large mammals
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2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Palmqvist ◽  
M. Patrocinio Espigares ◽  
Juan A. Pérez-Claros ◽  
Borja Figueirido ◽  
Antonio Guerra-Merchán ◽  
...  

AbstractVenta Micena, an Early Pleistocene site of the Baza Basin (SE Spain), preserves a rich and diverse assemblage of large mammals. VM3, the main excavation quarry of the site, has been interpreted as a den of the giant hyaena Pachycrocuta brevirostris in the plain that surrounded the Baza palaeolake. Taphonomic analysis of VM3 has shown that the hyaenas scavenged the prey previously hunted by the hypercarnivores, transported their remains to the communal den, and consumed the skeletal parts according to their marrow contents and mineral density. In a recent paper (Luzón et al. in Sci Rep 11:13977, 10.1038/s41598-021-93261-1, 2021), a small sample of remains unearthed from VM4, an excavation quarry ~ 350 m distant from VM3, is analysed. The authors indicate several differences in the taphonomic features of this assemblage with VM3, and even suggest that a different carnivore could have been the agent involved in the bone accumulation process. Here, we make a comparative analysis of both quarries and analyse more skeletal remains from VM4. Our results indicate that the assemblages are broadly similar in composition, except for slight differences in the frequency of megaherbivores, carnivores and equids according to NISP values (but not to MNI counts), the degree of bone weathering, and the intensity of bone processing by the hyaenas. Given that VM4 and VM3 were not coeval denning areas of P. brevirostris, these differences suggest that during the years when the skeletal remains were accumulated by the hyaenas at VM3, the rise of the water table of the Baza palaeolake that capped with limestone the bones was delayed compared to VM4, which resulted in their more in-depth consumption by the hyaenas.


2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moldir Myrzabekova ◽  
Siegfried Labeit ◽  
Raigul Niyazova ◽  
Aigul Akimniyazova ◽  
Anatoliy Ivashchenko

Milk and other products from large mammals have emerged during human evolution as an important source of nutrition. Recently, it has been recognized that exogenous miRNAs (mRNA inhibited RNA) contained in milk and other tissues of the mammalian body can enter the human body, which in turn have the ability to potentially regulate human metabolism by affecting gene expression. We studied for exogenous miRNAs from Bos taurus that are potentially contain miRNAs from milk and that could act postprandially as regulators of human gene expression. The interaction of 17,508 human genes with 1025 bta-miRNAs, including 245 raw milk miRNAs was studied. The milk bta-miR-151-5p, bta-miR-151-3p, bta-miRNA-320 each have 11 BSs (binding sites), and bta-miRNA-345-5p, bta-miRNA-614, bta-miRNA-1296b and bta-miRNA-149 has 12, 14, 15 and 26 BSs, respectively. The bta-miR-574-5p from cow’s milk had 209 human genes in mRNAs from one to 25 repeating BSs. We found 15 bta-miRNAs that have 100% complementarity to the mRNA of 13 human target genes. Another 12 miRNAs have BSs in the mRNA of 19 human genes with 98% complementarity. The bta-miR-11975, bta-miR-11976, and bta-miR-2885 BSs are located with the overlap of nucleotide sequences in the mRNA of human genes. Nucleotide sequences of BSs of these miRNAs in 5′UTR mRNA of human genes consisted of GCC repeats with a total length of 18 nucleotides (nt) in 18 genes, 21 nt in 11 genes, 24 nt in 14 genes, and 27–48 nt in nine genes. Nucleotide sequences of BSs of bta-miR-11975, bta-miR-11976, and bta-miR-2885 in CDS mRNA of human genes consisted of GCC repeats with a total length of 18 nt in 33 genes, 21 nt in 13 genes, 24 nt in nine genes, and 27–36 nt in 11 genes. These BSs encoded polyA or polyP peptides. In only one case, the polyR (SLC24A3 gene) was encoded. The possibility of regulating the expression of human genes by exogenous bovine miRNAs is discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2-2021) ◽  
pp. 29-33
Author(s):  
O.A. Makarova ◽  
◽  

Unusual results of observations (1971-1988) of large mammals are presented in the Lapland Nature Reserve (Murmansk region): brown bear, wolf and wolverinel. The article is dedicated to the memory of Doctor of Biological Sciences Valentin Sergeevich Pazhetnov, a famous researcher of the brown bear.


Author(s):  
Talemos Seta ◽  
Birhanu Belay

Gullele Botanic Garden (GBG) was founded through a joint venture between Addis Ababa University and Addis Ababa City Government. Since its establishment in 2010, it has developed its infrastructure and carried out a range of activities related to plant conservation, research, environmental education and ecotourism in line with its vision and mission. Key activities described in this paper are the five different uses of GBG land; the installation of a weather station; and the construction of a mini-greenhouse for plant acclimatisation, the multipurpose Agora II (an eco-friendly building with a green roof), a thematic garden and a nursery. The lists of endemic plants (65), large mammals (11) and endemic bird species recorded are presented in Appendices I, II and III respectively. The main activities and works carried out by GBG are not yet widely known to local and international communities. Through describing the garden’s current status, challenges and opportunities, this paper aims to increase awareness among the scientific community and more widely of GBG’s activities and intentions for protecting Ethiopia’s flora.


