scholarly journals On the verge of extinction in Mexico today: Field observations of Ambystoma ordinarium and Ambystoma flavipiperatum with remarks on their habitat and conservation

2019 ◽  
pp. 15-21
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Adult Male ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Volcanic Belt ◽  
Original Description ◽  
Mexican Volcanic Belt ◽  
Declining Populations ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Slow Moving ◽  
Shallow Stream

Mexico is a hotspot of salamander diversity and harbours 18 species of the genus Ambystoma (Amphibia: Urodela) widely distributed from the Sierra Madre Occidental to the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. These species are highly threatened by various factors and some of them are considered nearly extinct in the wild. The Michoacán stream salamander, Ambystoma ordinarium and the yellow-peppered salamander, A. flavipiperatum are two endemic and scarce species from Mexico living in isolated and declining populations. Few observations have been made on them in their natural habitat since their original description. Here we report new data regarding the biology and habitats of A. ordinarium observed at Rio Bello, 2,120 m a.s.l., Morelia city, Michoacán state, and for A. flavipiperatum at Sierra de Quila, 2,165 m a.s.l., 100 km south from Guadalajara city, Jalisco state. For A. ordinarium we found one neotenic adult male and two dead adult females in a small shallow stream located within a fragmented fir, oak and pine forest. For A. flavipiperatum we recorded an adult male and a female both neotenic, one clutch of eggs, and eleven larvae inhabiting a slow-moving stream located through a riparian habitat surrounded by large pineoak forest. Our observations confirm that both species are highly endangered, capable of facultative neoteny and occur in small slow-moving streams surrounded by coniferous forests. We discuss their morphology, geographical distribution and conservation status.

scholarly journals The Ouvéa parakeet – state of knowledge and conservation status

Oryx ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Robinet ◽  
F. Beugnet ◽  
D. Dulieu ◽  
Ph. Chardonnet
Keyword(s):  
Natural Environment ◽  
New Caledonia ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Monotypic Genus ◽  
South West ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Neighbouring Island ◽  
Very High

New Caledonia, a French territory in the south-west Pacific has a very high number of endemic taxa. The endemic fauna include a monotypic genus of parakeets – Eunymphicus. One subspecies, Eunymphicus cornutus uvaeensis, which is endemic to the island of Ouvéa in the Loyalty Islands, is seriously threatened by degradation of its natural habitat, natural predators and capture for sale to collectors. There are now only 200–500 individuals left in the wild. The parakeet is the emblem of Ouv–a and local people, together with research scientists, have formed a society with the aims of studying the parakeet in its natural environment, making the general public aware of its conservation requirements, combating smuggling, increasing its population by breeding it in captivity and, if possible, introducing it on to a neighbouring island.

Rediscovery of the enigmatic Mountain Dragon, Japalura yulongensis (Reptilia: Sauria: Agamidae), with notes on its natural history and conservation

Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4318 (2) ◽  
pp. 351 ◽  
Author(s):  
KAI WANG ◽  
JINLONG REN ◽  
KE JIANG ◽  
ZHIYONG YUAN ◽  
JING CHE ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southwest China ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Original Description ◽  
Type Locality ◽  
General Biology ◽  
Body Coloration ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Morphological Diagnosis ◽  
Pr China ◽  
Microhabitat Preferences

Mountain Dragons of the genus Japalura Gray 1853 have gained increasing systematic attention recently as a result of the availability of new, vouchered collections and a resurgence of interest in Indochinese agamid diversity. This is particularly true for the J. flaviceps Barbour, Dunn 1919 complex from southwest China. However, many species of the complex are still known from few historical specimens only, and little is known about their general biology and conservation status. As one of such understudied members of the complex, Japalura yulongensis Manthey, Denzer, Hou, and Wang 2012 was described on the basis of seven historical specimens from the type locality in northwest Yunnan, PR China in 1914. Little was known at the time of the general biology and conservation status of the species, and the species has not been documented in the wild since the original description. Herein, we report the re-discovery of this secretive species based on a series of newly collected specimens from the vicinity of the type locality. We provide the first accounts of body coloration in life and microhabitat preferences, expand upon what is known of the species’ morphological variation and ecology, revise the morphological diagnosis of the species, and offer suggestions on its IUCN conservation status and protection status in China. 

scholarly journals Group size and aquatic vegetation modulates male preferences for female shoals in wild zebrafish, Danio rerio

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aditya Ghoshal ◽  
Anuradha Bhat
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Aquatic Vegetation ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Choice Test ◽  
Female Group ◽  
Aquatic Flora ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
The Individual

AbstractShoaling decisions in the wild are determined by a combination of innate preferences of the individual along with the interplay of multiple ecological factors. In their natural habitat as well as in the laboratory, zebrafish is a shoaling fish. Here, we investigate the role of group size and associated vegetation in shaping shoaling preferences of wild male zebrafish. We studied the association preference of males to groups of female shoals in a multi-choice test design. We found that males made greater proportion of visits to an 8-female group compared to 2 and 4-female groups. However, males spent similar proportions of time across the three female-containing groups. When artificial vegetation was incorporated along with female number as an additional factor, we found that males prefer high and moderately vegetated patches compared to low or no-vegetation groups, irrespective of the number of females in these patches. Based on experiments using a novel multi-choice design, our results show that preference for group size can change due to interaction of two separate factors. This work is a first attempt to understand the role of aquatic flora in determining shoaling preferences in zebrafish, using an experimental paradigm consisting of a gradation in female and vegetation densities.

