Volume 77, Issue 2

Understanding feeding habits and responses to habitat changes can be a critical step toward the conservation of threatened species. Pressured by hunting, habitat loss, and competition from livestock, the dwarf blue sheep ( Pseudois schaeferi ) of the Yangtze River gorge in the Eastern Himalaya is an IUCN-listed endangered species with a diminished range and population, and yet little is known of its basic biological requirements. Diet composition was quantified and compared between male and female adults, and juveniles of P. schaeferi on Rini Mountain, Yunnan, China from 10-min scan samples from October 2006 to February 2007. In total, 17 food species were identified though only six species ( Opuntia ficus-indica , Themeda triandra , Festuca durata , Polygonum thunbergii , Elsholtzia cypriani , and Excoecaria acerifolia ) made up nearly 90% of the diet. Although feeding niches of both adults and juveniles highly overlapped, significant quantitative differences in their food composition were found. Adult male and juvenile diets were the most dissimilar; adult sheep fed more frequently on the introduced succulent cactus, O. ficus-indica , whereas juvenile sheep fed more frequently on the herbs, P. thunbergii and E. cypriani , and the woody shrub, Buddleja caryopteridifolia . Field observations showed that P. schaeferi frequently used its broad curved horns to remove the spines of O. ficus-indica , presumably to gain access to the fleshy leaves. We suggest differences in the diets are the result of differential access to the cactus, but may also be influenced by nutritional requirements.

Several species of bats inhabit forest fragments near urban areas. Artibeus lituratus and Platyrrhinus lineatus are frugivorous species able to dwell in these habitats. The aim of this study was to observe the fruiting rate of species included in the diet of A. lituratus and P. lineatus , associated with their feeding ecology, and to quantify the niche overlap of both species around a metropolitan area. The study was conducted at the campus of the Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Parana state, southern Brazil. We established four sampling sites, where four net sessions were performed monthly during 1 year, and four mist nets (9×2.5 m) were exposed in a period of 4 h in each sampling, completing a capture effort of 17,280 m 2 h. We also observed the fruiting rate of 12 species that peaked in the warmest and wettest periods. We recorded nine species in the diet of A. lituratus , which also presented little restriction concerning habitat use. Higher specificity was observed in the diet of P. lineatus , which prefered Ficus and Cecropia . We concluded that P. lineatus is a specialist and seems to require more abundant resources at the study area, whereas A. lituratus is a generalist and shows greater adaptability to environmental disturbances.

Although the hazel dormouse Muscardinus avellanarius is considered both a highly specialized and a threatened mammal species in Europe, it is relatively common and widespread in Lithuania, situated on the northern periphery of its distributional range. We studied dormouse diet over the entire activity season using microscopic analysis of feces to gain a better understanding of its ecology. Our results confirm that the hazel dormouse is indeed a selective feeder, always showing a preference for the reproductive parts of plants. However, the plant species used by dormice in Lithuania are different from those used in other parts of the dormouse range (e.g., England). In Lithuania, the main dormouse food sources are the inflorescence of willow, oak, and spruce in spring; the berries of honeysuckle, raspberry, and glossy buckthorn in summer; and the berries of glossy buckthorn, oak acorns, and hazelnuts in autumn. Only in early summer, the proportion of food of animal origin is high. The berries of glossy buckthorn are very important to dormouse for feeding and accumulation of fat reserves in autumn. The adaptability of dormice to feed on local plants, as well as the sufficient diversity of food plants in their habitats, allows these animals to be relatively common and widespread on the northern periphery of their range.

We conducted a study of Asian badger ( Meles leucurus ) habitat use between April and October 2008 in the Xiaoxing’anling Mountains, Heilongjiang Province, China. Compared with habitats available in spring, Asian badgers selected broad-leaved forest dominated by Mongolian oak ( Quercus mongolica ) with low tree density and coverage but high shrub density. In summer, badgers selected areas dominated by trees such as Amur linden ( Tilia amurensis ), with low tree density and coverage, low herbage coverage and high shrub density. In autumn, badgers selected habitats with relatively low tree coverage, low herbage coverage and high shrub density and plots on the upper slope when compared with available plots. Results from a Kruskal-Wallis H-test showed 15 variables that differed significantly by season. Discriminant analysis showed that, despite obvious overlaps in seasonal habitat use, habitat selection differed significantly by season. Knowledge of Asian badger habitat selection can influence wildlife habitat management and provide basic data to further guide ecological study.

