Voahangy Soarimalala

Association Vahatra and ISTE, University of Fianarantsoa

Objectives Understanding disease transmission is a fundamental challenge in ecology. We used transmission potential networks to investigate whether a gastrointestinal protozoan ( Blastocystis spp.) is spread through social, environmental, and/or zoonotic pathways in rural northeast Madagascar. Materials and Methods We obtained survey data, househo...

Small terrestrial mammals are major hosts of infectious agents responsible for zoonotic diseases. Astroviruses (AstVs)–the cause of non-bacterial gastroenteritis mainly affecting young children–have been detected in a wide array of mammalian and avian host species. However, understanding the factors that influence AstV infection within and across h...

Hantaviruses are globally distributed zoonotic pathogens capable of causing fatal disease in humans. Rodents and other small mammals are the typical reservoirs of hantaviruses, though the particular host varies regionally. Addressing the risk of hantavirus spillover from animal reservoirs to humans requires identifying the local mammal reservoirs a...

The black rat (Rattus rattus) poses a severe threat to food security and public health in Madagascar, where it is a major cause of pre- and post-harvest crop losses and an important reservoir for many zoonotic diseases, including plague. Elsewhere, ecologically based rodent management (EBRM) strategies have been developed using ecological informati...

Background: Targeted surveillance allows public health authorities to implement testing and isolation strategies when diagnostic resources are limited, and can be implemented via the consideration of social network topologies. Yet, it remains unclear how to implement such surveillance and control when network data are unavailable. Methods: We ev...

Many of Madagascar’s unique species are threatened with extinction. However, the severity of recent and potential extinctions in a global evolutionary context is unquantified. Here, we compile a phylogenetic dataset for the complete non-marine mammalian biota of Madagascar and estimate natural rates of extinction, colonization, and speciation. We m...

With the aim of providing additional information on the reproductive ecology of Microgale brevicaudata G. Grandidier, 1899, the present study examines the breeding season of this species and other related aspects across a range of native forest areas and human modified habitats. This poorly known species occurs in the lowland moist evergreen forest...

De par sa haute capacité d'adaptation et la plasticité de son alimentation, reflétée par une variation morphologique des individus, Rattus rattus s'est dispersé et a occupé un large éventail d'habitats à Madagascar après son introduction qui date du Xe siècle environ. Cette étude s'intéresse à la variation morphologique de cette espèce superposée à...

Leptospirosis is a bacterial zoonosis caused by pathogenic Leptospira that are maintained in the kidney lumen of infected animals acting as reservoirs and contaminating the environment via infected urine. The investigation of leptospirosis through a One Health framework has been stimulated by notable genetic diversity of pathogenic Leptospira combi...

Madagascar's biota has suffered recent extinctions and many of its unique species are threatened. However, the severity of recent and potential extinctions in a global evolutionary context is unquantified. We compiled a phylogenetic dataset for the complete non-marine mammalian biota of Madagascar and estimated natural rates of extinction, coloniza...

Background Superspreading infections play an important role in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Superspreading is caused primarily by heterogeneity in social contact rates, and therefore represents an opportunity for targeting surveillance and control via consideration of social network topologies, particularly in resource-limited settings. Yet, it remains...

Leptospirosis is a bacterial zoonosis caused by pathogenic Leptospira that are maintained in the kidney lumen of infected animals acting as reservoirs and contaminating the environment via infected urine. The investigation of leptospirosis through a One Health framework has been stimulated by notable genetic diversity of pathogenic Leptospira toget...

Madagascar is a large island to the south-east of Africa and in many ways continental in size and ecological complexity. Here we aim to define how skull morphology of an endemic and monophyletic clade of rodents (sub-family Nesomyinae), that show considerable morphological variation, have evolved and how their disparity is characterized in context...

Social and spatial network analysis is an important approach for investigating infectious disease transmission, especially for pathogens transmitted directly between individuals or via environmental reservoirs. Given the diversity of ways to construct networks, however, it remains unclear how well networks constructed from different data types effe...

Rickettsioses are among emerging infectious diseases around the world. In Madagascar, little information is available regarding Rickettsia (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) diversity and their potential impacts on public health. In fact, molecular screening of ectoparasites of mammals reported the presence of three species, Rickettsia africae, Ricket...

Leptospirosis is one of the most prevalent bacterial zoonoses in the world. The disease is caused by pathogenic Leptospira that are maintained in the kidney lumen of infected animals, mostly mammals, acting as reservoirs and contaminating the environment via infected urine. The investigation of leptospirosis through a One Health framework has been...

The mammal family Tenrecidae (Afrotheria: Afrosoricida) is endemic to Madagascar. Here we present the conservation priorities for the 31 species of tenrec that were assessed or reassessed in 2015–2016 for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Six species (19.4%) were found to be threatened (4 Vulnerable, 2 Endangered) and one species was categor...

