Volume 85, Issue 5

Ansorge’s cusimanse, Crossarchus ansorgei Thomas, 1910, has until recently been known in Angola only from a single specimen collected in 1908, the holotype. During a camera trap survey conducted in Quiçama National Park (Angola) in 2017, we recorded the presence of the species 115 km south-west of the type locality – 40 km from the edge of the current known distribution range, – extending it south of the Cuanza river and possibly following the woodlands along the Angolan Escarpment. We combine our records of Ansorge’s cusimanse with the available published and unpublished records from Angola and compare with other vertebrate taxa that follow a similar pattern, in which Central African species extend their southern distribution into Angola, through the more forested areas in northwestern Angola and further south along the Escarpment. Furthermore, we discuss the urgent need for more research on this species and the impact bushmeat harvesting may have on its conservation.

Despite their economic, ecological and cultural importance, few studies have examined the population size, distribution and trends of the red-rumped agouti ( Dasyprocta leporina ) on the island of Trinidad. This study reports densities of agouti on Trinidad during a three-year period, including two years of a moratorium on hunting. Diurnal transect surveys were conducted and density estimates were calculated using the DISTANCE programme and King’s Estimator. Density varied between 7 and 44 individuals/km 2 between different sites, 19–28 individuals/km 2 island-wide, and with two of four sites showing a potential decline in estimated density in the final year of sampling after hunting resumed.

The Eastern broad toothed field mouse, Apodemus mystacinus , is a rodent species distributed in Turkey, the Middle East, and a few Aegean Islands. The aim of this study is to analyse the phylogeographic structure of A. mystacinus and possible causes of its differentiation, on the basis of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences using a large number of new samples from Turkey. In this context, partial mitochondrial sequences of cytochrome b ( Cytb ), control region ( D-loop ) and a nuclear interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein ( IRBP ) gene were used to reveal the geographical differentiation among A. mystacinus populations and the validity of its subspecies. The estimated divergence times revealed that the first separation of A. mystacinus into three distinct groups (subspecies of A. mystacinus : A. m. mystacinus , A. m. smyrnensis, and A. m. euxinus ) begun 0.641 Mya. The possible physical barriers in Anatolia such as high mountains and rivers could interrupt the gene flow between A. mystacinus populations. The results of the present study indicated that A. mystacinus might have used the high rocky areas along the Anatolian Diagonal as a dispersal way. Moreover, mitochondrial data in this study suggested for the first time that A. m. rhodius is synonymous with the nominative subspecies A. m. mystacinus .

The Blanford’s Fox Vulpes cana (Blanford, 1877) is an enigmatic carnivore of Asia and East Africa with sporadic and disjunct distribution in the Middle East. It was suspected to occur in western Iraq, but no confirmed records have been made. In October 2020, the first confirmed occurrence of Blanford’s Fox was made during a camera-trap survey in Xoshk Mountain in northern Iraq (Kurdistan) and is described in this account.

The Annamite striped rabbit Nesolagus timminsi is a little-known and Endangered lagomorph endemic to the Annamites ecoregion of Vietnam and Laos. The species’ known distribution extends from the northern to central Annamites. Here, we report the first records of the species from the southern Annamites. We recorded camera-trap photographs of Annamite striped rabbit in Bidoup – Nui Ba National Park, located in Lam Dong province, Vietnam. The photographs represent the first records of the species from the southern Annamites, and a significant southern range extension. We discuss the implications of this finding for Annamite striped rabbit conservation.

Dry dog food is a potential attractant for carnivores, but it is scarcely used in mesocarnivore studies. We tested its efficiency by placing 50 independent sampling stations consisting in trios of camera traps baited with either dry dog food and valerian extract and a control without any attractant. We obtained 84 independent contacts including 39 mesocarnivore sightings in 150 camera-night samples. Community composition estimates were affected by attractants: diversity was higher and dominance smaller when using dry dog food than when using valerian extract. Dry dog food elicited three times more contacts than control cameras (mean ± SE = 0.48 ± 0.04 vs 0.15 ± 0.02 contacts/camera). Our results suggest the potential efficiency of dry dog food as an alternative attractant, either alone or used in combination with other traditional inedible baits in mesocarnivore studies.

In temperate environments, forage availability and quality are known to influence life history traits of wild ungulates. However, variations in foraging strategies of these mountain dwellers with changing plant availability have received little attention. The seasonal vegetation availability in temperate climatic conditions of Kajinag National Park (KNP) was assessed by plot method at different altitudes (1900–3600 m a.s.l.) from 2018 to 2020 on seasonal basis. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of availability of vegetation on seasonal diet composition of Himalayan goral ( Naemorhedus goral ) inhabiting the National Park. We recorded 61 plant species whose availability differed significantly across seasons ( F 3,240  = 20.14, p  < 0.05). We found seasonal variation in the diet composition of Himalayan goral depicting a strong relationship between plant consumption and dynamic availability in the study area. Himalayan goral consumed herbs in spring (dominated by Dioscorea deltoidea relative importance value (RIV) = 27.20, Poa pratensis RIV = 14.99 and Themeda spp. RIV = 12.87), grasses in summer (dominated by Themeda spp. RIV = 34.12, P. pratensis RIV = 30.14, Bothriochloa ischaemum RIV = 22.72) and autumn (dominated by Themeda spp. RIV = 34.64, P. pratensis RIV = 30.14, Stipa spp. RIV = 29.73) and shrubs in winter (dominated by Indigofera heterantha RIV = 47.05, Prunus tomentosa RIV = 17.51 and Lonicera spp. RIV = 16.98). The annual diet of Himalayan goral was dominated by graze species (72.66%). The proportion of graze items in the diet showed a sharp decline from spring (90.67%) to winter (19.23%) whereas that of browse showed a huge increment from spring (4.67%) to winter (74.43%). This shift shows a survival or foraging strategy of a temperate ungulate in harsh winters with limited forage availability.