As a non-territorial species with no known dispersal period, there are no obvious factors that regulate hedgehog numbers in an area. This study aimed to examine these factors and involved the radio-tracking of rural hedgehogs over a 3-year period. Males had a significantly larger mean annual home range (56 ha) than females (16.5 ha), which was at its maximum during the breeding season. Outside of the breeding season, the home range was relatively small (4–5 ha) in both sexes. The home ranges of males completely overlapped both each other and all of the females. In contrast, females occupied more exclusive areas with little overlap between one another. On a nightly basis, both sexes occupied spatially independent areas with little overlap. Compositional analysis of the data showed that habitats were not used in proportion to their availability but were selected, and this changed seasonally, with the highest preference being for garden and arable land. Hedgehogs tagged for consecutive years exhibited site philopatry and followed the same pattern of habitat selection annually. It is suggested that the spatial separation observed amongst individual hedgehogs could restrict numbers in an area and that female numbers reach a carrying capacity before that of males.

We investigated the demographic parameters and the relationships between population density and extrinsic factors (temperature, rainfall, humidity and insolation) of two sigmodontine rodents ( Akodon montensis and Oligoryzomys nigripes ) in an Araucaria forest of southern Brazil. We followed the Cormarck-Jolly-Seber (CJS) method to estimate population parameters and density for each trapping session from November 2008 to August 2009. The relationships between density and extrinsic factors for each month were tested by simple linear regressions. Akodon montensis displayed the highest population size in three of the eight samples and showed no associations with any of the extrinsic factors analyzed. This species had higher estimated mortality than recruitment for all the seasons. Oligoryzomys nigripes presented higher population size in four of the eight samples, and density was associated with low temperatures and higher rainfall. The species showed similar estimated mortality and recruitment during the seasons, and the population size increased substantially during winter. The sex ratio was not biased in any of the species. In general, these rodents could be highly variable in time, and the observed abundance variations between seasons are in accordance with patterns described in other studies.

To determine whether differences in birth body mass influence growth performance in Pipistrellus kuhlii , we studied a total of 12 captive-born neonates (ten twins from five litters and two singles). Bats were assigned to two body mass groups: light birth body mass (LBW: 0.89±0.05, n=8) and heavy birth body mass (HBW: 1.35±0.08, n=4). Heavier body mass at birth was associated with rapid postnatal growth (body mass and forearm length), faster epiphyseal gap closure and a higher survival rate. During the first 3 weeks, body mass increased by 0.11±0.18 g/day in HBW, and the rate of increase in forearm length was 0.67±1.13 mm/day. Corresponding values for LBW were 0.10±0.11 g/day and 0.62±0.69 mm/day, respectively. The initial rapid growth in HBW gradually decreased to merge single asymptomatic maxima at approximately 60 days after birth. The HBW class attained a maximum epiphyseal phalangeal gap of 4.9 mm on day 19 and closed the gap faster (-0.07 mm/day) than the LBW class, with a maximum epiphyseal gap of 4.78 mm on day 23 and a closure rate of -0.06 mm/day. Pup mortality was nil in HBW, whereas four LBW males died at ages 4–6 weeks.

Life history characteristics are influenced by both biotic and abiotic factors of the environment. The aim of this study was to compare the life history strategies of Rattus norvegicus populations in urban and rural habitats in central-east Argentina. Live trapping of rodents was conducted over 1 year in a shanty town and for 2 years on poultry farms. Abundance did not differ between habitats. Age structure was similar in both habitats but varied among seasons. Rats on poultry farms had better body condition, produced larger litters and had a higher reproductive potential than rats from the shanty town. These differences may be due to differences in habitat favourability or in selection pressures between the two habitats. Our results show that rats may adopt different life history strategies according to habitat conditions.

The effects of a perturbation gradient on a Patagonian rodent community were assessed over the course of a year by comparing the community parameters in natural and different disturbed environments in the central Chilean Patagonia. The studied habitat types were mature forest, second-growth forest, forest plantations, and agricultural grassland. We recorded eight species of sigmodontine rodents ( Abrothrix longipilis , Abrothrix olivaceus , Chelemys macronyx , Geoxus valdivianus , Irenomys tarsalis , Loxodontomys micropus , Oligoryzomys longicaudatus , and Reithrodon auritus ). Most species experience an increment in abundance from summer to autumn, with a notable decrease in winter and spring. The grassland showed lower species abundance than the mature forest. However, we did not detect significant differences in diversity, evenness, or species richness among the forest habitats. Our results suggest that rodents basically distinguish between forested and open areas, but not the specific plant composition of each habitat. Thus, the change in land use in the central Chilean Patagonia has not significantly affected the community parameters of diversity, evenness, or species richness.

