Carnivores - Science topic

Coyote (Canis latrans) range expansion into desert ecosystems has highlighted the role of anthropogenic water sources in arid ecosystems. Despite hypotheses that additional water facilitated this expansion, previous studies reported that coyotes did not exhibit a spatial or dietary response to removal of anthropogenic water. We used GPS data to exa...

Spinosaurids are a highly morphologically specialized clade of large tetanuran theropod dinosaurs, characterized by their proportionally long, narrow snouts and conical teeth with fluted surfaces. The unusual morphology of spinosaurids has been usually compared with modern crocodilians, but distinct differences between them have been reported as we...

Keywords: canid carnivore communication latrine Lycaon scent marking social behaviour territoriality Individual patterns of scent marking can aid our understanding of the function of animal latrines. African wild dogs are pack-living social carnivores that regularly visit latrines, called shared marking sites, used by multiple neighbouring packs. H...

Over the decades, riverine ecosystems is suffering from intense human intervention resulting in degradation and habitat loss as a consequence, many fish species become endangered, particularly in rivers where heavy demand is placed on freshwater. Wallago attu is fast growing catfish belongs to the family siluridae has good market demand having high...

The Arabian leopard Panthera pardus nimr is categorized as Critically Endangered, with < 200 individuals estimated to remain in the wild. Historically the species ranged over an extensive area of western Saudi Arabia but, with no confirmed sightings since 2014, investigating potential continued presence and distribution is of critical conservation...

Economically viable and readily accessible solutions are necessary for the sustainability of the economic endeavors of small-scale frog producers. An experiment was conducted with the objective of assessing the growth of post-metamorphosis frogs in adapted polyethylene water tanks in the period from fall to spring in the Southern Hemisphere. A tota...

Subgenome dominance after whole-genome duplication generates distinction in gene number and expression at the level of chromosome sets, but it remains unclear how this process may be involved in evolutionary novelty. Here we generated a chromosome-scale genome assembly of the Asian pitcher plant Nepenthes gracilis to analyse how its novel traits (d...

Simple Summary: Anteaters are insectivores, consuming diets consisting primarily of termites and ants in the wild; therefore, feeding them under human care has been a challenge and frequently leads to nutritional disorders. Through analysis of free-ranging giant anteaters' stomach content, the findings of this study provide valuable information for...

Demand for fruits and vegetables in export and local markets are increasing with population explosion. Pakistan is producing around 33 and 29 types of fruits and vegetables, respectively, around the year. Guava (biennial fruit) is one of the most delicious fruits widely cultivated across Pakistan. However, its yield is reduced due to avian pests, w...

Nutritional deprivation triggers a switch from a saprotrophic to predatory lifestyle in soil-dwelling nematode-trapping fungi (NTF). In particular, the NTF Arthrobotrys oligospora secretes food and sex cues to lure nematodes to its mycelium and is triggered to develop specialized trapping devices. Captured nematodes are then invaded and digested by...

Fostering human–wildlife coexistence necessitates a thorough and nuanced grasp of local attitudes toward wildlife. Attitudes can vary substantially based on the sociodemographic backgrounds of individuals within a society. This study examines Tibetan attitudes toward large carnivores, emphasizing the importance of contextualization in discerning th...

Phenotypic convergence is found across the tree of life, and morphological similarities in distantly related species are often presumed to have evolved independently. However, clarifying the origins of traits has recently highlighted the complex nature of evolution, as apparent convergent features often share similar genetic foundations. Hence, the...

Background Mammalia comprises a great diversity of diet types and associated adaptations. An understanding of the genomic mechanisms underlying these adaptations may offer insights for improving human health. Comparative genomic studies of diet that employ taxonomically restricted analyses or simplified diet classifications may suffer reduced power...

Aim Reconstructing megafauna diversity in the past before anthropogenic impacts is crucial for developing targeted restoration strategies. We estimated the diversity and functional decline of European megafauna in the present compared with the nearest in‐time climate period analogue to the present but prior to the worldwide diffusion of Homo sapien...