Human activities can increase or decrease risks of acquiring a zoonotic disease, notably by affecting the composition and abundance of hosts. This study investigated the links between land use and infectious disease risk in northeast Madagascar, where human subsistence activities and population growth are encroaching on native habitats and the asso...

The southwestern portion of Madagascar appears to have one of the highest levels of scorpion diversity on the island. In this contribution, the remarkable diversity of the genus Grosphus Simon, 1880 in this region is discussed. A particular attention is aimed to the area of the Cap Sainte Marie where microendemic geographic patterns are observed. T...

Rodents generate negative consequences for smallholder farmers in Africa that directly impact household and livestock damage, food security and public health. Ecologically Based Rodent Management (EBRM) seeks sustainable solutions for the mitigation of rodent damage through assessments of rodent population dynamics, agro‐ecosystems and socio‐cultur...

Despite their legal protection status, protected areas (PAs) can benefit from priority ranks when ongoing threats to their biodiversity and habitats outpace the financial resources available for their conservation. It is essential to develop methods to prioritize PAs that are not computationally demanding in order to suit stakeholders in developing...

Based on 372 specimens examined, we integrated information from two mitochondrial and four nuclear gene sequences, morphological comparisons and morphometric analyses, as well as distributional patterns and ecological occurrences to revise the Eliurus tanala species group (Nesomyinae), a rodent complex endemic to Madagascar's forests. These evident...

We applied a multi-isotope approach to examine aspects of niche partitioning, competition, and mobility for rodents in the Central Highlands of Madagascar. Specifically, we used carbon (δ13C), nitrogen (δ15N), and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotope ratios in bone to investigate diet and mobility for endemic tufted tail rats (Eliurus spp.), and introduce...

A reanalysis of the type material of Grosphus simoni Lourenço, Goodman & Ramilijaona, 2004, associated with new material of this species from the northeast of Madagascar, has led to the conclusion that the male paratype of G. simoni belongs to a new, undescribed species. A large series of specimens collected in the Ambatovy-Analamay-Torotorofotsy h...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174554.].

Rodent pests are especially problematic in terms of agriculture and public health since they can inflict considerable economic damage associated with their abundance, diversity, generalist feeding habits and high reproductive rates. To quantify rodent pest impacts and identify trends in rodent pest research impacting on small-holder agriculture in...

PRISMA checklist. (PDF)

List of rodent genera detected in rodent pest research in African agricultural systems from 1960–2015. (PDF)

Complete list of all publications used in the review–Publications in bold did not have full texts available at time of review. (DOCX)

(UA)

List of different crops and cropping system as impacted by rodent pests in African agriculture (1960–2015). (PDF)

Web of Science TM search history–. (TXT)

The family Tenrecidae (tenrecs) is one of only four extant terrestrial mammal lineages to have colonized and diversified on Madagascar. Over the past 15 years, several studies have disagreed on relationships among major tenrec lineages, resulting in multiple reinterpretations of the number and timing of historical transoceanic dispersal events betw...

Data are presented on the flea species of the genera Paractenopsyllus (Ceratophyllidae, Leptopsyllinae) and Synopsyllus (Pulicidae, Xenopsyllinae) obtained from small mammals during two 2014 seasonal surveys at a montane humid forest site (Ambohitantely) in the Central Highlands of Madagascar. The mammal groups included the endemic family Tenrecida...

Unlabelled: The Paramyxoviridae form an increasingly diverse viral family, infecting a wide variety of different hosts. In recent years, they have been linked to disease emergence in many different animal populations and in humans. Bats and rodents have been identified as major animal populations capable of harboring paramyxoviruses, and host shif...

Biodiversity hotspots and associated endemism are ideal systems for the study of parasite diversity within host communities. Here, we investigated the ecological and evolutionary forces acting on the diversification of an emerging bacterial pathogen, Leptospira spp., in communities of endemic Malagasy small mammals. We determined the infection rate...

Abstract Until now, there was only serological evidence that hantaviruses were circulating in rodents and infecting humans from Madagascar. To assess the presence of a hantavirus on the island, between October, 2008, and March, 2010, we sampled 585 rodents belonging to seven species in the Anjozorobe-Angavo forest corridor, 70 km north from the cap...

Table S1 (Paramyxovirus coinfections.) Table S2 (GenBank accession numbers for paramyxovirus sequences from bats, rodents, or other small mammal species.) Table S3 (Description of capture sites, dates, and species.) Fig. S1 (Graphical representation of the genetic similarity between different functional clade groups of the Paramyxoviridae.) Fig...

Abstract A new tick species belonging to the African subgenus Afrixodes Morel, 1966 of the genus Ixodes Latreille, 1795, namely Ixodes (Afrixodes) microgalei n. sp. is described. Females of this species are most similar to those of I. colasbelcouri Arthur, 1957 and I. nesomys Uilenberg & Hoogstraal, 1969. The female of the new species can easily be...

