Volume 81, Issue 6

We propose the integration of different non-invasive sampling methods to the study of predator-prey interactions. We analyzed the diet of the wolf ( Canis lupus ) to point out its elective prey and we investigated its spatial and temporal interactions with prey species from December 2012 to November 2014 in the Ligurian Alps (Southern Alps, Italy). In this area, the wolf is the only large predator, and there is a rich wild ungulate community consisting of four species. Our analyses showed that the most consumed species by wolves were the wild boar ( Sus scrofa ) and the roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus ). To successfully hunt these species, wolves need to share their spatial range, searching for them in the most suitable habitat types and in the periods of the diel cycle during which they are mainly active. Fallow deer ( Dama dama ) and chamois ( Rupicapra rupicapra ) consumption was low, and wolves showed also relatively low overlap with these species. Our results suggest that wolves might be firstly specialized on wild boar predation, as they showed substantial spatial and temporal overlap with this species, and secondly on roe deer predation, especially during the denning season when they probably take advantage of the presence of fawns.

Basic information about an animal population is essential to produce management and conservation strategies. Little is known about the brown bears Ursus arctos in Asia, and especially in Iran, and camera traps can be useful to provide information needed for creating conservation programs. The brown bear population and its diel activity patterns in Lar Wildlife Refuge (LWR) in the southern part of Alborz Mountains, northern Iran, were estimated from June 2013 to August 2014 for a total of 2783 camera-trap nights. Seven individuals were identified in November and December 2013, which were the only months bears were documented during the survey. Their peak diel activity was during late evening between 16:00 and 17:00. The results suggested that there were few brown bears in the LWR, that they are not resident in the Refuge, and that they come from an adjacent protected area, Central Alborz Protected Area (CAPA), perhaps to feed on spawning brown trout Salmo trutta .

The short-nosed Risso’s dolphin ( Grampus griseus ) is the fifth largest member of Delphinidae, but is one of the least studied dolphin species. We studied the postnatal ontogeny and sexual dimorphism of the skull of Risso’s dolphin by applying linear bivariate and multivariate analyses of allometry and discussing our findings in a comparative and functional framework. Comparing a representative of the Globicephalinae subfamily (a typically short-nosed group) with previously studied cetaceans belonging to different families is important for evaluating variations in the growth of splanchnocranium and neurocranium in cetaceans. Results of bivariate and multivariate approaches were mostly similar. The trophic apparatus showed positive allometry or isometry, whereas negative allometry was observed in neurochranial components and in width of external nares. We detected sexual dimorphism in the growth pattern of cranial variables related to trophic functions, suggesting slight differences in the mechanics of the trophic apparatus. Our results indicate a very low degree of sexual dimorphism in skull growth compared with other dolphins with most dimorphic growth rates favoring females; this result can be related to the earlier acquisition of an optimal performance in females, which is important for reproductive requirements. The growth of the splanchnocranium, and especially of those characters associated with the trophic function, exhibits a pattern of higher growth rate than neurochranial components, regardless of the short face of G. griseus .

An increase in water demand in mountains has reduced its availability for the fauna. As conservation tools, artificial ponds can be used to offer water to animals. Many studies have assessed the use of ponds by bats. However, most of them have been concentrated in the United States and Europe, while in regions with higher bat diversity the information is scarce. We captured the bat species associated with artificial ponds in a Mexican mountain where water was intubated 25 years ago. We identified and analyzed the bats’ species proportion and sex ratio and evaluated if species richness and abundance were affected by season, mean monthly precipitation, maximum monthly temperature and maximum monthly humidity. We captured 90 bats of seven species (Vespertilionidae), where Myotis melanorhinus Allen 1866 was the most abundant species (37.7%), followed by M. volans Allen 1866 (27.7%), Eptesicus fuscus Beauvois 1796 (22.2%), M. velifer Allen 1890 (5.5%), Corynorhinus mexicana Allen 1916 (3.3%), M. thysanodes Miller 1897 (2.2%) and Idionycteris phyllotis Allen 1916 (1.1%). Species richness and abundance were related to seasonality and maximum monthly temperature and humidity. Overall adult sex ratio was biased towards males. Our results are consistent with previous reports that have showed that artificial ponds play an important role for bats in environments where water availability is scarce.

Our aim in this study was to further the understanding of the taxonomic relationships and the evolutionary history of grey voles (subgenus Microtus , or arvalis species group) by establishing a cytochrome b (cyt b ) phylogeny with special emphasis on three species occupying Southwest Asia: Microtus mystacinus ( levis is a synonym), Microtus obscurus and Microtus transcaspicus . Phylogenetic trees yielded a sister position of Microtus arvalis + M. obscurus against M. mystacinus while, M. transcaspicus emerged as their closest relative. Microtus ilaeus hold a basal position in the subgenus. The only sample from Afghanistan was classified into M. transcaspicus , therefore expanding the known geographic range for the species and questioning the presence of Microtus ilaeus in the country. Deep sub-structuring was typical of all the well-sampled species: M. mystacinus , M. obscurus and M. arvalis . Kimura 2-parameter (K2P) genetic divergence of 4.1% between the two main clades of M. mystacinus [the European (EU) and our new Iranian (IR)] was nearly identical to a distance (4.2%) between M. arvalis and M. obscurus , therefore suggesting undetected cryptic species in M. mystacinus . Our results reflect the importance of the Caspian-Altai zone for a speciation of the grey voles and of the Ponto-Caspian region for the intraspecific diversity of M. obscurus and M. mystacinus . M. arvalis is the only grey vole which diversified outside Asia.

