Julian Kerbis

Roosevelt University · Evelyn T. Stone College of Professional Studies

The Cameroon Volcanic Line, which divides the Congo Basin fauna from the West African fauna, is a known area of high endemism for various taxa, but the region’s bat fauna has received little attention. We review variation in morphological and molecular (mitochondrial Cytochrome b) characters in the Tropical African vespertilionid bat genus Pseudoro...

Nuclear mitochondrial pseudogenes (numts) may hinder the reconstruction of mtDNA genomes and affect the reliability of mtDNA datasets for phylogenetic and population genetic comparisons. Here, we present the program Numt Parser, which allows for the identification of DNA sequences that likely originate from numt pseudogene DNA. Sequencing reads are...

Nuclear mitochondrial pseudogenes (numts) may hinder the reconstruction of mtDNA genomes and affect the reliability of mtDNA datasets for phylogenetic and population genetic comparisons. Here, we present the program NUMT PARSER, which allows for the identification of DNA sequences that likely originate from numt pseudogene DNA. Sequencing reads are...

The Hybomys division (Muridae: Murinae: Arvicanthini) consists of four genera (Hybomys, Typomys, Dephomys, and Stochomys) endemic to the Guineo-Congolian rainforests of central Africa. Based on sequences from two mitochondrial (Cytb, 12S rRNA) and two nuclear (Rbp3, Ghr) genes, we present a fossil-calibrated molecular phylogeny of the Hybomys divis...

Background: The speckled-pelage brush-furred rats (Lophuromys flavopunctatus group) have been difficult to define given conflicting genetic, morphological, and distributional records that combine to obscure meaningful accounts of its taxonomic diversity and evolution. In this study, we inferred the systematics, phylogeography, and evolutionary hist...

Climbing mice in the genus Dendromus (sensu lato) are widely distributed in Africa, south of the Saharan Desert. The 17 currently recognized species in the genus range from widespread taxa to single-mountain endemics, and there is considerable variation across species with respect to habitats occupied. These habitats range from arid grasslands and...

Background: The speckled-pelage brush-furred rats (Lophuromys flavopunctatus group) has been difficult to define given conflicting genetic, morphological, and distributional records that combine to obscure meaningful accounts of its taxonomic diversity. In this study, we inferred the systematics, phylogeography, and evolutionary history of the L. f...

The semi-aquatic African murine genera Colomys and Nilopegamys are considered monotypic and thought to be closely related to one another. Colomys occurs across forested regions of equatorial Africa, whereas Nilopegamys is known only from the Ethiopian holotype, making it among the rarest mammalian genera in the world-and possibly extinct. Using mor...

The semi-aquatic African murine genera Colomys and Nilopegamys are considered monotypic and thought to be closely related to one another. Colomys occurs across forested regions of equatorial Africa, whereas Nilopegamys is known only from the Ethiopian holotype, making it among the rarest mammalian genera in the world – and possibly extinct. Using m...

Vespertilionidae (class Mammalia) constitutes the largest family of bats, with ~500 described species. Nonetheless, the systematic relationships within this family are poorly known, especially among the pipistrelle-like bats of the tribes Vespertilionini and Pipistrellini. Perhaps as a result of their drab pelage and lack of obvious morphological c...

Vespertilionidae (class Mammalia) constitutes the largest family of bats, with ~500 described species. Nonetheless, the systematic relationships within this family are poorly known, especially among the pipistrelle-like bats of the tribes Vespertilionini and Pipistrellini. Perhaps as a result of their drab pelage and lack of obvious morphological c...

Climatic data, including mean ± standard deviation, range, and sample size of days measured (number of days receiving rainfall in parentheses) for each site sampled between September and November 2015 in Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia.

Field guide with representative photos of select small mammal species in Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia. Species 1–11 were sampled during our 2015 survey.

Despite the presence of mostly endemic species, the most comprehensive data set on the distribution and ecology of small mammals inhabiting Simien Mountains National Park (SMNP) dated from 1927. The study we carried out and report here provides a unique opportunity to assess the possible role of climate change over the last 88 years on the elevatio...

The Old World leaf-nosed bats (Hipposideridae) are aerial and gleaning insectivores that occur throughout the Paleotropics. Both their taxonomic and phylogenetic histories are confused. Until recently, the family included genera now allocated to the Rhinonycteridae and was recognized as a subfamily of Rhinolophidae. Evidence that Hipposideridae div...

