The Burmese Roofed Turtle (Batagur trivittata Duméril Bibron, 1835) is a large (straight-line carapace length [CL] to 620 mm; Platt et al., 2019), aquatic, herbivorous turtle endemic to the major river systems of Myanmar (Smith 1931; TTWG 2017). Although historically widespread and apparently abundant, long-term population declines resulted from chronic egg collecting, subsistence harvesting of adults, and loss of critical nesting habitat (Platt et al.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRanaviruses are an emerging threat for many amphibian populations, yet their distribution in amphibian communities and the association of infection with possible stressors and species is not fully understood due to historically sparse surveillance. Agricultural practices that reduce the water quality of amphibian breeding habitats (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResearch that identifies the potential host range of generalist pathogens as well as variation in host susceptibility is critical for understanding and predicting the dynamics of infectious diseases within ecological communities. Ranaviruses have been linked to amphibian die-off events worldwide with the greatest number of reported mortality events occurring in the United States. While reports of ranavirus-associated mortality events continue to accumulate, few data exist comparing the relative susceptibility of different species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRanaviruses have caused die-offs of amphibians across the globe. In North America, these pathogens cause more amphibian mortality events than any other pathogen. Field observations suggest that ranavirus epizootics in amphibian communities are common during metamorphosis, presumably due to changes in immune function.
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