Volume 82, Issue 1

Although the behavioural ecology of the European wildcat ( Felis silvestris silvestris ) has been studied in several European countries, its home-range size is still poorly known due to elusive behaviour of the species living in typically low population densities. In our study, 11 wildcats from two distinct areas, the Maremma Regional Park (Tuscany; 3 males and 1 female) and the Paradiso di Pianciano Estate (Umbria; 6 males and 1 female), both located in Central Italy, were studied by means of classical VHF radio-tracking. Home ranges were calculated by means of the Brownian bridge movement model (BBMM). Variables significantly affecting home-range size were: study area, gender and the interaction between gender*age. The potential effect of the reproductive season and the nocturnal period was not supported. The main findings indicate that: (1) home-range sizes in Tuscany were larger than those in Umbria; (2) home-range size was positively related to the age of individuals; (3) males exploited larger home ranges than females in all age-classes except for the sub-adult age-class; this latter pattern has never emerged from any previous wildcat radio-telemetry study. Population density, different management regimes in the areas considered and the local abundance of prey may explain differences in home-range sizes between the study areas. The estimated home ranges of wildcats in Umbria were slightly larger than those reported across Europe, while those calculated in the Tuscan study area were significantly greater.

We developed a pictorial atlas of 52 scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of hairs found on 12 mammalian game species commonly found in the South African lowveld. Guard hairs were taken from the dorsoscapular, scapular, sternal, or axillary regions of each animal; and bristle hairs, if present, were collected from the manes of animals of each species. These images, along with other diagnostic features of hairs, can be used as an identification system. Such a system is useful for ecological studies where identifying animal remains is necessary.

This research evaluates habitat and forage use by a reintroduced population of endangered banteng ( Bos javanicus d’Alton, 1823) in Khao Khieo-Khao Chomphu Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand based on fieldwork conducted between November 2007 and September 2009. Thirteen banteng bred in Khao Kheow Open Zoo were accidentally introduced into the Khao Khieo-Khao Chomphu Wildlife Sanctuary in 1988. Forage species were identified by fecal analysis. The results from field study of showed that the population structure ratio among adults, juveniles and calves was 1:0.5:0.3, respectively. A multiple logistic regression habitat suitability model classified banteng as associated with mixed deciduous forest and agricultural areas (cassava and coconut), at low elevation, distant from human settlements. The kernel density estimate of area use for agriculture was 0.32 km 2 , and for mixed deciduous forest the estimate was 10.75 km 2 and 6.2 km 2 in the dry and wet seasons, respectively. When the wet and dry seasons are combined, the total area use for agriculture was 0.35 km 2 and for mixed deciduous forest, it was 11.40 km 2 . Twenty-three forage species were identified using a combination of fecal analysis and direct observation. Fecal specimens contained high levels of moisture and protein. Major risks to the feral banteng population are low genetic diversity, habitat destruction and poaching. These findings are important for possible translocations elsewhere.

The tuco-tucos rodents (genus Ctenomys ) of the Corrientes group comprise several populations that inhabit the vast area under the influence of the Iberá wetland. Lineage delimitation within the recently diverged Corrientes group is a challenging task as morphological differentiation is not conspicuous between populations. However, delimitation is crucial for evolutionary studies and conservation issues. In this study, we performed a phylogenetic analysis including cytochrome b (cyt-b) sequences from taxa that had never been studied in a comprehensive context. We integrated previously published chromosomal studies, mitochondrial phylogenies and simple sequence repeat (SSR) variability analyses, and applied a delimitation criterion over the basis of chromosomal incompatibilities and genetic exclusivity. Under this integrative approach seven independently evolving lineages were delimited in the Corrientes group: Ctenomys roigi , which conserves its former definition, Ctenomys dorbignyi and Ctenomys perrensi complex which were redefined, Sarandicito which includes the population of Paraje Sarandicito and probably a group of nearby poorly studied populations, and Iberá i, ii and iii distributed at both sides of the Iberá wetland. We discuss future perspectives to evaluate the proposed lineages and conservation issues concerning these tuco-tucos.

Some mole genera, including Scapanus of western North America, are usually considered to be fully fossorial. I present data showing that surface foraging is used by adults of all four Scapanus species, and evidence that such foraging is not a particularly rare behavior. Scapanus moles forage on the surface when leaf litter is wet and does not produce much noise; they also move slowly, remain within a small area, and usually forage in places with dense cover. These adaptations decrease the risk of predation and make surface foraging behavior difficult to detect for human observers. Numerous unpublished and a few published observations suggest that many, if not all, species in other “fully fossorial” mole genera forage on the surface at least occasionally. This is true not just for true moles (Talpidae), but also for unrelated, but convergently similar golden (Chrysotalpidae) and marsupial (Notoryctidae) moles. Apparently, surface foraging is too important for fossorial insectivores to be completely lost even in the most fossorial taxa.

Understanding how jaguars ( Panthera onca ) adapt to disturbed landscapes, especially urbanized areas, can help us prevent adverse situations, thus reducing conflict, and perhaps even achieve coexistence with these predators. Playa del Carmen, a city located in the middle of a natural corridor linking two jaguar conservation units (JCUs; Sian Ka’an and Yum Balam), is facing intense pressure from tourism-related city growth. From January 2013 to March 2014, we tracked an adult male jaguar using a satellite collar and found that the presence of the Playa del Carmen landfill had a clear influence on a male jaguar’s home range and movements. We observed that this particular jaguar had the smallest seasonal home range and core areas reported in the literature (particularly during the dry season in 2013, where the home range was only 16.22 km 2 and the core area was 2.5 km 2 ) and also that the seasonal core areas overlapped with the area covered by the landfill (with a number of important locations within the landfill). Our results showed that male jaguars are surviving in areas previously not considered as jaguar habitat and are taking advantage of the human resources within. We hope that these results encourage more jaguar studies to be carried out in areas disturbed by human activities.

