It is a solitary species which occurs in open deciduous forests at low densities and is currently reported from 104 and 3 sites in India and Nepal, respectively. Primarily a browser and concentrate feeder, it is not as dependent on water as previously suggested. Habitat loss is listed as a major threat, but observations suggest that its abundance and distribution is considerably affected by habitat changes due to local and landscape level factors. This antelope has been the subject of little scientific and conservation attention. There is an immediate need for surveys assessing its present distribution and studies identifying habitat correlates that influence its occurrence and abundance.

The natural nest sites in hedgerows of the hazel dormouse Muscardinus avellanarius were investigated in Devon, in south-west England. A total of 73 nests were found in the autumn by careful searching of hedgerows, all of which were species-rich. In hedgerows that had not been cut for 6 years or more, most nests were in bramble Rubus fruticosus agg. and field rose Rosa arvensis margins, with a few in holly Ilex aquifolium bushes. In contrast, in hedgerows that had been cut within 6 years, the majority of nests were in shrubs, the dense protective growth at the cut line being strongly favoured. Blackthorn Prunus spinosa was preferentially selected, hazel Corylus avellana was avoided. It is suggested that the availability of safe nest sites may limit population density and that where nesting conditions are good the hazel dormouse may prefer to build nests in unenclosed situations rather than in hollows, whether natural hollows, such as tree holes, or artificial ones, such as nest boxes. To encourage hazel dormice in hedgerows, bramble and rose margins should be allowed to develop, and some lengths of hedgerow should be cut occasionally, particularly where blackthorn is present.

From April 2001 to November 2003, direct (sightings) and indirect (feces, tracks, prey carcass/scent) evidence of bush dog ( Speothos venaticus ) presence were recorded in a private reserve in the Pantanal, Mato Grosso State, Brazil. Most observations were recorded either through direct sightings or tracks (36.67% each; total sample size=30). Although bush dogs are difficult to see, they seem to be frequent in the area, contradicting the reports in the available literature. Assuming a home-range size of 150 km 2 for a group of six bush dogs, we estimated that the northern and eastern regions of the Reserve contain 5.74 groups of bush dogs, each group with an average of 2.75 individuals (SD±1.07, variation 1–5 individuals, n=24). The distribution of records did not vary between the different habitats of the studied area (G=0.093, p=0.954), suggesting that bush dogs do not select preferential habitats in the Pantanal. The principal food item was Dasypus novemcinctus (94.1%; total sample size=17), indicating that nine-banded armadillos are the principal prey of bush dogs in the Pantanal. There were no records of fruit items in the collected feces, suggesting that bush dogs are hypercarnivorous or exclusively carnivorous.

Camera-trapping was used to examine the activity patterns and habitat use of a small carnivore community in southern Taiwan from March 1998 to February 2001. Six small carnivore species occurred in disturbed and successional stage forests in southern Taiwan. The small carnivore community was mainly composed of four species, including small Indian civet Viverricula indica , masked palm civet Paguma larvata , crab-eating mongoose Herpestes urva , and ferret badger Melogale moschata . There were no significant differences of occurrence between dry and wet seasons for small Indian civet, masked palm civet, and ferret badger (p>0.05), whereas occurrence of crab-eating mongoose during the dry season was significantly higher than during the wet season (p<0.02). Small Indian civet were closely correlated to disturbed and mosaic secondary forests and seemed restricted to certain elevations, whereas the distribution of the masked palm civet, crab-eating mongoose, and ferret badger could occur from low to moderate elevations. These results show segregation of temporal distribution and habitat use among these four sympatric carnivore species.

Information on the ecology and local perception of particular species is required for their conservation and management in tropical forests, where their range has either disappeared or their numbers are shrinking due to anthropogenic factors. We combined indigenous knowledge and wildlife observations to record four species of mongooses in the Lama and Niaouli forests. Three diurnal species, such as the cusimanse ( Crossarchus obscurus ), the ichneumon mongoose ( Herpestes ichneumon ), and the marsh mongoose ( Atilax paludinosus ), were directly observed, and one nocturnal species (the white-tailed mongoose: Ichneumia albicauda ) was identified by interviews. Factorial correspondence analysis shows that the marsh and the white-tailed mongooses are more frequent in the lowland habitat, whereas the ichneumon mongoose is often sighted near villages and the cusimanse is more generalist. Mongooses are used for food, medicine, and mythic purposes. They are recognized as snake predators and thus their presence is appreciated by local communities to reduce snake bites (84.3% of interviews in Niaouli). Some species, such as cusimanse, are seen as natural pesticides. Our results suggest that the larger area of the Lama classified forest (4777 ha) allows for more intra-site movements as opposed to the inter-site movements observed in the Niaouli forest due to its small size (120 ha). We suggest further investigations of the ecology and ethology of the conservation of mongoose in Benin.

