Volume 75, Issue 2

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There is clear evidence for the introduction of Old World mammals to the West Indies from the very first human appearance in the region. The mammals concerned were several species of African, Eurasian and Oriental origin, including monkeys, lagomorphs, carnivores, deer, commensal and non-commensal rodents, and possibly hedgehogs. Starting with the introduction of the dog in pre-Columbian times, the story of all these animals in the New World is intimately bound up with the early European settlements in America, the origins of West Indian slaves and the transatlantic routes from the sixteenth century up to the twentieth century. It is important not to overlook the crucial role played by the Caribbean islands as a slave entrepôt and a historic vital link in the international trade between Europe, Africa and the Americas.

The mating system of a semi-captive population of Hainan Eld’s deer Cervus eldi hainanus was investigated in the Datian National Nature Reserve, China. In total, 18 females and 11 males out of 61 semi-captive deer were involved in mating, and 43 copulations were observed. The mating system of this population was polygynous, with an inter-individual variation in the type of mating bonds among males (i.e., polygyny, promiscuity) and among females (i.e., serial monogamy, polyandry, promiscuity). During the rut, 13 out of these 18 females (72.2%) copulated with only one male, four of the 11 males (36.4%) mated with more than one female but obtained 81.4% mating opportunities (35 of 43 copulations). Dominant males served significantly more females in estrus than subordinate males. Dominant males can monopolize copulations despite the long duration (over 3 months) of the breeding season, and asynchronous estrus of females makes this possible without increasing energetic costs for dominant males. Mating dominance of a dominant male continued for at least 87 days during the rut, thus the male copulated with a total of 11 females. Our results suggest that the inter-individual variations in male and female mating bonds largely depends on mating strategies of dominant males, operational sex ratio as well as multiple estrous periods in females.

One reason why the gaur Bos gaurus is a poorly understood species is because there are no reliable data to age and sex individuals. We studied captive gaur for two years in Mysore Zoo, India and Omaha Zoo, USA, and determined age-specific differences in morphological features and physical growth, by measuring shoulder height, of male and female gaur. We fitted von Bertalanffy growth functions to the shoulder height data and found maximum shoulder heights of 175 cm and 147 cm for males and females, respectively. This study ascertained for the first time that the greater the amount of white on the horns of a gaur, the older it is, and that the sexes can be distinguished based on horn shape and size differences. We found that gaur aged 15 months and below can be classified into three age classes, but are difficult to sex. The sex of gaur aged 15–36 months is best determined by a study of their horns. Adult gaur, greater than three years, are easy to sex, but are difficult to classify into single-year age classes and are reliably classified only into two age classes for females and three for males.

Some aspects of population structure (group size, group composition, sex ratio, female/juvenile ratio) of the Farasan gazelle Gazella gazella farasani were studied on the Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia. The overall mean group size has remained consistent since 1988, indicating a stable population. G. g. farasani are mainly observed as single animals with females usually being solitary or in female groups. The largest group of gazelles comprised eight individuals in a mixed herd. The male/female sex ratio of adult animals during summer is skewed towards females with an extremely low juvenile/female ratio. A higher male mortality due to dispersal and related issues with anthropomorphic reasons is suspected. Results are discussed in the light of published and unpublished data from previous studies on the Farasan Islands and other Mountain gazelle ( Gazella gazella ) populations from the Arabian mainland and the Levant.

A bat census in the years 1981–2010 (repeated twice during each hibernation period in January and March) showed upward trends in many populations of bats hibernating in the Szachownica Cave (central Poland). Total numbers of the bat assemblage, which consisted of 11 species, increased within the study period from 178 to 1477 individuals in the first decade to 835–2902 in the past decade of the study, with the highest rates of increase noted in Barbastella barbastellus , Plecotus auritus and Myotis nattereri . Myotis myotis and Myotis daubentonii showed only slight upward trends. In the years 2009–2010, Myotis bechsteinii occurred in markedly higher numbers (up to 24 individuals) as compared to previous years.

Predation of tropical arboreal mammals is rarely observed. Here, we report the first observation of predation of a member of the genus Cacajao , and add to the knowledge of eagle predation in the genus Cebus . We compare responses to predation by Cacajao ouakary and Cebus albifrons with previous studies of congenerics and with other close relatives, and compare the alarm vocalizations of C. ouakary with those of other pitheciines. Reactions to non-predating raptors are reported. Constraints on primate anti-predator responses in flooded and non-flooded habitats are considered.

Four morphologically similar species of insectivorous bats in the genus Lasiurus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) regularly occur in the American Southern Cone. Three of them ( Lasiurus cinereus , L. blossevillii and L. ega ) are sympatric over many regions, whereas the remaining species ( L. varius , closely related to L. blossevillii ) is allopatric, occurring in the Patagonian Temperate Rainforest. A multivariate analysis of 14 craniodental variables for 99 specimens from the four species confirmed size separating two small species from two large ones, and revealed morphofunctional aspects of mastication segregating the two large species on the basis of differences in temporal muscle function (coronoid process height and length of rostrum). We predict ecological (trophic) differences among these lasiurines consistent with their segregation in the morphofunctional space and in combination with the sympatric vs. allopatric condition of species pairs or triads.

We studied habitat preferences of the only known population of Iranian jerboa in Iran. Binary logistic regression was used to identify habitat variables that might be important to Iranian jerboa. The number of candidate variables was reduced using logistic regression retaining variables that differed between occupied (presence) and non-used (absence) plots. Logistic regression model could successfully distinguish between used and non-used areas. Habitat use of Iranian Jerboa is mainly affected by vegetation type and percent cover of bare soil.

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