Variation in the legal status and management of wolves ( Canis lupus ) across EU Member States provides a good opportunity to test the effectiveness of different practices to reduce livestock losses. This opportunity for testing is particularly useful for lethal interventions, as they are among the most controversial actions within the large carniv...

Understanding the interspecies interactions between predator and prey is important to assess the prey preferences, species coexistence, and abundance for creating conservation and management strategies. In India, many studies have been conducted to understand interspecific interactions between large carnivores and their prey. But to our knowledge,...

Wolves have large spatial requirements and their expansion in Europe is occurring over national boundaries, hence the need to develop monitoring programs at the population level. Wolves in the Alps are defined as a functional population and management unit. The range of this wolf Alpine population now covers seven countries: Italy, France, Austria,...

Have you experienced sleep deprivation after a fitful 2-hour slumber? Now imagine sleeping 2 hours a day for 7 months straight, like Mirounga angustirostris, the northern elephant seal. My PhD research unraveled the extreme sleep patterns of these massive deep-diving pinnipeds and explored the limits of mammalian sleep (1). Sleep deprivation in mam...

As global large carnivore populations continue to decline due to human actions, maintaining viable populations beyond protected area (PA) borders is critical. African lions (Panthera leo) ranging beyond PA borders regularly prey on domestic livestock causing humans to retaliate or even preemptively kill lions to minimize impacts of lost livestock....

Wildlife depends on specific landscape features to persist. Thus, characterizing the vegetation available in an area can be essential for management. The ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) is a federally endangered, medium-sized felid adapted to woody vegetation. Quantifying the characteristics of vegetation most suitable for ocelots is essential for thei...

The top-mouth culter Erythroculter ilishaeformis is a kind of carnivorous fish that is currently a widely distributed fish in China, which is a commercially important freshwater fish in China. However, only few effective molecular markers on E. ilishaeformis are available. In this study, nine muscles and liver tissues of cDNA libraries of E. ilisha...

Survival of juvenile ungulates represents an important demographic parameter that influences population dynamics within ecosystems. In many ecological systems, the mortality of juvenile ungulates is influenced by various factors, including predation by large carnivores, human hunting activities and weather. While wolves Canis lupus are known to pre...

Investigating species responses to trophic interactions and abiotic factors is crucial to better understanding their ecology and creating effective management strategies. In carnivore communities, smaller species are often regulated by larger ones via top‐down interference competition. Smaller subordinate carnivores can also be regulated by bottom‐...

Extreme weather events perturb ecosystems and increasingly threaten biodiversity1. Ecologists emphasize the need to forecast and mitigate the impacts of these events, which requires knowledge of how risk is distributed among species and environments. However, the scale and unpredictability of extreme events complicate risk assessment1,2,3,4—especia...

Organotin compounds (OTs) accumulate in fish easily, however, research on their influencing factors is still limited. This study collected 25 species of fish with different diets, habitats, and age from the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR), the largest deep-water river channel-type reservoir in China, and analyzed the accumulation characteristics of OT...

The study describes the feeding habits, diet composition and prey diversity of Ablennes hians based on 396 specimens collected between October 2015 and September 2017 from Kerala, southwest coast of India. The Index of Relative Importance (IRI) showed that teleosts were the most preferred food items (%IRI = 65.43 %) followed by molluscs (%IRI = 32....

Over the last hundred years, many large carnivore species have suffered range contractions, population losses, and habitat alterations that may be influencing their dietary preferences. To identify shifting isotopic niches and reconstruct past and present diets from species of high conservation concern, stable isotope analysis (SIA) of d 13 C and d...

Large carnivores such as African lion, African leopard and Cheetah have been important elements in the Ethiopian ecosystems that range from evergreen montane forests to open savannah grassland, to semi-arid and arid lowland areas. However, significant portions of their populations and suitable habitats in many of their former ranges in Ethiopia hav...

Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), one of the wide-ranging scarce carnivores, was widespread some decades back in Ethiopia's wild lands. However, its natural habitats are currently fragmented and shrinking due to anthropogenic factors. Regardless of this general overview, there appears to be a lack of up-to-date information which reveals the past and exis...

