2
|
Schulz D, Pšenková-Profousová I, Červená B, Procter M, Neba TF, Modrý D, Petrželková KJ, Qablan MA. Occurrence and diversity of anaerobic gut fungi in wild forest elephants and buffaloes inhabiting two separated forest ecosystems in Central West Africa. JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE BIOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.25225/jvb.21033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Doreen Schulz
- Department of Pathology and Parasitology, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Ilona Pšenková-Profousová
- Department of Pathology and Parasitology, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Barbora Červená
- Department of Pathology and Parasitology, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Miranda Procter
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, United Arab Emirates University, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; e-mail: ,
| | - Terence Fuh Neba
- World Wildlife Fund, Primate Habituation Project, Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas, Bangui, Central African Republic; e-mail:
| | - David Modrý
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic; e-mail: ,
| | - Klára J. Petrželková
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic; e-mail: ,
| | - Moneeb A. Qablan
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, United Arab Emirates University, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; e-mail: ,
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Caicoya AL, Amici F, Ensenyat C, Colell M. Comparative cognition in three understudied ungulate species: European bison, forest buffalos and giraffes. Front Zool 2021; 18:30. [PMID: 34158081 PMCID: PMC8218502 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-021-00417-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2020] [Accepted: 04/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Comparative cognition has historically focused on a few taxa such as primates, birds or rodents. However, a broader perspective is essential to understand how different selective pressures affect cognition in different taxa, as more recently shown in several studies. Here we present the same battery of cognitive tasks to two understudied ungulate species with different socio-ecological characteristics, European bison (Bison bonasus) and forest buffalos (Syncerus caffer nanus), and we compare their performance to previous findings in giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis). We presented subjects with an Object permanence task, Memory tasks with 30 and 60 s delays, two inference tasks based on acoustic cues (i.e. Acoustic inference tasks) and a control task to check for the use of olfactory cues (i.e. Olfactory task). Results Overall, giraffes outperformed bison and buffalos, and bison outperformed buffalos (that performed at chance level). All species performed better in the Object permanence task than in the Memory tasks and one of the Acoustic inference tasks (which they likely solved by relying on stimulus enhancement). Giraffes performed better than buffalos in the Shake full Acoustic inference task, but worse than bison and buffalos in the Shake empty Acoustic inference task. Conclusions In sum, our results are in line with the hypothesis that specific socio-ecological characteristics played a crucial role in the evolution of cognition, and that higher fission-fusion levels and larger dietary breadth are linked to higher cognitive skills. This study shows that ungulates may be an excellent model to test evolutionary hypotheses on the emergence of cognition. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12983-021-00417-w.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alvaro Lopez Caicoya
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. .,Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Federica Amici
- Behavioral Ecology Research Group, Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.,Research Group Primate Behavioural Ecology, Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | | | - Montserrat Colell
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Brown MBGJ, Gemmill CEC, Miller S, Wehi PM. Diet selectivity in a terrestrial forest invertebrate, the Auckland tree wētā, across three habitat zones. Ecol Evol 2018; 8:2495-2503. [PMID: 29531670 PMCID: PMC5838035 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2017] [Accepted: 12/04/2017] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Insects are important but overlooked components of forest ecosystems in New Zealand. For many insect species, information on foraging patterns and trophic relationships is lacking. We examined diet composition and selectivity in a large-bodied insect, the Auckland tree wētā Hemideina thoracica, in three habitat zones in a lowland New Zealand forest. We asked whether H. thoracica selectively forage from available plant food sources, and whether these choices were lipid-rich compared to nonpreferred available plants. We also identified the proportion of invertebrates in their frass as a proxy for omnivory. From reconnaissance plot sampling, together with fecal fragment analysis, we report that more than 93% of individual tree wētā had eaten invertebrates before capture. Additionally, wētā in the highest elevation hillslope habitat zone consumed significantly fewer species of plants on average than wētā on the low-elevation terrace habitat. Upper hillslope wētā also had the highest average number of invertebrate fragments in their frass, significantly more than wētā in the low-elevation terrace habitat zone. Wētā showed high variability in the consumption of fruit and seeds across all habitat zones. Generally, we did not observe diet differences between the sexes (although it appears that male wētā in the mid-hillslope habitat ate fruits and seeds more voraciously than females), suggesting that the sexes have similar niche breadths and display similar degrees of omnivorous behavior. Extraction of leaf lipids demonstrated a range of lipid content values in available plants, and Ivlev's Electivity Index indicated that plant species which demonstrated high electivity tended to have higher concentrations of lipids in their leaves. Our findings indicate that H. thoracica forage omnivorously and selectively, and hence play multiple roles in native ecosystems and food webs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Steven Miller
- Department of Mathematics and StatisticsSchool of Computing and Mathematical SciencesUniversity of WaikatoHamiltonNew Zealand
| | - Priscilla M. Wehi
- Centre for SustainabilityUniversity of Otago andManaaki Whenua Landcare ResearchDunedinNew Zealand
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Červená B, Hrazdilová K, Vallo P, Pafčo B, Fenyková T, Petrželková KJ, Todd A, Tagg N, Wangue N, Lux Hoppe EG, Moraes MFD, Lapera IM, de Souza Pollo A, de Albuquerque ACA, Modrý D. Diversity of Mammomonogamus (Nematoda: Syngamidae) in large African herbivores. Parasitol Res 2018; 117:1013-1024. [PMID: 29470712 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-018-5777-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2017] [Accepted: 01/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Four species of Mammomonogamus are known from large African herbivores. A recent study demonstrated that a single Mammomonogamus species was shared by both western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) in Central African Republic, suggesting lower species diversity than previously described in literature. We examined more than 500 fecal samples collected from sympatric African forest elephants, western lowland gorillas, and African forest buffaloes (Syncerus caffer nanus) at four study sites across Central Africa and examined them by coproscopic methods to detect Mammomonogamus eggs, which were found at three of the study sites. Subsequently, sequences of 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, and cox1 amplified from individual eggs were analyzed. Phylogenetic analyses of both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA revealed two clades: one formed by sequences originating from Gabonese buffaloes and the other comprising gorillas and elephants. The gorilla-elephant clade was further differentiated depending on the locality. We show the existence of at least two distinct species of Mammomonogamus, M. loxodontis in elephants and gorillas and M. nasicola in buffaloes. The available information on Mammomonogamus in African herbivores is reviewed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Barbora Červená
- Department of Pathology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého tř. 1946/1, 612 42, Brno, Czech Republic.
