Unlabelled: There are only about 7,100 adolescent and adult cheetahs () remaining in the wild. With the majority occurring outside protected areas, their numbers are rapidly declining. Evidence-based conservation measures are essential for the survival of this species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe live in a world characterized by biodiversity loss and global environmental change. The extinction of large carnivores can have ramifying effects on ecosystems like an uncontrolled increase in wild herbivores, which in turn can have knock-on impacts on vegetation regeneration and communities. Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) serve important ecosystem functions as apex predators; yet, they are quickly heading towards an uncertain future.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMammalian carnivores have been extensively studied by cross-species chromosome painting, which indicated a high degree of karyotypic conservatism in the cat-like suborder Feliformia relative to the ancestral carnivore karyotype (ACK). The first exception to this high degree of karyotypic conservation in feliforms was recently confirmed in genets, mesocarnivores belonging to the basal family Viverridae. Here, we present a comparative analysis of the chromosome rearrangements among 2 subspecies of the small-spotted genet Genetta genetta (the Iberian nominate and the Arabian grantii) and the panther genet G.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTraditional subspecies call attention to differences between geographic populations with research potential, but their value is often in need of revision. Genetic data can be useful for evaluating the taxonomic validity of historical species and subspecies designations or for identifying morphologically cryptic divergent lineages worthy of further in-depth taxonomic study. The desert hedgehog (Paraechinus aethiopicus) has a wide but fragmented distribution in arid and semi-arid habitats from the northwest to the northeast of Africa and southwestern Asia, and its taxonomy is still unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCold Spring Harb Protoc
December 2011
The lesser Egyptian jerboa, Jaculus jaculus, is the ideal jerboa species for use as a laboratory model system. As a member of the most derived clade of three-toed jerboas, it shows all of the specialized characteristics for bipedalism, including loss of the lateral digits and fusion and elongation of the metatarsals. It is a small rodent, weighing ∼55 g as an adult, and it does not hibernate through the winter as is common with many other jerboa species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe objectives of this study were to analyse faecal steroid metabolites in African and South East Asian pig species kept in European zoos. Species studied were the warthog (Phacochoerus africanus), the red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus) and the babirusa (Babyrousa babyrussa). Faecal samples were collected 1-3 times per week from non-pregnant and pregnant captive female warthogs (n = 9), red river hogs (n = 7) and babirusas (n = 5).
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