Volume 87, Issue 2

Pangolins are one of the most threatened mammal groups, as a result of habitat loss and exploitation for their meat, scales, and other body parts. However, there is a lack of quantitative data on pangolin populations; their behaviour and ecology make them challenging to survey. We undertook systematic camera-trap surveys of the 5260 km 2 World Heritage Dja Faunal Reserve, Cameroon, sampling 305 sites in eight grids over 28,277 camera-trap days. We recorded 768 images of giant pangolin in 99 independent detections at 57 sites (RAI = 0.35), and 2282 images in 355 detections (RAI = 1.26) of white-bellied pangolin at 137 sites. Ground-dwelling giant pangolins were largely confined to the core of the Reserve. Semi-arboreal white-bellied pangolins were predominantly distributed in the northeast, east and south of the Reserve. Lower occupancy in the west and northwest could partly be due to pressures from human settlements around the Hydromekin Dam and Sud-Cameroun Hévéa rubber plantation. Our study suggests that at the ground-level the two species do not spatially segregate, and both were active throughout the night. We found high diel activity overlap, although there was a significant difference in activity peak times. There was also evidence of white-bellied pangolin possibly exhibiting fine-scale behavioural avoidance of giant pangolin.

Analysis of spatiotemporal partitioning is pivotal to shed light on interspecific coexistence. Most research efforts have involved large-sized carnivores and their prey species, whereas little attention has been given to ungulate in the predator-free ecosystems. We assessed seasonal activity patterns and spatiotemporal overlap among the Siberian roe deer ( Capreolus pygargus tianschanicus ) and its sympatric species through camera-trapping from October 2017 and September 2020 in Jeju Island, South Korea. Trap events when compared seasonally, roe deer show higher activity in summer (34.9%), a pronounced low in winter (14.1%), and a moderate in autumn (23.8%) and in spring (26.9%). Roe deer exhibited bimodal activity patterns and had the highest spatiotemporal overlap and composite score with sika deer ( Cervus nippon ). Our results are among the few available data on the interaction of sympatric species and suggest strong overlapping with sika deer. This study provides important insight into species coexistence in predator-free habitats, which would be important for management initiatives.

Limited resources intensify interspecific competition and constrain the survival and distribution of species. A restricted, spatially isolated, small island can also pronounce this effect, as predicted in the island biogeography. This study compared the summer diets of sympatric carnivores, red foxes, raccoon dogs, Japanese martens, and Japanese weasels on the small island Izushima and evaluated niche partitioning, especially focusing on their insectivory. The results showed that insects were the main summer food source for all four species, with a significant overlap in their diets. However, in-depth investigation on insectivory down to the level of species and genera revealed that the species differences were more pronounced. Raccoon dogs frequently fed on ground-dwelling beetles, and Japanese martens fed on several arboreal beetles, while red foxes were less dependent on insects and more biased toward larger prey such as mammals and birds, and Japanese weasels foraged more on smaller prey, thereby reflecting niche partitioning between these species owing to differences in foraging ecology under the constrains of their body sizes.

The present range of Massoutiera mzabi is restricted to deserts and semi-deserts of the northern and Central Sahara, and discontinuously to Aïr Massif and Adrar of Ifoghas. Vegetation seems to be the second main driver of occurrence of this herbivorous rodent, so we investigated its diet selection by comparing the contents of faeces collected from two stations of the national parks of Ahaggar (Chaabet Tidekatine) and Tassili n’Ajjers (Oued Izarwaz) to the availability of plants nearby. The diet included a total of 25 plant species, 14 from Chaabet Tidekatine and 20 from Oued Izarwaz. In Chaabet Tidekatine, Zygophyllaceae (mainly Fagonia glutinosa and Fagonia bruguieri ) over Asteraceae ( Pulicaria incisa ) and Poaceae ( Stipagrostis ). In Oued Izarwaz, the most consumed plant species were Asteraceae ( Pulicaria crispa and P. incisa ), Poaceae ( Stipagrostis pungens ) and Capparidaceae ( Cleome amblyocarpa ). Overall, M. mzabi diet appeared to be influenced more by the diversity than by the availability of vegetation. Seasonal variations in diet indicate that this rodent eats perennial and ambivalent vegetation throughout the year and opportunistically consumes annual plants mainly in the spring, with the exception of P. incisa and P. crispa which were eaten throughout the year.

An especially interesting question is “How many species of bats can be found simultaneously in the same cave?” This information is surprisingly rare in the literature, mainly in the Neotropics. The aim of this study was to sample bats in Gruta do Limoeiro cave, Municipality of Castelo, State of Espírito Santo, Brazil after a 53-year interval of the first survey, by the naturalist Augusto Ruschi. Four surveys were conducted in 2005 and 2006, capturing bats with mist-nets and actively exploring the cave. We recorded eleven species of three families, Phyllostomidae, Vespertilionidae and Molossidae, making Gruta do Limoeiro cave one of the most diverse caves in the World for bats. Of the 14 species found by Ruschi, seven were still present, and four species were added. The seven species lost from Ruschi’s list are mainly Emballonuridae and some Phyllostomidae, probably due to landscape changes. We recommend the long-term monitoring of the Gruta do Limoeiro cave to understand the loss in diversity, and consequently in ecosystem services.

