Franc Janžekovič

University of Maribor | UM · Department of Biology

Evropski bober je v Sloveniji in večjem delu Evrope v začetku 20. stoletja veljal za izumrlo vrsto. Ob koncu 20. stoletja se je po številnih reintrodukcijah in uveljavitvi ohranitvenih ukrepov ponovno razširil. V Sloveniji se je vnovič naselil leta 1998, na Goričkem leta 2016. V zimi 2021/22 smo na Goričkem popisali šest vodnih teles, na katerih je...

The reference genome of Apodemus agrarius provides a valuable resource for phylogenetic studies of rodents, particularly mice, and for understanding factors that influence the geographical distribution of the species across East Asia and East Europe. A total of 25 contiguous chromosomal pseudomolecules were assembled from the genome sequence (23 au...

Red fox, Vulpes vulpes , is a globally distributed species characterized by its high adaptability to diverse habitats and a broad range of food resources. This remarkable adaptability has allowed the red fox to thrive in various environments, from urban areas to remote wilderness. In this study, we used a set of microsatellite markers for the compa...

A genomic database of all Earth’s eukaryotic species could contribute to many scientific discoveries; however, only a tiny fraction of species have genomic information available. In 2018, scientists across the world united under the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP), aiming to produce a database of high-quality reference genomes containing all ~1.5 mil...

Tretji slovenski kongres o vodah. POVZETEK Biodiverziteta je pestrost in variabilnost živih bitij na Zemlji. Organizacija združenih narodov je pomen biodiverzitete za dobrobit človeštva in življenja na Zemlji leta 1992 prepoznala s sprejemom Konvencije o biodiverziteti. Koncept biodiverzitete je večplasten in vključuje tri strukturne vidike: vrstni...

As a result of field studies in 2015-2016 in Serbia, mainly during two field collecting trips, four species of Raphidioptera and 65 species of Neuroptera were collected. The following species are reported from Serbia for the first time: Ornatoraphidia flavilabris (A. Costa, 1855), Phaeostigma pilicollis (Stein, 1863), Nothochrysa fulviceps (Stephen...

Most subterranean habitats, especially caves, are considered extreme environments, mainlybecause of the limited and erratic food supply and constant darkness. In temperate regions, manyclimatic conditions, such as temperature and air humidity, are periodically less adverse or even morefavourable in caves than the harsh seasonal weather on the surfa...

Dostopno na: https://press.um.si/index.php/ump/catalog/book/734 - Makroekologija, analiza biodiverzitetnih podatkov je univerzitetni učbenik, namenjen usvajanju znanja s področja ved o biotski pestrosti. Vsebina obsega vsa področja biodiverzitete, s katero se srečuje sodobna biološka, ekološka in naravovarstvena stroka. Predstavljena je metodolog...

The burnet moth, Zygaena ephialtes (L., 1767) (Lepidoptera: Zygaenidae) is a distinctly polymorphic species of moth appearing in several color morphotypes. This study examined whether the variability of the Z. ephialtes forewing could be explained by geometric morphometric methods. The analysis included 70 male specimens from five localities in Mon...

Burnet güvesi, Zygaena ephialtes (L., 1767) (Lepidoptera: Zygaenidae) farklı renk morfotiplerinde görülen belirgin şekilde polimorfik bir güve türüdür. Bu çalışmada, Z. ephialtes’in ön kanatlarındaki değişkenliğin geometrik morfometri yöntemleri ile açıklanıp açıklanamayacağını incelenmiştir. Analizde, 1981 ile 2018 yılları arasında toplanan sırası...

Intraspecific variation in size along spatial and environmental gradients has been documented in many studies, and different hypotheses have been proposed to explain these patterns of geographic variation. We explored size variation in 4 island and 35 mainland samples of the Edible Dormouse ( Glis glis Linnaeus, 1758) from the western Balkans in Sl...

In this study we address the taxonomic identity of Hypudaeus syriacus , an arvicoline (Arvicolinae) from the Middle East which was described and named by Anton Brants in 1827. Although the type specimen is preserved, an exact conclusion regarding its identity was not achieved until recently. Currently, syriacus is reported as a synonym of Microtus...

