Rating the rat: global patterns and research priorities in impacts and management of rodent pests
We report the results of the first systematic assessment of global patterns and research priorities emerging in the field of rodent pest management. We carried out an extensive literature review targeted towards identifying the most relevant rodent pests, their impacts and the most common methods used to control them.
We identified three disproportionally important pest species that are characterized by severe, generalist and geographically widespread impacts: the black rat Rattus rattus, the Norway rat Rattus norvegicus and the house mouse Mus musculus. Overall, only 7% of known rodent species may be considered pests. Sca...
Source: Mammal Review - January 1, 2014 Category: Zoology Authors: Dario Capizzi, Sandro Bertolino, Alessio Mortelliti Tags: Review Source Type: research
Corrigendum
(Source: Mammal Review)
Source: Mammal Review - December 26, 2013 Category: Zoology Tags: Corrigendum Source Type: research
A review of wild boar Sus scrofa diet and factors affecting food selection in native and introduced ranges
Abstract
The wild boar Sus scrofa is an omnivore with one of the largest geographical ranges of all species. However, no synthesis exists on its diet, feeding behaviour and factors affecting food selection in its native and introduced ranges.
A literature review and a test of effect size revealed significant differences in wild boar diet composition in native and introduced ranges. Wild boar diet is dominated by plant material (∼90%) in both ranges, but animal matter and fungi are consumed in greater proportions in the introduced range than in the native range. Food items frequently include agricultural crops (especiall...
Source: Mammal Review - October 31, 2013 Category: Zoology Authors: Sebastián A. Ballari, M. Noelia Barrios‐García Tags: Review Source Type: research
An acoustic valve within the nose of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus
We present a new concept to explain how the flat right nasal passage can serve as a variable acoustic valve, and how the amount and distribution of its air filling can be controlled by muscle action. This mechanism allows the whale to determine the pulse decay rate and thus switch between the two modes of click production. Coda clicks are generated by reverberations within the spermaceti organ (partial trapping of sound) and by the release of sound energy in fractions through the air‐filled right nasal passage. In contrast, echolocation clicks as single events are released during the partial collapse of the right nasal p...
Source: Mammal Review - October 1, 2013 Category: Zoology Authors: Stefan Huggenberger, Michel André, Helmut H. A. Oelschläger Tags: Review Source Type: research
The Leporid Datum: a late Miocene biotic marker
Abstract
Although Lagomorpha (rabbits, hares and pikas) have a long evolutionary history in Eurasia and Africa, including primitive genera of Eurasia historically considered assignable at the family level to Leporidae, the predecessors of modern rabbits were absent throughout this vast region for most of the Miocene until late in that epoch. During the early and middle Miocene, crown group Leporidae differentiated in North America, then dispersed to northern Asia in the late Miocene around 8 Ma (million years before present) and afterward. They then spread widely and apparently rapidly throughout Eurasia, reaching South...
Source: Mammal Review - October 1, 2013 Category: Zoology Authors: Lawrence J. Flynn, Alisa J. Winkler, Margarita Erbaeva, Nadia Alexeeva, Ulrike Anders, Chiara Angelone, Stanislav Čermák, Florian A. Fladerer, Brian Kraatz, Luis A. Ruedas, Irina Ruf, Yukimitsu Tomida, Kristof Veitschegger, Zhaoqun Zhang Tags: Review Source Type: research
Is the loss of Australian digging mammals contributing to a deterioration in ecosystem function?
Abstract
Despite once being described as common, digging mammal species have been lost from the Australian landscape over the last 200 years. Around half of digging mammal species are now extinct or under conservation threat, and the majority of extant species have undergone marked range contractions.
Our aim is to identify the role of digging mammals in ecosystem processes throughout Australia. We highlight how the actions of digging mammals are vital for maintaining ecosystem functioning and how their extirpation has led to loss of ecosystem functions.
A review of the literature indicates that many aspects of the influe...
Source: Mammal Review - October 1, 2013 Category: Zoology Authors: Patricia A. Fleming, Hannah Anderson, Amy S. Prendergast, Michael R. Bretz, Leonie E. Valentine, Giles E. StJ. Hardy Tags: Review Source Type: research
Impacts and management of wild pigs Sus scrofa in Australia
Abstract
Globally, wild or feral pigs Sus scrofa are a widespread and important pest. Mitigation of their impacts requires a sound understanding of those impacts and the benefits and limitations of different management approaches.
Here, we review published and unpublished studies to provide a synopsis of contemporary understanding of wild pig impacts and management in Australia, and to identify important shortcomings.
Wild pigs can have important impacts on biodiversity values, ecosystem functioning and agricultural production. However, many of these impacts remain poorly described, and therefore, difficult to manage effe...