Most animals face changes in the availability of food and the environmental conditions in the places where they live. In response, they need to adjust their behavioral, physiological, and morphological traits. In temperate zones and high latitudes, bats increase their body mass ( M b ) in autumn to store fat reserves and use them during hibernation. However, other small mammals decrease their M b prior to winter to reduce the energetic requirements of individuals. These changes are unknown for bats inhabiting other highly energetic demanding environments. We measured changes in M b of 84 non-reproductive males of Eptesicus fuscus inhabiting a tropical montane ecosystem in central Mexico over seasons. We also examined the relationship of bats’ M b with the minimum ambient temperature ( T a , °C) and mean precipitation (mm). Bats presented an increase in M b from March to June, followed by a decrease from September to November and presented the lowest M b from November to March, in the dry-cold season. The results suggest that the pattern of changes in M b could be the result of two non-exclusive components related to the bats’ energy budget, the energetic demands experienced by the bats throughout the year and the morphological adaptations animals could display to reduce their energy requirements during the winter.

We report feeding behaviour, dates of peak reproduction, and sexual size dimorphism of the fishing bat, Noctilio leporinus, in the Gulf of Mexico. For the first time we document the size of cheek pouches in N. leporinus and fish species consumed in the water bodies of southern Mexico and analyse differences in wing morphology and biomechanical flight descriptors between the sexes. We found sexual dimorphism in size for most of the external measurements but not in wing characters. This species can consume prey up to a third of its size. We confirmed the presence of N. leporinus in localities in Tabasco, Mexico 60 years after the first report.

Banded civet Hemigalus derbyanus is a Near Threatened small carnivore species distributed in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, peninsular Thailand, and Myanmar. However, the status of banded civet in Myanmar is uncertain, as it has not been recorded there since 1914. Here, we report the first photographic evidence of banded civet in Htaung Pru Reserved Forest of Tanintharyi Region, which is located in the far northwest from the known historical location in Myanmar, and contributes to our knowledge of the current distribution of banded civet in Southeast Asia. Protection and conservation of lowland rainforest by using community-based conservation approaches is critically important for the persistence of this species in this particular area.

In the last few decades, the crested porcupine ( Hystrix cristata L., 1758) showed a remarkable range expansion in Italy, due to legal protection, climatic change and antropochorous releases. Particularly, porcupines have been released also in Sardinia, with first records of this large rodent in the wild dating back to 2005. Historical and social factors related to the progressive urbanization and the consequent abandonment of the traditional land use in mountain landscapes probably helped the re-expansion of forest, uncultivated fields and of animal’s species associated with these habitats. In Sardinia, a population establishment and a subsequent expansion of the area of distribution can be predicted as large portions of the island are highly suitable for the crested porcupine. Therefore, this recently introduced population should be removed to limit potential ecological and social conflicts.

Beside insects, sengis also consume plant material such as leaves, fruits, seeds and floral nectar. It is known that they use olfaction for foraging, but little is known about their vision and visual learning capabilities. Colour vision has been tested in two species, showing that they are likely dichromats (green- and blue-sensitive retinal cone-photoreceptors, meaning red-green colour blind). Our aim was to examine the learning and colour discrimination abilities of another species, Elephantulus edwardii . Using training procedures and choice experiments, we tested the hypotheses that the animals can associate a reward with trained colours and that they can discriminate between different colour hues. The sengis preferred the trained colours over the others, indicating associative learning. They could discriminate between all tested colours (blue, red, green, yellow). The sengis’ colour choice behaviour indicates that the animals can use also colour features to find food plant material. Additionally, learning abilities most likely are essential for the sengis’ foraging activities, for instance by associating floral or fruit shape, colour or scent with nectar or ripe fruit, to increase the efficiency to locate food sources.

The brown or pouchless four-eyed opossums or jupatis represent the genus Metachirus with a wide geographical range in the Neotropics. Recent studies show distinct monophyletic clades with high genetic divergence and recognized two species, Metachirus nudicaudatus and Metachirus myosuros . Nevertheless, there is a need for systematic revision with multiple sources of evidence on the taxonomy of Metachirus , which has never been fully revised. Here we describe a new species of Metachirus for the Brazilian Amazon from the Xingu/Tocantins interfluve using the unification of concepts and evolutionary significant units, morphological, genetic, and geographic data. Our analysis reveals a new species within Metachirus as a differentiated Amazonian clade from the Serra dos Carajás region and the Caxiuanã National Forest, both in the Xingu endemism centre. This new species can be distinguished from the type species, M. nudicaudatus and from M. myosuros through discrete external morphological characters, including cranium and dentition, and molecular data with an average degree of divergence, but ancient divergence time for the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. The Amazon River delimits the distribution of the new species, which also occurs in areas under strong anthropogenic pressure, reinforcing the importance to guide conservation strategies for the region.

Beaked whales, Family Ziphiidae, occur in deep offshore and oceanic seas, where they are very difficult to study, so that much of our knowledge about them is derived from stranded animals. Most beaked whales (e.g., genera Mesoplodon and Ziphius ) have only one pair of mandibular teeth. A reduced dentition is widely regarded as an adaptation to suction feeding, primarily on squid. However, vestigial maxillary and mandibular teeth have been recorded in some species. Here, we describe new records of vestigial teeth in 12 Sowerby’s beaked whales, Mesoplodon bidens, and one Cuvier’s beaked whale, Ziphius cavirostris, from a total 14 animals of these species, which stranded in 2019–2021 in Scotland. In nine M. bidens some tooth crowns were erupted and mild occlusal wear was visible, whereas pathological teeth were seen in ten individuals. The occurrence of vestigial teeth in Sowerby’s beaked whale appears to be significantly under-recorded, suggesting that vestigial teeth form as part of the normal development of the dentition. The reasons for the under-recording of the occurrence and the possible functionality of vestigial teeth in ziphiids are discussed.