This study presents the results of an ornitho-archaeological analysis of avian bones from Stare gmajne and Blatna Brezovica, two Eneolithic pile dwelling sites in the area of Ljubljansko barje, Slovenia. Avian bone remains, together with remnants of huts, tools, mammal bones and bones of other vertebrates, represent the material remnant of a pile d...

In this work, we investigated the relationship between habitat types (HTs) and selected environmental factors in the highlands at altitudes of 1800–2558 m in the Kamnik-Savinja (KS) Alps in Slovenia. For 275 sampling sites, we identified seven HTs in their typical form and 11 ecotones, and provided field and modelled data for 14 environmental facto...

Protura is a small class of Hexapoda, generally poorly known, and rather scarce data on its occurrence in caves are scattered throughout literature on fauna in caves and in some papers on Protura. Although the cave-dwelling fauna is relatively well studied in Slovenia, published records on Protura are rare. In this paper, data on the occurrence and...

We address in this study the taxonomic status of the two major phylogenetic lineages of fat dormice, genus Glis . These lineages show unique mutations at 43 positions of the cytochrome b alignment and are classified as two distinct species, the European fat dormouse Glis glis (Linnaeus, C. [1766]. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum cl...

Multi-proxy analysis of the coprolites which were found during excavations at two Late Neolithic (fourth millennium bc) pile-dwelling sites (Črnelnik and Stare gmajne) in Slovenia yielded some new insights into human-dog relations and behaviour. The digested content is presented in a multidisciplinary approach, in which palynological, palaeoparasit...

Over the last decades, the European Hamster (Cricetus cricetus) has been declining in many parts of its European range. Due to the lack of recent information on the occurrence and status of the European Hamster in the south-western Carpathian Basin west of the Danube, we used information gathered from prey remains in Common Barn-owl (Tyto alba) pel...

We explore the pattern of spatial variation in mandibular morphology in relation to subspecific taxonomy in the dwarf fat-tailed jerboa, Pygeretmus pumilio. The unguided k-means clustering on mandible shape scores, partitioned populations into two clusters, corresponding to western and eastern populations. These clusters nearly perfectly matched th...

We explore the pattern of spatial variation in mandibular morphology in relation to subspecific taxonomy in the dwarf fat-tailed jerboa, Pygeretmus pumilio. The unguided k-means clustering on mandible shape scores, partitioned populations into two clusters, corresponding to western and eastern populations. These clusters nearly perfectly matched th...

Aim: Following the classical MacArthur-Wilson island equilibrium model of species richness, we hypothesize that island size and isolation affect prey composition and diet diversity of predators on islands. We used the barn owl as a model predatory organism that is known for feeding and habitat flexibility and explored the patterns of its diet on Me...

Arid areas have a comparatively narrow range of habitat types, with restricted variation in environmental parameters, leaving narrow boundaries for phenotypic variation to correlate with ecological variables. To test this presumption, we explored variation in size and shape of the mandible in the dwarf fat-tailed jerboa (Pygeretmus pumilio (Kerr, 1...

The European cave spider, Meta menardi, is a representative of the troglophiles, i.e. non-strictly subterranean organisms. Our aim was to interpret the cytological results from an ecological perspective, and provide a synthesis of the hitherto knowledge about M. menardi into a theory of key features marking it a troglophile. We studied ultrastructu...

Over centuries, in many European countries, the white mulberry trees ( Morus alba L.) became an integral part of the cultural landscape, bearing witness to past sericulture activities. The distribution records of white mulberry trees in the cultural landscape are incomplete and in general poorly documented. The aim of the presented research was to...

The article presents dietary habits of the Peregrine Falcon in the urban environment of Maribor. The diet was studied with an analysis of prey remnants at the nesting site. In October 2015, prey remnants were collected after the nesting in and around the nest built on top of the grain storage silo. Prey remnants, mostly bones and feathers, were sor...

