Systematics of the Southeast Asian mongooses (Herpestidae, Carnivora): solving the mystery of the elusive collared mongoose and Palawan mongoose

Quantifying morphological adaptations using direct measurements: The carnivoran appendicular skeleton as a case study

Here, I study whether locomotor adaptations can be detected in limb bones using a univariate approach, and whether those results are affected by size and/or shared evolutionary history. Ultimately, it tests whether classical papers on locomotor adaptations should be trusted. To do that, I analyzed the effect of several factors (size, taxonomic group, and locomotor habit) on limb bone morphology using a set of 43 measurements of the scapula, long bones, and calcaneus, of 435 specimens belonging to 143 carnivoran species. Size was the main factor affecting limb morphology. Size-corrected analyses revealed artifactual differences between various locomotion-related categories in the analyses of raw data. Additionally, several between-group differences were new to the size-corrected analyses, suggesting that they were masked by the size-effect. Phylogeny had also an important effect, although it only became apparent after removing the effect of size, probably due to the strong covariation of both factors. Regarding locomotor adaptations, locomotor type was used to represent locomotor specialization, and utilized habitat as an indicator of the capacity to adopt different modes of locomotion (running, swimming, climbing, and digging) and thus maximize resource exploitation by being capable of navigating all the substrates in the habitat they use. Locomotor type produced better results than utilized habitat, suggesting that carnivorans use locomotor specialization to minimize locomotion costs. The characteristic limb bone morphology for each locomotor type studied is described, including several adaptations and trends that are novel to the present study. Finally, the results presented here support the hypothesis of a "viverrid-like", forest-dwelling carnivoran ancestor, either arboreal or terrestrial.

Genetic diversity and structure of the binturong Arctictis binturong (Carnivora: Viverridae) – status of the elusive Palawan binturong and implications for conservation

The binturong or bearcat is a forest mesocarnivore ranging from Nepal to Indonesia and the Philippines. Several subspecies of binturongs are recognized but a revision is needed. The binturong from Palawan was described as a species and is now considered a subspecies, but its status has never been checked using molecular approaches. Owing to its restricted range and the pressure on its habitat, the Palawan binturong may be endangered. It is, therefore, of crucial importance to clarify its taxonomic status, particularly for the management of captive populations. We sequenced one nuclear and two mitochondrial markers for binturongs from locations across the species range and from zoos. Our results provide an assessment of the genetic polymorphism and structure within the binturong, resulting in two groups, corresponding to the Indochinese and the Sundaic regions. Within the latter were found the Palawan binturongs on one side, and an individual from Sulu archipelago (a locality not reported before) on the other side. The Palawan binturongs form a monophyletic group, genetically close to Bornean binturongs, which suggests that they may have dispersed from Borneo, and represents a lineage worth preserving, but which is not a separate species nor a separate subspecies.