Search results for "carnivore"
showing 10 items of 23 documents
Record of a 10-year old European Wildcat Felis silvestris silvestris Schreber, 1777 (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) from Mt. Etna, Sicily, Italy
2020
Longevity data for wild felids are lacking in the literature. Here we report a camera trap recapture of a European Wildcat Felis silvestris at Mt. Etna in Sicily, Italy after nine years. This individual was clearly identifiable as its tail ended with a white ring rather than the typical black ring and had a unique shape of the dorsal stripe. At first capture on 26 May 2009, this cat was assessed as an adult, so that the likely minimum age of this individual at the time of recapture on 10 June 2018 must have been be at least 10 years. This finding represents the oldest known European Wildcat in the wild and provides insight into age structure in wildcat populations.
Invasive Species as Hosts of Zoonotic Infections: The Case of American Mink (Neovison vison) and Leishmania infantum
2021
Leishmania infantum produces an endemic disease in the Mediterranean Basin that affects humans and domestic and wild mammals, which can act as reservoir or minor host. In this study, we analyzed the presence of the parasite in wild American minks, an invasive species in Spain. We screened for L. infantum DNA by PCR using five primer pairs: Two targeting kinetoplast DNA (kDNA), and the rest targeting the ITS1 region, the small subunit of ribosomal RNA (SSU) and a repetitive sequence (Repeat region). The detection limit was determined for each method using a strain of L. infantum and a bone marrow sample from an infected dog. PCR approaches employing the Repeat region and kDNA (RV1/RV2 primer…
Horse exploitation at the Late Upper Palaeolithic site of Oelknitz (Thuringia, Germany) with special reference to canine modifications
2012
Abstract The faunal assemblage from Structure 5 of the Magdalenian settlement Oelknitz (Thuringia, Germany) was analyzed. The fauna is dominated by horse. All stages of butchery from skinning to marrow extraction were performed within the horse assemblage. In addition to this, various stages of organic artifact production could be documented. Two fragmentary equid canine teeth were of particular interest. They are the only documented canines from Structure 5, which otherwise contained a large amount of teeth. Both canines show traces of human modification. They were cut out of the jaw while still in the alveole. On both canines, lateral incisions were performed at the cervix dentis and the …
Oxygen isotope composition of North American bobcat (Lynx rufus) and puma (Puma concolor) bone phosphate: implications for provenance and climate rec…
2015
Feline carnivores are threatened by illegal wildlife trade. Tracing the provenance of unknown felid tissues via stable isotope analysis could provide important information in wildlife crime investigations. The oxygen isotope composition of mammalian skeletal phosphate (δ(18)Op) is widely applied to trace the origin of animal remains and to reconstruct migratory patterns in palaeontological, archaeological, ecological and wildlife forensic applications. Teeth and bones of terrestrial mammals form at constant body temperature in isotope equilibrium with body water, which is predominantly controlled by ingested meteoric water (δ(18)Ow) that varies systematically with latitude, altitude and cli…
Correlation of carnassial tooth size and body weight in recent carnivores (mammalia)
1988
The correlation between the lower carnassial crown area and the body weight is examined for modern carnivores. It is very high, but the ursids and felids show a relationship different from the other carnivore families. Some exceptions are discussed. The possibility of predicting body weight for fossils is given.
Mesocarnivore community structuring in the presence of Africa's apex predator
2021
This work was supported by the Peace Parks Foundation; G.C.S. was funded by a doctoral grant from Fundacão para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT: PD/BD/114037/2015); L.H.S. was supported by the National Research Foundation, South Africa (UID: 107099 and 115040) and by the African Institute for Conservation Ecology. Apex predator reintroductions have proliferated across southern Africa, yet their ecological effects and proposed umbrella benefits of associated management lack empirical evaluations. Despite a rich theory on top-down ecosystem regulation via mesopredator suppression, a knowledge gap exists relating to the influence of lions (Panthera leo) over Africa's diverse mesocarnivore (less …
Environment and subsistence strategies at La Viña rock shelter and Llonin cave (Asturias, Spain) during MIS3
2020
The sites of La Viña and Llonin have an important archaeological sequence corresponding to Marine Isotope Stage 3: Mousterian, Aurignacian and Gravettian periods. La Viña is a complex rock shelter with continuous occupations, being some (basically the Mousterian and the Aurignacian in contact levels) altered by post-depositional processes as a consequence of the irregular bedrock morphology and the type of processes involved. The cave of Llonin mainly consists of occasional human/carnivores occupations during the Mousterian and the Gravettian. The current multidisciplinary research has allowed us to obtain and match several preliminary data: site formation processes, fauna and stable isotop…
The giant hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris: Modelling the bone-cracking behavior of an extinct carnivore
2011
Abstract The giant hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris was the largest bone-cracking carnivore that ever existed. With the mass of a lioness, it had massive limbs with shortened distal bones and a heavy, powerfully built mandible with robust, well-developed premolars. All these features reflect its adaptation for dismembering ungulate carcasses, transporting large pieces of them without dragging to the denning site and fracturing bones. This paper estimates the relative contribution of hunting and scavenging to the diet of this extinct hyena, using a combined biomechanical and taphonomic approach. Analysis of the bone-cracking behavior of P. brevirostris was based on the abundance of skeletal e…
Occupancy, density, and activity patterns of a Critically Endangered leopard population on the Kawthoolei‐Thailand border
2023
Large carnivores have been largely extirpated from Southeast Asia due to deforestation, habitat fragmentation, and poaching. Estimating the density of endangered carnivore populations, and identifying relationships between species occupancy and both environmental and anthropogenic factors, is essential for effective conservation planning. Recently, the IUCN conservation status of the Indochinese leopard (Panthera pardus delacouri) was upgraded to "Critically Endangered. " We surveyed Kweekoh Wildlife Sanctuary in Kawthoolei, an area administered by the Karen ethnic group in eastern Myanmar, to quantify (1) leopard population density using spatially explicit mark-resight (SMR) models, (2) le…
Seroprevalence of Norovirus Genogroup IV Antibodies among Humans, Italy, 2010–2011
2014
Antibodies specific to genogroup IV identified in human specimens suggest zoonotic exposure.