The European cave spider, Meta menardi, is among the most common troglophile species inhabiting the cave entrance zone in Europe, where prey is scarce in winter. Spiders feed only if prey is available; otherwise, they are subjected to long-term winter starvation. We carried out a four-month winter starvation of M. menardi under controlled condition...

The Pannonian Plain is large sedimentary lowlands in Central/south-eastern Europe. Two protected sand dune areas in the southern rim of the Pannonian Plain were surveyed for the presence of Neuroptera. Đurđevac sands in Croatia is a special geographical and botanical reserve, occupying only about 0.2 km², whereas Special Nature Reserve Deliblato sa...

During the course of three Balkan neuropterological expeditions in 2014, 2015 and 2017, short visits to three national parks were conducted. A survey of the collected neuropterid species (Neuropterida: Raphidioptera, Neuroptera) in the Fir of Drenova National Park, Albania, the Tara National Park, Serbia, and the Pelister National Park, North Maced...

During the growth period, in surface habitats, spiders catch enough prey to feed normally. In contrast, in the cave entrance zone, prey may be relatively scarce. Meta menardi inhabits this cave section, resulting in temporary starvation. We studied structural changes in the midgut epithelial cells of M. menardi during a short-term and a medium-term...

An inventory of butterfly fauna was carried out in 2017 within the north-western part of the Prime Butterfly Area “Avala Mt.”. Butterfly fauna was surveyed with a transect method from March until October within three sectors with different land use and plant succession. We evaluated the sectors by butterfly species richness, abundance of individual...

Izvleček. V članku predstavljamo 11 novih opažanj in literaturne podatke o pojavljanju navadne česnovke (Pelobates fuscus) v Podravju. Najdišča v Podravju pokrivajo severni rob areala navadne česnovke v dolini reke Drave. Novi podatki so z lokacij, kjer je bila navadna česnovka že najdena (Rački ribniki, Ormoške lagune), in tudi z novih lokacij (Po...

The diet of Tawny Owl Strix aluco was studied in the area of Slovenske gorice - NE Slovenia. The analysis was carried out by examining pellets collected at ten locations in the period from 1984 to 2015. From the pellets, 2,121 prey units were isolated. The predominant prey were mammals (Mammalia, 84.8%), followed by birds (Aves, 8.3%), insects (Ins...

The diet of Tawny Owl Strix aluco was studied in the area of Slovenske gorice - NE Slovenia. The analysis was carried out by examining pellets collected at ten locations in the period from 1984 to 2015. From the pellets, 2,121 prey units were isolated. The predominant prey were mammals (Mammalia, 84.8%), followed by birds (Aves, 8.3%), insects (Ins...

The herald moths, Scoliopteryx libatrix, overwinter in hypogean habitats. The ultrastructure of their fat body (FB) cells and Malpighian tubule (MT) epithelial cells was studied by light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, and essential biometric and biochemical measurements were performed. The FB was composed of adipocytes and sparse...

The striped ground squirrel has a wide distribution in the Ethiopian region but is restricted to a small isolated area in Palaearctic Africa. This fragment was first recorded in the late 1940s in the Souss Valley (Morocco), however, not a single new observation has been published in the following decades. In September 2016 we surveyed the Souss Val...

We studied interspecific variability in external, cranial, and dental traits in seven species belonging to two closely related arvicoline (Arvicolinae) subgenera, the social voles (Sumeriomys) and the grey voles (Microtus). These voles were for long regarded as morphologically cryptic and the species complexity was fully appreciated only after chro...

The skull of the grey heron (Ardea cinerea) was examined with an emphasis on describing the orbital region. In the young (circa sixteen to seventeen days old) heron, the frontal bone (os frontale) and nasal bone (os nasale) comprised separate paired bones, connected by sutures (sutura interfrontalis, sutura internasalis and sutura frontonasalis pla...

We have analysed the structure of cultivable choanal microbiota from free-living birds in relation to bird diet, its richness and the relative number of opportunistic bacteria acquired from the environment. For this purpose, we have taken choanal swabs from 25 free-living birds representing 13 different bird species captured in Slovenia. From the g...