The aim of this study, conducted in Central Poland, was to determine the pattern of bat occurrence in Stratmann boxes. Four species ( Myotis myotis , Nyctalus noctula , Pipistrellus nathusii , Plecotus auritus ) were found between 2005 and 2008. The occupancy rate increased from 9 boxes per 70 in 2005 to 34 per 70 in 2006. Regular monthly checks from March 2007 to February 2008 revealed changes in numbers of bats and in the percentage of occupied boxes. The first bats colonized boxes in March ( P. auritus ), and the last individuals were observed in October ( N. noctula ). The highest total number of individuals (n=128) and occupancy (33 per 69 boxes) were recorded in August. P. nathusii clearly dominated the bat assemblage (74.1% of records). The most marked tendency to form clusters and the biggest clusters (up to 14 individuals) were observed in July and August. From July to October two species ( N. noctula, P. nathusii ) probably showed mating behavior. This study demonstrated that in central Poland the Stratmann boxes have greater importance for bats in late summer and early autumn than at the beginning of the breeding season.

The aim of this study is to assess the reliability of different artificial neural networks as tools for identifying taxonomic or ecotypic subdivisions in European water voles (genus Arvicola ). Self-organizing maps show that taxa at subspecies or species level are organized along morphological gradients correlated with ecotypes (from extreme forms of fossorial Arvicola terrestris to strictly aquatic Arvicola sapidus ). An automatic discrimination process based on a multilayer feed-forward network, working with 17 French and one Spanish reference populations, proved able to correctly identify species in test samples from France, but sometimes misidentified specimens from other countries. Three morpho-ecotypes were identified using a self-organizing map with a single-species dataset ( Arvicola terrestris only). However, there were no clues as to how these morpho-ecotypes might correlate with the known phylogenetics of the species. Our model can identify species on the basis of a limited range of cranial measurements which are available from vole skull fragments commonly found in owl pellets. This can have very practical risk-assessment applications as it allows easier identification of the more fossorial Arvicola terrestris populations which are a threat to crops.

The bat genus Triaenops (Hipposideridae) is broadly distributed in Africa, portions of the Near East, and islands in the Indian Ocean (Madagascar, western Seychelles). Three species of Triaenops are currently recognized in Madagascar, all endemic ( T. rufus , T. auritus , and T. furculus ), with T. humbloti being a synonym of T . rufus . Triaenops persicus has a broad distribution in Africa and portions of the Middle East. After comparisons of “Madagascar” specimens previously referred to T . humbloti and the holotype and paratypes of T . rufus collected by Léon Humblot to a series of specimens currently referred to T . “ rufus ” from numerous and widespread localities in Madagascar, as well as series of T . persicus obtained in Iran and Tanzania, the Humblot material is different in external, cranial, and dental characters and measurements from the Malagasy animals. The provenance of the Humblot specimens is probably Aden (Yemen) or perhaps Somalia and the name T . rufus should not be used for the species in Madagascar; a holotype associated with the replacement name is presented herein.

The genus Crocidura Wagler, 1832 represents the most diverse group of Soricidae. It is widely accepted that the genus is in need of revision, because the taxonomy of several species is still unresolved. In this paper, we present a chromosomal (standard and G-banding) and molecular genetic (16S rDNA, 1112bp; cytochrome b, 501bp) characterization of specimens of Crocidura luna from Zambia. We compare these data with those obtained for the same species from Burundi. The genetic divergence (uncorrected p-distance) between the two samples is 4.1% for cytochrome b and 1.1% for 16S. These values are usually found among close sister species or different populations of the same species in Crocidura . The karyotype found in C. luna (2n=28 and FN=56) is of particular interest, as it represents one of the lowest diploid numbers among the genus Crocidura . Moreover, it presents large chromosomal differences compared to the karyotype of C. luna , previously described in the specimens from Burundi with 2n=36 and NF=56.

No abstract available

No abstract available

No abstract available

No abstract available

No abstract available

No abstract available

No Abstract available