Locally-curved geometry generates bending cracks in the African elephant skin.

An intricate network of crevices adorns the skin surface of the African bush elephant, Loxodonta africana. These micrometre-wide channels enhance the effectiveness of thermal regulation (by water retention) as well as protection against parasites and intense solar radiation (by mud adherence). While the adaptive value of these structures is well established, their morphological characterisation and generative mechanism are unknown.

Seroprevalence of malignant catarrhal fever virus in captive wildebeest (Connochaetes sp.) in France.

Alcelaphine herpesvirus 1 (AlHV-1) is a gammaherpesvirus carried asymptomatically by wildebeests (Connochaetes sp.) in sub-Saharan Africa. Although asymptomatic in wildebeest, AlHV-1 infection in a number of other ruminant species causes a severe and fatal lymphoproliferative disease named wildebeest-derived malignant catarrhal fever (WD-MCF).