Mammal Study
Volume 40, Issue 2, 2015
Volumes & issues:
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ORIGINAL PAPERS
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Integrating Analyses of Population Genetics and Space-Time Information for Wildlife Management: An Empirical Study on Japanese Wild Boar Populations
View Description Hide DescriptionAbstract.This study is a “model study” of how to apply the findings of molecular ecological studies to wildlife management, aimed at showing the importance of analyses integrating population genetics, space-time information and bioinformatics methods. We chose the Japanese wild boar (Sus scrofa leucomystax) in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, because its captured area has been spreading in recent years. We used 72 adult individuals gathered by hunters in 2010. Three putative sub-populations were estimated using microsatellite DNA. Our study indicated that the individuals newly found in the northern area originated from other prefectures, not from different areas within the same prefecture, and no inobuta (crossbreeding with pigs) in the maternal line were found. Comparing the number of mutations obtained by a coalescent simulation with that obtained by mitochondrial DNA, suggested that an assumed native population in the eastern area of Tochigi Prefecture was actually not native. Habitat preferences of the putative sub-populations, estimated by a generalized linear model, were different from each other, which also suggested that the boar could adjust its habitat based on the characteristics of the local environment. Risk maps, estimated using MaxEnt, based on past questionnaire surveys and those based on microsatellite DNA were different from each other.
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Multivariate Analysis of the Skull Size and Shape in Tube-Nosed Bats of the Genus Murina (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from Vietnam
View Description Hide DescriptionAbstract.Twelve bat species of the genus Murina (Vespertilionidae: Murininae) were recorded in Vietnam: Murina annamitica, M. beelzebub, M. chrysochaetes, M. feae, M. cyclotis, M. eleryi, M. fionae, M. harpioloides, M. huttoni, M. leucogaster, M. tiensa, and M. walstoni. The skull measurements of 11 out of the 12 species were osteometrically examined using principal component analyses (PCA) based on 33 craniodental measurements from 150 specimens. Our analyses indicated that according to the overall skull size, the studied species could be divided as follows: large species (M. tiensa and M. fionae), medium-sized species (M. huttoni, M. cyclotis, M. annamitica, M. beelzebub, M. walstoni, and M. feae), and small species (M. eleryi, M. chrysochaetes, and M. harpioloides). The three size clusters did not overlap with each other in terms of total length of the skull (STOTL), mandible length (ML) and log-transformed raw data PC1 scores. Within a cluster, several species pairs overlapped in overall skull size despite of differences in the shapes. The PCA results suggested that Murina species of Vietnam were differentiated with a combination of the skull size and shape. Sexual dimorphism was confirmed in M. cyclotis and M. annamitica, with the females larger than the males. Particularly, M. cyclotis showed extensive sexual dimorphism with no overlaps in the measurements, whereas M. annamitica showed less measurable differences between the sexes. It was also evidenced that the extent of sex-biased size dimorphism differs among species in the genus Murina.
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SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
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First Stranding Event of a Common Minke Whale Calf, Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède, 1804, Reported in Spanish Mediterranean Waters
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Some Aspects on an Asymmetry of Nasal Bones in Toothed Whales
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Phylogeography of the Laotian Rock Rat (Diatomyidae: Laonastes): Implications for Lazarus Taxa
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A Morphological Key to the Hair Identification of Korean Soricomorpha (Soricidae and Talpidae)
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The Haplotypes of Four Finless Porpoises Stranded on the Coast of Sagami Bay and Tokyo Bay During 2011–2013
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