scholarly journals The faded stripes of Bengal: a historical perspective on the easternmost distribution of the striped hyena

2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muntasir Akash ◽  
Arjun Dheer ◽  
Stephanie M. Dloniak ◽  
Andrew P. Jacobson

AbstractThe striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) is an understudied large carnivore with no known historic range map. Knowledge of the past and present extent of its easternmost distribution beyond 85° east longitude is dubious. Through a comprehensive review of historical evidence and contemporary records, we investigated striped hyena presence in Bengal, i.e., Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal in South Asia. We found 14 historical records, with the oldest one dating to 1876. Our review establishes Bangladesh as a former striped hyena range country and the striped hyena as one of the first large carnivores to go extinct in Bangladesh. We identified northern Bangladesh as part of its historical range (until ~1965), and south-central Bangladesh as a possible part of its historical range. In West Bengal, India, hyenas were historically present up to the southern tributaries of the Brahmaputra River, but the present range is reduced. The area south of the Damodar River is its last refuge in Bengal. We also found 15 contemporary records (2010–2021) in Bengal, from sites situated on the eastern limit of the Chota Nagpur Plateau. These records noted 25 sightings including 9 deaths due to poaching, train accidents, and retaliatory killings. Our review demonstrates that hyenas are currently present up to 87° east longitude, which extends the currently documented easternmost range for the species by almost 1,000 km. We recommend methods which can be applied to delineate the historical extent of striped hyenas elsewhere as well as for other poorly understood species.

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shivish Bhandari ◽  
Daya Ram Bhusal

Striped hyena is one of the large carnivores of the forest and grassland ecosystem. This paper deals with the distribution and human hyena conflict status in Jajarkot, Kalikot, and Mahottari districts of Nepal. Questionnaire and sign survey methods were used to collect information on human-hyena conflict. This study indicated that human hyena conflict was high in the selected district. Eight striped hyenas died in between 2015-2016 due to the human-hyena conflict. Livestock depredation by striped hyena was one of the major reasons of the human-hyena conflicts in Nepal. The goat was the most preyed species by the striped hyena. This study shows that the distribution of striped hyena was recorded from lowland to mid hills region of Nepal. The conservation outreach programs should be formulated to conserve the habitat and maintain the prey population of the striped hyena which would be helpful for long term conservation of the striped hyena in Nepal.Journal of Institute of Science and TechnologyVolume 22, Issue 1, July 2017, Page: 127-131


2018 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 49-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shivish Bhandari ◽  
Bishwanath Rijal ◽  
Sujan Khanal

The striped hyena is one of the least studied large carnivores in Nepal. We evaluated status of Striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena Linnaeus, 1758) and their conservation approaches in Rautahat and Sarlahi forests, Nepal. The overall objective of this study was to explore the baseline information on striped hyena and to recommend the future conservation action for striped hyena. Camera trapping, sign transect and questionnaire surveys were used to collect the baseline information on striped hyena. A total of 20 mammalian species including striped hyena were recorded. The striped hyena preferred riverbed than that of mixed forest, Accacia forest, Shorea forest and grassland. Most of the striped hyena sign evidences (36.27 %) were located in riverbed, followed by mixed forest (26.47%), Accacia forest (20.58 %), Shorea forest (15.56 %) and grassland (0.98%). Habitat degradation was one of the major threats to this animal and its prey species.  J. Nat. Hist. Mus. Vol. 29, 2015, Page: 49-59 


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio A. Lazagabaster ◽  
Micka Ullman ◽  
Roi Porat ◽  
Romi Halevi ◽  
Naomi Porat ◽  
...  

AbstractInvestigating historical anthropogenic impacts on faunal communities is key to understanding present patterns of biodiversity and holds important implications for conservation biology. While several studies have demonstrated the human role in the extinction of large herbivores, effective methods to study human interference on large carnivores in the past are limited by the small number of carnivoran remains in the paleozoological record. Here, we integrate a systematic paleozoological survey of biogenic cave assemblages with the archaeological and paleoenvironmental records of the Judean Desert, to reveal historical changes in the large carnivore community. Our results show a late Holocene (~ 3400 years ago) faunal reassembly characterized by the diminishment of the dominant large carnivoran, the Arabian leopard (Panthera pardus sbsp. nimr), and the spread of the Syrian striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena sbsp. syriaca). We suggest that increased hunting pressure in combination with regional aridification were responsible for the decrease in the number of leopards, while the introduction of domestic animals and settlement refuse brought new scavenging opportunities for hyenas. The recent extirpation of leopards from the region has been a final note to the Holocene human impact on the ecosystem.