This article references the interactions between lions and porcupines in Africa as well as a case study, 'The Maneater of Darajani'

As in many other small mammal groups from the Afrotropics, the number of species recognized within the genus Hylomyscus has increased considerably over the past dozen years. The last comprehensive review (2005) of the genus recognized eight species. Since that time, nine additional species have been elevated from synonymy (n = 4) or described as ne...

A new species of the vespertilionid bat genus Parahypsugo is described from Central Africa, increasing the number of species of the genus at least to five. The new taxon occurs in montane forests of Rwanda and eastern DR Congo and is larger than any other of the four known species. In skull measurements , it is the largest species of the genus.

The original version of this article, unfortunately, contained an error. The corrections are presented in this article.

Brush-furred rats (Lophuromys Peters 1874) are the most abundant and widely distributed small mammals on Mount Kenya. However, their ecology is poorly known and their taxonomic status is questionable. This study investigates whether or not the morphology and genetics of the Mt. Kenya Lophuromys correspond with elevation, vegetation, and climate var...

Wood mice of the genus Hylomyscus, are small-sized rodents widely distributed in lowland and montane rainforests in tropical Africa, where they can be locally abundant. Recent morphological and molecular studies have increased the number of recognized species from 8 to 18 during the last 15 years. We used complete mitochondrial genomes and five nuc...

Recent studies of mammalian microbiomes have identified strong phylogenetic effects on bacterial community composition. Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) are among the most speciose mammals on the planet and the only mammal capable of true flight. We examined 1,236 16S rRNA amplicon libraries of the gut, oral, and skin microbiota from 497 Afrotropical ba...

Abstract The Old World bat family Miniopteridae comprises only the genus Miniopterus, which includes 20 currently recognized species from the Afrotropical realm and 15 species from Eurasia and Australasia. Since 2003, the number of recognized Miniopterus species has grown from 19 to 35, with most newly described species endemic to Madagascar and th...

Abstract The Old World bat family Miniopteridae comprises only the genus Miniopterus, which includes 20 currently recognized species from the Afrotropical realm and 15 species from Eurasia and Australasia. Since 2003, the number of recognized Miniopterus species has grown from 19 to 35, with most newly described species endemic to Madagascar and th...

Little is known about the distribution and ecology of small mammals inhabiting Simien Mountains National Park despite the presence of mostly endemic species. Prior to this study, the most comprehensive dataset was collected in 1927. This provides a unique opportunity to assess the possible role of climate change over the last 88 years on the elevat...

Background The Old World insectivorous bat genus Rhinolophus is highly speciose. Over the last 15 years, the number of its recognized species has grown from 77 to 106, but knowledge of their interrelationships has not kept pace. Species limits and phylogenetic relationships of this morphologically conservative group remain problematic due both to...

The bat family Nycteridae contains only the genus Nycteris, which comprises 13 currently recognized species from Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, one species from Madagascar, and two species restricted to Malaysia and Indonesia in South‐East Asia. We investigated genetic variation, clade membership, and phylogenetic relationships in Nycteridae wit...

The genus Myotis is nearly cosmopolitan and the second-most speciose genus of mammals, but its Afrotropical members are few and poorly known. We analyzed phylogenetic and phylogeographic relationships of six of the eight known Afrotropical species using Cytb and sequences from four nuclear introns. Using Bayesian and maximum-likelihood approaches t...

The genus Myotis is nearly cosmopolitan and the second-most speciose genus of mammals, but its Afrotropical members are few and poorly known. We analyzed phylogenetic and phylogeographic relationships of six of the eight known Afrotropical species using Cytb and sequences from four nuclear introns. Using Bayesian and maximum-likelihood approaches t...

Aim We investigate the Plio‐Pleistocene evolutionary history of one of the most abundant rodents in Afrotropical forests. Specifically, we ask how their diversification was influenced by climate change, topography and major rivers. Location Tropical Africa: Lower Guinea (including Cameroon volcanic line; CVL), Congolia, Albertine Rift (AR), Kenyan...

Although African crested porcupines Hystrix spp. represent 0.5–34% of lion Panthera leo kills, interactions between the two species are poorly documented. Here we review porcupine-lion interactions and their impact on lion behaviour, including: 1) lion predation on porcupines; 2) lions injured or killed by porcupine quills; and 3) a case of a lion...

