'Remote' behavioural ecology: do megaherbivores consume vegetation in proportion to its presence in the landscape?

Examination of the feeding habits of mammalian species such as the African elephant () that range over large seasonally dynamic areas is exceptionally challenging using field-based methods alone. Although much is known of their feeding preferences from field studies, conclusions, especially in relation to differing habits in wet and dry seasons, are often contradictory. Here, two remote approaches, stable carbon isotope analysis and remote sensing, were combined to investigate dietary changes in relation to tree and grass abundances to better understand elephant dietary choice in the Kruger National Park, South Africa.

Multi-tissue analysis of oxygen isotopes in wild rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta).

Oxygen isotopes in animal tissues are directly related to body water composition and thus the environment. Accurate measurement of animal tissue δ(18)O provides information about local climate, an animal's geographical origin and subsequent movements, with wide applications in palaeobiology and forensic science. The genesis and evolution of tissue-based oxygen isotopes within species and within individuals are complex.

Modern macaque dietary heterogeneity assessed using stable isotope analysis of hair and bone.

Dietary variability might have been a major factor in the dispersal and subsequent persistence of the genus Macaca in both tropical and temperate areas. Macaques are found from northern Africa to Japan, yet there have been few systematic attempts to compare diets between different modern populations. Here we have taken a direct approach and sampled museum-curated tissues (hair and bone) of Macaca mulatta (rhesus macaques) for carbon and nitrogen stable isotope dietary analyses.

Theropithecus and 'Out of Africa' dispersal in the Plio-Pleistocene.

Theropithecus oswaldi was one of the most widely distributed Plio-Pleistocene primates, found in southern, East, and North Africa, as well as in Spain, India, and possibly Italy. Such a large geographic range for a single primate species is highly unusual. Here, the nature and timing of its dispersal is examined using the Stepping Out cellular automata model.