G.C. Akani

Rivers State University | RSUST · Department of Applied And Environmental Biology

The village weaver (Ploceus cucullatus) is a common colonial nesting bird widespread throughout Sub-Sa-haran Africa. It is known to weave its nests from leaf strips from a variety of tree species (mainly coconuts trees, oil palm trees) associated with human settlement areas, grasses, and other available plants. In this regard, this bird was conside...

Taxonomy and biodiversity is an important aspect of fish studies as it gives fish scientists information about the types of fish present, their name and classification based on discrete sets in a given locality. This study is on the taxonomy and bio-diversity of Cichlids collected from the Eniong River and the Lower Cross River in the Niger Delta,...

Three cases of skeletal anomalies in fishes Elops lacerta Valenciennes, 1847 (family Elopidae), Oreochromis nilot-icus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Cichlidae) and Arius latiscutatus Günther, 1864 (Ariidae) collected in the Elechi Creek, a tributary of the Bonny River (Niger delta) were reported for the first time in the present study. The anomalies are pughea...

Wild meat markets play a crucial role for food security and cash income for subsistence hunters in the tropics and subtropics. In Nigeria, the amount of meat sold from most species crashed dramatically after the Ebola virus outbreak in 2014. Sales further diminished after arrival of COVID-19, likely because of restrictions to commerce and of change...

Suitable habitats for anurans can be found in the ever‐growing tropical urban environments but anurans' adaptations to urban conditions, including their trophic ecology remain largely unknown. We studied the food habits of two generalist, widespread West African Sclerophrys adult toads: African common (Sclerophrys regularis) and Hallowell's toad (S...

Assessment of the species' status for Kinixys homeana. Previously considered as VU, this tortoise species is now reassessed as Critically Endangered (CR)

Despite increasing pressures on freshwater resources worldwide, and the threatened status of most freshwater turtles, there is still limited knowledge of habitat use and niche partitioning in Afrotropical freshwater turtle communities. In this study, we describe habitat associations, community diversity, and temporal patterns of occurrence of fresh...

The composition and structure of antelope assemblages were analyzed by using data from wild meat markets in three distinct study stations in the southern Niger Delta, Nigeria. The relative abundance of the different species coming into the markets was analyzed, and various diversity metrics were used to describe the different antelope communities....

Length-weight relationship and condition factor are essential parameters used in determination of growth and well-being of fish. The length-weight relationship and condition factor of eight species of cichlids were examined from a total of 358 cichlids belonging to fourteen species and seven genera. Sampling was between January and June, 2020 in En...

Citation: Luiselli, L.; Demaya, G.S.; Benansio, J.S.; Petrozzi, F.; Akani, G.C.; Eniang, E.A.; Ajong, S.N.; Di Vittorio, M.; Amadi, N.; Dendi, D. A Comparative Analysis of the Diets of a Genus of Freshwater Turtles across Africa. Diversity 2021, 13, 165.

Pelusios is an Afrotropical endemic genus of freshwater turtles that have adapted to a variety of habitats, with savannahs and forests being their two main habitat types. Although considered generally carnivorous, these turtles have rarely been subjected to detailed field surveys for determining their quantitative diet. In this paper, by using both...

Ebola virus disease, EVD, which has severely affected Western African countries has been linked with wild meat. In Nigeria, strict restrictions on the sale of wild meat were applied after the first case in the country, July 2014. We quantified wild meat trade in nine markets in southern Nigeria, during Oct. 2010 – Dec. 2019. We also undertook inter...

Despite increasing pressures on freshwater resources worldwide, and the threatened status of most freshwater turtles, there is still limited knowledge of habitat use and niche partitioning in Afrotropical freshwater turtle communities. In this study, we describe habitat associations, community diversity, and temporal patterns of occurrence of fresh...

Face-to-face interviews with local populations are often used to determine the distribution and population trends of elusive threatened species. Although interviewee responses may suffer from some bias, historical trends in the status of a species can be investigated from age-structured questionnaires. In this paper, we tested this idea by analysin...