We report the type and pattern of use of resting sites used by 14 radio-tracked opossums. Philander frenatus rested in natural structures but also on spherical structures of dry leaves, probably built by them. Caluromys philander and Marmosa paraguayana rested at forest canopy preventing nest type identification. More than half of the resting site locations of each radio-tracked individual were in a single resting site. The repeated use of resting sites in the study area might be a strategy to stay close to resources and a protection against adverse weather conditions, predators and/or competitors.

Here, we report cases of bats entangled in natural and artificial traps in Brazil. We found 10 bats entangled in barbed wire, including one Artibeus fimbriatus (dead), one each of Artibeus lituratus, Lasiurus blossevillii and Lasiurus cinereus (alive), one L. blossevilli and five Myotis levis (mummified) and one Eptesicus diminutus entangled on adhesive spines in a branch. All were adult bats. Although we cannot control the occurrence of natural traps, we can suggest actions to mitigate negative effects of man-made structures. The most economic and effective way to mitigate these negative effects is to use plain wire to construct fences.

We describe a newly developed and low-cost feeder designed for use with arboreal small mammals under any climatic condition. As part of a project on bottom-up regulation of small mammal populations in central Brazil, we present the results of 16 months of food supplementation. During the study, more than 118 kg of milled cat food were consumed, out of a total of 207 kg offered. Moreover, we registered a low rate of loss (14.05%) of feeders from falling to the ground or termite/ant colonization. The round-pot feeder described here represents a low-cost method for providing continuous food-supplementation, contraceptives, or poisoned baits to arboreal small mammals.

Field expeditions in 2011 that inventoried the terrestrial vertebrate fauna of two wildlife protected areas in the tropical Caribbean of Guatemala have produced the first confirmed records of two bats for the country: the white-bellied big-eared bat, Micronycteris ( Schizonycteris ) minuta (Gervais 1856) and the Chesnut short-tailed bat Carollia castanea H. Allen, 1890, both of neotropical distribution and with their current northern limit at Lancetilla, Honduras. The record of M. minuta at Sierra de Caral, Guatemala extends the range of this species 137 km to the west, and the record of C . castanea at Cerro San Gil extends its range 147 km to the west.

Albinism is a pigmentation anomaly present in all of the main vertebrate groups, including about 4% of bat species. In this article, we described a new case in a Neotropical bat Gardnerycteris crenulatum collected in a savanna of northern Brazil. This bat is an adult male with white and pale yellow fur, red eyes, and white skin on its entire body. We perform a review of the world list of bat species with albinism, which totals 60 species in six continents to this date.

The greater mouse-tailed bat ( Rhinopoma microphyllum Brunnich 1782) is reported for the first time in Algeria from two caves of the Boukaïs region (Bechar). Noseleaf shape, forearm and tail lengths clearly identified this species. The frequency of maximal energy of echolocation calls varied from 28.2 to 31.2 kHz for hand released individuals.

Copemyodon ecuadorensis was described as a non-sigmodontine extinct cricetid from two rich fossiliferous localities in northern Ecuador. It was hypothesized as being related to both the fossil genus Copemys and the living Peromyscus and, as such, is an example of an independent “copemyine-neotomine” attempt to colonize South America. Here, we re-study the holotype of C. ecuadorensis concluding that it cannot be separated from Reithrodontomys (Cricetidae, Neotominae) at a generic level. Copemyodon constitutes a junior synonym of Reithrodontomys . There are recent populations of Reithrodontomys in Ecuador and most likely it comprises several species. In this context, seems convenient to retain ecuadorensis as a species of Reithrodontomys until an appropriate revision of this genus is performed, although we identify morphological similarities between Reithrodontomys ecuadorensis and the nominal form Reithrodontomys soederstroemi .

The spiny rat Trinomys , with ten endemic species in eastern Brazil, has a complex taxonomy. We carried out a revision of the karyotypes of Trinomys , described for the first time the karyotype of Trinomys paratus and performed the first phylogenetic analysis including all Trinomys species based on the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. The T. paratus karyotype showed diploid number of 58 and fundamental autosomal number of 112. Diploid and fundamental autosomal numbers (FNa), and chromosomes’ morphology, are similar to those described for Trinomys eliasi . T. paratus appears as sister taxa of T. eliasi ; in turn, this clade was recovered as the sister group of Trinomys setosus , as previously reported, confirming that sister species of Trinomys has conserved karyotypes, and suggesting that karyological evolution in this genus could be slower than species differentiation.

The generic placement and tribal affiliation of Wiedomys marplatensis Quintana, 2002 are revised based on the study of its holotype and a single known remains from San Andrés Formation (Early Pleistocene; Buenos Aires Province, Argentina). The anatomical traits selected as indicators belonging to Wiedomys Hershkovitz, 1959 are interpreted here as general similarities. Wiedomys marplatensis is removed from Wiedomys and is considered as a junior synonym of Cholomys pearsoni Reig, 1980. The affiliation of the latter to Wiedomyini is discussed and the alternative hypothesis to allocate Cholomys Reig, 1980 in Oryzomyini is advanced. Although further research and more fossils are necessary to solve this issue, the placement of Cholomys as Sigmodontinae incertae sedis and the avoidance of using it as a point of calibration in molecular phylogenies are suggested.