The Oxford Handbook of American Women’s and Gender History boldly interprets the history of diverse women and how ideas about gender shaped their access to political and cultural power in North America over six centuries. In twenty-nine chapters, the Handbook showcases women’s and gender history as an integrated field with its own interpretation of the past, focused on how gender influenced people’s lives as they participated in migration, colonialism, trade, warfare, artistic production, and community building. Organized chronologically and thematically, the Handbook’s six sections allow readers to consider historical continuities of gendered power as well as individual innovations and ruptures in gender systems. Theoretically cutting edge, each chapter bursts with fascinating historical characters, from young Chicanas transforming urban culture, to free women of color forging abolitionist doctrines, to Asian migrant women defending the legitimacy of their marriages, to working-class activists mobilizing international movements, to transwomen fleeing incarceration. Together, their lives constitute the history of a continent. Leading scholars from multiple generations demonstrate the power of innovative research to excavate a history hidden in plain sight. Scrutinizing silences in the historical record, from the inattention to enslaved women’s opinions to the suppression of Indian women’s involvement in border diplomacy, the authors challenge the nature of historical evidence and remap what counts in our interpretation of the past. They demonstrate a way to extend this more capacious vision of history forward, setting an intellectual agenda informed by intersectionality and transnationalism, and new understandings of sexuality.


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. e01619
Author(s):  
Shivish Bhandari ◽  
Daya Ram Bhusal ◽  
Maria Psaralexi ◽  
Stefanos Sgardelis

2016 ◽  
Vol 91 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.R. Dunham ◽  
R.J. Kendall

AbstractNorthern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and Scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) have been declining steadily throughout much of their historical range over the past few decades. Even the Rolling Plains of Texas, historically rich with wild quail and one of the last remaining quail strongholds, has been suffering a population decline, most notably since 2010. Gambel's quail (Callipepla gambelii) have also been experiencing their own decline throughout their respective range, but not as significant as that of other species of quail. Eyeworms (Oxyspirura petrowi) in quail have been recognized for years but not thoroughly studied until recently. New research reveals thatO. petrowiinfection can cause inflammation, oedema, and cellular damage to the eye of the quail host. The objective of this research was to better understand the prevalence of the eyeworm infection in different quail species, expand on known distribution, and determine if there is a relationship between location and species infected with eyeworms. Northern bobwhite, Scaled quail and Gambel's quail were hunter-donated from one county within Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, and examined for the prevalence, mean abundance and mean intensity of eyeworm infection from November 2013 to February 2014. Quail from every location were found to have individuals with a varying degree of eyeworm infection. This is the first study to document eyeworm infection in Gambel's quail and in quail in New Mexico and Arizona, and reports the highest eyeworm infection found in Northern bobwhite and Scaled quail.


2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1888) ◽  
pp. 20180991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrik G. Flammer ◽  
Simon Dellicour ◽  
Stephen G. Preston ◽  
Dirk Rieger ◽  
Sylvia Warren ◽  
...  

Throughout history, humans have been afflicted by parasitic worms, and eggs are readily detected in archaeological deposits. This study integrated parasitological and ancient DNA methods with a large sample set dating between Neolithic and Early Modern periods to explore the utility of molecular archaeoparasitology as a new approach to study the past. Molecular analyses provided unequivocal species-level parasite identification and revealed location-specific epidemiological signatures. Faecal–oral transmitted nematodes ( Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura ) were ubiquitous across time and space. By contrast, high numbers of food-associated cestodes ( Diphyllobothrium latum and Taenia saginata ) were restricted to medieval Lübeck. The presence of these cestodes and changes in their prevalence at approximately 1300 CE indicate substantial alterations in diet or parasite availability. Trichuris trichiura ITS-1 sequences grouped into two clades; one ubiquitous and one restricted to medieval Lübeck and Bristol. The high sequence diversity of T.t .ITS-1 detected in Lübeck is consistent with its importance as a Hanseatic trading centre. Collectively, these results introduce molecular archaeoparasitology as an artefact-independent source of historical evidence.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. V. Dryomov ◽  
A. M. Nazhmidenova ◽  
E. B. Starikovskaya ◽  
S. A. Shalaurova ◽  
N. Rohland ◽  
...  

AbstractThe Central Siberian Plateau was last geographic area in Eurasia to become habitable by modern humans after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Through comprehensive mitochondrial DNA genomes retained in indigenous Siberian populations, the Ket, Tofalar, and Todzhi - we explored genetic links between the Yenisei-Sayan region and Northeast Eurasia over the last 10,000 years. Accordingly, we generated 218 new complete mtDNA sequences and placed them into compound phylogenies along with 7 newly obtained and 70 published ancient mt genomes. Our findings reflect the origins and expansion history of mtDNA lineages that evolved in South-Central Siberia, as well as multiple phases of connections between this region and distant parts of Eurasia. Our result illustrates the importance of jointly sampling modern and prehistoric specimens to fully measure the past genetic diversity and to reconstruct the process of peopling of the high latitudes of the Siberian subcontinent.


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