In nature conservation, providing new, advanced knowledge of protected habitats and biota often requires extensive sampling, which contradicts the main goal of minimizing damage and disturbance. How to avoid this innate collision was the main concern in our study. Highland habitats are suitable for addressing this problem, since they are relatively...

Data on the occurrence of four spongillafly species in the Balkan countries are provided. Two species are recorded for the first time in two countries: Sisyra nigra (Retzius, 1783) in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sisyra terminalis Curtis, 1854 in Serbia.

Ten new observations of the European pond turtle Emys orbicularis (Linnaeus, 1758) in the Podravje region are presented. One observation is fairly old, while the others have been made in the last six years. Most of the data are just random observations and do not give a complete overview of the species distribution in the Podravje region. New data...

We addressed the effects of phylogeny, ecology, and allometry on shape variation in ventral cranium, mandible and maxillary tooth-row in all five extant bandicoot rats. These rats are classified into two genera (Bandicota and Nesokia) and occupy different ecological niches along fossorial to aquatic gradient. The analysed structures are controlled...

We present a simple, manageable and cheap method for accelerated disturbance and, consequently, detection of thanatotic and soil-mimetic arachnids and other arthropods. The method combines sieving a substrate in the field, followed by heating and lighting the dispersed sample by a handheld electric light in the laboratory. The name Hot-Dancing allu...

Na štirih skeletih sive čaplje (Ardea cinerea) smo proučili morfološke lastnosti kosti in skeletnih sklopov, predvsem nekatere segmente lobanje, hrbtenice, plečnega obroča, prsnice in medeničnega obroča. Za lobanjo je značilna izrazita kra-niofacialna upogibna cona (zona flexoria craniofacialis), dolga čelnica (os frontale) z izrazito vzdolžno depr...

During winter, cave cricket larvae undergo dormancy in subterranean habitats; this dormancy is termed diapause in second year Troglophilus cavicola larvae because they mature during this time, and termed quiescence in T. neglectus, because they mature after dormancy. Here we used electron microscopy to analyze ultrastructural changes in the epithel...

Na štirih skeletih sive čaplje (Ardea cinerea) smo proučili morfološke lastnosti kosti in skeletnih sklopov, predvsem nekatere segmente lobanje, hrbtenice, plečnega obroča, prsnice in medeničnega obroča. Za lobanjo je značilna izrazita kraniofacialna upogibna cona (zonaflexoria craniofacialis), dolga čelnica (os frontale) z izrazito vzdolžno depres...

V letih 2000-2001 smo raziskovali favno in ekološke razmere v Železni jami pri Dobu. V jami smo našli 53 vrst, dominantne so bile: Meta menardi, Amilenus auriantiacus, Troglophilus neglectus, T. cavicola, Laemosthenes schreibersi, Ceuthmonocharis robici, Limonia nubeculosa in nedoločena vrsta foride. Troglomorfozni taksoni so bili Zospeum sp., C. r...

We studied 468 museum specimens of the common hamster (387 skins and 204 skulls) collected in Belarus, Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. Besides a standard tricolour type which prevailed, we identified six colour variants: stavropolicus with reduced white spots, and a bicolour entirely devoid of spots, white, piebald, dark-black (atypical melanistic)...

The work presents anatomical terminology of bones of a bird skeleton. An individual technical term is written in the international standard form, i.e. in Latin or Latinized Greek, mostly followed by the slovenized technical term and afterwards by the Slovenian expression for the individual anatomical term. The succession of terms follows the anatom...

Fragmented landscapes entail important consequences for the evolution of the species confined to them. Isolation of population fragments accelerates selection for narrow local conditions and facilitates morphological divergence. Throughout its range, the European snow vole Chionomys nivalis is restricted to fractured, rocky substrate in mountain re...

Izvleček UDK 595.142:551.442(497.4Huda luknja) Tone Novak, Csaba Csuzdi, Franc Janžekovič, Tanja Pipan, Dušan Devetak & Saša Lipovšek: Preživetje površinskega deževnika Dendrodrilus rubidus tenuis (Oligochaeta: Lum-bricidae) v podzemeljskem okolju V vzorcih curka prenikajoče vode v Hudi luknji pri Doliču je bila peregrina vrsta deževnika dendrodril...