Despite extreme changes of ecosystems made by breeding colonies of great cormorants ( Phalacrocorax carbo ), these territories are still used by mammals. We present results of the analysis of mammal seasonal and daily activity patterns, registered by camera traps in two colonies of the great cormorants in Lithuania. Red foxes and raccoon dogs mainly visited colonies in the cormorant breeding time, April to July. In the inland colony of great cormorants in Lukštas Lake, average red fox relative shooting frequency in cormorant breeding time considerably exceeded that in non-breeding time (on average, 41.8 and 5.9 photos/100 days respectively). In the peninsular colony of great cormorants in Juodkrantė average relative shooting frequency of red fox in the breeding time was 7.8 versus 3.4 photos/100 days in non-breeding time, relative shooting frequencies of raccoon dog were 50.0 versus 1.3 photos/100 days, respectively. Daily activity patterns of wild boar and red fox in both colonies, as well as activity patterns of raccoon dog in Lukštas were related to the activity of cormorants with various degree of significance.

The common genet ( Genetta genetta Linnaeus, 1758) is a rare and protected mammal species in Algeria. We report the first melanistic individual of this species ever recorded in North Africa. Such animals have only been recorded in Spain and Portugal so far. It is unclear why melanistic common genets seem to be so rare in its African range. More research is needed to determine the true occurrence of melanistic individuals, and what the evolutionary history of melanism is in common genets.

Albinism has been sporadically recorded in Virginia opossums ( Didelphis virginiana ) in the United States and Mexico, but records of pigmentation disorders in other Didelphis spp. are rare. The Brazilian common opossum ( Didelphis aurita ) is a cat-sized nocturnal omnivorous marsupial that inhabits Atlantic and Araucaria forests in South America. A litter of five young Brazilian common opossums was rescued at Espírito Santo state, southeast Brazil, of which two were albinos (one male, one female) and the remaining had normal pigmentation (three males). The two albinos had a complete lack of integumentary and retinal pigmentation, representing the first recorded cases of albinism in this species (and the first record in a Didelphis sp. other than the Virginia opossum).

Brain size exhibits significant changes within and between species. Evolution of large brains can be explained by the need to improve cognitive ability for processing more information in changing environments. However, brains are among the most energetically expensive organs. Enlarged brains can impose energetic demands that limit brain size evolution. The expensive tissue hypothesis (ETH) states that a decrease in the size of another expensive tissue, such as the gut, should compensate for the cost of a large brain. We studied the interplay between energetic limitations and brain size evolution in small mammals using phylogenetically generalized least squares (PGLS) regression analysis. Brain mass was not correlated with the length of the digestive tract in 37 species of small mammals after correcting for phylogenetic relationships and body size effects. We further found that the evolution of a large brain was not accompanied by a decrease in male reproductive investments into testes mass and in female reproductive investment into offspring number. The evolution of brain size in small mammals is inconsistent with the prediction of the ETH.

Bats are mammals of great ecological and medical importance, which have associations with different pathogenic microorganisms. DNA barcoding is a tool that can expedite species identification using short DNA sequences. In this study, we assess the DNA barcoding methodology in bats from the Colombian Northern region, specifically in the Córdoba department. Cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequences of nine bat species were typified, and their comparison with other Neotropic samples revealed that this marker is suitable for individual species identification, with ranges of intra-species variation from 0.1 to 0.9%. Bat species clusters are well supported and differentiated, showing average genetic distances ranging from 3% between Artibeus lituratus and Artibeus planirostris , up to 27% between Carollia castanea and Molossus molossus. C. castanea and Glossophaga soricina show geographical structuring in the Neotropic. The findings reported in this study confirm DNA barcoding usefulness for fast species identification of bats in the region.

Anoura carishina was described based on cranial and dental morphology, but the original analyses did not include Anoura latidens , a similar species of Anoura . We used morphological, morphometric, and genetic analyses to evaluate the taxonomic identity of A. carishina. We performed a principal components analysis to evaluate the correspondence between morphological and taxonomic groups for 260 specimens of large-bodied Anoura ( A. carishina , Anoura geoffroyi , A. latidens , and Anoura peruana ), and statistically analyzed traits diagnostic for A. latidens , including (1) morphology of the third upper premolar (P 4 ), (2) size of the second (P 3 ) and third (P 4 ) upper premolars, and (3) angle formed by the maxillary toothrows. We find that A. latidens and A. carishina are indistinguishable, and share several characters lacking in A. geoffroyi , including a P 4 with triangular shape, an under-developed anterobasal cusp in the P 3 , a smaller braincase, and a shorter rostrum. Phylogenetic analyses using ultra-conserved elements infer that the holotype and two paratype specimens of A. carishina are paraphyletic and nested within A. latidens , while one paratype diagnosable by morphology as A. geoffroyi nests within A. geoffroyi samples. We demonstrate that A. carishina should be considered a junior synonym of A. latidens , updating the distribution of the latter.

Subterranean rodents Ctenomys are iconic representatives of the mammalian fauna from southern South America. Based on molecular data, eight lineages have been identified within the genus, although species-level identifications and relationships are still debated. Until now, the “ magellanicus ” clade has been the only lineage mentioned from arid, extra-Andean portions of Patagonia. Here, we report the presence of a Ctenomys population from northern Patagonia that is unambiguously associated with the Central Argentinean “ mendocinus ” lineage. Most of the 160,000 km 2 comprising the northern portion of Patagonia – an area consisting primarily of Monte Desert shrub-land – are inhabited by Ctenomys populations of unknown taxonomy.