Ontogenetic changes in the skull of Lycalopex culpaeus were studied in relation to feeding function and performance at different age classes. Most cranial changes occurred in the orbitotemporal region and consisted of the visible appearance of structures that were later found to be absent in juveniles. These changes were related to the development of the adult skull in order to capture, kill, and process prey. In general, fusion occurred earlier in neurocranial sutures than in the splachnocranium, although rostral sutures never became fused. The cranial sutures of culpeo are conservative, displaying few changes in suture type but some in suture fusion sequence. These modifications occur during the first year, from the late juvenile stages, when individuals are similar to adults in general appearance and body size as well as in skull size. However, it was noted that basicranial synchondroses became fused in the adult stages, indicating that longitudinal growth could extend until this latter time. This could be indicative not only of size change in adult specimens but also of shape change.

We performed microsatellite paternity analyses of two Asian black bear Ursus thibetanus littermates with a known mother. Using Cervus 3.0, we identified the probable father among 17 candidate fathers for Cub 1, but failed to identify a probable father for Cub 2. Cub 1 and her probable father shared at least one allele at all 13 loci. In contrast, Cub 2 and the probable father of Cub 1 had mismatching alleles at eight loci, indicating that the two cubs are offspring of different fathers. This is probably the first evidence for multiple paternity in Asian black bears.

The golden jackal is a locally common mammal species widely distributed along the Black Sea and other coastal regions of Turkey. Between February 2009 and April 2010, we conducted a camera trap study in Artvin, northeastern Turkey that revealed the presence of ten medium or large mammal species. We report here the first ever photographic evidence of a melanistic golden jackal, along with its normal-colored probable mate. Dark fur color in wolves has been shown to be historically transferred from domestic dogs, and interbreeding among wolves, coyotes and dogs is well documented. However, we consider this an unlikely mechanism for the present observation, and instead suggest independent mutation as the source of this possibly adaptive trait.

Marmosops ocellatus is a small didelphid marsupial that inhabits central and western South America, including Bolivia and western Brazil. In this report, we provide new distributional records based on 14 specimens deposited in mammal collections. Records from Vale de São Domingos and Cáceres, Mato Grosso state, Brazil, extend approximately 200 km northeastward of the currently known range of the species. Considering our records and those from the literature, we believe that M. ocellatus does not occur in the core region of the Pantanal biome, where flooding areas occur. In fact, among the 120 didelphid specimens from the Pantanal that we examined, none corresponds to M. ocellatus . Additionally, among several published inventories and checklists for the Pantanal, only one cites the presence of this species, with no vouchers mentioned. The known records show that this species may be associated with seasonal forests, such as the Chiquitania dry forest in the western Brazilian border, which shapes the species distribution and leads us to think that M. ocellatus may occur farther to the east, close to the upper Rio Cuiabá, where the Chiquitania dry forest meets the Cerrado.

We present a new record of Diclidurus isabella from Brazil and an updated distribution map of the species. The species has not been recorded in Brazil, or in the Southern Hemisphere, since its original description by Oldfield Thomas in 1920. The new record, from Porto Velho, in the Brazilian state of Rondônia, extends the distribution of D. isabella 700 km southwest, near the southwestern limit of the Amazon biome and south of the Amazon River. We stress the importance of using alternative sampling methods to capture species that are rarely sampled using mist-nets.

Mobbing in animals is an aggressive behaviour performed cooperatively towards a potential predator. In bats, the existence of mobbing is based on both intra- and interspecific behavioural responses of freely flying individuals to distress calls emitted by live bats or playbacked by researchers. In this note, we describe the mobbing behaviour of free-living naked-bellied tomb bats Taphozous nudiventris on the barn owl Tyto alba as the first direct observation of mobbing by a bat on its potential avian predator.

We present evidence that the name Natalus espiritosantensis (Ruschi, 1951) is not the oldest available name for the single species of Natalus occurring in South America south of the Amazon River. The oldest name available, Spectrellum macrourum (Gervais, 1856), has priority over Myotis espiritosantensis (Ruschi, 1951) and is restored based on Gervais’ original description that included a drawing of part of the skull of the specimen.