Galina Alekseeva

Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution · Laboratory of Behaviour and Behavioural Ecology of Mammals

The Barents–Kara region is significantly affected by climate change, leading to the rapid degradation of habitats and the infiltration of new potential infectious agents dangerous to pagophilic species, particularly the polar bear (Ursus maritimus). For individuals captured in the Barents Sea and the Kara Sea in 2018–2021, the physiological status...

Aiming to answer the question of how the rest-activity cycle and subcutaneous temperature change with a decrease in ambient temperature, we studied the following species of predatory mammals: domestic cats (Felis catus, n = 4), Far Eastern forest (Amur) cats (Prionailurus bengalensis euptilura, n = 3), Eurasian lynxes (Lynx lynx, n = 3), sables (Ma...

Clinical blood analysis is considered not only a method of assessing the health status of individuals, but also their fitness and welfare, although the interpretation of the obtained data is complicated by the combined influence of various factors. For most wild carnivore species, there is insufficient information about the effect of environmental...

This study investigates the frequency, temporal and power parameters in 11 (5 males, 6 females) captive feral domestic cats Felis silvestris catus, vocalising in their individual outdoor enclosures during the mating season. Discriminant function analysis (DFA) classified the meows to correct callers with 79.2% accuracy, which exceeded the chance le...

Reproduction of endangered species in captivity is an urgent problem for the conservation and restoration of biodiversity. For mammals, including felids, assessing and monitoring of pregnancy progression is fundamental for successful breeding. For the first time, changes in the concentrations of serum amyloid A (SAA), the main protein of the acute...

Hair can be a useful matrix to examine the hormonal status of an animal, although it is difficult to correlate the results to a specific time point. The aim of this study was to evaluate seasonal changes in cortisol and testosterone levels in the hair of four feline species (lynx, Lynx lynx, n = 8; Amur wildcat, Prionailurus bengalensis euptilurus,...

Procapra gutturosa (hereinafter – Mongolian gazelle) is one of the last large migratory mammal species in Asia, which population has declined considerably over the past century due to various anthropogenic factors. In Russia, the Mongolian gazelle inhabits the north of its natural range, which supposes suboptimal conditions for this species, and it...

Over the last two decades, Cytauxzoon spp. has been conquering Eurasia, although this fact has only been brought to light through recent more intensive research after the discovery of C. manul in Pallas’ cat. In Europe, Cytauxzoon was detected mainly in southern countries and later in central Europe. This pathogen has now been found in Russia for t...

Inbreeding and low diversity in MHC genes are considered to have a negative effect on reproductive success in animals. This study presents an analysis of the number and body mass of offspring in domestic cat, depending on the inbreeding coefficient and the degree of similarity in MHC genes of class I and II in parents. Inbred partners had a lower n...

Since blood cells count is the most important indicator of animals’ physiological status, we investigated the effects of age, litter size, and multiple paternity on the total number of white blood cells, the number of their individual types (lymphocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, monocytes), and the ratio of neutrophils to lymphocytes in domestic c...

Currently, government agencies are increasing interest in the conservation of wild ruminants which are either listed in the Red Book or kept in reserves and national parks. This type of ruminant includes dzeren, or Mongolian gazelle that lives on the territory of the Daursky State Nature Biosphere Reserve between the Tel and Utogi cordons. For purp...

Lactation is the most energetically expensive component of maternal care in mammals. Increased reproductive investment can lead to physiological stress for the mothers, based on the exhaustion of energy resources and increase in glucocorticoids level. This study aimed to estimate the changes in cortisol concentrations during lactation in domestic c...

Leukocytes (white blood cells) are an important part of the mammalian immune system preventing the invasion and colonisation by different pathogens. Many factors may affect the number of leukocytes in mammals, including the population density. The population density in the same species of felines may differ 100–300 times and the aim of this study w...

In many mammals, play is one of the most conspicuous behaviors during early development, but with notable inter‐individual variation even within the same litter. We investigated predictors of such variation in the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), with a focus on potential effects of cubs' early body mass on the frequency of initiating play. We studied 45...

Social play in young mammals reflects behavioral development, play can be affected by differences in development timing and species biology. We compared social play frequency changes in three felids: Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), Amur subspecies of leopard cat (Far-Eastern wildcat) (Prionailurus bengalensis euptilurus) and domestic cat (Felis catus)....

Data on the reproductive success and reproductive behavior of the domestic cat, the most widespread representative of the family Felidae, are presented. The effects of the number of partners, mating order, and sperm quality on male and female reproductive success were assessed. The experiments showed that the fertility of female cats that mated wit...

Blood analysis has recently become a popular tool to assess the welfare of the wild cats. However, the estimates of blood parameters may depend on the sampling method. We have tested (1) if the sampling procedure influences blood parameters and (2) what parameters are the most efficient in assessing the physiological status in wild cat species. We...

Decrease of the immune system activity during the reproductive period is described in many species of animals, but studies devoted to Felidae species are absent. Our results reflect slight suppression of immunity during the growing of offspring in females of domestic cat, presumably due to the facultative regulation of immune function in Felidae. H...

Data on the breeding success and reproductive behavior of the domestic cat as the most common felid species are presented. We evaluated the effect of the mating pattern and male sperm quality on breeding success. We also observed the relations between females and males during the breeding period. We experimentally showed that mating of a domestic c...

The physiological state of mammalian females during the period of offspring growth is insufficiently known. The aim of this study was to estimate changes in the steroid hormones level during lactation and to compare it with changes in the body weight of domestic cat females. The dynamics of such steroid hormones as estradiol, progesterone, testoste...

Social play fulfills an important function in creating and maintaining relations between siblings. However, its relationship with the intralitter social processes is poorly understood. It was noticed that, in Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) litters, sex differences in social play are absent in the first 2–3 months of life. It was found that the most inte...

Social play fulfills an important function in creating and maintaining relations between siblings. However, its relationship with the intralitter social processes is poorly understood. It was noticed that, in Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) litters, sex differences in social play are absent in the first 2–3 months of life. It was found that the most inte...