We reviewed the available records on aberrantly coloured fat dormice Glis glis and are reporting on two recent cases of flavistic males. We identified five colour variants among nearly 11,000 dormice from throughout their range in Europe and Asia (of these 6174 from Slovenia and Croatia, and 3493 from the Czech Republic). Flavistic dormice come from Slovenia and Czechia (two cases each) while all the remaining colour variants were recorded in Slovenia between 1860 and 2012: melanistic (20 inds.), albino (7 inds.), isabellinus (4 inds.), and individuals with white tail stripes (five cases). The two flavistic individuals from Czechia were captured during a demographic study. Interestingly, the aberrant pelage was gained by both males later in life as in the years of first encounter they had the typical greyish coat colouration.

This study provides data on the diet of two species of anteaters in Argentina. We worked with feces and the stomachs of road kill individuals. The feces were washed to separate the soil material consumed and 100 ml of the stomachs’ content were taken and examined. The differences in diet between both species of anteaters are related to their habits and the availability of ants. Ants consumed by Myrmecophaga tridactyla have mainly soil habits, nesting and foraging in the leaf litter. Meanwhile, ants consumed by Tamandua tetradactyla are characterized by foraging both at the ground level and on vegetation.

Myotis indochinensis , a recently described species from Vietnam, was previously confused with Myotis montivagus and Myotis annectans ; however, it could be distinguished from these species by its larger external, cranial measurements and well-developed sagittal and lambdoid crests. In 2012 and 2015, one and three medium-sized Myotis bats were collected in Nanling National Nature Reserve, Guangdong Province and Jiulianshan National Nature Reserve, Jiangxi Province, China, respectively. Based on their morphological characteristics and phylogenetic inference using complete cytochrome b gene and partial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene, they were identified as M. indochinensis , representing the first records of the species in China.

In this short note, we report the first records for two bat species: the Egyptian free-tailed bat Tadarida aegyptiaca and the lesser mouse-tailed bat Rhinopoma cystops from Atlantic Sahara. We recorded T. aegyptiaca at six sites, based on two trapped individuals and aural detections at four locations in the Aousserd Province and at two sites around Dakhla Bay. We detected R. cystops at three sites in the Aousserd Province, at one site east of Dakhla Bay and at one site in the Adrar Soutouf. Our findings fill in important gaps in the distribution of these two species in northwest Africa. Echolocation data for both the species are presented.

Hypopigmentation disorders were reported in several bat species roosting in dark and sheltered roosts, but comparable records from open foliage roosts are rare. Here, we present three observations of non-albinistic hypopigmentation in two neotropical bat species. One extensively hypopigmented individual of Uroderma bilobatum was observed roosting among regular pigmented conspecifics in an open foliage roost in Panamá. Two individuals of Glossophaga soricina with a patchy hypopigmentation were incidentally mistnetted during studies in Panamá and Costa Rica. Considering the species-specific roosting habits, we briefly discuss potential implications of pigmentation disorders and aberrant visual appearance for the affected individuals.

The recently described cricetid Holochilus lagigliai is a poorly known amphibious rat to this day restricted to its type locality in Mendoza Province, Argentina. Here, we provide and discuss several new late Holocene records enlarging its past distribution to cover the north portion of the province, indicating that this rodent was widespread in a recent past. We also performed a potential distribution analysis pointing to plausible areas of occurrence in neighboring provinces. Holochilus lagigliai seems to be a mammal negatively affected by the growing pressure of humans on wetlands in the context of drylands that characterizes western Argentina.

Anotomys leander is an elusive rodent with the smallest known range among ichthyomyines, limited to only three localities in the Andes of Ecuador. Its last known record dates from 1980, and currently it is represented by a low number of specimens and localities, hampering knowledge about its geographic range. We provide the first Colombian record of A. leander , and its fourth known locality, based on an individual captured in Cajamarca, on the eastern slope of the Cordillera Central. The specimen exhibits all the diagnostic characteristics of the species, and it differs from Ecuadorean specimens in having a hypothenar pad and lacking a bacular cartilage. Our record extends the known range of the species 620 km northeastward, and increases the number of ichthyomyine species in Colombia to six. The assessment of its potential geographic range among areas in Ecuador and Colombia and the identification of its main threats in the latter are fundamental tasks to reassess the conservation status of this threatened Andean rodent.

We report three new records of Neusticomys ferreirai , a rare species of fish-eating rat from the Brazilian Amazon basin, and extend the known geographical distribution of the species. Also, we provide the collection and identification of the specimens using morphological and molecular data, and report the phylogenetic position of the species in relation to the congeners Neusticomys monticolus and Neusticomys vossi , based on cytochrome B (CYTB) sequences.