Understanding large- and small-scale patterns as well as the determinants of species richness is central for the study of evolutionary mechanisms. The extent to which species richness in local communities is related to larger scale processes is a pre-eminent topic in ecological and evolutionary research. To investigate how local and regional specie...

The status of most vertebrates in the African Sahel is not well known. Among these, the African spurred tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata), a charismatic but also one of most threatened vertebrates in the Sahel, is still poorly studied. We investigated the status of this species, its potential distribution, habitat selection (at multiple spatial scale...

Throughout Africa, feelings towards crocodiles vary according to the danger or fear experienced by communities living alongside them. Crocodile conservation programs must therefore be based on reliable assessments of cultural attitudes towards these reptiles. In this study, we interviewed a random sample of 300 persons in six states in southern Nig...

Venomous snakes are among the main sources of mortality for humans in rural regions, especially in tropical countries. In this study, a meta-analysis of quantitative community ecology studies on snake assemblages throughout the world was conducted in order to evaluate variation in the frequency of occurrence of venomous species and venomous individ...

To better understand the habitat preferences of the African spurred tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata), we tested possible associations between their distribution and land use, vegetation cover, the presence of roads, human settlements, and rainfall patterns, all of which affect the distributions of other tortoise species. African spurred tortoise dis...

Actuarial senescence appears to be a common process, and senescence patterns are highly variable across the tree of life. To date, studies on animal senescence have largely focused on model species, such as as fruit flies, humans and a few other endotherms. In contrast, our knowledge about ageing remains fragmentary in ectotherm vertebrates, such a...

1. A survey of eight local earthen hand-dug ponds located within the freshwater swamps of a Niger Delta area (southern Nigeria) was conducted over a period of 3 months. A total of 4,313 fishes representing 19 species from 12 families were recorded. 2. The most abundant species was Xenomystus nigri (905 individuals), whereas the least common was Pro...

Understanding age-dependent mortality processes is a critical challenge for population biologists. Actuarial senescence appears to be a common process across the tree of life. Senescence patterns are highly variable in pluricellular organisms: senescence can be gradual or sharp and its onset may be early or delayed. By contrast, studies revealed th...

Little is known about fish diversity in the coastal streams south-eastern Nigeria in this world-renowned biodiversity hotspot. In these ecosystems, the combination of seasonal changes in hydrology as well as the presence of coastal forests provides a greater biotope diversity, food and shelter for many fish species. Currently, however, deforestatio...

The Guinean forests of West Africa (GFWA) region is of highest conservation value in Africa and worldwide. The aims of this review are to systematically identify and collate studies focusing on the environment in the region. We found that, after Google Scholar search, in over 112,000 results for 17 disciplines, three countries (Nigeria, Cameroon an...

The meat of wild animals (bushmeat) is consumed extensively in many tropical regions. Over the past few decades bushmeat consumption has greatly increased, threatening the survival of some hunted species and the supply of animal protein to countless numbers of people. Understanding patterns of bushmeat consumption is thus vital to ensure the sustai...

No field studies have been conducted characterizing the habitat characteristics and eventual spatial resource partitioning between softshell turtles (family Trionychidae) in West and Central Africa. Here, we analyze the macrohabitat, microhabitat (along four variables), and apparent population abundance of Nile Soft-shelled Terrapin (Trionyx triung...

In large Sub-Saharan African cities bushmeat consumption is a major threat to many species. These sizeable urban populations generate an unprecedented demand for bushmeat. The study of the effect of age, sex and geographic location in bushmeat eating in African cities may offer valuable insights on which population groups to target in behaviour cha...

Temperature profoundly influences the biology of ectotherm organisms, for example reptiles, which mostly regulate their body temperature behaviorally by shuttling between heat sources and sinks. The thermal quality of the environment directly affects the amount of time that a reptile takes to keep the body temperature within the optimal range. The...

