Publications by authors named "J Tinsman"

Article Synopsis
  • - African pangolins are heavily hunted for their meat, traditional medicine, and scales, with illegal trafficking prevalent in Asian markets; however, understanding their population genetics can help trace the origins of trafficked scales.
  • - A study in the Republic of Congo examined two species of African pangolins, revealing high genetic diversity and a unique lineage of the white-bellied pangolin, likely influenced by historical river barriers and climatic changes during the Pleistocene.
  • - Findings indicate that most pangolins at bush meat markets are locally sourced, enhancing knowledge of pangolin population biology and trade dynamics, which can inform better conservation strategies for these vulnerable species.
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Background: Nature-based interventions (NbIs) for climate change mitigation include a diverse set of interventions aimed at conserving, restoring, and/or managing natural and modified ecosystems to improve their ability to store and sequester carbon and avoid greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Recent projections estimate that terrestrial NbIs can lead to more than one-third of the climate change mitigation necessary to meet the Paris Climate Agreement by 2030. Further, these interventions can provide co-benefits in the form of social and ecological outcomes.

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The degree of dietary flexibility in primates is species specific; some incorporate a wider array of resources than others. Extreme interannual weather variability in Madagascar results in seasonal resource scarcity which has been linked to specialized behaviors in lemurs. Prolemur simus, for example, has been considered an obligate specialist on large culm bamboo with >60% of its diet composed of woody bamboos requiring morphological and physiological adaptations to process.

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Article Synopsis
  • The white-bellied pangolin, the most trafficked mammal, is nearing extinction and understanding its trafficking origins is crucial for combating this issue.
  • A genomic analysis of 111 samples from Africa and 643 confiscated scales from Asia revealed a shift in poaching from West to Central Africa, particularly around Cameroon's southern border.
  • The research identified Nigeria as a key trafficking hub for pangolin scales, providing new insights to inform anti-trafficking strategies and disrupt illegal wildlife trade.
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We report the first chromosome-length genome assemblies for three species in the mammalian order Pholidota: the white-bellied, Chinese, and Sunda pangolins. Surprisingly, we observe extraordinary karyotypic plasticity within this order and, in female white-bellied pangolins, the largest number of chromosomes reported in a Laurasiatherian mammal: 2n = 114. We perform the first karyotype analysis of an African pangolin and report a Y-autosome fusion in white-bellied pangolins, resulting in 2n = 113 for males.

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