Fusion of individual vesicles carrying membrane-building materials with the plasma membrane (PM) enables gradual cell expansion and shape change. Constricting ring (CR) cells of carnivorous fungi triple in size within 0.1-1 s to capture passing nematodes. Here, we investigated how a carnivorous fungus, Drechslerella dactyloides, executes rapid and...

The present study aimed to estimate the diversity, abundance, and habitat utilization patterns of medium and large-sized mammals in the Debre-libanos Monastery forest, Ethiopia. The survey was conducted from December 2019 to October 2020, considering the wet and dry seasons. A stratified sampling design was applied, dividing the study area into fou...

Domestic cats (Felis catus), one of the most popular pets, are widespread worldwide. This medium-sized carnivore has well-known negative effects on biodiversity, but there is still a need to better understand the approximate causes of their predation. Based on a citizen science project, we assessed the role of spatiotemporal (i.e., latitude, longit...

Biodiversity loss is inextricably linked to declining human-nature “connectedness”, particularly in terms of how people form attitudes and beliefs about the natural world. Anthropomorphism, or attributing human-like qualities to non-human beings, is an increasingly common conservation strategy to encourage human connectedness to wildlife, but such...

Interspecific competition is notoriously difficult to detect and quantify, especially in species that are wide-ranging or otherwise difficult to track in the wild. Research investigating interspecific competition usually relies on niche overlap measurements despite that this approach alone does not yield rigorous inference. As an illustration, we r...

Infectious diseases transmitted by domestic dogs can have important consequences for wildlife health. This study aimed to investigate the exposure to four selected pathogens in dogs and wild carnivores in six municipalities in the Xingu River Basin (Pará state, Brazil). The prevalence of positive animals, their spatial distribution, and the associa...

The interplay between facultative scavenging and predation has gained interest in the last decade. The prevalence of scavenging induced by the availability of large carcasses may modify predator density or behaviour, potentially affecting prey. In contrast to behavioural mechanisms through which scavenging affects predation, the demographic effects...

Parasites play an important role in the health of wild animals and can profoundly affect the conservation strategies. Although few studies are available on the prevalence of parasites in wild animals, most of these describe protozoans and helminthic infections in captive wild herbivores and carnivores which cause morbidities in the infected animals...

In this study, we investigate how the terrestrial-aquatic transition influenced patterns of axial integration and modularity in response to the secondary adaptation to a marine lifestyle. We use 3D geometric morphometrics to quantify shape covariation among presacral vertebrae in pinnipeds (Carnivora; Pinnipedia) and to compare with patterns of axi...

Microplastic (MP) pollution in freshwater environments has drawn considerable attention over the decades due to the risk posed by MPs to the aquatic fauna and human health. In this study, the occurrence of MPs was assessed from the gastrointestinal tracts (GIT) of indigenous fishes from Bhogdoi River, a tributary of River Brahmaputra, northeast hil...

Background The causative agent of plague, Yersinia pestis , is maintained in nature via a flea-rodent cycle. Western Iran is an old focus for plague, and recent data indicate that rodents and dogs in this region have serological evidence of Y . pestis infection. The purpose of this study was to conduct a large-scale investigation of Y . pestis infe...

The decline in the jaguar population confirms how much the species is vulnerable to extinction in Brazil. It also indicates the degradation of its natural habitat’s environmental integrity and quality. Studies claim that large felids are susceptible to feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) and are presumptively diagnosed clinically in Brazil. A free-liv...

Mosasaurs (Squamata, Mosasauridae) were large aquatic reptiles from the Late Cretaceous that filled a range of ecological niches within marine ecosystems. The type-Maastrichtian strata (68–66 Ma) of the Netherlands and Belgium preserve remains of five species that seemed to have performed different ecological roles (carnivores, piscivores, durophag...

The Cibareno River in Sukabumi, West Java, is the habitat of Tor tambra, one of Indonesia's most highly valuable native freshwater fish species. The native fish population in this river may be threatened by the planned weir construction. The study aims to examine the food and feeding habits of Tor tambra in the Cibareno River. This study was carrie...