The forest hingeback tortoises Kinixys homeana and Kinixys erosa are two of the most declining African chelonians. Although the population size trends of these species have received att ention in some specific areas of West Africa, an overall perception of their declining trajectories are still largely unexplored. We used interviews with rural peop...

The West African Black Mud Turtle, Pelusios niger (Family Pelomedusidae), is a freshwater turtle of medium size (carapace length to 35.5 cm) endemic to permanent wetlands in forested areas of West Africa, and is recognizable within the genus by its hooked maxillary beak. A median keel on the posterior vertebral scutes persists throughout life. The...

The bird fauna of West Africa region is of highest conservation value, including 1371 species, three primary Endemic Bird Areas (EBA), eight secondary EBAs and 331 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs). The aims of this review are to systematically identify and collate studies focusing on the ornithology in the region. We carried out a Googl...

The vulture populations in West Africa are undergoing dramatic decline over the last 30 years. Their particular ecology and sociality makes them vulnerable to various risks, including environmental changes, poisoning and bioaccumulation of toxic substances from agricultural products, pesticides, and veterinary drugs used in cattle livestock. In add...

In this paper, the results of the first density investigations (via DISTANCE methodology on line transect surveys) for the threatened African spurred tortoise Centrochelys sulcata from West African Sahel (Niger and Burkina Faso) are reported. Spurred tortoises were encountered in 51.8% of Burkina Faso transects (n = 27) and in 60.7% of Niger transe...

The African Spurred Tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata), the second largest tortoise species in the world, is threatened with extinction because of a variety of threats, including habitat loss. Because details of habitat use for this species have not been published for wild populations of this species, we conducted this study to qualify and quantify ha...

Lygodactylus conraui is the only green gecko species occurring in West Africa, and is also one of the smallest gecko species of the African continent. Here, some aspects of the natural history of this species are documented for Rivers State, southern Nigeria. In total, 108 L. conraui individuals were observed in 1996-2016 in southern Nigeria. Indiv...

The leopard (Panthera pardus) is increasingly threatened in West Africa, and is apparently very rare and has been driven to extinction across much of Nigeria. In the Niger Delta, where it is considered extremely threatened, with very few sightings in the last decades. In this study we document both direct (skins, footprints, scats, etc.) and indire...

The African spurred tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata) is the second largest terrestrial turtle in the world, with a scattered distribution across the Sahel, in West Africa. This species is seriously threatened and declining consistently throughout the range, but little is kown on the causes of its decline. It has been hypothesized that this tortoise...

La viande de brousse : des enquêtes révèlent des points de controverse sur la dynamique de son commerce au Nigéria Sur la base d’enquêtes dans le sud du Nigéria, cet article examine (i) si la viande de brousse est toujours une source cruciale de protéines pour les communautés locales, (ii) si elle est toujours culturellement bien justifiée et (iii...

The bushmeat trade in West and Central Africa embraces a broad range of ecological, economic, and conservation issues. To date, most studies have focused on the economic and conservation aspects of the bushmeat trade, with less emphasis on the ecological implications of wildlife extraction. Here, we analysed available literature on the bushmeat tra...

The Two-spotted Palm Civet Nandinia binotata is widespread across tropical Africa but its ecology is not well known, with virtually no data existing for Nigeria. This study provides data on the distribution, habitat ecology and conservation status of this species in south-eastern Nigeria. Based on a combination of bushmeat market and field surveys,...

The correlates of hunting techniques with wildlife trade were investigated by determining the cause of death of 3490 carcasses sold in markets of 10 communities of the Niger Delta (southern Nigeria), during the dry and wet seasons, in 2010-2012. Freshly landed wildlife carcasses were examined in the markets to determine the method of capture of eac...