The study was carried out in order to determine the species of the superorder Neuropterida in the Protected Area Jasen, Central Macedonia. In July 2011, insect net sampling was used to obtain the Neuropterida from various habitats in the area. A total of 44 species from 10 families were determined, and 17 of these species were new records for the M...

The composition of the diet of the Long-eared Owl (Asio otus) in north Bosnia and Herzegovina was investigated on the basis of pellets. Pellets were collected from 16 localities across the Posavina region in the winter season of 2012/13. A total of 442 prey items and 11 prey taxa were identified. Small mammals accounted for 94% and birds 6%. Voles,...

The peregrine earthworm Dendrodrilus rubidus tenuis was regularly sampled in a percolating water drip originating in a habitat inaccessible to humans in the Huda luknja pri Dolicu cave, Slovenia. The reconstruction of this habitat includes both a larger passage with bat colonies supplying wet bat guano sediments, on which the earthworms feed, and n...

The harvestmen Amilenus aurantiacus overwinter in diapause in hypogean habitats. The midgut diverticula have been studied microscopically (light microscopy, TEM) and biochemically (energy-storing compounds: lipids and glycogen) to analyze changes during this programmed starvation period. Throughout the investigated period, the epithelium of the mid...

Most organisms are able to survive shorter or longer exposure to sub-zero temperatures. Hypothetically, trogloxenes characterized as not adapted, and troglophiles as not completely adapted to thermally stable subterranean environment, have retained or partially retained their ability to withstand freezing, while most troglobionts have not. We teste...

Juvenile harvestmen Gyas annulatus overwinter in dormancy in hypogean habitats for 4-5 months. The ultrastructure of the autophagic structures in their midgut epithelium cells was studied by light-, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and immunofluorescence microscopy (IFM) during this non-feeding period. Before overwintering (November), autopha...

Eleven of the most important terrestrial invertebrate species in Slovenian caves were analyzed for differences in their fresh and dry biomass, energy content and carbon bulk during winter. These data were combined with the species abundance in 54 caves and adits in order to estimate their organic carbon bulk and carbon input into these habitats. In...

For the understanding of shrew communities, their coexistence and competition, the knowledge of diet partitioning among sympatric shrew species is crucial. In this study, the trophic niches of three coexisting Sorex species: S. alpinus, S. araneus and S. minutus were compared for the first time. Shrews were taken from a montane forest habitat in no...

The Myrmeleontidae fauna of Albania was studied in July of 2012. The study revealed 14 antlion species, which included new records for the country. Among collected species, Myrmeleon hyalinus (Olivier, 1811), Euroleon nostras (Geoffroy in Fourcroy, 1785), Macronemurus appendiculatus (Latreille, 1807), Macronemurus bilineatus Brauer, 1868 and Neurol...

In this work we have compared the ultrastructural characteristics of major pancreatic endocrine cells, pituitary melanotrophs and adrenal chromaffin cells in the normal mouse strain (wild type, WT) and mice with a known secretory deficit, the Rab3a knockout strain (Rab3a KO). For this purpose, pancreata, pituitary glands and adrenal glands from the...

Until recently in Slovenia, the presence of invertebrates in the shrew diet had not been investigated. Here we present a list of invertebrates and other ingested items in five shrew species: Sorex alpinus, S. araneus, S. minutus, Crocidura suaveolens and Neomys fodiens in Slovenia. These shrews fed mostly on arthropods and earthworms. Among the art...

Sand-dwelling antlion larvae are well known predators with a highly specialized prey-catching strategy, which either construct efficient pitfall traps or bury themselves in the sand ambushing prey on the surface. Although habitat selection in antlions has been extensively studied, little is known about the role substrate density plays in such behav...

Terrestrial animals in subterranean habitats are often classified according to their degree of morphological or ecological specialization to the subterranean environment. The commonly held view is that, as distance into a cave increases, the frequency of morphologically specialized, i.e., troglomorphic, species or ecological specialization will inc...