Source: Mammal Review - July 14, 2013 Category: Zoology Authors: Andrew J. Bengsen, Matthew N. Gentle, James L. Mitchell, Hayley E. Pearson, Glen R. Saunders Tags: Review Source Type: research
Mammal Review – the view from the coalface
(Source: Mammal Review)
Source: Mammal Review - July 1, 2013 Category: Zoology Authors: Nancy Jennings Tags: Editorial Source Type: research
Variance in male reproductive success and sexual size dimorphism in pinnipeds: testing an assumption of sexual selection theory
Abstract
The theory of evolution by sexual selection for sexual size dimorphism (SSD) postulates that SSD primarily reflects the adaptation of males and females to their different reproductive roles. For example, competition among males for access to females increases male body size because larger males are better able to maintain dominant status than smaller males. Larger dominant males sire most offspring while smaller subordinate males are unsuccessful, leading to skew in reproductive success. Therefore, species with male‐biased SSD are predicted to have greater variance in male reproductive success than those in whi...
Source: Mammal Review - July 1, 2013 Category: Zoology Authors: Manuela González‐Suárez, Marcelo H. Cassini Tags: Review Source Type: research
What do we know about armadillos? An analysis of four centuries of knowledge about a group of South American mammals, with emphasis on their conservation
Abstract
Basic knowledge on the biology and ecology of a species is fundamental for the realistic assessment of its conservation status and for planning effective conservation strategies. The latest assessment of the 21 extant armadillo species (Xenarthra, Dasypodidae) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for its Red List of Threatened Species shows that considerable gaps exist in our knowledge of these Neotropical mammals.
Our goal was to analyse the existing literature on armadillos to define thematic and regional research priorities that will eventually benefit their conservation.
We categorized...
Source: Mammal Review - July 1, 2013 Category: Zoology Authors: Mariella Superina, Noralí Pagnutti, Agustín M. Abba Tags: Review Source Type: research
Global distribution of Risso's dolphin Grampus griseus: a review and critical evaluation
Abstract
The global range of Risso's dolphin Grampus griseus is not well known, and there has been confusion in the literature as to whether the species has a broad, circumglobal range or only occurs along continental margins.
To clarify the species' distribution and habitat preferences, we compiled and reviewed all available (published and unpublished) records of sightings and captures of this species for the past 62 years (1950–2012, n = 8068 records). Stranding records were not included.
The results showed that the species has a range that extends across ocean basins and spans between at least 64°N and 46°S, an...
Source: Mammal Review - July 1, 2013 Category: Zoology Authors: Thomas A. Jefferson, Caroline R. Weir, R. Charles Anderson, Lisa T. Ballance, Robert D. Kenney, Jeremy J. Kiszka Tags: Review Source Type: research
Sympatric sister species in rodents are more chromosomally differentiated than allopatric ones: implications for the role of chromosomal rearrangements in speciation
Abstract
A meta‐analysis approach was used to test for chromosomal speciation in rodents. Forty‐one pairs of sister species, identified in the two most species‐rich rodent families (Cricetidae and Muridae), were used as phylogenetically independent data points, each resulting from a speciation event. About 30% of sister species have an identical karyotype. There was a significant difference in the number of chromosomal differences between sympatric and allopatric sister species, compatible with a direct role of chromosomal rearrangements in speciation. (Source: Mammal Review)
Source: Mammal Review - June 30, 2013 Category: Zoology Authors: Riccardo Castiglia Tags: Short Communication Source Type: research
Derek William Yalden (1940–2013)
(Source: Mammal Review)
Source: Mammal Review - June 5, 2013 Category: Zoology Authors: W. Ian Montgomery, Pat Morris Tags: Obituary Source Type: research
New findings on the origin of Cavia intermedia, one of the world's rarest mammals
Abstract
Cavia intermedia, a rare species of cavy found exclusively on Moleques do Sul Island, Brazil, differs from other cavies in genetic and morphological characteristics and has been regarded as phylogenetically closest to Cavia magna. Here, I present morphological evidence for the likely origin of Cavia intermedia from an ancestor shared with Cavia magna: an external female genital organ similar in size and appearance to the male's penis. Masculinization of the female genitalia has been observed in Cavia magna but does not occur in Cavia aperea, which suggests a sister relationship between Cavia magna and Cavia interm...
Source: Mammal Review - April 1, 2013 Category: Zoology Authors: Nina Furnari Tags: Short Communication Source Type: research
Habitat management as a generalized tool to boost European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus populations in the Iberian Peninsula: a cost‐effectiveness analysis
Abstract
The European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus was designated as a protected species in Spain and Portugal following sharp declines in many populations. The ongoing decline highlights the need to implement cost‐effective management strategies for this staple prey and important small game species of Iberian Mediterranean ecosystems.
Habitat management is one strategy in general use, though little is known about its true influence on rabbit populations. The main goal of this study was to assess the frequency of use and cost‐effectiveness of habitat management techniques for European rabbit populations in the Iberian...
Source: Mammal Review - April 1, 2013 Category: Zoology Authors: Catarina Ferreira, Julia Touza, Carlos Rouco, Francisco Díaz‐Ruiz, Javier Fernandez‐de‐Simon, Carlos Antonio Ríos‐Saldaña, Pablo Ferreras, Rafael Villafuerte, Miguel Delibes‐Mateos Tags: Review Source Type: research