The ecology of West African arid savannah snakes is still poorly known, especially in regard to the fossorial species. Here, field data on distribution, morphometrics, habitat use and diet are reported for the sand boa Eryx muelleri (Erycidae) from three different countries, i.e. Burkina Faso, Togo and Nigeria. This snake was observed in 21 distinc...

The Niger Delta (southern Nigeria) is a crucial region for biodiversity because it is (i) part of the West African forests hotspot, (ii) under considerable threats because of habitat devastations, and (iii) a minor centre of endemism for many faunal and floral groups. In this paper, we analyze the communities of mammals (excluding bats, shrews and...

Studies on the basic aspects of population biology, including, e.g., sex ratio and size or age structure, are important for designating management programs for threatened species. nonetheless, very few studies of this type are available as for the african tortoises and turtles. the authors studied sex ratio and size structure of togolese population...

Community composition and an index of relative abundance were analyzed for mammals (excluding most rodents, shrews and bats) of five forest reserves in the Niger Delta (Southern Nigeria). Twenty-nine species were recorded, 86.2% of them being found in all protected areas. Although most of the species were already known from the study area, there we...

Monitoring of bushmeat markets has traditionally been seen as a source of faunistic and ecological data on mammal communities in West Africa. Nonetheless, it is largely unexplored whether datasets coming from monitoring of large “hub” markets in towns can reliably picture the mammal faunas and community compositions at the local level. Here, Swali...

The Taylor Creek Forest reserve (Bayelsa State) is one of the most important protected areas of the River Niger Delta region, southern Nigeria. Unfortunately, however, no field studies are available on the diversity of the terrestrial vertebrates (amphibians, reptiles, mammals) in this protected territory. Here, we report the results of field surve...

In this study, the sex ratio, habitat use, and diet of free-ranging Kinixys nogueyi are examined. Sex ratio and habitat use were examined in Togo and Nigeria (West Africa), and food habits only in Nigeria. Sex ratios were equal in both populations. Tortoises had clear habitat preferences in both countries, and the Nigerian population exhibited seas...

Geographic coordinates and elevations of the sites were recalculated using Google Earth software, with, for some localities, our (FP, GCA, LL) GPS records. The geographic coordinates given by Angelici & Di Vittorio (2013) were placed into Google Earth to derive elevations (Table 1). Google Earth altitudes can be misleading in areas of rugged topogr...

The inter-habitat and inter-seasonal variations in the taxonomic diet composition of the African fire skink, Lygosoma fernandi, one of the largest Scincidae of the Afrotropical regions, were studied by analysis of excrements collected from live individuals that were captured in some areas of the Niger Delta region, southern Nigeria. 22 prey types,...

Niche partititioning patterns have not been studied so far in burrowing tropical snakes of the families Typhlopidae and Leptotyphlopidae. In this study, we analyze temporal (= monthly activity) and spatial (= habitat use) niche dimensions in three species of burrowing snakes from the Niger Delta, Nigeria. Null model analyses, using two randomizatio...

The study of community composition shifts due to increased habitat modifications and deforestation is a primary issue in contemporary tropical community ecology theory. As the forest habitat conversion process has been very short in Africa relative to the evolutionary temporal scale, it is likely that animal communities are not at an equilibrium. T...

Assemblage structure, diversity measures and diversity/dominance patterns of snakes were studied between 1996 and 2013 in three types of plantation in the Niger River delta of southern Nigeria. The investigated plantation types were pineapple, banana/plantain, and cassava/yam. Over 74% of the census species (n = 27) were found in all three plantati...

The Edumanon Forest Reserve is one of the least explored protected areas in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria, West Africa. In this article, we report the results of preliminary surveys, conducted between 2011 and 2014, for determining a checklist and a relative estimate of abundance for three groups of vertebrates, namely mammals, reptile...

Despite many studies of reptile community composition in Africa, no studies document the variation of reptile assemblages across different plantation types. Here, we document the community composition (richness, taxonomic composition, dominance, evenness) in relation to seasonality in eight different plantation types (from cassava-yam to banana-pla...