| | - Kristýna Hrazdilová
- Central European Institute for Technology (CEITEC), University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Palackého tř. 1946/1, 612 42, Brno, Czech Republic.,Department of Virology, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 296/70, 621 00, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Peter Vallo
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Květná 8, 603 65, Brno, Czech Republic.,Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert Einstein Allee 11, 89069, Ulm, Germany
| | - Barbora Pafčo
- Department of Pathology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého tř. 1946/1, 612 42, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Tereza Fenyková
- Department of Pathology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého tř. 1946/1, 612 42, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Klára Judita Petrželková
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Květná 8, 603 65, Brno, Czech Republic.,Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Branišovská 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.,Liberec Zoo, Lidové sady 425/1, 460 01, Liberec, Czech Republic
| | - Angelique Todd
- WWF, Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas, BP 1053, Bangui, Central African Republic
| | - Nikki Tagg
- Projet Grands Singes, Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Koningin Astridplein 20-26, 2018, Antwerpen, Belgium
| | | | - Estevam G Lux Hoppe
- Universidade Estadual Paulista-UNESP, Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Câmpus de Jaboticabal, Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castelane, S/N, Jaboticabal, SP, 14884-900, Brazil
| | - Marcela Figuerêdo Duarte Moraes
- Universidade Estadual Paulista-UNESP, Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Câmpus de Jaboticabal, Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castelane, S/N, Jaboticabal, SP, 14884-900, Brazil
| | - Ivan Moura Lapera
- Universidade Estadual Paulista-UNESP, Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Câmpus de Jaboticabal, Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castelane, S/N, Jaboticabal, SP, 14884-900, Brazil
| | - Andressa de Souza Pollo
- Universidade Estadual Paulista-UNESP, Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Câmpus de Jaboticabal, Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castelane, S/N, Jaboticabal, SP, 14884-900, Brazil
| | - Ana Cláudia Alexandre de Albuquerque
- Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science School, UNESP-São Paulo State University, Rua Prof. Doutor Walter Mauricio Correa, S/N, Botucatu, São Paulo, 18618-000, Brazil
| | - David Modrý
- Department of Pathology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého tř. 1946/1, 612 42, Brno, Czech Republic.,Central European Institute for Technology (CEITEC), University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Palackého tř. 1946/1, 612 42, Brno, Czech Republic.,Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Branišovská 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Pan-African genetic structure in the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer): investigating intraspecific divergence. PLoS One 2013; 8:e56235. [PMID: 23437100 PMCID: PMC3578844 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0056235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2012] [Accepted: 01/11/2013] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) exhibits extreme morphological variability, which has led to controversies about the validity and taxonomic status of the various recognized subspecies. The present study aims to clarify these by inferring the pan-African spatial distribution of genetic diversity, using a comprehensive set of mitochondrial D-loop sequences from across the entire range of the species. All analyses converged on the existence of two distinct lineages, corresponding to a group encompassing West and Central African populations and a group encompassing East and Southern African populations. The former is currently assigned to two to three subspecies (S. c. nanus, S. c. brachyceros, S. c. aequinoctialis) and the latter to a separate subspecies (S. c. caffer). Forty-two per cent of the total amount of genetic diversity is explained by the between-lineage component, with one to seventeen female migrants per generation inferred as consistent with the isolation-with-migration model. The two lineages diverged between 145 000 to 449 000 years ago, with strong indications for a population expansion in both lineages, as revealed by coalescent-based analyses, summary statistics and a star-like topology of the haplotype network for the S. c. caffer lineage. A Bayesian analysis identified the most probable historical migration routes, with the Cape buffalo undertaking successive colonization events from Eastern toward Southern Africa. Furthermore, our analyses indicate that, in the West-Central African lineage, the forest ecophenotype may be a derived form of the savanna ecophenotype and not vice versa, as has previously been proposed. The African buffalo most likely expanded and diverged in the late to middle Pleistocene from an ancestral population located around the current-day Central African Republic, adapting morphologically to colonize new habitats, hence developing the variety of ecophenotypes observed today.
Collapse
|