Henry Pihlstrom

University of Helsinki | HY · Molecular and Integrative Biosciences research programme (MIBS) Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences

We surveyed tree hyrax populations living in forests, limestone rocky formations, and caves in coastal Kenya to identify the species and estimate the threat‐level populations are in. Tree hyrax vocalizations were recorded in three different habitats with passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) for a total of 84 h in January and February 2022. We also obs...

In recent decades, the Chinese sleeper Perccottus glenii, a freshwater fish originally from eastern Asia, has become an invasive species in many parts of Europe. Here, we describe the first record of this species from Finland. A probably deliberately introduced population, which is living in a small pond in Southwest Finland, was discovered in 2022...

The eastern tree hyrax is thought to be a solitarily living arboreal species of the forests of East Africa. However, in the coast of Kenya, indigenous forests have been almost entirely cleared, and some of the last tree hyrax populations live in limestone rocky formations and caves. Interestingly, they seem to be living in social groups. Here, we d...

We studied a previously almost unknown nocturnal mammal, an apparently undescribed species of tree hyrax (Dendrohyrax sp.) in the moist montane forests of Taita Hills, Kenya. We used thermal imaging to locate tree hyraxes, observe their behavior, and to identify woody plants most frequently visited by the selective browsers. We also documented acou...

Increased numbers of great cormorants ( Phalacrocorax carbo ) in the Baltic Sea may have local impacts on fisheries and salmonid hatcheries. We studied spatial and temporal variability in cormorant diet, and potential consumption of hatchery salmonids, by analysing knee subcutaneous adipose tissue fatty acids (FA) of specimens (N = 77) collected al...

Three poorly known nocturnal mammal species from the montane forests of the Taita Hills in Kenya, were studied via vocalization analysis. Here, their acoustic behaviour is described. The studied animals were the tree hyrax (Dendrohyrax sp.), the small-eared greater galago (Otolemur garnettii), and the dwarf galago (Paragalago sp.). High-quality lou...

We describe a specimen of the extinct Javan tiger Panthera tigris sondaica in the Finnish Museum of Natural History LUOMUS (FMNH) in Helsinki, Finland. This specimen has not previously been described in the literature. It consists of the complete skeleton of a subadult individual collected in the nineteenth century, supposedly in Java. We confirmed...

In the early years of the twentieth century, the Finnish prospector and colonial official, Carl Theodor Eriksson (1874-1940), traveled widely in parts of what were then north-eastern Rhodesia and the Katanga region in the Belgian Congo. During this time, Eriksson collected several antelope specimens for the institution that is today known as the Fi...

The evolution of a particular sensory organ is often discussed with no consideration of the roles played by other senses. Here, we treat mammalian vision, olfaction and hearing as an interconnected whole, a three-dimensional sensory space, evolving in response to ecological challenges. Until now, there has been no quantitative method for estimating...

There are two native subspecies of the great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo in Europe: the mainly coastal nominate subspecies carbo, and the mainly continental subspecies sinensis. The population of the latter, in particular, has increased significantly in recent decades. Old literature records suggest that cormorants of some kind were breeding at t...

There are two native subspecies of the great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo in Europe: the mainly coastal nominate subspecies carbo, and the mainly continental subspecies sinensis. The population of the latter, in particular, has increased significantly in recent decades. Old literature records suggest that cormorants of some kind were breeding at t...

This chapter presents a comparative study of the structure and function of chemical senses in aquatic mammals. It first discusses the chemosensory systems of extant species of Monotremata, Didelphimorphia, Insectivora, Carnivora, Sirenia, Cetacia, Artiodactyla, and Rodentia. It then examines the evolution of chemical senses through a comparative an...

The relation between size and performance is central for understanding the evolution of sensory systems, and much interest has been focused on mammalian eyes and ears. However, we know very little about olfactory organ size (OOS), as data for a representative set of mammals are lacking. Here, we present a cranial endocast method for estimating OOS...

Inledning Den finländske paleontologen Björn Kurtén (1924–1988) (fig. 1) var en av världens ledande experter på pleistocentidens rovdjur, och i synnerhet björnar. Om dessa publicerade han åtskilliga vetenskapliga och populära arbeten (Kurtén 1955, 1964b, 1966, 1967, 1973, 1975; se även Werdelin Nordenskiöld-samfundets tidskrift 69: 3–22. Helsingfor...