Search results for "Insectivore"

Un assemblage inhabituel d’insectivores au Miocène inférieur du Sud-Ouest de l’Europe : les talpidés et les dimylidés du bassin de Ribesalbes–Alcora …

2019

The Miocene record of talpids and dimylids in south-western Europe is very scarce. In the present work, we study for the first time the talpids and complete the description of the dimylids, already started with a new species of the genus Plesiodimylus from the Ribesalbes–Alcora Basin (MN4, lower Aragonian, early Miocene) by Crespo et al. (2018). The talpids recovered inRibesalbes–Alcora comprise themost common Desmanodon daamsi and Desmanella fejfari, for which the last known occurrence is recorded here. The dimylids comprise the species Plesiodimylus ilercavonicus, which expands the biostratigraphic record of the genus and species and has been found in a new site. On the other hand, we dis…

A new species ofPlesiodimylus(Dimylidae, Eulipotyphla, Mammalia) from the Early Miocene of Spain

2017

AbstractWe report a new dimylid species, Plesiodimylus ilercavonicus sp. nov., from the Early Miocene locality of Mas d’Antolino B-5 (Ribesalbes-Alcora, Castello, Spain). This new species of Plesiodimylus is an amblyodont form of the genus and exhibits some primitive characters. The phylogenetic and palaeoenvironmental implications of this southern occurrence of Plesiodimylus in Lower Miocene sediments are discussed.urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:EB5435A4-EECE-4B88-B5AC-4B77E2E13029

Effect of simulated faunal impoverishment and mixture on the ecological structure of modern mammal faunas: Implications for the reconstruction of Mio…

2011

15 pages; International audience; The strong link between environment and the ecological diversity of communities is often used for drawing palaeoenvironmental inferences from fossil assemblages. Here we focus on the reliability of fossil samples in comparison to original communities when inferring palaeoenvironments from the ecological diversity of fossil mammal faunas. Taphonomic processes and sampling techniques generally introduce two kinds of biases in fossil samples: 1) the directional impoverishment of communities, i.e. the absence of some specific categories of bones, individuals or species; and 2) the mixture of several communities, temporally (timeaveraging) and/or spatially (spac…

First finding of Ityogonimus lorum and I. ocreatus co-infection in the Iberian mole, Talpa occidentalis.

2018

Abstract The Ityogonimus lorum-I. ocreatus co-infection is reported for the first time in the Iberian mole Talpa occidentalis in Asturias (NW Spain). Both Ityogonimus species are stenoxenous helminths of insectivores of the genus Talpa and they have often been found parasitizing the Iberian mole and also the European mole T. europaea, but a mixed infection had not been previously reported. The present study also highlights the main differential morphometric characteristics between I. lorum and I. ocreatus such as the body length, the ventral sucker diameter, the ratio between suckers and the distance between suckers.

First Data on the Helminth Community of the Smallest Living Mammal on Earth, the Etruscan Pygmy Shrew, Suncus etruscus (Savi, 1822) (Eulipotyphla: So…

2021

Suncus etruscus is the smallest living mammal on Earth by mass. Most adults weigh 1.8–3 g with a body length of 35–48 mm. Catching it in small mammal traps in nature is extremely difficult due to its minute size, and therefore special trapping methods must be used. We had the unique opportunity of studying, for the first time, the helminth parasites of 166 individuals of S. etruscus, part of the largest collection in the world, which belonged to the French scientist Dr Roger Fons (1942–2016). A total of 150 individuals were captured in the Banyuls-Cerbère area (France) and 16 in the island of Corsica (France). We found seven helminth species, specifically, the cestodes Joyeuxiella pasqualei…

Female-female aggression and male polyterritoriality in the pied flycatcher

1994

Female reactions to male absence after pairing in the pied flycatcher

1994

Mating with an already mated pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) male is costly for a female. Two hypotheses explain why some females still mate with already mated males. The deception hypothesis suggests that some females mate with already mated males since it is difficult to assess perfectly the mating status of a male with separate territories (polyterritoriality). The search cost hypothesis states that females are aware of male mating status but the costs of searching for an unmated male exceed costs associated with the status of secondary female. One potential cue that could disclose a male's mating status is the existence of brief visits to the primary territory by polyterritorial ma…

Association between haematozoan infections and reproduction in the Pied Flycatcher

1997

1. Parasites may affect breeding success of their host since they compete for the same resources as their hosts. Reproduction may also increase the susceptibility of a host to parasite infections owing to lowered resistance to parasites during breeding. 2. We studied the association between breeding performance and haematozoan parasite infection in the Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) by using both natural data on reproduction and data from clutch size manipulations. 3. The most frequent blood parasites of the Pied Flycatcher in central Finland were Haemoproteus pallidus, Haemoproteus balmorali and Trypanosoma avium complex. 4. We did not find evidence that these haematozoan parasites h…

Rodents and insectivores from the Lower Miocene (Agenian and Ramblian) of the Tudela Formation (Ebro Basin, Spain)

2012

The rodent and insectivore faunas of Agenian and Ramblian age from the Tudela Formation (Ebro Basin, Spain) are described. Four of the localities (CH1, CA1, CC1 and CA2) contain rodent remains of Agenian age (local zone Y), and three (CA3, CA3B and CA4) of Ramblian age (local zones Z and A). Typical Agenian taxa include Armantomys cf. bijmai (CH1), Eucricetodon cf. gerandianus (CA1), Peridyromys turbatus, Simplomys aff. aljaphi and Armantomys daamsi (CA2) and Eucricetodon aff. aquitanicus (CC1). On the other hand, some typical Ramblian taxa are Armantomys cf. parsani (CA3), Ligerimys aff. magnus and Pseudotheridomys sp. (CA4) and Prodryomys cf. brailloni (CA3B). The faunas are characterized…

Ultraviolet vision and foraging in terrestrial vertebrates

2002

Tetrachromatic colour vision, based on four ‘main’ colours and their combinations, is probably the original colour vision in terrestrial vertebrates. In addition to human visible waveband of light (400–700 nm) and three main colours, it also includes the near ultraviolet part of light spectrum (320–400 nm). The ecological importance of ultraviolet (UV) vision in animals has mainly been studied in the context of intra- and inter-sexual signalling, but recently the importance of UV vision in foraging has received more attention. Foraging animals may use either UV cues (reflectance or absorbance) of food items or UV cues of the environment. So far, all diurnal birds studied (at least 35 specie…