While serological and virological evidence documents the exposure of bats to medically-important arboviruses, their role as reservoirs or amplifying hosts is less well-characterized. We describe a novel orbivirus (Reoviridae:Orbivirus) isolated from an Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus leachii) trapped in 2013 in Uganda and named Bukakata o...

A new objective has emerged in the wake of the vast body of evidence supporting climate change: to identify the degree to which natural communities stand to be affected by it. In response to rising global temperatures, ranges of many small mammal species have shifted poleward or higher in elevation. Efforts to quantify such spatiotemporal responses...

Bats are among the most diverse animals on the planet and harbor numerous bacterial, viral, and eukaryotic symbionts. The interplay between bacterial community composition and parasitism in bats is not well understood and may have important implications for studies of similar systems. Here we present a comprehensive survey of dipteran and haemospor...

Field Guide

Small Mammal Field Guide: Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia

Introduction: A number of arboviruses have previously been isolated from naturally-infected East African bats, however the role of bats in arbovirus maintenance is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the exposure history of Ugandan bats to a panel of arboviruses. Materials and methods: Insectivorous and fruit bats were captu...

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009;...

This plot is not part of the published stance but derives from it. The plot shows the number of authors by geographic region (courtesy of Dr. Diego Astua).

Grammomys are mostly arboreal rodents occurring in forests, woodlands and thickets throughout sub-Saharan Africa. We investigated whether the divergence events within the genus follow the existing evolutionary scenario for the development of African forests since the late Miocene. Sub-Saharan African forests and woodlands. We inferred the molecular...

Habitat disturbance and anthropogenic change are globally associated with extinctions and invasive species introductions. Less understood is the impact of environmental change on the parasites harbored by endangered, extinct, and introduced species. To improve our understanding of the impacts of anthropogenic disturbance on such host-parasite inter...

The study was completed through the use of conventional rodent traps, Pit falls and mist nets, and conducted in different survey areas 4 in MCFR and 2 in KFNP for a period of four months. It was observed that different habitat characteristics significantly influence the distribution of species within the environs of MCFR and KFNP. For example, clos...

The Eastern Afromontane biodiversity hotspot (EABH) has the highest concentration of biodiversity in tropical Africa, yet few studies have investigated recent historical diversification processes in EABH lineages. Herein, we analyze restriction-site associated DNA-sequences (RAD-Seq) to study recent historical processes in co-distributed mouse (Hyl...

AimThis study aims to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the African rodent genus Malacomys and to identify factors driving diversification within this genus.LocationAfrican tropical lowland forest.Methods Analyses were based on sampling representatives from most of the known geographical range of the genus. We assessed genetic structure and h...

This study aims to reconstruct the evolutionary history of African shrews referred to the Crocidura olivieri complex. We tested the respective role of forest retraction/expansion during the Pleistocene, rivers (allopatric models), ecological gradients (parapatric model) and anthropogenic factors in explaining the distribution and diversification wi...

Habitat disturbance often results in alterations in community structure of small mammals. Additionally, the parasites harboured by these small mammals may be impacted by environmental changes or indirectly affected by changes in available hosts. To improve our understanding of this interplay, we examined the patterns of parasitism in small mammal c...

SUMMARY Habitat disturbance often results in alterations in community structure of small mammals. Additionally, the parasites harboured by these small mammals may be impacted by environmental changes or indirectly affected by changes in available hosts. To improve our understanding of this interplay, we examined the patterns of parasitism in small...

The objective of this study is to estimate possible impacts of global climate change on the geographical distribution of the African lion Panthera leo in the coming decades. Current lion population occurrence data across Africa and distributions of lions in historical times (6,000–100 years before present) were obtained from the literature and inte...

Abstract We examined fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and body condition (BC) as two measures of environmental stress using museum specimens of Lophuromys aquilus, a rodent species complex wide-spread across the African Albertine Rift. We related FA and BC to a spatially-derived index of anthropogenic impact using a principal components analysis (PCA). W...

The Albertine Rift has recently been declared by Plumtre et al. (2007a) as one of Africa’s biodiversity hotspots due to the high number of species and high levels of endemism. Here we report on a recent but brief survey of mammals from the Misotshi-Kabogo highlands of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. This represents the first effort to doc...