Abstrak Kepala Timah (Aplocheilus panchax, Hamilton 1822) merupakan salah satu ikan yang memiliki kemampuan bertahan hidup di berbagai kualitas perairan. Kemampuan A. panchax bertahan hidup di perairan asam mulai banyak dipelajari sebagai ikan extremofil untuk mempelajari ekosistem pada habitat perairan yang memiliki karakteristik asam. Penelitian...

Cobia is a relatively new species of marine carnivorous fish with high aquaculture potential because of its fast growth (4-6 kg in a year) and ability to adapt and reproduce in the cultivation environment. This study aims to evaluate the nutrient digestibility and enzyme activity of cobia juveniles fed pelleted feed with microbial floc meal (MF), m...

RESUMEN: La enfermedad aleutiana está provocada por el virus Amdoparvovirus Carnívoro 1. Es habitual diagnosticar esta enfermedad en hurones en base a la marcada hipergammaglobulinemia que suele asociarse a signos clínicos, en especial neurológicos. Sin embargo, hay pocos casos descritos de enfermedad aleutiana en hurones domésticos con presencia d...

Derawan Island, East Kalimantan Province, is located in the coral triangle, the center of mega biodiversity of the world's marine life, including reef fish. In this study, reef fish data were collected from 1994, 2003, and 2019 at six islands (Panjang, Derawan, Samama, Sangalaki, Kakaban, and Maratua) in Derawan Islands using the Underwater Visual...

Multi-species assemblages can help identify key resources in their habitat by evaluating how they are partitioning their resources. Here we used the isotopic niche of loggerhead, Kemp’s ridley, and green sea turtles to assess their ecological niche within a Gulf of Mexico bay. Additionally, we assessed temporal and size-class variation in their die...

Animal activity patterns are highly variable and influenced by internal and external factors, including social processes. Quantifying activity patterns in natural settings can be challenging, as it is difficult to monitor animals over long time periods. Here, we developed and validated a machine-learning-based classifier to identify behavioural sta...

The study of the food and feeding habits of fishes is crucial in understanding their ecology. Food and feeding habits of the 30 fish species belonging to 22 families from Bukit Sari and Awat-awat of Lawas in the Bay of Brunei were studied on 11th February 2020 and 12th February 2020 respectively. Samples were collected using “Kabat” nets, casting n...

Damming of large rivers has promoted well‐documented ecosystem changes that constitute critical threats to freshwater fish biodiversity. However, it is unclear how trait–environment relationships drive community assembly in older (>50 years) tropical river‐reservoir systems. We assessed physical features filtering functional traits (RLQ and fourth‐...

Trichinella is a nematode that are spread by the consumption of parasitized meat. Carnivora, a mammalian order, serve as key hosts for this parasite. However, evidence of Trichinella in wildlife from the Neotropics is extremely scarce, with reports documenting its presence only for five carnivore species: two Felidae, one Otariidae and two Mustelid...

Enteric protozoan parasites Giardia duodenalis, Cryptosporidium spp., and, to a lesser extent, the ciliate Balantioides coli are responsible for severe human and animal intestinal disorders globally. However, limited information is available on the occurrence and epidemiology of these parasites in domestic, but especially wild species in Portugal....

Shifts in species’ interactions are implicated as an important proximate cause underpinning climate-change-related extinction. However, there is little empirical evidence on the pathways through which climate conditions, such as ambient temperature, impact community dynamics. The timing of activities is a widespread behavioural adaptation to enviro...

Terrestrial ecosystems are shaped by interacting top‐down and bottom‐up processes, with the magnitude of top‐down control by large carnivores largely depending on environmental productivity. While carnivore‐induced numerical effects on ungulate prey populations have been demonstrated in large, relatively undisturbed ecosystems, whether large carniv...

fleas samples from eight different wilayats of Algeria and belonging to five different species were subjected to conventional PCR analysis; PCR results revealed 56 (13.02%) of positive; after sequencing a random selection of positive samples 11/23 (47.83%) were identified as Wolbachia endosymbionts.

Selective logging is the most widespread driver of land‐use change in biodiverse and carbon‐rich tropical forests. However, the effects of selective logging on biodiversity are less than those associated with other drivers of forest degradation. A suite of recent research has shown that reduced‐impact logging (RIL) results in few or no changes to b...

Zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis were performed on the macrofaunal remains from Solutrean levels XIII and XIV (ca. 17 and 20 ka cal BP) of Cova de les Cendres. The faunal assemblage shows predominance of red deer, followed by Spanish ibex and equids, among which wild ass (Equus hydruntinus) was identified. Carnivores are well represented i...

There has been a recent exponential growth in the study of functional trait ecology. Nonetheless , the study of functional traits and functional groups has been limited for terrestrial vertebrates. We conducted a classification update of functional groups (FG) of birds and mammals in Mexico, and determined the distribution patterns of FG species ri...

European wildcat (Felis silvestris) is a "Red Data Book Species" in Ukraine under strict protection. However, there is still only limited information on wildcat densities, distribution, and hybridisation. Using wildcat by-catch from camera traps, we display the locations at which wildcat were recorded during winter large carnivore monitoring in the...

The order Tetraodontiforme has the puffer fish, known scientifically under the genera Sphoeroides and Lagocephalus, they are among the most fascinating and enigmatic marine creatures. They inhabit marine, estuarine, and even freshwater bodies of tropical regions. Currently this order is represented by 105 genera and 435 species. Pufferfish have the...

The pivotal contribution of the Lutjanidae, Lethrinidae, and Serranidae families to coral reef ecosystems, coupled with their significance as targets for fishing activities, underscores the importance of understanding their presence and population dynamics in formulating effective coastal management policies. Employing the Underwater Visual Census...

Wildlife abundance surveys are important tools for making decisions regarding nature conservation and management. Cryptic and nocturnal mammals can be difficult to monitor, and methods to obtain more accurate data on density and population trends of these species are needed. We propose a novel monitoring method using an aerial drone with a laser ra...

Understanding dispersal patterns and demographic processes is crucial for the development of evidence‐based conservation practices. Obtaining such information relies on the ability to identify and track individuals across spatial and temporal scales relevant to the life‐history events under investigation. This knowledge can be achieved by combining...

The aim of this study was to compare two different types of feeding enrichment (vegetarian vs. carnivore) through the daily activity patterns, space use, and inter-individual distances in a captive Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus) pack housed at the Barcelona Zoo. Multifocal sampling methods were used for data collection and instantaneous scans...

Aim The non‐stationarity in habitat selection of expanding populations poses a significant challenge for spatial forecasting. Focusing on the grey wolf (Canis lupus) natural recolonization of Germany, we compared the performance of different distribution modelling approaches for predicting habitat suitability in unoccupied areas. Furthermore, we an...

The Middle Pleistocene site of Schöningen 13II-4 “Spear Horizon” is well known not only for the presence of a series of wooden spears, but also for the excellent preservation and richness of its faunal assemblage, the high resolution of its stratigraphical sequence and the large expanse of the excavated surface. These characteristics offer excellen...

Although Middle Paleolithic (MP) hominin diets consisted mainly of ungulates, increasing evidence demonstrates that hominins at least occasionally consumed tortoises, birds, leporids, fish, and carnivores. Until now, the MP zooarchaeological record in the Zagros Mountains has been almost exclusively restricted to ungulates. The narrow range of homi...

Background Cryptosporidium, as intestinal protozoa, have been widely reported in wildlife, livestock and humans. Mongolian pika (Ochotona pallasi) live at high altitudes along the China-mongolia borderline, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR, northwestern China). However, little information is available on the prevalence and characterization of...

Toxocara species are cosmopolitan nematode parasites of companion, domestic and wild hosts. Of the 26 known species of Toxocara, only Toxocara canis and Toxocara cati are definitively zoonotic. The significance of wild carnivores as definitive hosts of T. canis and T. cati respectively, has received far less attention compared to domestic dogs and...

A total of nine small wild felid species can be found in a diversity of habitats in South America. Hierarchical models (HM) can be used to estimate key population aspects such as their distribution, abundance, density, and the influence of environmental conditions. The HM framework can accommodate errors introduced during the observation process, s...