Author(s):  
Julian G Shepherd

Abstract Argas brumpti Neumann is a large argasid (soft) tick that inhabits the drier areas of eastern and southern Africa. This species typically feeds on a wide variety of small to large mammals (including humans) and lizards, and resides in shallow caves, rocky areas, or dust-bath areas used by large mammals. Individuals of this species, collected as nymphs and adults from a semidesert area of Kenya and subsequently maintained under constant conditions in the laboratory, survived for 27 yr. Furthermore, after 8 yr of starvation and at least 4 yr after the last male died, at least one female laid eggs. The progeny developed into considerable numbers of both males and females, some of which are still living after 26 yr. The longevity of these ticks is apparently a record for any species of tick. The delay in reproduction likely represents long-term storage of viable sperm, also apparently a record for any species of tick.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 134-149
Author(s):  
Mahakata I. ◽  
Bishi T.M.

Protected area (PA) downsizing has been documented worldwide, but associated challenges on biodiversity and large mammal conservation in Chirisa Safari Area (CSA) are poorly understood. This study assesses the challenges associated with CSA downsizing on large mammals and biodiversity conservation. Field observations and face-to-face interviews were done with park management of CSA and SWRI from the 28th May 2021 to 10th June 2021. Analysis of station records on illegal activities, human-wildlife conflict (HWC) reports and land cover changes from 2010 to 2020 was also done. Poaching, encroachment by local people and veld fires, habitat fragmentation and HWC were sighted as major threats to large mammal biodiversity conservation in CSA. Analysed land cover and land use changes show evidence of the expansion of cultivation land and human settlements into areas that previously served as wildlife habitats. These changes have implications on large mammal and biodiversity conservation in CSA related to species migration, population decline, habitat loss and conflicts. We recommend that further research be undertaken in other areas affected by downsizing in Zimbabwe to aid knowledge in explaining its effect on large mammals and biodiversity conservation in adjacent PAs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gonzalo J. Linares-Matás ◽  
Norman Fernández Ruiz ◽  
María Haber Uriarte ◽  
Mariano López Martínez ◽  
Michael J. Walker

AbstractThroughout the Pleistocene, early humans and carnivores frequented caves and large rock-shelters, usually generating bone accumulations. The well-preserved late Early Pleistocene sedimentary sequence at Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar (CNERQ) has provided substantial evidence concerning the behavioural and adaptive skills of early humans in Western Europe, such as butchery practices, lithic technology or tending fire, whilst also bearing witness to the bone-altering activities of carnivores. Recent fieldwork has allowed the re-examination of the spatial and taphonomical nature of the macrofaunal assemblage from the upper layers of Complex 2. These layers are somewhat different from most of the underlying sequence, in showing quite a high representation of cranial and post-cranial bones of large mammals, including several Megaloceroscarthaginiensis antlers. The presence of Crocuta sp. at Cueva Negra represents one of the earliest instances of this genus in Western Eurasia. Identification of several juvenile Crocuta sp. remains alongside coprolites and bones with carnivore damage, indicates sporadical hyaenid denning activity. Furthermore, the presence of bones with percussion and cut-marks near to several hammerstones suggests a clear albeit limited anthropogenic input. We interpret the available taphonomical and spatial evidence from these layers as reflecting a multi-patterned palimpsest, likely representing the non-simultaneous and short-lived co-existence of hyaenas, humans, and other small carnivores in the Cueva Negra palaeolandscape during the final phase of sedimentation preserved at the site.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chady H. Hakim ◽  
Sandeep R. P. Kumar ◽  
Dennis O. Pérez-López ◽  
Nalinda B. Wasala ◽  
Dong Zhang ◽  
...  

AbstractAdeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated CRISPR-Cas9 editing holds promise to treat many diseases. The immune response to bacterial-derived Cas9 has been speculated as a hurdle for AAV-CRISPR therapy. However, immunological consequences of AAV-mediated Cas9 expression have thus far not been thoroughly investigated in large mammals. We evaluate Cas9-specific immune responses in canine models of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) following intramuscular and intravenous AAV-CRISPR therapy. Treatment results initially in robust dystrophin restoration in affected dogs but also induces muscle inflammation, and Cas9-specific humoral and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses that are not prevented by the muscle-specific promoter and transient prednisolone immune suppression. In normal dogs, AAV-mediated Cas9 expression induces similar, though milder, immune responses. In contrast, other therapeutic (micro-dystrophin and SERCA2a) and reporter (alkaline phosphatase, AP) vectors result in persistent expression without inducing muscle inflammation. Our results suggest Cas9 immunity may represent a critical barrier for AAV-CRISPR therapy in large mammals.


Author(s):  
I. A. Kondratenkov ◽  
M. L. Oparin ◽  
O. S. Oparina ◽  
S. V. Sukhov

The present paper is devoted to the study of the possibility of estimating the reproductive potentials of wild ungulate populations, and possibly other large mammals, by the time series of their numbers. We have found out that this is possible, which is confirmed by the high quality of approximation of the time series of abundance by logistic curves, and the corresponding coefficients of their determination for different species ranged from 75 to 96%. For such calculations, one circumstance is necessary, which is that the population of the studied species has been briefly exposed to some unfavorable factor causing a significant reduction in its numbers with subsequent restoration to the previous level, or the time series should contain a well-expressed and extended section of the transition of the population from some lower level to the upper level of the population, passing into a stationary state. The values of the maximum exponential growth rates of ungulate populations that we obtained do not fundamentally differ from the data available in other researchers’ works. In addition, it should be borne in mind that our method for assessing the reproductive potentials of ungulates is statistical, with features accompanying all such methods, for example, in the presence of statistical errors in all determined parameters. However, the evaluation of the magnitude of these errors is a topic for a separate study. 


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