Taxonomy of small terrestrial animals sampled in Anjozorobe, Madagascar, October 2008 and 2009, March 2009 and 2010

##Assembly-Data-START## Assembly Method :: mega v. 5.0 Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Assembly Method :: mega v. 5.0 Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Assembly Method :: mega v. 5.0 Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Assembly Method :: Mega v. 5.0 Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Assembly Method :: mega v. 5.0 Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Assembly Method :: Mega v. 5.0 Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Assembly Method :: Mega v. 5.0 Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Assembly Method :: Mega v. 5.0 Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Assembly Method :: mega v. 5.0 Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Assembly Method :: Mega v. 5.0 Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Assembly Method :: Mega v. 5.0 Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

Unraveling the mechanisms facilitating species coexistence in communities is a central theme in ecology. Species-rich tropical mammal communities provide excellent settings to explore such mechanisms as they often harbor numerous congeneric species with close phylogenetic relationships. Explicit tests for the mechanisms that allow syntopic occurren...

2012. Un premier aperçu de la faune de vertébrés du bush épineux de Salary-Bekodoy, à l'ouest du Parc National de Mikea, Madagascar. Malagasy Nature, 6: 1-23. uniquement dans la région du Sud-ouest ont été répertoriées. La forêt de Salary-Bekodoy constitue également la nouvelle limite nord connue de la distribution de Coua verreauxi. Deux espèces d...

This study used a portion of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene to investigate the phylogenetic relationships of Suncus pygmy shrews and to help clarify the taxonomic status of the Malayan pygmy shrew (S. malayanus) and the Malagasy pygmy shrew (S. madagascariensis). Phylogenetic reconstructionswere performed using neighbour-joining and Bayesian a...

We report the first karyotypic descriptions of Nesomyinae, a subfamily of rodents endemic to Madagascar. Using standard staining as well as G-banding and C-banding we detected karyotypic variation at the intergeneric, interspecific and intraspecific levels among six specimens referable to the species Eliurus majori, Eliurus minor, Eliurus tanala an...

Microgale jobihely (Afrosoricida: Tenrecidae) was described in 2006 based on 12 specimens from the southwestern flank of Tsaratanana Massif in northern Madagascar. This species is considered Endangered by the IUCN. During small mammal surveys conducted in central-eastern Madagascar within the Ambatovy Forest between June 2007 and February 2009, six...

SAJ) WWF Madagascar, BP 738, Antananarivo (101), Madagascar (VS) Département de Biologie Animale, Université d'Antananarivo, BP 906, Antananarivo (101), Madagascar (VS, SMG) Department of Zoology, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, USA (SMG) Recent field and revisionary studies of Madagascar's endemic roden...

Placentation in tenrecs of the subfamily Oryzorictinae, family Tenrecidae, has not been described previously. The structure of the placenta of this group and especially of the genus Microgale was investigated to determine its similarity or dissimilarity to previously described placentas of the tenrec subfamilies Potamogalinae and Tenrecinae. Fiftee...

Tenrecs (Tenrecidae) are a widely diversified assemblage of small eutherian mammals that occur in Madagascar and Western and Central Africa. With the exception of a few early karyotypic descriptions based on conventional staining, nothing is known about the chromosomal evolution of this family. We present a detailed analysis of G-banded and molecul...

The remaining non-protected forest in eastern-central Madagascar connecting the Pare national (PN) of Andringitra and PN of Ranomafana, 120 km apart, forms a corridor connecting these two protected areas. Surveys of small mammals occurring in this zone were conducted to obtain information on their diversity and distribution, in order to assess the...

The biodiversity of Madagascar is extraordinarily distinctive, diverse, and endangered. It is therefore urgent that steps be taken to document, describe, interpret, and protect this exceptional biota. As a collaborative group of field and laboratory biologists, we employ a suite of methodological and analytical tools to investigate the vertebrate p...

A new species of Macrotarsomys, M. petteri (Rodentia: Muridae: Nesomyinae), is described based on a single specimen taken during a 2003 biological survey of the Forêt des Mikea in southwestern Madagascar. This is the third species known in this endemic genus, and all are confined to the dry forest formations of western Madagascar. The region where...

The biodiversity of Madagascar is extraordinarily distinctive, diverse, and endangered. It is therefore urgent that steps be taken to document, describe, interpret, and protect this exceptional biota. As a collaborative group of field and laboratory biologists, we employ a suite of methodological and analytical tools to investigate the vertebrate p...

A new species of Microgale, M. jenkinsae (Lipotyphla: Tenrecidae), is described based on two specimens taken during an early 2003 biological survey of the Forêt des Mikea in southwestern Madagascar. It is distinguished from other congeners by numerous pelage, cranial, and dental characters. M. jenkinsae is the fourth known species in this genus con...