scholarly journals Assessment of the rarity and conservation status of the Colombian endemic brown hairy dwarf porcupine Coendou vestitus

Oryx ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
María M. Torres-Martínez ◽  
Héctor E. Ramírez-Chaves ◽  
Elkin A. Noguera-Urbano ◽  
Fernando C. Passos
Keyword(s):  
Small Body ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Iucn Red List ◽  
Red List ◽  
Small Range ◽  
Minimum Convex Polygon ◽  
Area Of Occupancy ◽  
Species Rarity

Abstract The brown hairy dwarf porcupine Coendou vestitus is a poorly studied Andean species endemic to Colombia. Its current Red List category is contradictory: globally it is categorized as Data Deficient but in Colombia it is categorized as Vulnerable. This contradiction has limited the implementation of conservation programmes. We evaluate the level of rarity of the species and provide consolidated information for a new assessment of its Red List status. We reviewed literature, photographs, and voucher specimens in natural history collections. Using the confirmed records, we estimated the extent of occurrence (EOO) based on the minimum convex polygon and the area of occupancy (AOO) summing the area of grid squares occupied by the species. We found that C. vestitus is very rare, with a small range, low estimated population density, occurrence in only one habitat type and small body size. The species has an EOO of 3,323 km2 and an AOO of 24 km2, based on six confirmed localities, all on the western slopes of the Eastern Cordillera, in the central Andean region of Colombia. Based on the species' rarity, restricted distribution, and threats to its natural habitat, we recommend its categorization as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. This will help delineate research and conservation efforts for this porcupine, which has a highly restricted range and inhabits the threatened Andean forest.

scholarly journals Geochemical Evidence for Slab Melting in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt

2006 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 537-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Gomez-Tuena ◽  
C. H. Langmuir ◽  
S. L. Goldstein ◽  
S. M. Straub ◽  
F. Ortega-Gutierrez
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Belt ◽  
Slab Melting ◽  
Geochemical Evidence ◽  
Mexican Volcanic Belt ◽  
Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt

Observations on the Mating Behaviour of the Crab Hole Mosquito Deinocerites cancer (Diptera: Culicidae)

1966 ◽  
Vol 98 (11) ◽  
pp. 1169-1177 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Downes
Keyword(s):  
Adult Male ◽  
Mating Behaviour ◽  
Surface Film ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Chemical Stimulus ◽  
Strong Response ◽  
Mating Response ◽  
Auditory Response

AbstractIn Deinocerites, an aberrant offshoot of Culex, the larvae live in water in deep crab holes and the adults also are often found in the burrow. The males have elongate non-plumose antennae and specialized front claws, and often rest on the surface film. In observation cages the males associate with pupae (of either sex) at the surface of the water, hold them lightly with the claws and sense the pupal horns (spiracles) with their antennae. The male perceives the pupa at 1–2 cm. An emerging female elicits a strong response from males up to 15 cm. away; the males fight for possession and mating may be established before the female has fully emerged. The pupal skin continues to attract for several minutes thereafter. Emergence of the adult male was not successfully observed. Probably both pupal attendance and mating response depend on a chemical stimulus, which appears to be non-specific.The males also make slow exploratory flights near the cage walls, and a mating response may be elicited when their legs touch a resting insect. The response is made to either sex (perhaps more readily to the female) and again is non-specific. The two mating processes are presumably reinforcing, and both seem well adapted to the natural habitat provided the lack of specificity is tolerable.Several other mosquitoes, all of slow flight and restricted habitat, make similar irregular flights and mate on contact with resting females. Probably this behaviour represents the last phase of mating in more strongly flying (swarming) species, after the sexes are brought together by the auditory response mediated by the plumose antennae. In some mosquitoes the two patterns of behaviour coexist. Assembly at a swarm-marker and recognition in flight must be less necessary in non-dispersing forms in confined habitats, and most of all in Deinocerites. Several other crab hole mosquitoes show convergence or analogies with Deinocerites.The association with the pupa and the related attraction to the female at emergence find a parallel only in Opifex fuscus; but in Opifex these processes depend not on a chemical stimulus but mainly on vision, as befits an inhabitant of open sunlit pools.

scholarly journals Evidence for geomagnetic excursions recorded in Brunhes and Matuyama Chron lavas from the trans-Mexican volcanic belt

2013 ◽  
Vol 118 (6) ◽  
pp. 2648-2669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Michalk ◽  
Harald N. Böhnel ◽  
Norbert R. Nowaczyk ◽  
Gerardo J. Aguírre-Diaz ◽  
Margarita López-Martínez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Belt ◽  
Matuyama Chron ◽  
Mexican Volcanic Belt ◽  
Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt
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