Effects of Tourism on the Habitat Use by a Threatened Large Rodent at a World Heritage Site.

The mara is a large endemic rodent, which presents a marked decline in its populations, mainly because of habitat loss, hunting, and overgrazing. The Ischigualasto Provincial Park is a hyper-arid protected area at the Monte Desert of Argentina with an overall low plant cover. Our objective was to determine the influence of environmental variables and tourist activities on mara's habitat use.

Pigmentation and not only sex and age of individuals affects despotism in the Andean condor.

Attributes such as sex, age and pigmentation of individuals could correspond to the competitive skills they use to access resources and, consequently, determine their social status when a hierarchy of dominance is established. We analysed patterns of social dominance in relation to sex, age and, for the first time, according to face pigmentation in a large scavenger bird species, the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus). This species displays extreme sexual dimorphism, with males being up to 50% heavier than females.

Education can improve the negative perception of a threatened long-lived scavenging bird, the Andean condor.

Human-wildlife conflicts currently represent one of the main conservation problems for wildlife species around the world. Vultures have serious conservation concerns, many of which are related to people's adverse perception about them due to the belief that they prey on livestock. Our aim was to assess local perception and the factors influencing people's perception of the largest scavenging bird in South America, the Andean condor.

Medicinal use of wild fauna by mestizo communities living near San Guillermo Biosphere Reserve (San Juan, Argentina).

Background: Wild and domestic animals and their by-products are important ingredients in the preparation of curative, protective and preventive medicines. Despite the medicinal use of animals worldwide, this topic has received less attention than the use of medicinal plants. This study assessed the medicinal use of animals by mestizo communities living near San Guillermo MaB Reserve by addressing the following questions: What animal species and body parts are used? What ailments or diseases are treated with remedies from these species? To what extent do mestizo people use animals as a source of medicine? Is the use related to people's age?

Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 171 inhabitants (15-93 years old) of four villages close to the Reserve: Tudcúm, Angualasto, Malimán and Colangüil.

Renal intraspecific variation along an aridity gradient detected by new renal indices in a desert herbivorous rodent.

Mammals that live in arid and semi-arid environments in South America present physiological mechanisms that enable them to conserve water. Body water is lost through the kidneys, lungs, skin, and intestines. Regarding renal adaptation for water conservation, several indices have been used to estimate the capacity of the kidneys to produce a maximum urine concentration.

High genetic differentiation among populations of the small cavy Microcavia australis occupying different habitats.

The small cavy Microcavia australis, a social and fossorial rodent, inhabits a large distribution range in South American arid zones. The species is versatile in coping with the seasonal and spatial variability typical of these environments through changes in morphology, physiology, and behavior. In order to explore whether phenotypic variations are related to the evolutionary history of the species, we analyzed the levels of genetic variability and divergence among four populations that differ in climate and habitat characteristics, two belonging to highlands and the other two from lowlands.

Effect of climatic variables on seasonal morphological changes in the testis and epididymis in the wild rodent Microcavia australis from the andes mountains, Argentina.

It has been shown that seasonal changes, especially in arid areas have a large influence on gonadal changes of the species that inhabit these areas. We studied a wild hystricomorph Microcavia australis in its natural habitat in the arid Andes Mountains. Sampling of adult males was carried out every 2 months.